Reduced Price Game Guides: Thread Nine

Status
Not open for further replies.
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.


 
Last edited by a moderator:
I have been denied at 4 different CCs for guides that come 'up part of package', or NOF. The cashiers try to do it for me (by trying both UPCs and the PRIxxxx), but a manager always comes over and says they can't sell the guide without the game. One day Rogue Galaxy will be mine!

On topic: Just for the hell of it I checked the price on some Pokemon guides from 2003/04 at B&N today and they came up full price.
 
[quote name='slowdive21']

On topic: Just for the hell of it I checked the price on some Pokemon guides from 2003/04 at B&N today and they came up full price.[/quote] I don't think they penny anything there or border's. Checked both places before.
 
[quote name='YoshiFan1']It is like that in a lot of stores, some cashiers take offense to the fact you are getting a good deal and act like the discount is coming out of their own pocket.[/quote]

I usually get that from managers or strict employees. Most normal employees get confused or congratulate me on my luck.

Example: the other day I had *4* employees/managers called to help my cashier with Rogue Galaxy. The cashier was confused because of the bundle requirement, so she called over an experienced employee. That employee thought it was cool and said he'd try to get it to work. No go. Another employee came by to find out what was going on, then went to find a manager.

The manager was pissy and didn't want to deal with it. Despite his attempts, he couldn't get it to work, so he called in the head of the software department. She immediately said, "Well, it's an anomaly; if it rings up for a penny, why not just se-" but the manager cut her off, directly stating, "The hell we're selling this for a penny. We'd lose money!" The reactions were mixed, from stifled laughter to rolling eyes, and realizing that it would look stupid to charge me full said, "Tell you what, we'll sell it for $7.99."
 
[quote name='slowdive21']I have been denied at 4 different CCs for guides that come 'up part of package', or NOF. The cashiers try to do it for me (by trying both UPCs and the PRIxxxx), but a manager always comes over and says they can't sell the guide without the game. One day Rogue Galaxy will be mine!

On topic: Just for the hell of it I checked the price on some Pokemon guides from 2003/04 at B&N today and they came up full price.[/quote]

I had a problem with the double agent and lego star wars 2 guides coming up as needing the game. The cashier called the manager over to convince me to give up and I told him if he could find copies of either one of the games Id buy them all. When he couldnt they just gave them to me for a penny.
 
[quote name='darkslime']I don't think they penny anything there or border's. Checked both places before.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, it's been reported that bookstore employees are better trained and pull anything that drops to a penny. We're just lucky that BB employees either don't know or don't care about pulling pennied guides.
 
IATCG: Please add this to the 2nd page.

Ok. It was a weak drop over at Gamecrazy, but a drop nonetheless.

All of these are the Nintendo Power brand guides.

Animal Crossing DS
Final Fantasy V
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
New Super Mario Bros
Pokemon Battle Revolution
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Pokemon Ranger
Super Paper Mario
Ultimate National Pokedex
Yoshi's Island

Granted, I was expecting something more but at least the manager (who's really cool with me) shared the list with me. Guess I'll wait for the next BB drop.

--Michael
 
[quote name='Xizer']I think he's being sarcastic.[/quote]

Yes I was being sarcastic. :lol:

I do own most of these guides but use the list at your local Gamecrazy and see if they have them in. I was hoping for other guides to drop down but I guess I can wait. My local Gamecrazy has a TON of guides just waiting to be dropped. As for the price, I think they are priced at a penny. However, I don't need to worry about it since I usually can get them for free. However, it's YMMV. Some will be glad to give them to you, some will want to destroy them.

--Michael
 
Mine ripped the back cover off, because that was apparently all he needed to prove that it had been destroyed. It's too bad the guy wasn't a little more careful, though, since he ripped part of the spine off too, and now the back pages of my GTA: VCS guide are falling out :cry:
 
[quote name='Rave Child']Mine ripped the back cover off, because that was apparently all he needed to prove that it had been destroyed. It's too bad the guy wasn't a little more careful, though, since he ripped part of the spine off too, and now the back pages of my GTA: VCS guide are falling out :cry:[/quote]

I'd like a back cover ripped guide than none at all, assuming its a guide I need/want
 
I know, I'm quite glad I got it, since I'm actually going to use it. Plus, I nearly traded for one the week before, so now I'm extra happy to have it anyway.
 
[quote name='Civickid96']IATCG: Please add this to the 2nd page.

Ok. It was a weak drop over at Gamecrazy, but a drop nonetheless.

All of these are the Nintendo Power brand guides.

Animal Crossing DS
Final Fantasy V
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
New Super Mario Bros
Pokemon Battle Revolution
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Pokemon Ranger
Super Paper Mario
Ultimate National Pokedex
Yoshi's Island

Granted, I was expecting something more but at least the manager (who's really cool with me) shared the list with me. Guess I'll wait for the next BB drop.

--Michael[/quote]

I guess I know where I'm going today :)
 
[quote name='Civickid96']IATCG: Please add this to the 2nd page.

Ok. It was a weak drop over at Gamecrazy, but a drop nonetheless.

All of these are the Nintendo Power brand guides.

Animal Crossing DS
Final Fantasy V
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
New Super Mario Bros
Pokemon Battle Revolution
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Pokemon Ranger
Super Paper Mario
Ultimate National Pokedex
Yoshi's Island

Granted, I was expecting something more but at least the manager (who's really cool with me) shared the list with me. Guess I'll wait for the next BB drop.

--Michael[/quote]

Any idea when they actually dropped them? And what price they dropped them to? I ask because GC has been dropping stuff to .00 lately and as we all know it's tough enough to get them to ring up a penny guide, let alone just give you one that rings up zero.

I'll add them, but I'm leaving the date and price empty for now till we get some sort of clarification.
 
I can confirm the following at Gamecrazy:

Animal Crossing: Wild World (NP)
Final Fantasy V (NP) :D
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon (NP)
Yoshi's Island (NP)

They didn't have any of the other NP guides, but it's probably safe to say those are confirmed as well.

The guy checking me out scanned them all and was really hesitant to tell me the price when I asked. He finally squeaked out "They're a penny..." and sounded confused, which is when I told him that's what they're supposed to be. "Really?" I then gave him the run-down on penny guides and how they work (to a point, I didn't want him knowing that they should really be destroyed). Since he was such a good sport, I offered him my extra FFV & Animal Crossing, which he denied.

Also of note, there was a stack of penny guides just sitting out on the counter (Transformer, CoD3, Spiderman 3) which is weird since I thought I grabbed all that that particular store had on Tuesday. My guess is the manager only grabbed the ones he wanted to give away (I had asked if he had any) and left the rest if anyone wanted them.

I'll be checking one more GC later this week, but I'm satisfied with this haul :)
 
I wish I had seen this yesterday while I was there. I found a Rocket Slime and Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin guide there, along with Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2 for $15.
 
So I was getting some penny guides at Gamecrazy, today, and the clerk refuses to sell me Pokemon Battle Revolution, because it's a wii game and he figures it's too new to be a penny (which is no biggie, since I have a million copies already and he was letting me get Animal Crossing which was the one guide there that I really wanted). Anyways, later on, I'm hanging out in a used game store, and I see the same clerk come in with the Battle Revolution guide, plus a stack of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon guides that I didn't grab, to sell them there. So I guess it was ok for him to buy it for a penny, just not me.
 
[quote name='KABUKISTAR']So I was getting some penny guides at Gamecrazy, today, and the clerk refuses to sell me Pokemon Battle Revolution, because it's a wii game and he figures it's too new to be a penny (which is no biggie, since I have a million copies already and he was letting me get Animal Crossing which was the one guide there that I really wanted). Anyways, later on, I'm hanging out in a used game store, and I see the same clerk come in with the Battle Revolution guide, plus a stack of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon guides that I didn't grab, to sell them there. So I guess it was ok for him to buy it for a penny, just not me.[/quote]


Was it the GC in Shoreline?
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Any idea when they actually dropped them? And what price they dropped them to? I ask because GC has been dropping stuff to .00 lately and as we all know it's tough enough to get them to ring up a penny guide, let alone just give you one that rings up zero.

I'll add them, but I'm leaving the date and price empty for now till we get some sort of clarification.[/quote]

IATCG,

As far as I know, the guides were dropped this past Tuesday. As Punk confirmed, the prices of the guide are a penny.

--Michael
 
[quote name='KABUKISTAR']So I was getting some penny guides at Gamecrazy, today, and the clerk refuses to sell me Pokemon Battle Revolution, because it's a wii game and he figures it's too new to be a penny (which is no biggie, since I have a million copies already and he was letting me get Animal Crossing which was the one guide there that I really wanted). Anyways, later on, I'm hanging out in a used game store, and I see the same clerk come in with the Battle Revolution guide, plus a stack of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon guides that I didn't grab, to sell them there. So I guess it was ok for him to buy it for a penny, just not me.[/quote]

Just wondering, did he see you?
 
Something similar happened at another Gamecrazy I went to...

I only found Pokemon Battle Revolution & Ranger (woots?) so when I went to check out, the clerk looked confused (naturally) and went to consult the manager. He then said this, and I quote, "Tell you what I'm going to do. If you buy our MVP membership, I'll let you have these two guides for $0.02" :dunce:

I shot back "Tell you what. I'll just buy the two guides for the $0.02 they should be and I"ll be on my way." He acted all butt-hurt and then got his manager (which I've had words with before). The manager then took the guides and said he'd have to destroy them out. In the end I ended up with no guides, but that's okay, I already had those two. What a douche. :roll:
 
[quote name='neocisco']Was it the GC in Shoreline?[/quote]
Funny you should ask, because I used to live in Shoreline. But no, it was in Spokompton.

[quote name='Link927']Just wondering, did he see you?[/quote]
Yeah, actually I didn't notice him until he came up and talked to me. "Hey, you got the same idea I did," he said.
 
[quote name='punkmaggit']Something similar happened at another Gamecrazy I went to...

I only found Pokemon Battle Revolution & Ranger (woots?) so when I went to check out, the clerk looked confused (naturally) and went to consult the manager. He then said this, and I quote, "Tell you what I'm going to do. If you buy our MVP membership, I'll let you have these two guides for $0.02" :dunce:

I shot back "Tell you what. I'll just buy the two guides for the $0.02 they should be and I"ll be on my way." He acted all butt-hurt and then got his manager (which I've had words with before). The manager then took the guides and said he'd have to destroy them out. In the end I ended up with no guides, but that's okay, I already had those two. What a douche. :roll:[/quote]

Same thing happened to me. He told me they were normally 7.99 (which is funny because I asked if guides ever go on sale and he said 'no', so how could they be half off cover?), but if I buy an MVP they would be .01. I posted the rest of the story in the guide discussion thread.
 
Same thing happened to me when I was getting my previously mentioned GTA: VCS guide. I was also buying a complete, mint copy of Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (only $15, what a steal!) and didn't have an MVP card. He's like "I'll tell you what, how about I give you this guide for free if you buy an MVP card." I politely told him no, and he looked at me for a few seconds before admitting that it came up as a penny, so I could have it for free anyway once he ripped the back cover off.
 
i did do the mvp once. the clerk was letting me get like 30 guides at once and he offered another 15 if i did mvp. i liked the guy so i did it. but it did bite me in the ass all the gamecrazy near me have closed oh well
 
Gamecrazy has some shady business practices, I swear. They will change prices around constantly depending on if you have an MVP card or not. Reminds me of trying to buy a used car from a crooked salesman.
 
[quote name='gamegirl79']Gamecrazy has some shady business practices, I swear. They will change prices around constantly depending on if you have an MVP card or not. Reminds me of trying to buy a used car from a crooked salesman.[/QUOTE]

No, its actually very simple. With MVP you receive a 10% discount on all used games and accessories. Its the exact same deal as Game Stop, except they advertise the MVP discount price on the sticker. How is that shady?

Don't get me wrong, Game Crazy has been on a downward spiral for over a year, and I don't see any possibility of them climbing out of it, in 2-3 years I wouldn't be surprised if all Hollywood Video and Game Crazy go out of business completely. Just about every last gen game I buy from them is heavily scratched, and not complete. Roughly 1/4 of their used inventory comes from Hollywood Video. The only reason why I still sort of like the store is because they don't gut new games as display copies.
 
[quote name='freshzen']No, its actually very simple. With MVP you receive a 10% discount on all used games and accessories. Its the exact same deal as Game Stop, except they advertise the MVP discount price on the sticker. How is that shady?[/quote]

What's shady is when I go into Gamecrazy to buy a *new* game and it is $20 more because they are tacking on an MVP membership. They simply will not sell a new game at retail price without MVP. I have witnessed this multiple times. When I ask for a new game and then show my MVP card the clerk is like "oh, okay, it's regular price for you".

If they want to push the MVP membership, fine, but don't force it on a person. That's all I'm saying.
 
[quote name='shieryda']What sucks about CC is that you can't see the computer screen at the CS counter when they scan the items. The girl tried the Oblivion GotY guide, and exclaimed "You've got to be kidding me." She had to scan the guide several times, so I'm wondering if that one is OOS, and hence a penny, also?

I also tried the Mass Effect, Rainbow Six Vegas 2 and Lego Indy guides.[/quote]

I checked the Oblivion GOTY guide at my closest CC yesterday and they CLAIM it came up as $24.99, so I'm thinking it may have been pennied by their 'look' when they first scanned it.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']I checked the Oblivion GOTY guide at my closest CC yesterday and they CLAIM it came up as $24.99, so I'm thinking it may have been pennied by their 'look' when they first scanned it.[/QUOTE]

I went ahead and checked today, and the guy came back very smoothly with no hesitation at $24.99. I think it's really $24.99.
 
I'll check it at the other CC by me if I stop down there tonight to try and clean out their copies of Alone In The Dark for Wii and Dynasty Warriors Gundam for trade to Blockbuster. If the one clerk is down there, she should get a kick out of checking that one, since she's been the person I've tried to go to every time we've found out about guides pennying there recently.
 
[quote name='gamegirl79']What's shady is when I go into Gamecrazy to buy a *new* game and it is $20 more because they are tacking on an MVP membership. They simply will not sell a new game at retail price without MVP. I have witnessed this multiple times. When I ask for a new game and then show my MVP card the clerk is like "oh, okay, it's regular price for you".

If they want to push the MVP membership, fine, but don't force it on a person. That's all I'm saying.[/quote]Which GC is this "practice" being done at? The only one I normally frequent is the Fenton store, and I know they push the MVP card hard. Though, not anything to the level you're talking about. :whistle2:s
 
[quote name='freshzen']The only reason why I still sort of like the store is because they don't gut new games as display copies.[/quote]

They started gutting the new DS games at mine.
 
Hi, I don't understand some of this.
On the first page, it shows Gamecrazy game guides
like 'New Super Mario Bros' for $.01,
but I called and they said no such thing.

Do I have to go in and see what they got,
or will the guide show up in stock and on sale if I call and ask?
Thanks.
 
[quote name='gordojones88']Hi, I don't understand some of this.
On the first page, it shows Gamecrazy game guides
like 'New Super Mario Bros' for $.01,
but I called and they said no such thing.

Do I have to go in and see what they got,
or will the guide show up in stock and on sale if I call and ask?
Thanks.[/quote]

Never call and Pulease read the first post, it's excellent.
 
[quote name='freshzen']No, its actually very simple. With MVP you receive a 10% discount on all used games and accessories. Its the exact same deal as Game Stop, except they advertise the MVP discount price on the sticker. How is that shady?

Don't get me wrong, Game Crazy has been on a downward spiral for over a year, and I don't see any possibility of them climbing out of it, in 2-3 years I wouldn't be surprised if all Hollywood Video and Game Crazy go out of business completely. Just about every last gen game I buy from them is heavily scratched, and not complete. Roughly 1/4 of their used inventory comes from Hollywood Video. The only reason why I still sort of like the store is because they don't gut new games as display copies.[/QUOTE]

Guess you havent been to one of the remodeled GC. They gutted all their games.
 
[quote name='gordojones88']Hi, I don't understand some of this.
On the first page, it shows Gamecrazy game guides
like 'New Super Mario Bros' for $.01,
but I called and they said no such thing.

Do I have to go in and see what they got,
or will the guide show up in stock and on sale if I call and ask?
Thanks.[/quote]

Never, ever, EVER call on a deal, since the employees will be alerted to it and may take the initiative to do their job and pull the guides you're looking for, since after all they are supposed to pull and destroy the guides. The fact that some of us get them for .01 means there's some lax employees who didn't do their jobs, they're NOT supposed to sell them once they hit .01 though, it's just a marker for them to pull them. If you read the first post fully, you'll know that that's the case. Please take the time to read it.

The no call rule is especially true when talking about game and other deals, since if there's a gamer or a reseller working at said store, you could be putting games in the hands of an Ebayer who will use them to make money, versus a normal gamer who will just want them to play(or in some cases 'flip' like I'm doing sometimes).
 
[quote name='gordojones88']Hi, I don't understand some of this.
On the first page, it shows Gamecrazy game guides
like 'New Super Mario Bros' for $.01,
but I called and they said no such thing.

Do I have to go in and see what they got,
or will the guide show up in stock and on sale if I call and ask?
Thanks.[/quote]

Oh lord.... really?
 
Picked up my first pennied guides tonight at Circuit City.

:360: Viva Pinata (Prima)
Rock Band (multi) (Prima)
Rainbow Six Vegas (Prima)

I've been looking for the VP guide (definitely helps), and I just bought RSV a few weeks ago from GS as part of their clearance sale. The RB guide is probably unnecessary, but it was a penny. Can't really argue with the price. :)
 
Only lightly off-topic: if you pick up any version of The Force Unleashed at TRU, you get the guide at 50% off (roughly $10). A lot more than I like to pay for a guide, mind you, but a good deal if you're already planning to get the game and guide.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Never, ever, EVER call on a deal, since the employees will be alerted to it and may take the initiative to do their job and pull the guides you're looking for, since after all they are supposed to pull and destroy the guides. The fact that some of us get them for .01 means there's some lax employees who didn't do their jobs, they're NOT supposed to sell them once they hit .01 though, it's just a marker for them to pull them. If you read the first post fully, you'll know that that's the case. Please take the time to read it.

The no call rule is especially true when talking about game and other deals, since if there's a gamer or a reseller working at said store, you could be putting games in the hands of an Ebayer who will use them to make money, versus a normal gamer who will just want them to play(or in some cases 'flip' like I'm doing sometimes).[/quote]

The best thing to do is if you are going to call, be sure to call another state and screw it up for someone else.
 
[quote name='troy2007']Only lightly off-topic: if you pick up any version of The Force Unleashed at TRU, you get the guide at 50% off (roughly $10). A lot more than I like to pay for a guide, mind you, but a good deal if you're already planning to get the game and guide.[/quote]

I dont think thats off topic at all. This thread is for reduced game guides, not just pennied guides. We have the ocassional post for $4.99 or $9.99 guides, I'd pick up a guide at that price if I'd really like it. So dont be afraid to post guides that are cheaper but not pennied.
 
[quote name='yukafls']Not a reduced one, but are the Crazy Taxi, Zombie Revenge, and House of the Dead 2 guide worth any money????[/quote]

Anyone???
 
[quote name='shoe478']The best thing to do is if you are going to call, be sure to call another state and screw it up for someone else.[/quote]

What do you think I do for many towns in NY and NJ? :D Juuuuuuust kidding, though I did hit those areas at one point in time too. I've found that the Johnson City Mall was my best place to score a few guides(that and the Carousel in Syracuse, which used to have a 3-6 month supply of older guides), though I don't get up that way much anymore because I don't hit the auctions(auto) up there anymore that much due to gas costs.
 
[quote name='yukafls']Anyone???[/quote]
Yes they are all worth money, I just don't know how much. Do you want someone to search them at Amazon or eBay for you?
 
Eh, just because. Doing a quick search on amazon, Crazy Taxi and Zombie net 80 cents and 2.xx. House of the Dead depends, Prima is a penny while Brady is at $15. Half will net you a little more.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
bread's done
Back
Top