Anybody still buying Strategy Guides?

[Darth Sensei]

I know most of us would still buy old strategy guides for older games for collecting reasons. However, I find that since so much information is on the internet now, most of it for free, that I no longer buy guides for current games. Why should I buy a strategy guide when I can get free walkthroughs on Gamefaqs? :hmm:

What are your thoughts?

D

[lionforce]

Same here, the internet is my strategy guide now, although I still have many guides that I have picked up over the years

[Querjek]

I haven't bought any in a while, but I will soon be in a Best Buy and plan to pick up some $.01 ones!

[Sotenga]

GameFAQs is pretty much my all-purpose strategy guide. I managed to explore everything in Castlevania: LoI looking off of the game help message boards. Of course, there are some games out there that I don't even need a strategy guide for. So, to answer your question, I only occaissionally purchase one if I'm really baffled. Otherwise, no, I do not.

[maxlords]

I buy them for every game I can, because I collect the guides as well. It's paid off for me, because a TON of people don't buy the guides and then 3-4 years down the line, I have all these guides that are going for $50+ each because of demand for anything official from the games. I also like the artwork in a lot of them, and the convenience of being able to see screenshots of what they're talking about in the games. I don't buy them as often as I used to now that I'm in Canada, but that's mainly due to the high price point ($21 + 15% tax). Still, I'd say I have over 100 easy and no plans to stop buying them, new or used.

[Sylentwulf]

No, I haven't bought one in longer than I can remember, maybe the Final Fantasy games, I think I have the strat guide for each U.S. release.

Unfortunately, my best buy is full of employee bastards that take ANYTHING on sale before the store opens (PS2 release date, EVERY unit was sold to employee friends BEFORE the store opened, made me sick watching them all walk out of the closed store with their arms full, little fucks.)

[Ed Oscuro]

I buy new strategy guides whenever I have a bit of money (which isn't that often, heh). I actually used one for Metroid Prime :X That's it for my use of a strategy guide, though. I have used the internet for finding out about codes and other stuff, but I don't usually use walkthroughs.

[Darth Vader]

I know dave2236 buys alot of them, but buys them secondhand, not new. If I can get them for games that I collect I will. They are nice to have.

Danny

[l_lamb]

I collect guides but I rarely buy them at full price, except for specials like Working Designs books. I usually get the markdowns at the retail stores and pick up older ones at Half-Price Books. I just rolled over 350.

[nesuser2]

i buy them when i can get a deal....... :D

[Goodwill Hunter]

I've been buyin' 'em like crazy ever since GameStop dropped the price on most used guides to $1.99. Much like other publications, I mostly get them for the pictures. The hardcover WD guides at 2 bucks a pop are especially sweet when they show up.

Rich

[SoulBlazer]

I feel the same way Maxlords does. I like to have a book to go with the game as that makes it more 'complete' in my eyes. Some of those books after a few years are in REAL high demand. And yeah, I use GameFAQ's a lot also, but it's easier to have a BOOK, with PICTURES, in your hands in front of you instead of having to go up and use the PC in the other room or waste paper printing out things. :D

[ventrra]

I know most of us would still buy old strategy guides for older games for collecting reasons. However, I find that since so much information is on the internet now, most of it for free, that I no longer buy guides for current games. Why should I buy a strategy guide when I can get free walkthroughs on Gamefaqs? :hmm:

What are your thoughts?

D
I still buy strategy guides from time to time. In my case, I often need a few visual cues to find certain things in games. Gamefaqs and other sites are good resources for some games, but if you need a bit of visual help, there isn't much that beats having a guide in hand.

[Balloon Fight]

I know most of us would still buy old strategy guides for older games for collecting reasons. However, I find that since so much information is on the internet now, most of it for free, that I no longer buy guides for current games. Why should I buy a strategy guide when I can get free walkthroughs on Gamefaqs? :hmm:

What are your thoughts?

D
I still buy strategy guides from time to time. In my case, I often need a few visual cues to find certain things in games. Gamefaqs and other sites are good resources for some games, but if you need a bit of visual help, there isn't much that beats having a guide in hand.

Same here. In most guides when they describe where to get some treasure or something, there is usually a horrible description with it. When i have a guide in my hands with pictures, i can actually see where to go which helps tremendously.

[hydr0x]

the real guides are still superior to the faqs, though they are not as detailed...

the only one i've bought in a while is Zelda: WW though, it's such a beautiful guide, i had to buy it, didn't use it to play through the game though. that reminds me of something, i still have to get some statues :o

[punkoffgirl]

I have only ever technically "bought" one, and I didn't even have to pay for it. We were at EB in the mall, and I grabbed a Conker's BFD guide, because we were really enjoying the game & I wanted to see if it had anything we were missing out on. When I got up to the register, the clerk tells me, "This isn't even supposed to be on the floor anymore" and that he can't sell it to me. He then hands it to me and says, "Merry Christmas." :)

[kainemaxwell]

Mostly for rpgs I get them now when/if I do. Most other games I jump to GameFAQs for what I need and save/print as needed.

Where you guys get your guides 2nd hand or so cheaply?

[hamburgler]

Most of the time, I usually buy guides if I really need them to beat a certain part of a game that's action, adventure, etc.

[Slipdeath]

I usuaaly only buy guides for rpg's, if not gamefaq's

[dave2236]

I buy tons of guide books, usually $2-6 when I find them used. I like the full color pictures and maps.

I know I have a couple hundred so far. RPG's are nice to have like, Suikoden 2, Lunar, Star Ocean, Legend of Mana, Xenogears....ect

[whoisKeel]

i Do NoT NeEd theM gUidEs wiT mY mAd skiLlz...well no actually, i suck. I never bought them previously because i considered it cheating. I was very purist when it came down to 'finding it all yourself'. I just don't have the energy for that anymore, so i quickly resort to gamefaqs. I think i have a few guides from my younger years, FF1 that came with nintendo power...didn't even have the game then, FF7 i bought with the guide after my game was stolen. At one point i had the nintendo power smb3 guide...wish i still did...it had all the memory game possibilities in it i remember, which was cool. I agree, guides are cool for the artwork and accessibility, but really, i'd rather spend that money on another game or 3 (there's still alot of $3-$20 games i need)

[nesuser2]

i think the guides are required as the games get more 3d and you have an endless map to roam. there's nothing worse than roaming all over the map, finding nothing......then once you do figure out where you are supposed to be, it's obviously all the way on the other side of the map and you have to watch the idiot character run all the way across the map, Again! the game that brought this to my attention......Donkey Kong 64 :angry:

[brykasch]

I very rarely buy one new, because they eventually end up at the games stores used within 30-60 days. The last one I bought new was FFVII, and that was when I bought the game on release.

I always get ones for RPG's even if I already have em as people usually end up needing them, or if I can get em dirt cheap (.01 cent sales at Best Buy). I usually only get em for alot fo the games like amrio sunshine etc that have lots of hidden things etc. Gamefaqs is great when I find a tight spot here and there, but I don't like wasting paper or running back and forth to the pc. If I had my pc in the game room it would be one thing but I don't. That and I like some of the artwork as well.

[maxlords]

I very rarely buy one new, because they eventually end up at the games stores used within 30-60 days.

Unless you live where I do and none of the stores take in strategy guides used :( The only way I can get them is either off the net or brand new anymore...no one takes them.

[lendelin]

I'm a map fanatic, always was, always will be. For every game I have and it's halfway worthy to have a guide for it, I bought a guide and still buy them for the new games. (or drew maps myself in the 8bit times when the guide business was in it's infancy, I have entire binders with maps which I drew on a PC for games which never saw a published guide.)

The Internet doesn't do it, I want pictures of the games, completely mapped out, with every little item listed and indicated on the maps. :)

I have around 150 guides, almost all Nintendo power Guides from the erliest ones, and the early Prima guides in black and white (Mana, Breath of Fire 1 and 2, Legacy of Kain, etc.)

A tip: the most useful guide ever released is the NES Game Atlas from 1990, contains 18 NES (!) games completely mapped out, except for two games (Ducktales, Chip N Dale) all classics. Get them on ebay, they are still pretty cheap.

[nesuser2]

what about that guide, ack i can't remember what it's called. official nintendo release, all black cover and had quite a few games in it. I know it's main use for me was to beat punchout because, well that game is almost impossible if you don't know those little secrets. but mine got soaked in a flood here. anybody know exactly what that thing is called? i would love to have another one in really nice condition.....

[§ Gideon §]

Good question, Cue! I think it's interesting how the replies are varied. Personally, I believe there can be basically two takes on the topic of strategy guides:

-View them as collector's items, and purchase them for collecting.
-View them as strategy guides, and don't purchase them because of an abundance of alternative, free resources.

If one were to need a strategy guide to complete a game, I pity the fool: it's like buying a novel, then buying the cliff notes (which are also available at sparknotes.com), and then reading the cliff notes! To me, it ruins the experience.

Ah well, my opinions don't matter. I just thought I'd put that out there.

[nesuser2]

that's true, but a strategy guide is a work of art. cliff notes are just that.....nothing more, nothing pretty to dress it up and they offer nothing more than the stuff you find on the net. if i need help in a game, it means i've gotten to the point where somebody has to draw a picture for me...

[§ Gideon §]

that's true, but a strategy guide is a work of art.

Oh, I agree. I've seen beautiful strategy guides for Zelda: OoT, and a number of other games. But, I don't think the inclusion of pics is enough to justify the price... We are talking about new strategy guides that go for $5 and up, right? I heard someone mention $0.01 guides. What is that?! I've never heard of such a thing.

I've seen $0.50 guides every now and then, but those are at K-Mart, and they're always for old, not-quite-vintage, non-classic games. brykasch made it sound like a routine occurence, though...

[nesuser2]

best buy does that, sisko was selling some Fzero GX guides on the forums for $3.50 shipped......$0-$4 is a decent price for any manual

[Lady Jaye]

I have a handful of strategy guides (Tony Hawk 2 and 4, Zelda: WW, Mario Sunshine, FF VII, Starcraft), but I don't usually buy them.

I bought those new, except for the Final Fantasy one (which I got used at a local videogame rental store) and the Starcraft one (which was included in the Starcraft battle chest).

[calthaer]

What strategy guides go for $50, maxlords? I was looking on eBay and even the original guides for Final Fantasy, SMB3, Ninja Gaiden II, etc. weren't going for that much. The most expensive one I saw was Ogre Battle, and that one was going for around $25 it looked like.

I just don't see them being that collectible. It seems as if some companies reprint their guides (I've seen reprinted Ocarina of Time guides, FF7 guides, etc.) and people just wanting the info can always go to Gamefaqs which is just about as good as you can get for most major titles. They miss on some of the more obscure things, but...

[nesuser2]

the issue as i see it, isn't people just looking for the info. it's people looking for the guide so that they can tell their friends, "Hey guys, I have the Guide for this game!" It's more of a collector's state of mind, if you're not a die hard collector then you wonder about their sanity. i've dealt with many, and while i don't understand it.....I condone it because they've helped make gaming a bigger market. IMO and some just blown out my A$$......

[Mr Mort]

The topic of strategy guides is something of a double-edged sword for me.

One one hand, as someone stated earlier, having a strategy guide for a games somehow makes having the game "more complete". Not only that, but many strategy guides have tons of beautiful artwork in them, like the Versus Books strategy guides for Vampire Savior, Street Fighter Alpha 2, Street Fighter 3, etc. So having them, IMO only adds more to your collection in the ways of "accessorizing".

Then again, the prospect of strategy guides in recent years makes me sick to my stomach, particularly Prima's crap-tastic guides that look like they're done by a bunch of first-graders. I can't justify paying $15.00 for a strategy guide when I just baught the game for said guide for $50.00, or even worse a GBA game for $30.00! How can you charge me half the cost of the game for a mere guide? Prima can lick my nuts. I baught a Prima VF3 strategy guide from the local EB when the game was new for DC, but, 4 of the characters were missing out of the guide because the same previous 20+ pages were put in twice! I took the guide back to EB, but all the others were printed the same way. Got my $$ back to be sure. On top of that, the guides usually have poor wording, poorly laid out, very little in the way of extra artwork, and are confusing. Brady's srtategy guides are usually pretty decent, and Versus had the best in the business. Not only that, but game publishers are now making instruction manuals more and more vague so you go out and buy the guide. Got a copy of Soul Calibur II? Notice how the manual doesn't even have a BASIC moves guide for any of the characters? Of course not, you need to either pause the game, or get the guide (which has some moves not even listed in the moves list in the game).

Having gone off on that little rant of mine, I still admit I probably have about 50 to 60 strategy guides dating back from the 8-bit days to today.

[digdug]

With close to 2k in hintbooks, I will always buy them, but hardly ever new. And I collect for mutlitple variations.


I will be compiling a list soon, as soon as I survive the holiday crazies at the retail store I work at.


Dig Dug

[lendelin]

What strategy guides go for $50, maxlords? I was looking on eBay and even the original guides for Final Fantasy, SMB3, Ninja Gaiden II, etc. weren't going for that much. The most expensive one I saw was Ogre Battle, and that one was going for around $25 it looked like.

I just don't see them being that collectible. It seems as if some companies reprint their guides (I've seen reprinted Ocarina of Time guides, FF7 guides, etc.) and people just wanting the info can always go to Gamefaqs which is just about as good as you can get for most major titles. They miss on some of the more obscure things, but...

There are guides which fetch sometimes around $50, it all depends on the condition.

I sold my second mint FF3 guide for $45 a year ago on ebay. When I say "mint", I mean MINT. :) The guy who bought it from me was amazed about the condition, offered for some of my other mint guides (Super Metroid, Zelda Link to the Past, Super mario All Stars) $40 for each. Of course I didn't sell them. (I still have a second mint Chrono Trigger)

Probably one of the most in demand guides is the early Prima guide for Blood Omen Legacy of Kain (PS1) which sold on ebay for around $40, sometimes significantly more (like FF3).

These guides are out of print for some time, the games are still "popular," and like always, if the demand is higher than the supply, you talk about some "crazy" prices.

As a general rule, mags aren't valuable collectibles, but there are exceptions.

[nesuser2]

well to throw in another 2 bits of information, if i found a game i was looking for on ebay. two seperate auctions and one had the guide....I would definitly go for the one with the guide and i know an awful lot of ebayers would do the same. so not that anybody should buy guides new....but finding decent used ones isn't that hard. and if you work at sam goody you get 35% off X_x , or atleast according to my friend....so that makes new guides only $10 and some change which is a significant difference.

[lendelin]

One one hand, as someone stated earlier, having a strategy guide for a games somehow makes having the game "more complete". Not only that, but many strategy guides have tons of beautiful artwork in them, like the Versus Books strategy guides for Vampire Savior, Street Fighter Alpha 2, Street Fighter 3, etc. So having them, IMO only adds more to your collection in the ways of "accessorizing".


I agree, strategy guides make a game more "complete." For me it's like an "archiving" obsession. For the games I have, I like to have complete maps archived; I don't care so much about artwork, but clear maps with every item indicated found in the game is key.

I'm a bit obsessed with good guides, I even bought a second guide for Metriod Prime by Versus Books besides the official Nintendo one, because it contained great maps of the original Nes Metriod and a nice walkthrough by Zach Meston. :)


Then again, the prospect of strategy guides in recent years makes me sick to my stomach, particularly Prima's crap-tastic guides that look like they're done by a bunch of first-graders. I can't justify paying $15.00 for a strategy guide when I just baught the game for said guide for $50.00, or even worse a GBA game for $30.00! How can you charge me half the cost of the game for a mere guide? Prima can lick my nuts. I baught a Prima VF3 strategy guide from the local EB when the game was new for DC, but, 4 of the characters were missing out of the guide because the same previous 20+ pages were put in twice! I took the guide back to EB, but all the others were printed the same way. Got my $$ back to be sure. On top of that, the guides usually have poor wording, poorly laid out, very little in the way of extra artwork, and are confusing. Brady's srtategy guides are usually pretty decent, and Versus had the best in the business. Not only that, but game publishers are now making instruction manuals more and more vague so you go out and buy the guide. Got a copy of Soul Calibur II? Notice how the manual doesn't even have a BASIC moves guide for any of the characters? Of course not, you need to either pause the game, or get the guide (which has some moves not even listed in the moves list in the game).


1) I don't think you can generalize to that extent the quality of guides. It depends on the author, to some extent on the publisher of course. Maybe in general Brady guides and Versus Books guides are a bit better than Prima guides, but not always.

The Prima Guides for Breath of Fire 3 and 4 are very good. However, the worst guide I have is probably the Prima guide for Turok 2 for the N64, it's just awful; bad 3D maps, no location of items and events indicated in maps, not even the basic of the basics, namely the START position for individual sections of the map. really confusing bad stuff. :) ...and for 'Skies of Arcadia legends" the Prima Guide hasn't even maps, just the usual little screenshots. Bad.

The quality of an individual guide depends more on the author, then comes the publisher.

2) I don't think the strategy guide business is so bad nowadays. Granted, it really took off since the mid 90s with guides for even average games whereas until the mid 90s only the best of the best games saw a guide, and the price tag of $15 makes games certainly more expensive.

On the other hand, like for games, you can wait until the price drops, and I don't complain that we have a lot of guides to choose from for games which are so big in the meantime that it's almost impossible to draw your own maps anymore like it was the case in the 8bit and 16 bit times; and if Nintendo, Prima, Brady, and Versus offer guides for the same game, you can always choose the best one.

[maxlords]

What strategy guides go for $50, maxlords? I was looking on eBay and even the original guides for Final Fantasy, SMB3, Ninja Gaiden II, etc. weren't going for that much. The most expensive one I saw was Ogre Battle, and that one was going for around $25 it looked like.

I just don't see them being that collectible. It seems as if some companies reprint their guides (I've seen reprinted Ocarina of Time guides, FF7 guides, etc.) and people just wanting the info can always go to Gamefaqs which is just about as good as you can get for most major titles. They miss on some of the more obscure things, but...

Here's a few of the more expensive ones. I'm sure there's more out there...every few weeks I stumble across a new expensive one!:

Star Ocean 2: $50ish - haven't seen one on lately

Suikoden 1: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3054801054&category=11056

Suikoden 2: $35 (has gone down)

Valkyrie Profile: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3055254117&category=15302 (often goes lower)

Lunar: Eternal Blue Complete: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3053796180&category=15302

Breath of Fire IV: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3054496061&category=15302 (sometimes goes lower)

FF3 Nintendo Power guide: Up to $50...has gone down recently to around $20

Secret of Mana: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3054506652&category=11042

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3055363348&category=3719

Phantasy Star IV: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3053791200&category=11062

Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3053455620&category=11056

FF Anthology: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3053833112&category=15302 (sometimes lower lately)

Those are all I can think of off the top of my head, but it gives you an idea of how crazy the prices are! I know that the Dragon Force and Shining Force 1 and 3 guides are also fairly spendy :)

[Ed Oscuro]

I'm a bit obsessed with good guides, I even bought a second guide for Metriod Prime by Versus Books besides the official Nintendo one, because it contained great maps of the original Nes Metriod and a nice walkthrough by Zach Meston. :)

Oh, hah, I was sort of pissed that I didn't get the official Nintendo Power guide...haha, and I guess I never realized who did the NES Metroid walkthrough. Well, that makes things better :D