Kids today..and their strategy guides...

[Wavelflack]

Does anyone else find the proliferation and success of "strategy guides" a little sad? Maybe I'm old fashioned (I am), but what is the point of buying a game AND purchasing a book with it where someone has already figured out the puzzles and secrets for you? Why not just buy a DVD of videogame ending sequences and save yourself the pitifully small remaining effort?

I have to wonder what the kids of today actually get out of games. Satisfaction? Over what? That they could successfully read and follow step by step instructions on how to beat their games? "Yay! I followed directions!"

Perhaps they are into games for strictly audiovisual/aesthetic reasons. I've known at least a few people who were/are that way. They play games so they can see cool cutscenes and cool endings. The game surrounding the cutscenes is merely a nuisance to bypass by any means necessary. One guy I knew bought Mortal 2 for SNES, and the first thing he did (literally) was to turn on every cheat code out of EGM, so he could see all of the endings. He just spent $50 to see eight sets of 3 frame animations, plus text. Woohoo!


Anyway, I know "strategy guides" have been around, in one form or another, for practically the entire existence of commercial videogames. I remember seeing books like "How to win at videogames!" and so forth, back in the early days. but they were not the same sort of material (it was more general game theory and even psychology, rather than "walkthroughs"), and they were not relied on by the majority of the game playing world.

These days, when a new game comes out, Target (Best Buy, etc.) pushes the companion strategy guide alongside it. Sometimes it's even put together as a package deal! "Buy the game and it's loser-empowering cheatbook together and $ave!!" For that matter, I can't believe that some of these games even have strategy guides (shooters, FPS, racing?), but I guess some kids need help in every arena.

Finally, don't these people feel even mildly insulted over buying the guides? They're not cheap! Don't they feel that they are tacitly admitting some sort of mental inferiority when they have to buy a "how to" book along with their new game, plus the final insult of getting bent over and reamed by the price?

Good grief.

[Ed Oscuro]

I bought (and used) the guide for a good deal of Metroid Prime's secrets.

Would like to get some more strategy guides for my old games, too - Phantasy Star II, yay!

Plus kids these days don't get the guides for the pictures, like they did in the old days.

Fatal Fury 3's guide (Japanese) is officially the coolest thing ever.

[Half Japanese]

I admit it. I buy strategy guides....





<wait for it>








....when they're a penny apiece at Best Buy.



But I get what you're saying, and it is pretty sad. Some games (especially RPGs) deserve to have strategy guides due to their complexity. Plus, some of them have some excellent art in them (FFTA). The only guide I think I've ever bought out of necessity was for the ps1 game Ghost in the Shell back in 1997 because there was one level that was damn near impossible without a map (very strict time limit to destroy about 40 bombs).

Buying a guide without even playing the game first is simply admitting defeat.

[MegaDrive20XX]

*shakes my cane* when I was a lad, we had GAME MAGAZINE!! and they'd only tell ya secrets, not WALKTHROUGHS for $14.99!! Those were the days!

Guide Books finally caught on, and I can't stand it when I walk into a GameStop or an EB World and they push off the guide...like that 20% is gonna save my wallet

Play games to enjoy, not to say "Hey I finished this game in 2 days!" without mentioning "Oh I got a Brady guide book too.."

When I was growing up, "Guide Book" was unheard of! "Cheats and Codes" what's that? All I read was "Nintendo Player" magazine in 87' and was lucky enough to read Nintendo Power (couldnt afford it when I was kid hehe)...and that was the extent of it...that's why it took me 5 years to finish the original Zelda...no one had Internet...sure some guide books out there..but I never bought one..

.all I learned was the simple fact of "Trial and Error"...Learn from your mistakes you made in that level...and try again buddy..

You think I mastered Super Ghouls N' Ghosts with a beer coaster guide book? HELL NO!

[blissfulnoise]

Games were never as complex as they are now. I play through lots of RPGs with guides. Sure you lose a bit of the sense of discovery, but I don't have the time to play through a game 3 times to see everything I missed.

Plus, lots of the hidden features and sub-quests would be virtually impossible to uncover without some sort of road map. I'd like to see anyone get 100% in FFX-2 without assistance.

Additionally, most guide books worth their salt incorporate lots of artwork and interesting anecdotes about the developers, it's publishers, or other factors that lead to the games creation (read: Doublejump Books). These features are squarely geared at the fanboys and girls, but I love em.

Most games aren't about just hopping on turtles and getting both the challace AND the key. You can play em' how you want to, but I like to see everything a game has to offer on the first pass, and if that means I slop down another 14.99 to do it with a full colored and illustrated guide, then so be it. I typically won't pay full price for a guide, however, normally finding a way to get it a bit cheaper than that (20% or otherwise).

Now we can argue if publishers intestinally make games that are so complex that they require a guide to unlock everything, but that's another story all together.

[bluberry]

I find them useful for fighting games. Any guide can help by having a move list and such, and the rare good guides like Versus Books' SFA2 guide can actually help you improve your game.

[Jorpho]

Games were never as complex as they are now. I play through lots of RPGs with guides. Sure you lose a bit of the sense of discovery, but I don't have the time to play through a game 3 times to see everything I missed.

Plus, lots of the hidden features and sub-quests would be virtually impossible to uncover without some sort of road map. I'd like to see anyone get 100% in FFX-2 without assistance.

Indeed, there are many more games like that than there used to be. And they all take so long to play through, as well.

[FantasiaWHT]

Games were never as complex as they are now. .

Except RPGs. RPG's used to be a LOT more complex, and now they are basically minimally interactive movies... they wouldn't DARE put in something like an actually challenging boss (that's not optional) that, GOD FORBID, might actually kill you and you might OH THE INSANITY have to try again. There are no real mazes in RPGs anymore either.

Anyway, selling strategy guides (markup is huge) has given me some interesting insight. There are a few reasons why people buy guides, some more "honorable" than others.

1- They want it to be easy as possible
2- They play through once, then buy the guide the 2nd time to find everything
3- They want to have it nearby if they get stuck at any point
4- There is about 5X as much hidden stuff as normal stuff (Disgaea? hehe)
5- They simply don't have time to bumble through everything, like trying 20 different things to kill a boss, or finding the right NPC to talk to, etc. so they buy the guide to save time.

I generally fall into the 2nd category, or the 4th. But I rarely buy a guide because I know how simple it is to go to gamefaqs.

[sisko]

It depends on the game. I rarely buy guides unless I can get them super cheap ($1-$2 a piece) and I already have the game. I find that the guide and the game make a very nice set in a collection.

The games where I DO buy strat guides for are a select few. For example, Armored Core because of the extensive part listings. Also on RPGs because I know the guide will inevitably MUCH harder to get in the long run (ie Lunar, Disgaea, etc etc).

[christianscott27]

i'm glad somebody mention gamefaqs! yeah really, just point your browser that way and save some money. i've never bought or used a guide with any games, although i dont play RPGs. sometimes i'll be playing an adventure game or FPS and get really frusterated and goto gamefaqs, even then i'm carefull to avert my eyes when it goes past the scene i'm stuck on (really). usually the guides only help so much since its still a matter of making those jumps or shooting those guys.

what really impresses me is how well guides seem to hold their value for ebaying, a friend of mind says he makes an awesome turn around on used guides.

[youruglyclone]

I don't know most of the time I use guides to check if I had "maximized" my performance(i.e. did I grab all the items). but still the art in some guides are a nice touch.

anyways guides from doublejump are definitely worth the money...

here are some pet peeves...for no apparent reasons

1] guides that are black and white...I freaking paid 14.95 for this...the least you can do is color
2] incorrect info (well sometimes this can't be helped since guide writers might be using a beta version)...but still you're paying 14.95 for help...you should be getting the right now.

hopefully more guide companies can be like doublejump...I mean having an appended version of their disgaea guide really made me say wow...they give a rat's ass.

[buttasuperb]

guides for fighters are ok sometimes.

[scooterb23]

I've only bought 2 guides ever.

1. Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 - After a few months, I was getting stuck, so I bought the guide to get some new ideas in park building theory.

2. Jack Nicklaus Golf 6 - Only because it included a CD full of course development tools, and had in depth instructions on how to build a course...I liked that one just to read

I would have liked a guide for Road Trip, because there was a lot of stuff that was just impossible to find...the sense of completion was much greater when I finally figured it out on my own.

[PDorr3]

I only have a few strategy guides, and I'm proud to say I never used any of them while playing the games I owned them for. Brand new zelda 64, mario 64, yoshis story, jak and daxter, never used. the only guide I used just a little bit was for FFXI.

[kai123]

Hey Wavelflack why are you so worried about what someone does with their time and money? You don't like strat guides? Great for you!! Some of us do like strategy guides with our games. I am very tired of hearing "back in the good ole days" stories because none of them accurately represent what really was. Strategy guides have been around forever get over it and worry about something really important.

[Nesmaster]

i have never bought a guide, the only ones i have were from NP subscriptions and when stores offeredthe guide for free with the game. out of that list that FantasiaWHT posted, i would be #3

[PyroPenguin]

For the most part games these days are way too easy. There is a power up or something like that for any and everything. Old gen games are lots more challenging. I remember back when the new Ninja Gaiden came out I borrowed it from a friend and casually played it and beat it in a week with no problems, then everyone was talking about how it is the hardest game ever. All you need are 2 moves for that entire game, which was disappointing. The final boss did no damage to me, terrible stuff. Then they need a guide for it, wtf?

I will admit I use guides for dumb things like Animal Crossing or something like that. But gamefaqs provides those.

[blissfulnoise]

"Back in the day" we had "How to Win at Nintendo vol.2" by Senior Jeff Rovin.

[vintagegamecrazy]

Strat guides are way overused. I'll admit I will use them occasionally when I'm really stuck, or when the game I got is just plain boring and I want to finish it in a hurry. But There are a lot of games that are just too easy aka all new RPGs, but I still run into plenty of people who won't buy a game unless they can get the guide with it, which is just plain stupid. Most of the games are much easier that back then and then top it with strat guide fanboys and all of the mainstream gamers have all turned into wuss boys. Alot of new games I don't even engoy anymore because they are too easy and then you have cheat codes too, and those plus guides have just become crutches instead of aides.There are a lot of people who won't play a game without cheat codes. I had a friend and his brother was like ten years old and would buy several $50 plus dollar pc 1st person shooters (only the M rated ones too) and wouldn't even try to play them on normal, he would automatically turn god mode on and set it on free for all party modes and just gloat over running around and blowing all the other players away. I would say this is a sad state nowadays, look at how many japanese games don't make it here because they are too hard for americans. With total reliance on codes and guides we are digging our selves into a pit. All these gamers need to get a clue and we might get some of those games state side. As for me I like some new games I don't buy 15 dollar guides when I can go to Gamefaqs for free. I will occasionally use assistance if I get really stumped, but I still stick with the older stuff because I get a much greater sense of accomplishment and can hone my skills down much more than the newer stuff.

[MegaDrive20XX]

"Back in the day" we had "How to Win at Nintendo vol.2" by Senior Jeff Rovin.

AMEN TO THAT BROTHER! Vol. 1-2-3 and 4!