secret8

Though not a widespread phenomenon, some interviewees remembers a network of players who wrote in the booklets of rented NES games. While many of these interviewees recalled only high scores written in the booklets (interesting in its own right as players could only imagine rather than experience the responses of future readers), one interviewee remembers the passing of cheats through NES game booklets. This sharing of knowledge is emblematic of the kind of attitude most gamers at this time took up. Rather than safeguarding knowledge in an attempt to be one of the few with specialized game knowledge, there was a widespread desire to share game knowledge through booklets, in school cafeterias, and in childhood bedrooms. While the knowledgable player certainly took pride in knowing, s/he wanted others to know too.

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