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='donut']Prima wii Lara Croft Tomb Raider Anniversary
Brady Frontlines: Fuel of War
Prima The Sims 2 Freetime
Prima The Orange Box
Konami PES 2008 Pro Evolution Soccer

All from GS (manager called me and saved them)...I feel so special![/quote]

I guess I get to go out to Gamestop tomorrow and be disappointed again, lol. Sure would like to grab an Orange Box Guide.
 
[quote name='fairtrade']Hardly anything. I have brought boxes of guides to them and the most they give is like $5-6 for a huge box. HPB sucks.[/quote]

What is there to complain about? At least you're getting SOMETHING for them and they aren't sitting around collecting dust like the ones I had were doing. The only way it's NOT a decent deal is if you went 100 miles each way for them, THEN it's a bit of a rip off.

I also kept out the RPG guides and a few other ones I wanted to keep, but the rest of them went away in one shot. So, if for nothing, I didn't get rid of anything really GOOD(except for maybe ONE Xenosaga III guide I left go and MAYBE 1-2 'collectors edition bs ones).

Even if you're getting only .25 each for them, that's still twenty four times more than what you paid for them, so it's STILL profit however marginal. To each their own though, since for me the money I made was MORE than enough and it cleaned out my house of those dust collectors quickly.
 
My BB usually leaves preorder bonuses out and they penny. So Metal Gear Saga 2 probably is a penny if you can find it. Unless it'll drop with everything else.
 
[quote name='neocisco']CC has GTA IV for $10 this week.[/quote]


Is this a helpful guide for the game? I haven't cracked GTA open yet but I will within the next couple months and doubt I could find it this cheap.
 
[quote name='nlyonssmith']Is this a helpful guide for the game? I haven't cracked GTA open yet but I will within the next couple months and doubt I could find it this cheap.[/quote]

The game has GPS capabilities in EVERY car in the game, be it just a yellow/blue/red line marked on the mini map in the lower right corner of the screen or the ability to place a waypoint on the pause screen map and follow THAT line to your destination.

The GPS even maps your route going WITH traffic in the game and not against it. But, since I'm a kamikaze driver in the game, I go down the one-way streets against traffic instead of taking the 3-4 block route around them. So really, you don't even need to KNOW where you're going this time around, since they point the way. I felt that that sort of ruined the game a bit for me personally, since I liked remembering my way by using landmarks to guide me.

As for how useful the guide is, I haven't even used mine yet and I paid FULL PRICE for it from FYE when I bought my PS3 the day the game came out. Of course, I traded in a TON of clearance games I got super cheap to get the credit I partially used to buy the PS3 and guide and every little bit helps.

If you like having actual in-game maps printed up with waypoints and points of interest marked off on them, the guide SHOULD be a good tool for you to use. But, if it's just that you're going to need a little help on finding the 'flying rats' in this game, then there's an in-game map you can keep coming back to on the in-game internet.

I don't know how much you know about this game thus far, but I will say that they removed hidden packages in exchange for 'flying rats'(pigeons) who you have to kill in the game. There are 200 of them, some are easy to find, some are hard to find, many will give you an instant 1 star wanted level when you try to shoot them and some you may NEVER find.

Thing is, the reward system for the task is so skewed this gen, since I believe the ONLY real reward is that you get an Annihilator chopper when you off all 200 and NOTHING for incrementally killing them in 10's or 20's. At least in the last gen games, you received a weapon spawn for each 10 packages found.

Hope this helps.....but I know I haven't had a use for the guide yet, though I may use it for the locations on some of the harder to find pigeons. Although, as I said, you can just use the in game internet's map to find their general location.
 
I used YouTube videos to get the pigeons but I missed two along the way and don't know which ones they were so now I have 198 pigeons killed and about 100 locations to check for the last 2 :\
 
[quote name='freshzen']I used YouTube videos to get the pigeons but I missed two along the way and don't know which ones they were so now I have 198 pigeons killed and about 100 locations to check for the last 2 :\[/quote]

yeah i did about 50 of them and some are in such are to see spots that i finally said f that because it only gets u like 2.5% completion and then the attack chopper which would have been fun to be able to use but i can always just use cheat codes for it now that i've finished the game.

now my 2 cens when it comes to game guides is that they are so convienent to have sitting on my lap while i'm playing my game instead of having to get up and sit at the computer and goto gamefaqs.com but to be honest some game guides don't give u enuf info to beat certain parts so most games i have to at least check gamefaqs.com at least once or twice.
 
See, that's one thing that's irking me is that I'll have to be meticulous in my searching, though I was also in my search for packages in prior GTA games. But, the end prize for them just doesn't seem worth it in my opinion.

Oh and sacreddoctor, there's a map online someplace that shows there's an Annihilator helicopter somewhere in the southwest corner of Algonquin.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']See, that's one thing that's irking me is that I'll have to be meticulous in my searching, though I was also in my search for packages in prior GTA games. But, the end prize for them just doesn't seem worth it in my opinion.

Oh and sacreddoctor, there's a map online someplace that shows there's an Annihilator helicopter somewhere in the southwest corner of Algonquin.[/quote]

oh right on....not sure how much i'm gonna be replaying this cuz i really like multiplayer but the multiplayer for GTA4 is very buggy and it seems to freeze up alot whereas say a game like COD4 matches up quick and its rare that i get a freeze or a dead game!
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']See, that's one thing that's irking me is that I'll have to be meticulous in my searching, though I was also in my search for packages in prior GTA games. But, the end prize for them just doesn't seem worth it in my opinion...[/quote]

To me, it never was. The hidden packages are fun for a while, but it gets to a point of misery trying to find the toughest ones. I always had to use a guide to find them all, which defeats the whole purpose.
 
[quote name='Mr.Bojangles']Is the current guide price drop wiki updated?(Since April?)[/quote]

Check the second post on this thread. :roll: Do people just ask questions without READING the thread? It's looking more and more like the answer to that is YES.
 
Are these YMMV? I'm new to these penny guides;) And could there be other penny guides at the stores or is this the full list(meaning that there are no possible penny guides at the store). If so, do you just go up to the counter and ask if it is a penny? lulz

And finally:

Does every Gamestop participate with the penny guides?
 
[quote name='Mr.Bojangles']Are these YMMV?[/quote]
Always YMMV without exception.

I'm new to these penny guides;) And could there be other penny guides at the stores or is this the full list(meaning that there are no possible penny guides at the store).
Click to expand...
Helpful people, like yourself perhaps, will sometimes go in and scan a couple themselves or have them scanned. Some people that post here work there and will give a heads up, but often times the list is put together piecemeal.

If so, do you just go up to the counter and ask if it is a penny? lulz
Click to expand...
No. You act like you know it's a penny, then feign shock if anything else comes up. At no point should you be sheepish or unsure.

And finally:

Does every Gamestop participate with the penny guides?
Click to expand...
YMMV.

Oh, and please don't hoard. This information is given to help each other, not so you can make 35 cents each on a flip.
 
[quote name='speedracer']No. You act like you know it's a penny, then feign shock if anything else comes up. At no point should you be sheepish or unsure. [/quote]

I just outright ask if they have penny guides and they say here take em.
 
[quote name='speedracer']Always YMMV without exception.


Helpful people, like yourself perhaps, will sometimes go in and scan a couple themselves or have them scanned. Some people that post here work there and will give a heads up, but often times the list is put together piecemeal.


No. You act like you know it's a penny, then feign shock if anything else comes up. At no point should you be sheepish or unsure.


YMMV.

Oh, and please don't hoard. This information is given to help each other, not so you can make 35 cents each on a flip.[/quote]

Thanks for the quick response and great answers:D Nah I am not a scalper or anything like that;) I am just looking for some nice and cheap guides. I am ashamed that I have bought less than guides throughout my years of gaming.:cry: I never bought them because they were $20 each, but this is very helpful info:applause:
 
I also just learned about these penny guides about a week ago, but so far I haven't had any problems getting guides from various stores. The Gamestops and GameCrazys seem like they would definitely be YMMV because they didn't ring it up and just let me walk out with them. Best Buy on the other hand rings the guides up for me and charges me the penny, and doesn't think twice about it.

On the topic of Best Buy, I got a massive haul there after work today. I picked up:
Sims 2: Bon Voyage
Frontlines: Fuel of War x3
Hellgate: London x4
EA Hardcover
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

I only wish I hadn't already had a big bag of stuff to carry on my commute (I walk and take a train), because I could have picked up even more. There was at least 1 copy left of all of those guides, plus a couple more I didn't choose to get! Seriously, there must have been 30+ pennied guides there, and I'm tempted to go back tomorrow to snag the rest.
 
[quote name='Rave Child']I also just learned about these penny guides about a week ago, but so far I haven't had any problems getting guides from various stores. The Gamestops and GameCrazys seem like they would definitely be YMMV because they didn't ring it up and just let me walk out with them. Best Buy on the other hand rings the guides up for me and charges me the penny, and doesn't think twice about it.

On the topic of Best Buy, I got a massive haul there after work today. I picked up:
Sims 2: Bon Voyage
Frontlines: Fuel of War x3
Hellgate: London x4
EA Hardcover
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

I only wish I hadn't already had a big bag of stuff to carry on my commute (I walk and take a train), because I could have picked up even more. There was at least 1 copy left of all of those guides, plus a couple more I didn't choose to get! Seriously, there must have been 30+ pennied guides there, and I'm tempted to go back tomorrow to snag the rest.[/quote]

but you're a generous, non-hoarding CAGer and you'd never do that :D
 
Considering how old those guides are, he isn't going to be robbing anyone by taking them. Anyone who would want them has had ample time to go get them.
 
[quote name='speedracer']No. You act like you know it's a penny, then feign shock if anything else comes up. At no point should you be sheepish or unsure. Oh, and please don't hoard. This information is given to help each other, not so you can make 35 cents each on a flip.[/quote]

Actually, that just makes clerks wonder where the hell you got the info if you say 'oh these should be a penny' and it raises ALL sorts of red flags. My local BB stores are SO good at pulling them anymore that I don't even try until a week or two after a drop. IF there's anything left, I'm shocked and I grab them.

As for 'hoarding', if they've been there the aforementioned 2 weeks from a drop and NO ONE ELSE has picked them up, then any I find I might as well grab.

[quote name='Mr.Bojangles']Are these YMMV? I'm new to these penny guides;) And could there be other penny guides at the stores or is this the full list(meaning that there are no possible penny guides at the store). If so, do you just go up to the counter and ask if it is a penny? lulz

And finally:

Does every Gamestop participate with the penny guides?[/quote]

Your chances of getting them at Best Buy are best I would say, followed by perhaps Gamestop and finally ending with Toys R Us. TRU is the hardest place to get them from usually, unless you find a clerk who just doesn't give a crap, then you can find and grab TONS of them. As for going up to the register and saying specifically you think these will be a penny, I would advise AGAINST it, since as I said above you'll be asked where you found out they're a penny. If you DO say 'these should be a penny', DO NOT say where you got the info. That's the #1 rule of being a Cheap Ass Gamer, DON'T mention the site by name to ANY clerks/managers. If they ask, just say you got the info on the internet and stop talking right there.

With Gamestop, it's impossible to know whether or not you'll have a good experience or not as far as getting guides go. Around here though, the local DM put the hammer down on clerks selling pennied guides, so anytime I find one anymore they just give me it and don't ring it up.

I hope this helps and I hope you don't go in and just ask 'do you have any penny guides' because you're going to be answering ALOT of questions from clerks/managers who still think these are a big company secret.
 
Having just picked up Phantom Hourglass for $15, I'm now salivating over that big blue hardcover guide at my local Best Buy. I know it hasn't dropped yet, but how often do these drops usually happen? Monthly?
 
[quote name='SDC']Having just picked up Phantom Hourglass for $15, I'm now salivating over that big blue hardcover guide at my local Best Buy. I know it hasn't dropped yet, but how often do these drops usually happen? Monthly?[/quote]

I wanna know also, it didn't take long for th TP brown hardcover to drop after the game came out.
 
I think we have missed SOME drops or some guides from some drops, which is why I always ask those who either work there on CAG or those who managed to grab different guides that listed to verify if other guides might've dropped.

As far as drops go, they're usually at the beginning the month on a Monday, though we have had a couple mid or end of month drops before and in the case of Gamestop the one time they dropped the Prima guides one week and the Brady guides the next.
 
[quote name='animemaniac14']but you're a generous, non-hoarding CAGer and you'd never do that :D[/quote]

No, I probably won't do it since it's out of my way. I mean, what am I going to do with more than 3-4 copies of a guide anyway? I doubt I'd be able to trade or sell that many.
 
[quote name='Rave Child']No, I probably won't do it since it's out of my way. I mean, what am I going to do with more than 3-4 copies of a guide anyway? I doubt I'd be able to trade or sell that many.[/quote]

it all depends...some guides are more desirable than others. I know i was able to sell a couple (actually...ALL 3) of my LOTR: Shadows of Angmar guides that i found at various stores...they went for $1.00 on ebay but still a profit for me (after shipping especially) :whistle2:D
 
Tiger Woods 07 guide is 0.01 on BB website as of this morning. OOS online, limited local availability.

TW07 is actually from an old BB drop, if I recall correctly. May be a signal of a POSSIBLE drop that happened today. In the past, sometimes the website would be updated with drops when a drop in store happened.

Price checked Condemned 2 and Army of Two, both were 9.99 and 14.99 respectively.

Also checked the instore kiosk for the guides listed online, all were normal price (except for some of the older listed drops like Heavenly Sword etc), at least on the kiosk.

But I was there yesterday and they had several copies of the guides for Burnout Paradise and Super Paper Mario (Nintendo), all of which were gone today. So these may be potential drop candidates.
 
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[quote name='jgamezcua']Tiger Woods 07 guide is 0.01 on BB website as of this morning. OOS online, limited local availability.

TW07 is actually from an old BB drop, if I recall correctly. May be a signal of a POSSIBLE drop that happened today. In the past, sometimes the website would be updated with drops when a drop in store happened.

Price checked Condemned 2 and Army of Two, both were 9.99 and 14.99 respectively.

Also checked the instore kiosk for the guides listed online, all were normal price (except for some of the older listed drops like Heavenly Sword etc), at least on the kiosk.

But I was there yesterday and they had several copies of the guides for Burnout Paradise and Super Paper Mario (Nintendo), all of which were gone today. So these may be potential drop candidates.[/quote]

Didn't Tiger 07 drop a while back?
 
[quote name='Chronis']How much is the Blue hard cover Phantom Hourglass supposed to be anyway? $15?[/QUOTE]

It is $30 on the website
 
[quote name='jgamezcua']Price checked Condemned 2 and Army of Two, both were 9.99 and 14.99 respectively.

But I was there yesterday and they had several copies of the guides for Burnout Paradise and Super Paper Mario (Nintendo), all of which were gone today. So these may be potential drop candidates.[/quote]

Thanks for the heads up. I'll check my BB on the way home today and report my findings.
 
I can confirm that Super Paper Mario has been pennied, as well as Animal Crossing: Wild World. Burnout Paradise has not. And pretty much nothing else that we didn't already know about.
 
[quote name='GuardianE']I can confirm that Super Paper Mario has been pennied, as well as Animal Crossing: Wild World. Burnout Paradise has not. And pretty much nothing else that we didn't already know about.[/quote]


Thanks for checking, may try to head out tomorrow to find both. Looks like a drop on a non-Monday. I checked Super Paper Mario (Nintendo) on 6/30 and it was not yet pennied out.

Other POTENTIAL drop guides:

pokemon Pocket Pokedex Vol 1
Viking: Battle for Asgard
Zelda Twilight Wii
Pro Soccer 2008
Pirates of the Burning Sea
Pokemon Battle Revolution - Nintendo Version
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Blue/Red Rescue Team - Nintendo Version
Zelda: Twilight Princess Collector's Edition - Tan HardCover
Zelda: Twilight Princess Wii - Nintendo & White Prima Version
 
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[quote name='GuardianE']I can confirm that Super Paper Mario has been pennied, as well as Animal Crossing: Wild World. Burnout Paradise has not. And pretty much nothing else that we didn't already know about.[/QUOTE]

Did you check the Prima Super Paper Mario guide or the one from Nintendo? I know the Prima version pennied months ago. I know the Burnout Paradise guide is closed out in the system, so it could drop soon. But, we'll just have to see on Monday, since it's the first Monday of the month when Best Buy drops happen.
 
The one I have is the Wii one from Nintendo Power. That's been pennied.

My money's on Pirates. It's not online anymore and it's already at 9.99, which seems to be the point right before it goes down. I'm kinda thinking Orange Box and Crysis could also be contenders.

Oh and I've been waiting for that Zelda Tan Hardcover to penny foreeeever. I really hope it does.
 
[quote name='Ubiiquitous']But, we'll just have to see on Monday, since it's the first Monday of the month when Best Buy drops happen.[/quote]

Usually first Monday, but NOT always.

Hopefully another CAG can confirm Super Paper Mario (Nintendo)
 
[quote name='jgamezcua']
Hopefully another CAG can confirm Super Paper Mario (Nintendo)[/QUOTE]

If it's a penny at one Best Buy, wouldn't it be a penny at ALL Best Buy stores? Why is a confirmation necessary??
 
Halo 3 guide has dropped to $1.50 at my local Best Buy. It's still $19.99 in the system, but stickered at $1.50 - they needed a supervisor to manually adjust the price. I'd say it's YMMV. There were many sealed copies.
 
[quote name='Ubiiquitous']But, we'll just have to see on Monday, since it's the first Monday of the month when Best Buy drops happen.[/quote]

If a guide is a penny at Best Buy now why do we have to wait until Monday to see????
 
[quote name='jgamezcua']If a guide is a penny at Best Buy now why do we have to wait until Monday to see????[/QUOTE]

Referring to the fact that Burnout Paradise is closed out and for the others that have dropped off the site, not in regards to guides that already are a penny.
 
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