Printer Technology: Before 2020 Evolution in Gaming

Quick Answer

Printer technology before 2020 followed a slow evolution from dot-matrix through inkjet to laser, with limited relevance to gaming. The gaming connection is indirect: early gaming studios and developers relied on print for physical documentation, strategy guides, and hardware manuals before digital distribution became standard.

Printer Technology Through the Pre-2020 Decades

The trajectory of printer technology from the 1970s to 2020 covers four major shifts. Dot-matrix printers dominated the early home computing era through the 1980s. These impact printers produced output by striking an ink ribbon with a matrix of pins, creating characters from a grid of dots. Noisy, slow, and limited to monochrome or basic color, they were nonetheless the standard output device for home computers including early gaming systems.

The 1990s brought inkjet technology into mainstream homes. HP and Epson drove rapid adoption with printers that could produce photo-quality output and early color graphics. For game developers of the era, inkjet printing enabled color manual production, box art proofing, and the first generation of printed strategy guides that accompanied retail game releases.

Laser printers moved from corporate environments to home offices through the 2000s and early 2010s. Faster, sharper, and better suited to high-volume text output, they became standard in businesses and academic institutions. South African university computer labs through the 2010s were almost exclusively laser-printer environments.

The Gaming Industry's Relationship with Print Before 2020

Printing and gaming intersected most directly through physical media: game manuals, strategy guides, promotional materials, and development documentation. Before digital storefronts became standard around 2010 to 2012, every retail game shipped with a printed manual. These ranged from simple folded sheets to full-color booklets that explained lore, controls, and mechanics in depth.

Specialist gaming magazines were a significant print industry in South Africa and globally through the 2000s. Publications covering hardware reviews, game walkthroughs, and industry news were monthly staples for gamers who lacked reliable broadband access. In South Africa, broadband penetration lagged international markets, making print gaming media more relevant for longer into the 2010s than it was in North America or Europe.

Strategy guides published by companies like Prima Games and BradyGames were major commercial products through the 2000s and early 2010s. These large, full-color printed books provided walkthroughs, maps, and tips for major titles. Their decline directly tracked the rise of wikis and YouTube walkthrough content after 2010.

Frequently Asked Questions

How did printing affect game development before 2020? Physical documentation was central to game development workflows before cloud collaboration and digital tools became standard. Design documents, asset references, and build logs were commonly printed and stored physically. Large studios maintained print rooms for this purpose well into the 2010s.

Why did gaming magazines decline after 2015? Broadband internet access expanded rapidly in the 2010s, and websites, YouTube, and later streaming platforms provided faster, free, and more current gaming information than monthly print cycles could offer. South African gaming magazines also felt this shift as mobile data costs fell and fibre rollouts expanded in major cities after 2016.

Are printed strategy guides still made for games in 2026? Rarely. Major titles occasionally release collector's edition art books or companion volumes, but functional strategy guides are almost entirely replaced by wikis, Reddit communities, and official developer documentation. The market for printed gaming guides effectively ended by the early 2020s.