Salvation for the lost and confused

[secretvampire]

Slate article on game guides

 

Just curious, what percentage of us hardcore gamers buy game guides? Personally, if I'm ever royally stuck, I try to get a nudge in the right direction from a homemade FAQ. I'm not one for paying $15 for the pretty guide when that is just about what I'm paying for most of my GAMES these days through various deals.

[dogbert]

I'll read a FAQ, I don't think I've ever bought a game guide.

[splunk]

I would never pay $15 for a guide when you have the internet.

[CaptainRon]

Yeah, i'm not a guide buyer, I've often wondered who buys these guides, cause they keep making them.

[adamsappel]

I buy game guides when they get marked down to a penny at Best Buy and TRU, then I sell them back to GameCrazy for 10,000% profit. I use gamefaqs guides to help me through a game if I get hopelessly stuck. While a Prima or Bradygames guide may have pretty pictures, the advice in them is rarely complete. "There is a secret passage at the top of the room" is not as helpful as "walljump beside the broken statue to get to the top of the room and the secret passage." The writing in a some gamefaqs guides is often much better. I'm reading a rather funny one for Prince of Persia.

[Josh]

From what I can surmise, these are pretty popular with the younger set. Last year I hung out with a friend of mine and his kid, and this 9 year-old would NOT put down his Dragon Ball Z: Budokai guide. I think he just liked looking at the pictures and learning the special moves in his head.

 

Back when I didn't know better, I bought these for old Square RPGs. I liked the maps and special items. Since then, my appreciation for gaming has grown as has my disdain for spoilers and too much information.

[secretvampire]

Back when I didn't know better, I bought these for old Square RPGs. I liked the maps and special items. Since then, my appreciation for gaming has grown as has my disdain for spoilers and too much information.

 

Bah, I wish I hadn't known better. A lot of those old Square RPG guides go for some serious coin these days!

[Carlucci]

I buy the guides ONLY for fighting games like SSB:M and Soul Calibur 2. Printing out the FAQ's for these games is way to many pages to keep straight.

 

Carlos.

[FLYING SE7EN]

I've bought a few mostly for the maps, but I've since stopped. I found I was getting my money's worth out of the guide, but not the game.

 

I use gamefaqs or GameStop guides if I get stuck.

 

J.

[Mark E]

GameFAQs.

 

I see very little point to getting a guide when it's free on the 'net. Sometimes the writing isn't clear (I can think of a Zelda scenario that tripped us up for some time) on what to do, but I find that the exception not the rule.

 

I'd argue that maybe it'd be nice for fighting games to see the moves list, but otherwise, eh. And even then they're WAY too much money for the return.

 

Pictures are nice though .

[MrJames]

Another GameFAQs user here. Can't beat free.

[blackcalx]

I haven't purchased a guide since Final Fantasy VIII, before I ever knew about online FAQs. After completely ruining the surprises in several games I decided that guides were no longer welcome in my home until I had completed the game once. By then I realized that said secrets were available for free on the 'Net.

 

As an aside, do we still use use the apostrophe and capitalization of 'Net when abbreviating Internet? For that matter do we still capitalize Internet? I would imagine that the terms have been so integrated into our culture that the formalization of the words would no longer be necessary.

[merlot]

I bought a game guide once for Street Fighter II when it came out for SNES. I just had to know all the special moves. That was the only time. Since then I occasionally use GameFaqs, or ask a friend who got past a sticky spot that I couldn't.

[Failsafe]

I have several guides from my younger days but I have not purchased one in a long time. Another GameFAQs user! :tu:

[adamsappel]

Originally posted by blackcalx@Sep 13 2004, 02:43 PM

As an aside, do we still use use the apostrophe and capitalization of 'Net when abbreviating Internet? For that matter do we still capitalize Internet? I would imagine that the terms have been so integrated into our culture that the formalization of the words would no longer be necessary.

I usually see Internet capitalized. I would think you could drop the initial apostrophe, "Net" is an acceptable term on its own. Does anyone still bother to use "World Wide Web" or even "Web"? I thought it quite a hoot when politicians came up with "Information Superhighway." Yeah, I say that all the time, so much easier than "Internet."

[iainl]

Fortunately these days, the Soul Calibur and Virtua Fighter series all include full movelists in their training modes.

 

So no guidebooks for me.

[Ricky G]

Last guide I bought was for Final Fantasy X.

 

These games take so much time to complete, and running back and forth to GameFAQ is not an option for me. The long RPG games I get into for their story and easy going enjoyment, I won't labor too long on solving puzzles.

 

 

I loved the game so much, I bought the guide also for the excellent artwork.

 

I would say that since the early 90's I've purchased only a small handful of guides.

[Adam Tyner]

I think the last one I bought was for Maniac Mansion -- it was a PC guide, although I used it for the NES version, which was similar enough to still be useful.

[Dimness]

I only buy game guides for Final Fantasy. Otherwise, it's GameFaqs for me.

[Kain rising]

The last game guide I bought was for Metroid Prime - I'd actually already finished the game, but wanted to get 100% of the missile expansions, energy tanks, etc. and found that the book guide was better written than anything I'd found online.

Before that, I think the last one I got was for Final Fantasy VII... not that I ever finished the game.