I called a few back in the day for clues. Sonic 3, Tomb Raider 4 (I think), Overblood (lol) were a few games that stumped me as a baby child. This was long before I had internet let alone a PC that could connect.
It was something like 5-6 bucks per minute a total rip off to have someone tell you you're a dummy for not looking up and pressing 'A'.
I had guides too, well a few, depending on if my parents wanted to buy it. The best guides I had were for FFVII the unofficial guide with the anime artwork and poster and the Shenmue guide.
Please tell me it has like five adjectives that start with "un-", including unauthorized and unofficial, surrounded by a stylized explosion on the cover.
It kicked so much ass
Can confirm, official guide not only has spoilers but whole ass screenshots.
That's why you get the guide written by real gamers!
Olds know you had to prioritize dial up time for playing games rather than reading about them. Reading strategy guides written before the game was released by people who never had the opportunity to actually play it online before writing while my parents are on the phone and trying to sneak forums in during computer class to try to catch up on the meta.