Reduced Price Game Guides: Thread Nine

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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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I'll have to try hitting up CC for some guides then. Last time I was there, the clerks/guys that walk around but really don't do anything seemed pretty cool. Maybe if they remember me, I can use that to my advantage.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Yeah. Let me get right on that project of totally messing around with the first and second posts JUST to suit you. Print up a list prior to hitting BB/TRU/GS, that's what many of us do. Unless you want to take over the thread, then please.....kindly....shut the fuck up. Thanks. :razz:

As it stands, I see the clutter has crept in again and we're already up to close to a third of the size that the old one was capped off at. No offense, but it's a pain in the fuckin' nuts to have to sift through 100 posts of 'any drops' or mindless chatter just to find info on what dropped.

Anyone with info on what dropped and when(since I made a couple ?? additions to the post 2 list since no one knew when the GC 0 cent drops happened), please PM me with them. Thanks.

As it is, I may well remove some of the second post soon, since we're almost to the point of having a years worth of old drops listed and I'm sure if there's a post limit, it'll be coming up SOON.

So with that all being said, the format is staying AS IS and if you don't like it, then go check out SlickDeals or FatWallet whenever a new drop occurs for a 'concise list' since they're all about making little chatter and getting the deals as quickly as they can.

This is why I refused to take over the thread a couple times before, since people think it's like Burger King. No, you cannot have it YOUR way here.[/QUOTE]


Apparently I'll still be scrolling, that's cool. I really appreciate your considerate way of explaining it to me.
 
[quote name='hellmutt']Apparently I'll still be scrolling, that's cool. I really appreciate your considerate way of explaining it to me.[/quote]

What I do is use the phone on my camera to take a picture of the lists and then just use that. Maybe you could do that?
 
[quote name='genfuyung']What I do is use the phone on my camera to take a picture of the lists and then just use that. Maybe you could do that?[/QUOTE]

That's a good idea, I could try that. My problem is that I'm rarely near a computer. I actually expected other people to comment the same thing, but seeing as I'm apparently the only one, please consider my suggestion withdrawn :)
 
[quote name='eugaet']Think you mean hellmutt, not me. ;)[/quote]

I did and I stand corrected. Thanks.

Typing your name is a pain.;)
 
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So, I went to several CC's yesterday and they all had penny guides and very helpful employees. (Several wanted to get some for themselves after I left so they were price checking like crazy) Most of these WERE NOT in the system, and the employee had to just type in $.01 or just hand it to me for free. In fact, the Metroid guide doesn't even have a UPC so the employee got the store manager who spent 15 minutes on the phone (with corporate i'm assuming) before telling the employee just to give it to me.

I know some of these have been listed before, but several haven't so here's the list:
Army of Two (Prima)
Assassin's Creed (Prima - the one with the poster in it)
Devil May Cry 4 (Prima)
Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends (Prima)
Halo 3 (The Official Guide)
Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Softcover Premiere Edition Prima)
Lego Star Wars: The COMPLETE Saga (Prima)
Metroid Prime 3 Corruption (Premiere Edition Prima)
New Super Mario Bros (Nintendo)
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorer's Guide (Pre-order bonus)
Pokemon Ranger (Nintendo)
Rogue Galaxy (DoubleJump)
Super Paper Mario (Prima)
Super Paper Mario (Nintendo)
Splinter Cell: Double Agent (Prima)
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary (The one with the poster)
Viva Pinata (Prima)
Yoshi's Island DS (Nintendo)
 
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[quote name='shiningslade']You can add these also:
Guild Wars Factions
Sims 2 Open For Business
Mech Assault[/quote]

Which store? CC?
 
Just about every store...lol they're pretty old guides, especially Mech Assault ;) But yes CC in particular. I doubt you'd find any of those guides anywhere else.
 
Devil May Cry 4 def. rang up $19.99 for me yesterday at CC as well. I will need to go back and check Assassin's Creed!
 
I went today and DMC4 and Assassins Creed rang up $19.99. I did manage to get a few guides and the clerk was really nice. Thanks for the heads up on the CC guides!!!!
 
I went to CC and was able to get the following for 1 cent:

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary
Viva Pinata
Yoshi's Island DS
Madden '08
and some Tom Clancey game guide

Assassin's Creed and Devil May Cry 4 were both $19.99 each.
 
Picked up the following penny guides:
Tomb Raider: Anniversary
National Pokedex
Rainbow 6: Vegas
Viva Pinata
Metroid Prime 3
Pokemon Battle Revolution

Checked the following all were NOT a penny:
Pokedex Vol 1
Pokedex Vol 2
God of War 2
LoZ: TP Wii Edition
Rainbow 6: Vegas 2
DMC 4
Halo 3
Assassin's Creed
The iPod Book

The following rang up strange:
LOTR: Online (listed as not in stock)
Army of Two (listed as not in stock)
Splinter Cell: Double Agent (rang up as only to be sold in some package)

There were other guides on the list, but I already had most of them.
 
OK...guess we don't need any more verification, but Assassin's Creed also rang up at $19.99 for me around noon...as well as the Halo 3 guide.

Picked up...
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon R/B (NP)
Super Paper Mario (NP)
Viva Pinata
...for $0.01 each.

This was at the same CC that I was denied at on Tuesday evening...and w/ the same employee! He couldn't recall what happened to the guides they took from me on Tuesday (I saw them disappear into the back)...he said they should have been put back on the shelf. So either someone else got them for a penny (and left all the others) or they're still in the back and he just couldn't find them. At any rate, I'll be keeping an eye on that location to see if they eventually resurface.
 
Picked up the following:

Super Paper Mario (NP)
Super Paper Mario (P)
Tomb Raider Anniversary
Pokemon Pokedex (Pearl & Diamond) (NP)
...and a couple of others.

I was hoping beyond hope that they still had Rogue Galaxy, but no such luck. :whistle2:( These are all on my TL and I'd die for a Rogue Galaxy :)
 
Ah, that was another title that rung up full price for me at CC at noon...Rogue Galaxy.

And, yes, I was where I could see the screen this time. ;)
 
I wonder if they added Assasin's Creed, Halo 3, Rogue Galaxy, and DMC4 to the system today, because they wouldn't even scan last night.

UPDATE:
Stopped by CC on my way home from work and these still didn't scan and were selling for $.01, so looks like YMMV.
 
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[quote name='neocisco']
You are REALLY overreacting, IATCG. All eugaet was doing was making a suggestion/asking a question. If you don't think it's a better idea, that's fine but telling him to "shut the fuck up" is just childish, particularly coming from someone in their 30's. It's just a .01 guide thread, not the Library of Congress. Stop being so self-important about it.[/quote]

What does my AGE have to do with anything? Seriously? I'm more than a bit sick of the 'suggestions' about how to improve the thread. Apologies to hellmutt, since I shouldn't have snapped like that, but I've had numerous, numerous 'critics' of this thread since I took over and I just got sick of it. If people don't like how it's kept, that's their problem. Print up a list before going to the store(s) if you think scrolling for a few extra seconds on your phone at the store is a 'hassle'.

People don't like how this is kept, fuck 'em. That's my take on it and that's all I'm gonna say on that from this point on.
 
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MY BlockBuster had some real old guides and magazines on the rack on monday, but they were all gone today, Does BlockBuster Penny stuff out? thanks.
 
According to Whitedeath, whose wife works at Blockbuster, they penny out the items but only AFTER they pull them from the shelves.

Believe me, I've seen some SUPER old guides at one of the local BBV stores around here before and when I had them price checked, they all came up full price.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']What does my AGE have to do with anything? Seriously? I'm more than a bit sick of the 'suggestions' about how to improve the thread. Apologies to hellmutt, since I shouldn't have snapped like that, but I've had numerous, numerous 'critics' of this thread since I took over and I just got sick of it. If people don't like how it's kept, that's their problem. Print up a list before going to the store(s) if you think scrolling for a few extra seconds on your phone at the store is a 'hassle'.

People don't like how this is kept, fuck 'em. That's my take on it and that's all I'm gonna say on that from this point on.[/QUOTE]

I appreciate you stepping up and taking ownership of this thread and I know that doesn't get thrown out there nearly enough as it should, especially not as nearly as the criticisms. So I can appreciate it if it's frustrating to never hear appreciation, but always hear criticism.

It didn't seem like hellmutt was trying to be critical but, rather, just making a suggestion. He was trying to think of something he thought would help improve the thread is all.

But, for every hellmutt there's 20 others who aren't so diplomatic in their suggetions, so I definitely don't defend or condone the words of those types of people.
 
Checked out my CC, as expected, a very bleak guide selection, but I did manage to pick up SPM and Viva Pinata. DMC4 and Loz:TP Wii were both full. I forgot to write down the list, missed out on a Vegas guide, and I might pick up a second SPM guide tommorow.

The con: I was running around looking for a CSR to ring me up, why is no one ever on register, and when they are, they take 10 minuetes with each customer -_-
 
After a visit to both CC and BB i finally know what to do to get these guides for a penny. Always go to the regular checkout counter and not the customer service one. CS=Manager, Manger=No go on penny guides.
After i went to the CS the manager took the guides away and told me they cant sell these. I got 3 penny guides and went to the regular counter. She told me 3 cents and i happily paid. The bad part was that the manager took the 5 guides that i actually wanted. :cry:
 
I have to go to the CS counter since no one was on register, and no one was at the CS counter for a good deal of time too. Clerk rang me up, the manager was helping another customer, but I dont think he cared that much.
 
[quote name='Link927']I have to go to the CS counter since no one was on register, and no one was at the CS counter for a good deal of time too. Clerk rang me up, the manager was helping another customer, but I dont think he cared that much.[/quote]

I also had to go to the CS counter when i went to CC. Another rule i must also follow when i try to get penny guides is moderation. It really didnt help when i took 15 guides to the CS. Now i know to never take more than 5 guides to the counter at once unless i know for sure ill get them. Luckily i dont think anyone else gets penny guides from the stores i go to.
 
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[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']What does my AGE have to do with anything? Seriously? I'm more than a bit sick of the 'suggestions' about how to improve the thread. Apologies to hellmutt, since I shouldn't have snapped like that, but I've had numerous, numerous 'critics' of this thread since I took over and I just got sick of it. If people don't like how it's kept, that's their problem. Print up a list before going to the store(s) if you think scrolling for a few extra seconds on your phone at the store is a 'hassle'.

People don't like how this is kept, fuck 'em. That's my take on it and that's all I'm gonna say on that from this point on.[/QUOTE]

Don't feel bad man I know what you're going through. I got like a million suggestions on what needed to be in my PS3 hard drive install index thread. Some good, some bad. All I can say is everyone's a critic.
 
[quote name='Link927']Checked out my CC, as expected, a very bleak guide selection, but I did manage to pick up SPM and Viva Pinata. DMC4 and Loz:TP Wii were both full. I forgot to write down the list, missed out on a Vegas guide, and I might pick up a second SPM guide tommorow.

The con: I was running around looking for a CSR to ring me up, why is no one ever on register, and when they are, they take 10 minuetes with each customer -_-[/quote]

Lately, the regular registers are NEVER open at my closest CC, thus leaving ONLY the Customer Service desk open for being taken care of at and as someone else said that's usually where the manager of the store tends to be too.:roll:

Thanks Purkeynator and Ubiiquitous, since it does get SO frustrating at times, but I do again apologize to hellmutt. I guess I've always been one to just take criticism for a while and then when someone mentions even the tiniest thing, I snap. Again, I can't say it enough, but I am sorry for snapping like I did. We all have our days, I suppose, but with me it seems to be more frequent lately. :whistle2:#:cry:
 
I kinda feel sorry for the CC, its about 3 or 4 blocks off from the shopping center with Walmart, Best Buy and restrants, so its expected to have less customers. (Its wierd, the put it on an empty lot, and then a few smaller shops opened around it after) Of course, that still doesnt excuse why there are 4 or 5 employees chatting while Im looking for a clerk to ring me up. I checked the auto instalations, busy w/ customer, so I ran to the laptop kiosk, both employees were talking to one couple, back to the front of the store, no registers open, the CS desk was also unoccupied. So I did this dance twice more before a clerk decided to pop up behind the desk. Sigh, well, at least they didnt give me trouble for buying the guides...yet
 
[quote name='genfuyung']What I do is use the phone on my camera to take a picture of the lists and then just use that. Maybe you could do that?[/quote]
I send myself a text with the guides on them. Not sure how other carriers work, but if you have verizon go to text.vzw.com and copy/paste guide info there. I usually have to clean it up and only put guides I really want (or don't have), and sometimes a couple texts, but it is a lot less conspicuous than a piece of paper in hand.
 
[quote name='GrilledWitOnions']I send myself a text with the guides on them. Not sure how other carriers work, but if you have verizon go to text.vzw.com and copy/paste guide info there. I usually have to clean it up and only put guides I really want (or don't have), and sometimes a couple texts, but it is a lot less conspicuous than a piece of paper in hand.[/quote]

See, I try to do it from memory and I usually was forgetting a few, so I started just jotting down a few that I might really want and just taking a small list with me.
 
[quote name='hellmutt']That's a good idea, I could try that. My problem is that I'm rarely near a computer. I actually expected other people to comment the same thing, but seeing as I'm apparently the only one, please consider my suggestion withdrawn :)[/quote]

I commented on a related issue, about 300 posts back (and got a similar brilliant comment from Xizer - well, consistency is a virtue, of sorts). My suggestion was simply to keep one list up to date (whether post #2 or the wiki). It seems IATCG has settled on using post #2, and that's fine with me. I can handle a few seconds of scrolling to get to a more-or-less up-to-date list, and I appreciate IATCG's efforts to try to keep it updated.

In other news, my local BB moved the bulk of the guides from the backwaters of the PC game/book area to the videogame section. It's a much higher traffic area, and they're more prominently displayed. I'm afeared that this means they will pay more attention to the guides and weed out the penny guides as soon as they're pennied.
 
[quote name='Frosty The Batman']Am I the only person that uses Post-Its?[/quote]

nope, I do sometimes. I usually just remember them all though
 
It's not like there's 20+ guides to look out for at any givin drop.
I'll write a few down on a Post-It, head to work, stop by whatever store on my ride home.
Hitting up CC for those Pokemon guides today.
Also stopping by GS to see if there's anything good.
 
[quote name='Frosty The Batman']Am I the only person that uses Post-Its?[/quote]

My wife has been using a coupon for $3 off any two Post-Its product. She buys two products at $1.25 each for a total of $2.50. After the coupon we get $.50 overage. Yes, we are cheap!

My wife scored 12 guides at CC thanks to everyone here!

She missed out on the Splinter Cell because CC would not sell it. She is going back today if she gets out. That is one of the guides that I really want thanks to the clearance deal at TRU, where I got the game for PS3 for less than $8.
 
Rogue Galaxy and Army of Two aren't in CC's system anymore. You could get lucky enough to have someone sell them to you for a penny, or (this happened to me) the manager will come over, type in a dummy SKU, and charge you a $12.95 flat fee. :whistle2:(
 
Haha, I usually take Post-Its from work...they upgraded to the Super Sticky ones!!!

Those come in handy when I want to head to BestBuy for penny guides...

I gotta stop by CC today to see if they still got an Assassin's Creed guide there...
 
[quote name='punkmaggit']Rogue Galaxy and Army of Two aren't in CC's system anymore. You could get lucky enough to have someone sell them to you for a penny, or (this happened to me) the manager will come over, type in a dummy SKU, and charge you a $12.95 flat fee. :whistle2:([/quote]

On Army of Two the CC guy scanned it but it didn't show up so he figured out some code by looking at the receipt. Seems like Prima guide have some kind of number with PRI (I think) and then some other number probably based on the UPC or ISBN. He put in Army of Two like that and it showed for $19.99 but when he put in the code for LoZ:pH, it showed up as $0.01. Zelda didn't show up in the system when he first scanned it. Finally a CC employee who knew what they were doing!
 
[quote name='yuy104']Haha, I usually take Post-Its from work...they upgraded to the Super Sticky ones!!!

Those come in handy when I want to head to BestBuy for penny guides...

I gotta stop by CC today to see if they still got an Assassin's Creed guide there...[/quote]

Assassins creed is not a penny.
 
Well I went back to see if I could snag the two guides that wouldn't sell (read what happened here), and not only did they just put Yoshi's Island and Splinter Cell DA back on the shelf, I grabbed some more I missed the first time around.

STALKER: Shadow or Chernobyl
Super Paper Mario (NP)
Yoshi's Island DS (NP)
Metroid Prime 3 (Prima)
Rainbow Six: Vegas 1 (Prima)
Pokemon Diamond & Pearl (NP)

SCORE!

But you might notice that Splinter Cell DA still isn't on the list--just like before, the guy (different guy, different register) said there was some sort of hold on it and couldn't be sold. Looks like a few others in the thread have reported the same thing. If anyone manages to successfully snag one, let us know how! I really want that one since I still have the game in my backlog.

Which register to use: My CC doesn't even have the usual checkout lines open anymore, they just use the customer service counter. So this time, I went to the Firedog counter (their PC tech support service) and they rang me up fine.

Finally, how are so many people getting a Pokedex pennied? They only ever ring up full for me.
 
[quote name='faceless007']Well I went back to see if I could snag the two guides that wouldn't sell (read what happened here), and not only did they just put Yoshi's Island and Splinter Cell DA back on the shelf, I grabbed some more I missed the first time around.

STALKER: Shadow or Chernobyl
Super Paper Mario (NP)
Yoshi's Island DS (NP)
Metroid Prime 3 (Prima)
Rainbow Six: Vegas 1 (Prima)
Pokemon Diamond & Pearl (NP)

SCORE!

But you might notice that Splinter Cell DA still isn't on the list--just like before, the guy (different guy, different register) said there was some sort of hold on it and couldn't be sold. Looks like a few others in the thread have reported the same thing. If anyone manages to successfully snag one, let us know how! I really want that one since I still have the game in my backlog.

Which register to use: My CC doesn't even have the usual checkout lines open anymore, they just use the customer service counter. So this time, I went to the Firedog counter (their PC tech support service) and they rang me up fine.

Finally, how are so many people getting a Pokedex pennied? They only ever ring up full for me.[/quote]

There's two different versions of the Pokedex. One is by Nintendo Power, called The Ultimate National Pokedex. That is the one that is pennied, and I haven't found it at any stores. The other is by Prima (I think) and it hasn't pennied. I've seen this one at 4/5 stores I've been to, so maybe this is what you tried.
 
Add Tomb Raider Anniversary (PS2) to the .01 CC list.

Also Devil May Cry 4 is regular price (in NC) but Halo 3 is out of the system and is no longer on the website. I went to customer service and they adjusted Halo 3 to .01. I got 10 guides for 10 cents. It almost felt dirty but cool at the same time.:D
 
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[quote name='Antic']nope, I do sometimes. I usually just remember them all though[/QUOTE]

After seeing a few suggestions on other threads I've started keeping a small notebook for all my cag activities. I have a page with my credit amounts and what gift cards I have. I also write down the guides I want during my travels and I write down any reports I can give back to the site.

As I get older it's impossible to remember all the deals notes are a great idea I recommend it to all cags.
 
[quote name='gantt']I commented on a related issue, about 300 posts back (and got a similar brilliant comment from Xizer - well, consistency is a virtue, of sorts). My suggestion was simply to keep one list up to date (whether post #2 or the wiki). It seems IATCG has settled on using post #2, and that's fine with me. I can handle a few seconds of scrolling to get to a more-or-less up-to-date list, and I appreciate IATCG's efforts to try to keep it updated.

In other news, my local BB moved the bulk of the guides from the backwaters of the PC game/book area to the videogame section. It's a much higher traffic area, and they're more prominently displayed. I'm afeared that this means they will pay more attention to the guides and weed out the penny guides as soon as they're pennied.[/quote]

Right now, the Wiki isn't even coming up in it's former spot at the top of the page on CAG, but it IS still available for reference at(I believe): wiki.cheapassgamer.com

So, both the Wiki and the second post are available for reference for those who want to cross reference what dropped and where.
 
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