Buying strategy guides

[Valentino Dmitri]

Hey

Does anyone still do this? Did you ever do it?

I bought one last week, for Final Fantasy XIII (the hardcover version). Don't get me wrong, I may be mentally challenged but I don't need help walking my character in a straight line, occasionally pressing 'A' to activate the Auto-Battle function and pressing 'Back' to skip the cut scenes. To be honest, I mostly bought the book because I liked the look of it!

Of course, there's nothing in the guide that won't be published on gamefaqs within a month or so, you know it, I know it. That said, there's something I enjoy about flicking through a proper, real life book, smelling the ironically refreshing scent of pulped up dead trees, having it opened next to me on the couch. Toilet breaks become a quick primer in advanced gaming techniques, as does the half hour I'm allowed to stay up reading in bed before I have to turn the lights off. It's just not the same, reading through a FAQ written in Courier New, or even 'glossy' dedicated web guides (even if they are functionally more efficient (ie: ctrl:F or links). And since I'm an old bastard with no friends because the all got shot in the war, defending the country for all you young ingrates, I still get a little warm feeling of physically owning something, even if virtually the same thing is available for free online.

I also quite like the little tidbits that sometimes come with them. For instance, this FFXIII one comes with a little section that presents the storyline chronologically (presumably for those of us who get too distracted by the characters' pubescent sex noises to follow what's going on (ie: 'aah aaah huuuh, Hello there I am a l'cie from Gran Pulse, oooh ****, agh harder' etc. Hmm perhaps Prima and Piggyback should think about doing strategy guides for pr0n films, perhaps I'm missing a bunch of subtext in between the dirty talk in Terms of Engorgement 7), and also includes quite a bit of artwork that you won't find anywhere else (until I scan my book and upload it to bittorrent of course). On top of which, the new prominence of the hardcover format means this guide looks pretty damn classy on my bookshelf. Mind you, given that it's presently sitting next to Goodies, Fighting Fantasy and wrestling books, you could probably take a dump on my bookshelf and it would look pretty damn classy as well. It's all relative, so take that for what it is.

All that said, I have not bought all that many of the guides, and I HAVE been burned before. A brief history

1) Final Fantasy VII - bought off a mate on the cheap. Invaluable for finding out all the bits and pieces that the game DOESN'T BOTHER TO TELL YOU ABOUT. I seem to recall breeding chocobos wasn't half as much fun before I knew what I was doing. POP OUT A GOLD ONE YOU STINGY LOOKING BITCH. I was actually pro-battery hen farming for a while before getting that strategy guide to be honest, damn chickens deserved it, from what i could tell

2) Gran Turismo 3 - Pretty good I think. Mind you, it was only going to help me so much, given how unco I am at racing games, slamming in to walls and shit.

3) The Sims 2 - 500 pages of nothing. You don't really do anything in the game in the first place I guess.. Not sure if I was just looking for fashion tips for my hot lesbian sims or what. In hindsight, I wish it was 500 pages of witty comebacks for when people made fun of me when they found out I'd walked into a shop and payed cash money for not only The Sims 2, but also The Sims 2 strategy guide (my repertoire of putdowns at the time consisted solely of 'No, YOU are!' before running away. Come to think of it, that's still the full extent of my repertoire). Even the EB store clerk was trying to to laugh at me. Philistines

So, what have you bought/considered buying? What are your thoughts on printed guides? Can you think of any justifications for them at all nowadays? Any experiences you would like to share? Any recommendations?

 

[Invigoration]

as does the half hour I'm allowed to stay up reading in bed before I have to turn the lights off.

lolwut

On topic, I've never really had a need to buy one, let alone use one. They hold your hand too much, if I need help, I google it for that individual problem, but I don't see the need of having a whole guide.

In saying that though, and somewhat ironically, I just downloaded the Prima guide for Lost Odyssey and I'm using that a bit to finish off all the little side quests etc. I was sitting here thinking how no-one would ever buy them with all the information so easily accessible through other methods, but I guess people do because they still get made.

I'm finding the Lost Odyssey one a pretty interesting read though, it is surprisingly in-depth and well made. I'd personally never spend money on one, but I wouldn't rag on anyone who chose to do so.

 

[Xtreme]

I used to buy strategy guides for the majority of games that i'd purchase. If the game had a guide, i'd buy it either on release or not long after finishing it - in order to compliment the game (learn things i hadn't learned during the game, or on gamefaqs, read production notes, view artwork etc). I wouldn't buy guides for games like the Need For Speed series (not much point in those one's, that just give you a stats round up + info about the tracks you race on).

Early on, i found it to be a good substitute instead of reading magazines or diving into large novels - as at the time i had lost interest in reading anything of substance (such as a Vince Flynn novel).

I don't buy as many game guides as i used to, purely because stores like EB don't stock them for EVERY game, like they used to. They tend to only order in the guides for the AAA releases. However i began ordering game guides online over the last month, my first 'purchase' was Batman Arkham Asylum.... always wanted the guide to compliment the game (i've finished it on both 360 and ps3, going to run through the pc version soon).

Should have ordered online earlier..... most of the game guides are $16 - $22, compared to paying $29.95 - $49.95 in store.


*** I don't necessarily rely on them to get me through ALL of the game(s). Sometimes there are tricky spots that i need help with, i do use gamefaqs at times aswell..... but sometimes i need more than a description of go left to point x (where there are a bunch of trees). The guide doesn't specifically list which tree to goto, but where the proper strategy guide HELPS is with a picture of the area, so you know where to specifically go.

 

[Cynic]

bought one last week, for Final Fantasy XIII (the hardcover version). Don't get me wrong, I may be mentally challenged but I don't need help walking my character in a straight line, occasionally pressing 'A' to activate the Auto-Battle function and pressing 'Back' to skip the cut scenes.

Ahaha. I must admit when you said you purchased the FFX13 book I was a little concerned.

But that said the FFX12 guide was ridiculously detailed and well set out. Other than that I think the only guide I ever bought came in a PS1 magazine for MGS1 about 100 years ago.

 

[midorigreenwood]

usually play naked first time round and use gamefaqs the second time....

but yeah ff12 + zodiac spear

enough said

 

[Cynic]

usually play naked first time round and use gamefaqs the second time....

but yeah ff12 + zodiac spear

enough said

That was the one where you couldn't open certain chests right?