Reduced Price Game Guides: Thread Nine

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IAmTheCheapestGamer

IAmTheCheapestGamer

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First off, let me welcome you all to the new guide thread. Second, I'd like to ask you all to please keep conversations not pertaining to guide drops or which ones you've grabbed to a minimum to avoid cluttering the thread. It's not that I don't enjoy the chit chat, but that it may stop others from locating information on the newest drops.

That being said, let me thank Cheapy for creating this site, without which I would've spent probably 10 times what I HAVE spent on games and guides. Moreover, let me thank each and every one of my fellow CAGs for continuing to contribute to making this site a great place to find out about sales and clearances of the items we as gamers use most. Without a great community, NONE of this would be possible.

Furthermore, I would like to thank our Wiki editors HeatDolphin and Rocko for updating the Wiki. Great job.

Now, with that out of the way(and before I get to rambling), let's get on to making this new thread.

Useful Information(and links):

Game Guide Trading Clearinghouse(old one, locked now):
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102021

Game Guide Trade Thread(KEEP ALL TRADE REQUESTS HERE OR IN PM'S)
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=175548

PLEASE keep ALL trade requests in there or PM's. Thank you.

Reduced Price Guide Discussion Thread(KEEP ALL DISCUSSION NOT RELATED TO GUIDE DROPS HERE!!!)
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=169252

Guide Lists(master drop lists and recent drops):

Master Drop List(by store, alphabetically):
http://wiki.cheapassgamer.com/index.php/Category:Strategy_Guides_%28master_lists%29

Recent Guide Drops(by date,also check the second post in this thread):
http://wiki.cheapassgamer.com/index.php/Category:Strategy_Guides_%28recent_drops%29

What is the purpose of this thread?

The purpose of this thread is to let our fellow CAGs know when a guide has dropped to a low price(it's NOT ALWAYS A PENNY), so they can go out and grab guides for themselves and for trading with other CAGs.

Anytime you have guide drops to report, post them here. Please specify at which store you found them and which guides you found and list them in alphabetical order. Thank you.

What are penny guides?

Penny guides are guides which have been on the market for a while and the publisher(or store chain) decide that the remaining stock of these guides have little to no chance of selling, so they issue an order to pull them from the shelves and destroy them. At that time, they are also marked as .01 in their inventory system, except in the case of BBV, which marks them .01 only AFTER pulling them.

Most stores have an agreement with the publisher that states that if they destroy the remaining stock of those items, they will receive a credit for their value from the publisher. This is why many stores are usually annoyed when we CAGs come in and buy the guides AT the penny price, since otherwise they would've received a full credit for those items.

According to an employee at a local BB, they also have a recycling program for the pennied stock, so as to not clutter landfill space with the guides. As to how true it is, I cannot confirm, but I would hope that the paper is at least recycled instead of just dumpstered.

Prior Reduced price game guide threads:

Guide Three:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50515&highlight=guide
Guide Four:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1496376
Guide Five:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85976
Guide Six:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116918
Guide Seven:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=131717
Guide Seven and a half:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=142400
Guide Eight:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=167157

Finally, below is a list of website links, each of which goes to their respective guide page. Whenever possible, I will update the links with better ones(if available).

Amazon
Barnes&Noble
BestBuy
BookPool
CircuitCity
Gamestop
Overstock
StrategyGuides.net
ToysRUs

Thanks to floormat, Guinavere and anyone else who has created and maintained the guide thread before, as well as to all of those who find out either advance information on drops or provide a list of which ones dropped when we do have a drop.

The post below this one contains a list going back at LEAST six months of the more current guide drops, which stores they occured at and which ones dropped. Note that sometimes(Oblivion guide, Quake Wars: Enemy Territory)there are multiple versions of a guide, be it that there are Prima versions, Brady versions and the occasional Nintendo and Doublejump guides.

Please specify WHICH version has dropped when mentioning possible guide drops. Thank you.


 
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[quote name='biggreenmold']
I was just happy when I checked amazon to get a feel for the market value of the books I purchased that day; zelda (100), star wars (100- 140), plus numerous other guides that would push my estimated market value well over $300, for a $25 investment.
[/quote]

Watch out when valuing stuff with amazon. People on there overshoot the value of guides a lot. On eBay the Star Wars guide goes for $80.00 while the Zelda guide sells for around $15.00 (non-foil version) or $35.00 (foil version). A lot of sellers on amazon will set guides with ridiculously high prices in the hopes that they'll sell for that at some later date.
 
thanks for the advice, didn't mean that I thought I could sell it for that amount necessarily. I see Amazon as a "suggested retail" price and Ebay is a wholesale price. True value is whatever someone would pay you for it IF you decided to sell it.

That's my problem, I keep telling myself that I will eventually get around to playing all these games, so I keep the guides to them. lol, I have a closet half full of guides that I have accumulated over the years
 
It seems that there are two pdfs, the one with the credit card number and such does work at amc as I got my amc Imax tickets there. They at first said it didnt work but saw the credit card number and said it was ok because she said she saw some of these without the creditcard number which do not work at AMC.
 
[quote name='subwayeatbig']It seems that there are two pdfs, the one with the credit card number and such does work at amc as I got my amc Imax tickets there. They at first said it didnt work but saw the credit card number and said it was ok because she said she saw some of these without the creditcard number which do not work at AMC.[/quote]

huh?
 
What would you guys say the odds are of an Oblivion: GOTY edition being pennied at my local GC...?

There's one copy left, the manager's an asshole, and I'm unsure about chancing it.
 
[quote name='subwayeatbig']It seems that there are two pdfs, the one with the credit card number and such does work at amc as I got my amc Imax tickets there. They at first said it didnt work but saw the credit card number and said it was ok because she said she saw some of these without the creditcard number which do not work at AMC.[/quote]

Wrong thread.
 
I grabbed Dead Space and Metal Gear 4 guides from circuit city today for $2 each. Figured it was a good enough price instead of waiting on BB to penny them and hope they werent pulled.
 
Hit 2 BB in Illinois. One in Schaumburg & the other in Crystal Lake. No penny guides to be found. Actually had a chat with an employee at the Schaumburg store. He told me they usually get an e-mail printout the morning of the drops. They are usually pulled before the store opens. He agreed with me that it is a total waste to toss them in the garbage.
Gonna hit 2 more tomorrow. I really want that Infinite Undiscovery and Silent Hill guides.
 
Found and picked up a Nintendo Power Wind Waker guide among other guides at one of my GC's today. It was worth the trip just for that.
 
Found Rogue Galaxy and Shadow Hearts From The New World again after being refused getting the guides at 1 penny at another Game Crazy. There was a cool guy that gave them to me.

Also found a Lego Stars The Complete Saga at Game Crazy for $20, I couldn't pass on it considering how much they are at Amazon.

・I could confirm that Eragon and Timeshift are a penny.

・Rainbow Six Vegas (Full cover price) and Ninja Gaiden Sigma ($5.00) were not a penny in the locations around my area.
 
If anyone can do a check on Prima guides tomorrow, it'd be much appreciated. I'll be at work for most of the day so I won't be able to check. I've got a hunch that sometime within the next few weeks we'll see a drop on Prima guides (similar to what Gamestop did two months ago -- they got a Brady drop one week before they got a Prima drop). I'll be checking the thread throughout the day. I'm thinking Spyro, Haze, Force Unleashed, Endwar and a few others might be good penny candidates any day now.
 
[quote name='Doomstink']If anyone can do a check on Prima guides tomorrow, it'd be much appreciated. I'll be at work for most of the day so I won't be able to check. I've got a hunch that sometime within the next few weeks we'll see a drop on Prima guides (similar to what Gamestop did two months ago -- they got a Brady drop one week before they got a Prima drop). I'll be checking the thread throughout the day. I'm thinking Spyro, Haze, Force Unleashed, Endwar and a few others might be good penny candidates any day now.[/quote]
Are you talking about checking at BB or GS?
 
[quote name='perdition(troy']I'm sure he is talking about BB.[/QUOTE]
I checked several prima guides but didn't see any new drops. I checked star wars F.U., fallout 3 ce, prince of persia ce, dead space, and the mirror's edge hard bound guide. None were a penny.
 
[quote name='erehwon']I checked several prima guides but didn't see any new drops. I checked star wars F.U., fallout 3 ce, prince of persia ce, dead space, and the mirror's edge hard bound guide. None were a penny.[/quote]

Thanks. Maybe we'll see one in the next few weeks.
 
[quote name='Ubiiquitous']There was just a drop last week at Best Buy. Not sure why anyone would think there would be one today...[/quote]

All the new drops from last week were Bradygames guides. Struck me as a little fishy that there was no Prima drops in there. Also, if you go back two months on the list, you'll see that Gamestop did separate drops (within one week of each other) for Bradygames and Prima guides a few months back.

[quote name='mvp828']Best Buy only drops on the first Monday of the month when it comes to guides. At least that is what has always been said.[/quote]


Nope:

>>>Dropped on 10.27.08
Click to expand...
 
[quote name='Doomstink']All the new drops from last week were Bradygames guides. Struck me as a little fishy that there was no Prima drops in there. Also, if you go back two months on the list, you'll see that Gamestop did separate drops (within one week of each other) for Bradygames and Prima guides a few months back.




Nope:



It can happen at any time of the month. It is always a Monday, though.[/QUOTE]

That's Gamestop, not Best Buy.

There was one exception to the rule at Best Buy last year. Look at ALL the drop dates. The drops happen at Best Buy on the first Monday. It's also not necessarily a "Brady" drop or "Prima" drop. In fact, I've gotten guides from three different publishing companies at one time before.
 
[quote name='Ubiiquitous']It's also not necessarily a "Brady" drop or "Prima" drop. In fact, I've gotten guides from three different publishing companies at one time before.[/quote]

Yes, I understand that - but from the three BB drops I've participated in, I've never seen only one publisher's guides get pennied. Last week's drop was specifically a "Brady" drop with the Prima guides on the list being ones that got re-pennied from the last drop.

The guide shelf at my BB is hemorrhaged with Prima guides right now (Sonic Unleashed, Spyro, Endwar, Command and Conquer, Haze) so I was really surprised to see no Prima drops last week.
 
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[quote name='Doomstink']Yes, I understand that - but from the three BB drops I've participated in, I've never seen only one publisher's guides get pennied. Last week's drop was specifically a "Brady" drop with the Prima guides on the list being ones that got re-pennied from the last drop.

The guide shelf at my BB is hemorrhaged with Prima guides right now (Sonic Unleashed, Spyro, Endwar, Command and Conquer, Haze) so I was really surprised to see no Prima drops last week.[/quote]
Mine has like only prima guides. I'm guessing that the other guides were pulled by the time I got there since the guides were placed all decorative like.
Random note, my BB has more Lego Batman guides than Halo 3 :)
 
[quote name='Doomstink']Yes, I understand that - but from the three BB drops I've participated in, I've never seen only one publisher's guides get pennied. Last week's drop was specifically a "Brady" drop with the Prima guides on the list being ones that got re-pennied from the last drop.[/quote]From what I understand, the repennied Prima guides were supposed to penny with the Brady guides during the most recent drop, but they made a mistake and pennied them early. That's why they unpennied, then repennied. Or un-unpennied, depending on how confusing you want it.
 
bad news for me at GC. couple guys got fired for selling me penny guides. it was the "straw that broke the camels back". so if any of you guys that got canned were CAG'ers, sorry.
 
[quote name='perdition(troy']bad news for me at GC. couple guys got fired for selling me penny guides. it was the "straw that broke the camels back". so if any of you guys that got canned were CAG'ers, sorry.[/quote]
ouch. Man that sucks for them.
 
[quote name='perdition(troy']bad news for me at GC. couple guys got fired for selling me penny guides. it was the "straw that broke the camels back". so if any of you guys that got canned were CAG'ers, sorry.[/quote]

Ridiculous...Fired because management didn't do their job...Wait, that's how retail works, "Oh!"

It's too bad that that happened, retail blows.
 
[quote name='perdition(troy']bad news for me at GC. couple guys got fired for selling me penny guides. it was the "straw that broke the camels back". so if any of you guys that got canned were CAG'ers, sorry.[/quote]

I think that's what happened to a few of the clerks at the one GS by me, since they used to let me walk out with a 2 foot high stack of guides they had been failing to pull. I would help them pull them, take the ones I wanted and they'd just laugh while I'm walking out with like 30 guides.

Unfortunately, the one day I came in and found that 90% of the people from that store were fired or quit and they hired eye candy(teen, early 20's girls with low cut tops)to take their place.

The eye candy lasted a month, then they started shifting employees from other GS stores around there to fill the gaps. Through it all though, the same manager managed to stick it out, even though he was one of the ones giving me tons of guides.

I do feel sorry if they got in trouble because of me, like I felt bad when the one clerk at BB denied me recently because 'he got in trouble for selling guides for a penny'.

Mind you, if it's some dick who tried to refurb fee me on every trade in during a good promo or something, I'll intentionally try and get their ass fired, like the one tattooed freak and the one mega bitch at the one store. They still have a couple cancelled pre-orders in their future.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']I think that's what happened to a few of the clerks at the one GS by me, since they used to let me walk out with a 2 foot high stack of guides they had been failing to pull. I would help them pull them, take the ones I wanted and they'd just laugh while I'm walking out with like 30 guides.

Unfortunately, the one day I came in and found that 90% of the people from that store were fired or quit and they hired eye candy(teen, early 20's girls with low cut tops)to take their place.

The eye candy lasted a month, then they started shifting employees from other GS stores around there to fill the gaps. Through it all though, the same manager managed to stick it out, even though he was one of the ones giving me tons of guides.

I do feel sorry if they got in trouble because of me, like I felt bad when the one clerk at BB denied me recently because 'he got in trouble for selling guides for a penny'.

Mind you, if it's some dick who tried to refurb fee me on every trade in during a good promo or something, I'll intentionally try and get their ass fired, like the one tattooed freak and the one mega bitch at the one store. They still have a couple cancelled pre-orders in their future.[/quote]

ahahahhahahaha!!!

that's too funny! I think of it the same way when I have to cancel my preorders.

I walk into gamestop and I look for the employee I hate the most and cancel preorders with them.

:)
 
[quote name='thehoweller']What would you guys say the odds are of an Oblivion: GOTY edition being pennied at my local GC...?

There's one copy left, the manager's an asshole, and I'm unsure about chancing it.[/quote]

one oblivion guide just got pennied at game crazy, however it was not the GOTY edition
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']
Unfortunately, the one day I came in and found that 90% of the people from that store were fired or quit and they hired eye candy(teen, early 20's girls with low cut tops)to take their place.
[/quote]

Sounds like my store where they'll hire "lookers" and "hipsters" instead of knowledgeable staff any day. We actually had a softcore porn-star working at one of the stores here.
 
[quote name='Doomstink']Sounds like my store where they'll hire "lookers" and "hipsters" instead of knowledgeable staff any day. We actually had a softcore porn-star working at one of the stores here.[/QUOTE]

reminds me of that scene in The 40 year old virgin where they hire the girl for the electronics store.
 
[quote name='Doomstink']Sounds like my store where they'll hire "lookers" and "hipsters" instead of knowledgeable staff any day. We actually had a softcore porn-star working at one of the stores here.[/quote]That sounds like the ultimate in "pics or GTFO" moments that I can think of.
 
Somewhat off subject, but is there any reprocussions to canceling pre-ordered games?

A friend told me you can actually cancel, and keep the gifts...Which makes me laugh and encourages me to help game companies realize that pre-ordering is a dirty trick.

But yeah, thanks again...And I'm really getting syched up about finding a penny guide somewhere. I tried my GS, went for a Viva Pinata (first game), Tales of Vesperia, and Oblivion GOTY...All un-pennied, the manager laughed at me, then I explained why I was acting weird, he knew what I was talking about...Shit...

I do believe he murmured that they miss some guides, so maybe he's not such an ass afterall.

I hate pressure sales -.-
 
[quote name='shrike4242']That sounds like the ultimate in "pics or GTFO" moments that I can think of.[/quote]

Unfortunately her porn website no longer exists, but she's still got a website over at www.raychul.com

She stopped working at the Cary, NC Gamestop in 2004, I think. To be honest, she knew a lot about games, but it's hard to overlook the soft-core porn background.
 
Funny, you painted her to be brain-dead, now it turns out she was qualified...

Hell, her gamerscore's even higher than mine, she really must have no life :p

P.S. Any idea on the canceling of pre-orders having repercussions?
 
I've noticed that my local BB had GOW 1 a few weeks ago which was quite old and got for a penny. I went yesterday had had Viva Pinata which rang as full price, but also had Hellboy which I assume is pretty old too and don't remember both being there last time. They also had plenty of Bioshocks too and even a Fracture. Is there a chance that guides get shipped around between stores? Or are the employees playing some cruel joke on me by doing the "catch and release" deal with me?
 
[quote name='thehoweller']Funny, you painted her to be brain-dead, now it turns out she was qualified...

Hell, her gamerscore's even higher than mine, she really must have no life :p

P.S. Any idea on the canceling of pre-orders having repercussions?[/quote]

Depends on the store. I just wandered in, so not sure if you have a specific store in mind, but the big one I know is GameStop, which keeps a "score" of sorts for their employees. They get +1 for every pre-order they make, and -1 for every cancelled pre-order, regardless of whether they made the original pre-order or not. If there's a really crappy/hateful/non-helpful GS employee, feel free to cancel on them.

Otherwise, if you have a store by you like I do where you actually like all the employees, then I would suggest picking up your order and then returning it. You get your money back, and there's a +1 in the record for the original guy, and no -1 for anyone.


On topic: Looks like the Chapel Hill/Durham BBs were either cleaned out, or had NO guides, though one of the Durham BBs has like 20 guides total, and only like 6 actual different guides. Looks like all the BBs around my school and home were cleaned out, and darn GameCrazy for not building within 40 miles of either of my residences.
 
[quote name='boneless']I've noticed that my local BB had GOW 1 a few weeks ago which was quite old and got for a penny. I went yesterday had had Viva Pinata which rang as full price, but also had Hellboy which I assume is pretty old too and don't remember both being there last time. They also had plenty of Bioshocks too and even a Fracture. Is there a chance that guides get shipped around between stores? Or are the employees playing some cruel joke on me by doing the "catch and release" deal with me?[/quote]

Both of my local stores were like that for a while. The newer media employees would probably see guides in the back and restock them, not knowing that they were supposed to have been destroyed.

The best line I've heard from media managers when they're called up to the registers to allow or deny a sale is 'you're gonna Ebay those aren't you?'.

Funny thing is, that was my plan when I used to hoard like a fiend, but you learn quickly that most guides don't get all that rare or valuable and you're barely breaking even.
 
[quote name='perdition(troy']bad news for me at GC. couple guys got fired for selling me penny guides. it was the "straw that broke the camels back". so if any of you guys that got canned were CAG'ers, sorry.[/quote]

They were probably on their way out and management just needed an excuse. Nobody fires a good employee over penny guides.
 
[quote name='Doomstink']Sounds like my store where they'll hire "lookers" and "hipsters" instead of knowledgeable staff any day. We actually had a softcore porn-star working at one of the stores here.[/quote]

WHERE? WHERE? I mean "that's terrible."

But seriously where? :lol:
 
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