Reduced Price Game Guides: Thread X(Ten)

Status
Not open for further replies.
IAmTheCheapestGamer

IAmTheCheapestGamer

Banned
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 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/...d.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. Please, whenever possible, use RED font to make the drop info stand out. Thanks again.

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/...ighlight=guide
Guide Four:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/....php?p=1496376
Guide Five:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/...ad.php?t=85976
Guide Six:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/...d.php?t=116918
Guide Seven:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/...d.php?t=131717
Guide Seven and a half:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/...d.php?t=142400
Guide Eight:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/...d.php?t=167157
Guide Nine:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187222

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
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.

Common Guide Drop Related Questions(FAQ):

FAQ - If you are new (or a vet with a few questions) look here SECOND! (After reading the above!)

Q: What Are Penny Guides?
A: 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.

Q: Do all guides from all stores drop at the same time?
A: No. While most chains have nationwide drops within their own store (as in every BB will have the same drops coast to coast), not every different chain drops at the same time (what drops at BB is NOT necessarily dropped at GS). When in doubt, check post TWO for drop info.

Q: I found a penny guide and a clerk denied me! I'ma report 'em!
A: Whoa, hold your horses there, pardner! First of all, not a question. Second, just because something is on the shelf, the clerk does NOT have to sell you that item. Most stores are PRIVATE property and as such can deny you just about anything they want - including a sale. The best advice is to not be rude, not be arrogant, and just try hard to get them to have pity on you.

Q: Why don't the clerks want to sell me their penny guides? Aren't they just throwing them away?
A: As stated above, the stores are ordered by the publisher to trash the guides, and are then given credit for those guides. If they don't do this, the publisher won't give them the credit - it's like losing a sale. On the employee level, selling a penny guide can sometimes get them in trouble (or even fired!) I know it seems silly, but this is their job we're talking about! Respect the man (or woman) behind the counter and you'll get a lot more guides than otherwise!

Q: Should I just ask if the store has penny guides then?
A: No, since that denotes that you have some insider information as to the runnings of these businesses.

Q: What if the clerk wants to know how I know so much about guide drops?
A: If asked where you got your info about guides that pennied, simply say either 'the internet' or 'a friend of mine told me they're on clearance'.

Q: But clerks will know what a penny guide is, right? I can talk to them like anyone else here...
A: Never use the word pennied to ANY store clerks unless you have built up a good rapport with them. Even then, it may seem a little fishy if you know more about their shop than they do.

Q: Are guides labeled as a penny on the shelf?
A: Sometimes. Most times, no. GS seems to label everything that gets a price drop, so often times guides will be stickered. But even so, they most likely won't sell them to you. A sticker does not mean 'have to sell'.

Q: I tried to buy a guide that this thread said was pennied and it didn't ring up as such! What gives?
A: Either 1) Our source was wrong (this rarely happens and is usually verified a FEW times within maybe an hour of posting), or 2) The clerk changed the price. It's usually number 2.

Q: What's the easiest way to get penny guides? This sounds like TONS of work!
A: Best Buy is probably the best place to get guides, followed by GameStop, GameCrazy, Toys R Us and then Blockbuster. From what I've seen though, probably 95% of guides that people get are snagged at BB - the rest come from the other stores. But it never hurts to try!

Q: Has there been a drop recently?
A: If you are asking this question you didn't fully understand the OP - go back and read it once more. When a drop happens, it will be posted, and then placed in the second post - trust us.

Q: How do you guys know so much about penny guides?
A: We sometimes have inside sources with the information from the stores themselves; other times, fellow CAGS just like you or me simply take suspected guides to the register and ask them to ring them up, to check their prices. Feel free to do this yourself, and help give back to the community by telling us what you find! However, DON'T ask "Has anyone checked XXX lately?", unless you are in the right thread (discussion area).

Thanks to GrilledWitOnions for creating the above FAQ, which should eliminate the need for such questions popping up in the thread from this point on out.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Upvote 0 Downvote
[quote name='loxthefox']Something I noticed at Best Buy today:

While grabbing some old guides from nearby, I noticed a cart containing guides like Mirror's Edge, Fire Emblem, and Star Ocean, as if they were being pulled. I was unable to get them checked (was under a strict time limit to catch the train), but could this be a drop?

P.S. The guides I listed are still on the site FWIW.

P.P.S. There were also some newer guides (Ghostbusters, Prototype, Transformers) in there too, most likely to be stocked.[/QUOTE]

Maybe they were just moving around the guide section at your store? They tend to do that a lot near me.
 
[quote name='Josef']Maybe they were just moving around the guide section at your store? They tend to do that a lot near me.[/QUOTE]
Ya, I wouldn't worry too much about it.
 
[quote name='Josef']Maybe they were just moving around the guide section at your store? They tend to do that a lot near me.[/QUOTE]

Dagnabbit.
 
[quote name='Josef']Maybe they were just moving around the guide section at your store? They tend to do that a lot near me.[/QUOTE]

I've seen it done like this where they brought old guides into the back, even though they hadn't pennied. But a week or two later they were all back on the floor, but were all rearranged. I'm guessing that's all that's going on.
 
Mirror's Edge and Fire Emblem are discontinued so they won't be pennied because they have the code ''x'' which means stock may continue. Yet it's called discontinued??
Star Ocean is active so it won't penny.

Since most people in this thread don't seem to be following the other thread, most of my findings are just theory found from research.
I posted pre10amEST on the 6th that there were no drops.
 
[quote name='Frosty The Batman']Mirror's Edge and Fire Emblem are discontinued so they won't be pennied because they have the code ''x'' which means stock may continue. Yet it's called discontinued??
Star Ocean is active so it won't penny.[/QUOTE]

So Fire Emblem will never be pennied at Bestbuy, or just not presently? That's disappointing if it's the former. I've had my eye on that one for awhile.
 
[quote name='62t']just not right now. if they dont penny they will never get rid of it[/QUOTE]

Ah, good to know. As much as I love finding penny guides, you have to admit it seems like a really bizarre way of handling inventory. I understand the explanation of why stores do it this way, but it's plain weird all the same, that they have to penny something to allow their accounting to purge itself of the item.
 
There's a whole code system of 13-15 letters meaning different levels of activity.
Some of the new guides are A-C which means very active.
X = Discontinued and Y = Deleted. All the previous penny guides are Y, so I assume the current guides with Y will be the next wave. I just don't get dates from the computer.
 
So disappointed today. I stopped by the Michigan City Gamecrazy to check on some guides. Wouldn't you know it, they had both Eternal Sonata and Lost & Damned available under the counter. The dude told me that they had been instructed just today to destroy them, but he had no problem ringing one of each up for me at full price.:bomb:

I told him to forget about it.
 
[quote name='shieryda']So disappointed today. I stopped by the Michigan City Gamecrazy to check on some guides. Wouldn't you know it, they had both Eternal Sonata and Lost & Damned available under the counter. The dude told me that they had been instructed just today to destroy them, but he had no problem ringing one of each up for me at full price.:bomb:

I told him to forget about it.[/QUOTE]

Under the counter = Taking them home after close. ;)

Anyway, hoping for drops today.
 
[quote name='Number83']Under the counter = Taking them home after close. ;)[/QUOTE]

Heh, probably. I can confirm the Blockbuster strategy guide clearance here in Richmond. I saw GTAIV for $10, Animal Crossing for $10, and regular Fallout for $13. No LEs though. It kind of looks like they're getting out of strategy guides completely, by the way they're clearancing everything.
 
Quick question...are the clearance guides at Blockbuster ringing up as half price or do they have to adjust it manually? I ask because my local Blockbuster which has almost every limited ed. guide does not have any signs reflecting half-off.
 
[quote name='gordojones88']What in the hell is going on!?

Nobody has posted any stupid inane comment in four days now![/QUOTE]

Hay, guise! Any guide droops today? :D


Better?
 
I dunno I've been camped out refreshing this page (at a starbucks outside of best buy mind you) for the past 3 and a half weeks waiting for someone to post a drop. I don't wanna scan guides myself, so someone PLZ post something soon.
 
[quote name='cyclone0001']got mgs4 regular from best buy.[/QUOTE]

But what PRICE did you pay for it? Regular price or a penny? FYI, most (if not all) guides are 50% off @ Blockbuster right now & FYE has many guides for $9.99 each.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']But what PRICE did you pay for it? Regular price or a penny? FYI, most (if not all) guides are 50% off @ Blockbuster right now & FYE has many guides for $9.99 each.[/QUOTE]

It was junkout so I got it for a penny. only other thing was legends of wrestlemania but I don't care about that.
 
[quote name='cyclone0001']It was junkout so I got it for a penny. only other thing was legends of wrestlemania but I don't care about that.[/QUOTE]

So, it didn't actually ring up FOR a penny, but came up as 'junkout' or 'end of life' when they scanned it? I'm just wondering, since if it came up something other than either MSRP or a penny, then maybe Best Buy is trying something different with their older guides to prevent future penny sales.
 
Best Buy in Victoria, Texas has two Madworld and one Resistance 2 guides on their shelf. I tried to purchase one of the Madworld guides, which did ring up as $.01. However, the cashier didn't believe it and got somebody from customer service. After customer service couldn't get it to change, he got the manager. After the manager couldn't get it to change, she manually typed in $17.99 + tax. Told her thanks, but no thanks. Disappointed, but guess they were all just doing their job. I always have hated Victoria...

Maybe one of you will have better luck with the remaining guides.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']So, it didn't actually ring up FOR a penny, but came up as 'junkout' or 'end of life' when they scanned it? I'm just wondering, since if it came up something other than either MSRP or a penny, then maybe Best Buy is trying something different with their older guides to prevent future penny sales.[/QUOTE]

Basically they can't give it away for free so its charged a penny but if it is thrown out its only a penny.

In the end there is no value either way. Only thing positive out of this is I have a guide and its not sitting in a landfill.
 
[quote name='cyclone0001']Basically they can't give it away for free so its charged a penny but if it is thrown out its only a penny.

In the end there is no value either way. Only thing positive out of this is I have a guide and its not sitting in a landfill.[/QUOTE]

I've been here forever and I think we all know how this works by now. However, when they sell you a guide for a penny they lose out on being reimbursed from the guide company at whatever rate they get reimbursed. So, in the end it's a loss for the store, which is why so many stores crack down on guides going out the door for .01 anymore.

Why should they give them to us for a penny, when they stand to get a decent amount back from the publisher? I mean, I'm definitely with you on the 'its better than it being in a landfill' thing, but if I were a business I'd be trying to recycle the paper and make a few bucks that way rather than even dumpstering them, so there would be NO guides going out the door for free or a penny.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']I've been here forever and I think we all know how this works by now. However, when they sell you a guide for a penny they lose out on being reimbursed from the guide company at whatever rate they get reimbursed. So, in the end it's a loss for the store, which is why so many stores crack down on guides going out the door for .01 anymore.

Why should they give them to us for a penny, when they stand to get a decent amount back from the publisher? I mean, I'm definitely with you on the 'its better than it being in a landfill' thing, but if I were a business I'd be trying to recycle the paper and make a few bucks that way rather than even dumpstering them, so there would be NO guides going out the door for free or a penny.[/QUOTE]

Not if the store says the guides were thrown away. The report said to throw them out and we will still get the credit.
 
[quote name='cyclone0001']Not if the store says the guides were thrown away. The report said to throw them out and we will still get the credit.[/QUOTE]
If it's rung up for a penny and sold to you at that price, it's in their system as being sold for a penny, so they can't just say it's been thrown out. They could, however, give them away for free and say they threw them out, which several GameStops seem to have started to do, but I doubt they'd just start giving things out for free at a store like Best Buy. Especially since they have a guy checking receipts at the exit who wouldn't be able to distinguish between free guides you were given or full price guides you are stealing if you don't have a receipt.
 
[quote name='Rave Child']If it's rung up for a penny and sold to you at that price, it's in their system as being sold for a penny, so they can't just say it's been thrown out. They could, however, give them away for free and say they threw them out, which several GameStops seem to have started to do, but I doubt they'd just start giving things out for free at a store like Best Buy. Especially since they have a guy checking receipts at the exit who wouldn't be able to distinguish between free guides you were given or full price guides you are stealing if you don't have a receipt.[/QUOTE]

Do you think they are actually going to take the time to see one guide wasn't buried in the earth. Besides, those transactions are in Best Buy's records, not the guide companies. To some extent the transaction are private because the system also stores customer information and such.
 
AP only checks receipts for TVs 32 inches and up, desktops and laptops and items not in a bag coming from anywhere from inside the store. If you bought a few penny guides they most likely won't check. Even if you don't put them in a bag they still may not check.
 
One way I like to get away with buying penny guides without the cashier noticing and throwing a fit is to purchase the guide with a 5-10 dollar dvd or other item. This way the total will come up at 5-10 dollars and not just a penny. Thus the cashier wont get suspicious. This has worked for me everytime ive tried it, and ive never been hassled by any cashiers or managers when buying guides for a penny.
 
I just buy them straight up. I don't bundle anything with them because I don't want .01 guides showing up on my RewardZone card. RZ purchases get tracked and having multiple .01 guides showing up on those reports is a real fast way to have your store crack down on pulling guides.

DON'T USE YOUR RZ CARD ON .01 GUIDES.
 
I've had managers tell me that these penny transactions are bad for their store numbers. Somehow (in accounting) these "losses" reflect poorly on the store's bottom line.

In my experience you can increase the likelihood of getting past the cashier by saying . . . "can you price check these? I'm looking for clearance guides." When the book rings up a penny and the cashier gets a troubled look then you say "yeah, they set them at a penny to clear them out."

This has worked pretty well for me.
 
[quote name='neocisco']I just buy them straight up. I don't bundle anything with them because I don't want .01 guides showing up on my RewardZone card. RZ purchases get tracked and having multiple .01 guides showing up on those reports is a real fast way to have your store crack down on pulling guides.

DON'T USE YOUR RZ CARD ON .01 GUIDES.[/QUOTE]

I don't really care if they track a few penny guide purchases, since it's not like they're going to ask for ID for when I don't use the RZ card when I buy other ones.

Plus, I haven't made a single 'big' purchase at BB in forever. If not for my friends and family having duplicate RZ cards of mine I'd never have received the meager $10 worth of certs I've been given so far.

It takes spending WAYYYY too much fuckin' money at BB just to get the paltry $5 certificates. This site and my frugality in general have ruined me as a normal shlep of a consumer. I'm not just a cheapass gamer, I'm a cheapass consumer too. fuck paying MSRP for anything
 
I use to be able to get guides for a penny easily before this thread came out, now any sleazeball comes and buys all the guides to sell for .99 cents on ebay.

People are desperate for cash.
 
$2000 for an HDTV? Wow you are living in the stone age.

I got my 42inch samsung lcd 1080p for $650 during black friday last year. Now I can read the text on HD games unlike you.

WHOA!
 
[quote name='DeathBringer']$2000 for an HDTV? Wow you are living in the stone age.

I got my 42inch samsung lcd 1080p for $650 during black friday last year. Now I can read the text on HD games unlike you.

WHOA![/QUOTE]

Good for you. But as for me, $200 is still my sweet spot for an HDtv. I only need about a 20-25" one and I'm not about to pay a penny over that for 'zomg high def'. fuck high def and the aholes who felt we 'needed' it. I was perfectly fine with SD programming, as were millions of other people.

As for not being able to read text on the games, at least Rockstar Games made GTA IV for those of us with SDtvs still. For the companies who didn't actually take into account that there are still many, many gamers with SDtvs, they have just effectively alienated a good chunk of their audience with that move.

As long as places like Wally World still sell the bigger bulkier SDtv's with digital tuners in them for far less than a shiny new LCD/plasma tv of the same size I only need, I'll keep buying.
 
LOL. But some people just don't know that TVs go on sale... or they don't know how to haggle. Or both. I have a TV sitting in my living room that my stepdad insisted on buying and my mom just let him.... for $2500. Plus, they got suckered into buying a Monster HDMI for $60, because it was a "special deal" since the price tag was way more. I complained about it then but they were like "whatever." Two months later, the same freakkin TV was on sale for half off. Oh, I bitched them out. Also, we ended up buying 3 HDMIs from monoprice for less than 1/3 of the Monster cable. Seriously, this is why I don't like to let them buy stuff.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']As for not being able to read text on the games, at least Rockstar Games made GTA IV for those of us with SDtvs still.[/QUOTE]

How do you figure that? The text was small as hell.
 
[quote name='confoosious']Ummm you think we were fine with SD? You must have shitty vision.[/QUOTE]

I still have an SDTV in my room. And for what it's worth, I'd much rather watch cable on that than any of the HDTVs in the house. But really, if i had to pick, I love those EDTVs, with the flat screens. Great picture. My only problem with them is that I can hear the CRTs working when I turn it on, and it tends to annoy me at times. I used to have a 36 inch CRT TV in the living room, and if anyone left it on by accident, I would immediately know.
 
[quote name='Arcturiang']How do you figure that? The text was small as hell.[/QUOTE]

It's not if you're like me and have a small room. I sit about 3-4 feet from tv and pretty much always have for as long as I've had a tv in my room. So really, I don't need a ginormous tv to see the text.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
bread's done
Back
Top