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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Thanks for the super-quick info. this morning...I had a fun day today:

007 Quantum
Gears 2 LE
Crisis Core: FF VII
SOCOM x2
SC IV
SC IV LE
ToV x2
WoW: Bestiary
WoW: Burning Crusade

This might be the best $0.00 I have ever spent at GS! Yes, every store I found that hadn't 'destroyed' them yet just slapped a big pile on the counter and said go for it. Also, at one GS, I got there just after a guy who had picked up all the really good stuff; he asked what I was looking for and I mentioned the Gears 2; well he pulls one out of his bag and hands it to me! He said he had grabbed 2, but since they were free, he'd quick one down to me!:D Really makes you want to keep your faith in humanity! Some people are still nice to total strangers for no reason! Karma does help sometimes, I guess.

I ended up kicking him an EDGE card with like $5 on it, just as a thank you. So I guess technically this cost me $5 in ultra-cheap GS credit...well worth it!

This Gears manual is VERY nice...
 
[quote name='shrike4242']Further revised list:

007 Quantum of Solace
Castlevania Order of Ecclesia
Cheat Codes Overload (or something like that)
Call of Duty 4
Destroy all Humans - Path Of The Furon
Dragon Quest IV DS
Fable II LE
Gears of War II LE
Socom Confrontation
Soulcalibur 4 (soft cover)
Spectrobes Beyond the Portraits
Spiderman Web of Shadows
Tales of Vesperia[/quote]

My brother works at a gamestop....I scored everyone on this list with the exception of Gears of War 2 guide....

A very nice day indeed.
 
[quote name='Rave Child']Yeah, the same thing happened to me at one store where I brought up 4 (out of 10 so don't hate me) Gears of War 2 guides.[/quote]

Seriously? Your store had 10 of the Hardcover Gears of War 2 LE guides? Most stores don't even have that many of the softcover guides.
 
Someone from cag cleared our area :lol: i asked for the gamestop guys to hold gripshift, and this guy claimed that it was him that called in an held the item. the guys from the 2 braches described the guy. the kid allegedly went in the store and asked... "I heard you have penny guides, I learned from the internet." I don't know if he pointed directly to CAG.
 
[quote name='guessed']Seriously? Your store had 10 of the Hardcover Gears of War 2 LE guides? Most stores don't even have that many of the softcover guides.[/QUOTE]

I nabbed two GoW 2 LE's of my store's 6. On the other hand, I don't recall seeing any GoW 2 softcovers...but I guess I wasn't looking for them, haha.
 
Well last time I looked in the dumpster I found a few guides (SCIV LE and GTA4*) so I looked tonight.
Found a heavy ass box. It had a total of 31 guides.
Sadly no LEs though.
Will trade heavily for the Fable II LE but that's for the trade page.
Thanks for all the info everyone.
* just in case anyone missed the post many ages ago GTA4 is not pennied but I found it 100% ok in the dumpster. (was clean and in a box)
 
[quote name='guessed']Seriously? Your store had 10 of the Hardcover Gears of War 2 LE guides? Most stores don't even have that many of the softcover guides.[/quote]

Yeah, I was kind of surprised, but I've noticed them there for a while. They do stand out, being such a vibrant red color. I went to 7 stores today, and that was the only one with GoW 2 LE. This is a larger store, and more highly trafficked store, though, so they may have just over ordered. The have literally 20+ Halo 3 guides right now and almost as many Phantom Hourglass softcovers, so I'm guessing they don't always have a good grasp on how many (or few) people want guides. Unfortunately, they didn't have any Fable 2 LE guides, though, but I already managed to get one for myself at least.
 
I checked my local BB today since I was in the area. All the mentioned guides here were regular price (or just dropped a few bucks). Oh well. I'll check GS soon.
 
I was actually talking about the last drop before this one. Still, that's good to know. Oh, randomness here. I peeked at there clearance games section and they had a Sega Genesis game in there. I think it was a Toontown game. Good stuff. It was sealed too.
 
[quote name='iluvmywife']Got shot down at GS yesterday. This store had the guides out but refused to sell them for a penny.

No big deal but I think I am done with GS.[/QUOTE]

I really hope that doesnt happen to me in an hour when i go. I know for a fact that this gamestop has multi copies of many different guides. Im only going to try to get only one copy of each though so they dont think that im 2 greedy.
 
[quote name='iluvmywife']Got shot down at GS yesterday. This store had the guides out but refused to sell them for a penny.

No big deal but I think I am done with GS.[/quote]

All that for being shot down for some Penny Guides @@... Lol I bet there is a 99% percent chance you will be back in that store.
 
Anyone in the Nashville area, the GameStop in the Cool Springs Galleria had not updated their prices yesterday, and, as of around 5:30 PM last night, still had the following on the spinner rack:

007 Quantum of Solace
Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals (x2, I believe)
Dragon Quest IV
Spider-Man Web of Shadows (x2, I believe)
Soulcalibur IV (not in great shape, though)
Destroy All Humans: Path of the Furon
Socom: Confrontation
Gears of War 2 LE

If you go when they open, I think there is a chance that the prices will have updated, but the guides may not have been pulled yet (Note: this does not necessarily mean that they will sell them to you). I would, but it is too far for me to go just for guides that they might not even sell to me. Good luck.

I will be posting this in regional as well.
 
Well wish me luck. Just got done writing my list and I am about to go on a hunt at my 4 local gamestops. I hope the one I go to first has the cool employees working today
 
It's weird that several people have reported guides ringing up for normal price at some GS's. I don't believe that has ever happened before (some stores having the old price, some having the pennied out price).
 
Got shot down at 2 of 5 GSes. At the other 3, I only took what I was interested in and left the rest. I did try to get the LEs for trading purposes, but was not able to.

It's nice, though...there's 2 GSes that I've gotten to know the manager and some of the other staff pretty well. If they're working, I can just ask 'have you thrown out your drops today?' and it's either 'yeah, sorry' or 'no, which ones do you want' in reply. Tossed one of the locations a preorder. I'll pay back the other location later.

EDIT: I tried to pick up the only copy of Cheat Codes Overload I saw at any GS...and it rang up full price at every location. Can anyone verify which version is pennied?
 
[quote name='BarbblerElf']Has anyone picked up any old penny guides at circuit city since the liquidation started?[/QUOTE]

Someone just posted yesterday that they did.
 
[quote name='eugaet']EDIT: I tried to pick up the only copy of Cheat Codes Overload I saw at any GS...and it rang up full price at every location. Can anyone verify which version is pennied?[/quote]

Yes, it'll say "Cheat Codes Overload 2008" on the GameStop sticker. We put them in the back when we got the new 2009 ones in, so you might have to ask (yikes, good luck).

Also, the GameShark Winter 2008 one was pennied as well. Only useful if you have a GameShark, but maybe it'll make someone's day.
 
[quote name='Josef']It's weird that several people have reported guides ringing up for normal price at some GS's. I don't believe that has ever happened before (some stores having the old price, some having the pennied out price).[/quote]

I think some stores might just be a day behind on pricing. The store where it happened to me had all the old trade in promos in their system on the first day the new ones started a few weeks ago. I went back this morning to check, and the guides were now pennied.
 
[quote name='SirChadlyOC']Yes, it'll say "Cheat Codes Overload 2008" on the GameStop sticker. We put them in the back when we got the new 2009 ones in, so you might have to ask (yikes, good luck).[/quote]OK, thanks. I checked the BradyGames site and it was the 2009 version I saw and had scanned. The only other version listed on their site must be the pennied one:

http://www.bradygames.com/bookstore/product.asp?isbn=0744010403

I think I may have picked this up from another store drop a while back...BB maybe?
 
[quote name='guessed']Seriously? Your store had 10 of the Hardcover Gears of War 2 LE guides? Most stores don't even have that many of the softcover guides.[/quote]

That's nothing. A couple of my local GS stores had 15 or more of the FFXII hardcover edition guide sitting on their shelves as of the last time I checked.

The one actually had them stacked up in such a way under the normal shelves on the guide rack that they made a fifth shelf with them.


[quote name='Pr0JectNymPh0!']Someone from cag cleared our area :lol: i asked for the gamestop guys to hold gripshift, and this guy claimed that it was him that called in an held the item. the guys from the 2 braches described the guy. the kid allegedly went in the store and asked... "I heard you have penny guides, I learned from the internet." I don't know if he pointed directly to CAG.[/quote]

I was brazen like that at one point and would go in to my local stores just asking if they had pulled the pennied guides yet. But over the years I've learned to do things with a bit more finesse, though that doesn't always help you actually get these things.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']I was brazen like that at one point and would go in to my local stores just asking if they had pulled the pennied guides yet. But over the years I've learned to do things with a bit more finesse, though that doesn't always help you actually get these things.[/QUOTE]

I would do that with the store managers I am familiar with. Each time they managed to pull out a bunch of hard to find guides from the back.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']That's nothing. A couple of my local GS stores had 15 or more of the FFXII hardcover edition guide sitting on their shelves as of the last time I checked.

The one actually had them stacked up in such a way under the normal shelves on the guide rack that they made a fifth shelf with them.[/quote]

Ah, yes, I remember you mentioning this in the past. What a day it'll be for you when those finally drop. I only see them at one store anymore, but they have them in the back and behind/underneath their counter, so people aren't really going to notice them or buy them. I haven't gotten it scanned for a few weeks, maybe I should have checked yesterday when I was there and the super nice girl was working. #-oIt was a Brady guide after all, and it's long overdue for a drop. I might be going back there this weekend or next week, so I'll make sure to have them scan it then, in case it was part of this drop, too.
 
[quote name='Rave Child']Ah, yes, I remember you mentioning this in the past. What a day it'll be for you when those finally drop. I only see them at one store anymore, but they have them in the back and behind/underneath their counter, so people aren't really going to notice them or buy them. I haven't gotten it scanned for a few weeks, maybe I should have checked yesterday when I was there and the super nice girl was working. #-oIt was a Brady guide after all, and it's long overdue for a drop. I might be going back there this weekend or next week, so I'll make sure to have them scan it then, in case it was part of this drop, too.[/quote]

Actually, I don't get guides from my local Gamestop stores anymore. The last time I picked up a single guide, it was from a place up in NY state when I went on a bit of a trek while my one relative was at an auto auction up there.

Otherwise, I don't even bother trying for ones from GS anymore, though the one local store(which just happens to be the office for their DM in this district)still let's me score 1-3 every so often.
 
Shot down at 1 GS that had a load of penny guides. I thought I was in penny guide nirvana when I saw, in a box with .01 stickers:

007 Quantum of Solace x1
Castlevania Order of Ecclesia x3
Cheat Codes Overload x3
Call of Duty 4 x1
Destroy all Humans - Path Of The Furon x2
Dragon Quest IV DS x2
Spectrobes Beyond the Portraits x2
WoW Bestiary x3

...and some Barbie and Horses game for .01. The cashier snickered at me and wouldn't sell me even one guide, thought all had been slashed with a utility knife to prevent resale. I didn't care; I'd take one of each for myself with a slash, but to no avail...

Two other GS had nothing of the sorts, and the Cheats Overload must have been 2009 as I was left standing stupid when they scanned for $7.99 each.

I'm sticking with Best Buy for penny guide drops in the future.
 
Looks like some guides disappeared from the BB site this morning, although I'm not sure which.

GTA IV guide is 9.99 online at BB right now.

checked a bunch of guides today and no new drops (i.e. Lost Odyssey, Hell Boy, Too Human, Mass Effect LE, Fire Emblem)
 
[quote name='Caliburn']Shot down at 1 GS that had a load of penny guides. I thought I was in penny guide nirvana when I saw, in a box with .01 stickers:

007 Quantum of Solace x1
Castlevania Order of Ecclesia x3
Cheat Codes Overload x3
Call of Duty 4 x1
Destroy all Humans - Path Of The Furon x2
Dragon Quest IV DS x2
Spectrobes Beyond the Portraits x2
WoW Bestiary x3

...and some Barbie and Horses game for .01. The cashier snickered at me and wouldn't sell me even one guide, thought all had been slashed with a utility knife to prevent resale. I didn't care; I'd take one of each for myself with a slash, but to no avail...

Two other GS had nothing of the sorts, and the Cheats Overload must have been 2009 as I was left standing stupid when they scanned for $7.99 each.

I'm sticking with Best Buy for penny guide drops in the future.[/quote]

Same here, went to 3 GS and got shot down at all three. Two at least were honest and told me their managers were anal about penny guides.

The third lied to my face and said they were all full price. At which point I pointed to the display which showed them ringing up as 0.01. The chick was pissed that I called her out. :bomb:

I'd rather they be honest and say they can't hand them out for whatever reason instead of tell me they are full price when they obviously aren't.
 
Do you guys think these will also work at EB Games? Just wondering, I know at one of my Gamestops the workers are pretty anal. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
EB Games and Gamestop are the same entity so yes, the prices should be in effect there as well.

It seems that GS really did a good job either pulling guides or preventing guide sales this round. I hit up 3 more GS's today and not a single penny guide at any of them. So I am 1 for 7 so far in stores that actually gave or sold them to me. Judging by some of the other posts here it would seem that's what others have been encountering as well. Oh well, there are still another 10+ stores I can hit in the next week to try to get the elusive Fable 2 LE, Castlevania, or DQIV guides.
 
Seems like Maryland GS's are better than Michigan's to me. Just got my 2nd successful score today!

Final Fantasy IV
Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution
Soul Calibur IV LE
Spider-Man: Web Of Shadows
 
[quote name='loxthefox']Seems like Maryland GS's are better than Michigan's to me. Just got my 2nd successful score today!

Final Fantasy IV
Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution
Soul Calibur IV LE
Spider-Man: Web Of Shadows[/quote]

You are lucky. I just left my gamestop that everything. Gears of War 2, Fable 2, Spiderman, Soul Calibur 4, Final Fantasy 4, WOW Beasty, Bioshock, Final Fantasy Crisis Core, Castlevania and a few more. When he scanned it he looked at his co worker. Then he said "Oh we can't sell that. We have got to send it back.". Man I would have been uber happy if i could have gotten them. too bad grrrr
 
[quote name='Josef']EB Games and Gamestop are the same entity so yes, the prices should be in effect there as well.

It seems that GS really did a good job either pulling guides or preventing guide sales this round. I hit up 3 more GS's today and not a single penny guide at any of them. So I am 1 for 7 so far in stores that actually gave or sold them to me. Judging by some of the other posts here it would seem that's what others have been encountering as well. Oh well, there are still another 10+ stores I can hit in the next week to try to get the elusive Fable 2 LE, Castlevania, or DQIV guides.[/quote]

I found that almost all the stores I went to had pulled their guides, but were just giving them away from free because they were going to throw them out at close. I rescued 5 DQIV guides 15 minutes before close at one store, so I'm quite happy I made it there by the end of the day. It should be noted that most of these were stores that haven't pulled guides in the past, or have only pulled them like 1-2 times out of several recent drops. Looks like I'll need to hit up as many stores as possible on the day of a drop from now on if I want a good shot at getting guides.
 
[quote name='jgamezcua']Looks like some guides disappeared from the BB site this morning, although I'm not sure which.[/QUOTE]

I also noticed this earlier today, they had 86 guides IIRC and now it's down to 81. I didn't notice what guides were missing either but hopefully this means we will be seeing a guide drop this Monday at Best Buy.

[quote name='Josef']It seems that GS really did a good job either pulling guides or preventing guide sales this round.[/QUOTE]

I would agree with this! I didn't see anything at the 2 stores near me, actually I was in GameStop Wedsday night (1-21-09) before the drop was mentioned so I didn't know about it but took a look over the guides and took notice to the fact that the 2-3 copies of Castlevania: OoE were gone and thought that they probably got pennied out and pulled :(
 
[quote name='Derrick1979']All that for being shot down for some Penny Guides @@... Lol I bet there is a 99% percent chance you will be back in that store.[/quote]

Try 100%.

Going back tonight to trade in a couple of games and perhaps pick one up!

Still though, I hate it when the guides are out but the employees refuse to sale them. I hate it especially when the employees are other than honest about penny guides. Really it is no big deal but it just sucks to have the guides in hand and get shot down.
 
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Love it. Just got back from another gamestop. Got a lot of guider including Phantom Hour hardcover. I will post full list when i get to my comp. Thanks to all who posted drops
 
Stopped at 2 GS that are in my area. These places were new to me as they're in my college town, and I just moved in a few weeks ago.

First place had a pile of them off to the side. I figured they had pulled them, then forgot, but it was worth a shot. He looked at me and said "no, these are going back". Asshole.

The second place had the same guides out on the floor. The cashier (and manager) were both like "yeah these pennied. We both got the 2 remaining LE Gears 2 guides" and they were happy as hell. They were totally awesome, sold me the guides, and even grabbed a Beastiary from the back. Too bad all GS can't be that nice.
 
[quote name='dcgm']Stoppe He looked at me and said "no, these are going back". Asshole. [/QUOTE]

To be perfectly fair, that's actually what they are supposed to do.
 
Thanks OP

went to 5 different Gamestops. was able to get
socom
castlevania
warcraft
spiderman
007
soul calibur IV

3 of the 5 stores I went to didn't have any luck.

The last store I went to the clerk asked me if I worked for gamestop (I had 7 guides on the counter that were all pennied out). I told him no, and he said that it was "suspicious" that I happened to get only pennied guides. I said "maybe I'm just lucky" :)

Happened to find a gripshift at one of the stores.

Heads up to any CAG'er in Knoxville TN. Gamestop comp. shows 1 copy of gripshift in stock at one of the stores in town. That's a valuable game for someone that wants to flip it.
 
[quote name='SDC']To be perfectly fair, that's actually what they are supposed to do.[/quote]
Yeah, but they don't. They give them out to employees or they throw them out. I know, I've worked at GS and my manager would rather rip them up than give them to customers.
 
Just got 2x blue dragon
2x dragon quest iv
alone in the dark
Crisis core
Okami wii
Uncharted
Destroy all humans
castlevania eccl
spider man web of shadow
Zelda phantom hour hard cover
final fantasy xii soft cover
$.13 got to love this thread. Going back for rest tomm. and going to try the one GS that shot me down again tomm and hope the let me get them tomm
 
[quote name='dcgm']Yeah, but they don't. They give them out to employees or they throw them out. I know, I've worked at GS and my manager would rather rip them up than give them to customers.[/QUOTE]

Wow, what makes a person such a dick?
 
I found me second GoW 2 Guide. But I didn't puchase it.

Reason 1#
it was really man handled. greasy finger prints all over it, and a small tear.

Reason #2
A DM was there, and I am pretty sure he would have turned me down, or make me pay full price.

I found the two I wanted yesterday, GoW 2 and Fable LE so I am good.
 
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