Nintendo Official Guidebook

Nintendo Official Guidebook (『任天堂公式ガイドブック』Nintendō Kōshiki Gaidobukku) is a series of Japanese language publications which cover video games released on game consoles made by Nintendo. Originally edited by APE Inc., they are released under the ”WonderLife Special” (「ワンダーライフスペシャル」mook label by Shogakukan, who later became the editor collaborating with or supervised by Nintendo. They consist mostly of strategy guides, along with document or reference books, or their combinations with interviews and information from the developers.

Starting in the late NES era, instruction manuals for Nintendo games would include an advertisement for official guides. When Game Boy Advance and Nintendo Gamecube were released, this changed to official game sites having a dedicated page for a Nintendo Official Guidebook and other strategy guides licensed by Nintendo.

As of 2018, no more of these books have been produced. No official word has been given by Shogakukan or Nintendo whether this series is cancelled or not.

Official site: 21010net
Also known as ”Nintendo Net” (ニンテンドーネット), this site allowed visitors to purchase and preview pages of select guides from 1996 onward, and offered a free e-mail magazine with information on new publications.

Currently, this site has been shut down and can be accessed only via internet archives.

Brief history and notable publications
1989: Encyclopedia MOTHER (『マザー百科』 Mazā Hyakka)
 * The precursor to Nintendo Official Guidebooks, and the first official Nintendo strategy guide, edited by APE Inc. and published by Shogakukan.

1990: Encyclopedia Fire Emblem (『ファイアーエムブレム百科』 Faiā Emuburemu Hyakka)
 * The official strategy guide for Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, labelled as ”Nintendo Official Guidebook”.

1991: 『任天堂公式ガイドブック スーパーマリオワールド』
 * The first of the official guides for Super Mario World, and the first one featuring ”Nintendo Official Guidebook” on the cover.

May, 1996: 『任天堂公式ガイドブック スーパーマリオRPG完全攻略版』
 * The official guide for Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars, and the last official guide aside from reprints edited by APE.

June, 1996: 『任天堂公式ガイドブック ファイアーエムブレム聖戦の系譜』
 * The official guide for Fire Emblem: Genaology of the Holy War, and the first official guide edited by Shogakukan.

2001: The official site 21010net is launched.

2018: 『任天堂公式ガイドブック 星のカービィ スターアライズ』
 * The last official guide is released for Kirby Star Allies.

2019: The official site 21010net is shut down.