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='Animal7390']nothing is EVER taken out of the system. if you look through their systems you can find regular nintendo games, its actually kinda cool.[/quote]
Blockbuster is like that too - not sure on nintendo games but you can find old genesis/snes/dreamcast games in the computers. I'd browse through them sometimes when I was really bored at work, just thinking about how cool it would be if some of those games were still there.

And, from what I hear, Blockbuster used to have real food I think - I saw some sku's for pizza and stuff.
 
I seriously doubt we're gonna have any new drops before Christmas. Watch for Monday, the 29th, though. I bet there's an extra large one then to make up for it.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']The one CAG I talk to regularly said they were told that BB nationwide is supposed to be doing full on 'resets' of their stores, which includes moving tons of shelves around. [/QUOTE]

They got to make room for more Rock Band and Guitar Hero bundles and displays.
 
[quote name='Purkeynator']They got to make room for more Rock Band and Guitar Hero bundles and displays.[/quote]

I don't know who the hell is seriously buying all of those, since it's a revamping of an old game I played in the 80's and sucked at just as much.

Maybe you recognize it?


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That's ALL Guitar Hero, Rock Band and so on really is, is a video version of Simon.
 
[quote name='Purkeynator']They got to make room for more Rock Band and Guitar Hero bundles and displays.[/quote]

Lol. Too true. If I worked at BB, I'd see about renting some go carts and come back after hours to have a race using those stacks of RB and GH boxes as pylons and curbs.

[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']That's ALL Guitar Hero, Rock Band and so on really is, is a video version of Simon.[/quote]

In Simon, you had to *remember* the note sequence; in GH/RB, it's right there on the screen. Timing wasn't a factor in Simon, however, IIRC. And turning Simon vertically, sadly, had no effect.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']
That's ALL Guitar Hero, Rock Band and so on really is, is a video version of Simon.[/QUOTE]

I understand the point you are making, but you could say the same for any ame that involves pattern recognition and memorization.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']I don't know who the hell is seriously buying all of those, since it's a revamping of an old game I played in the 80's and sucked at just as much.

Maybe you recognize it?


thumbnail.aspx


That's ALL Guitar Hero, Rock Band and so on really is, is a video version of Simon.[/quote]

Why did you have to post this? I'll check this thread next week after the fight is over.
 
Wow I just went to my gamestop, they moved everything around and they finally have a guides section.

Picked up for $.01

Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core
Final Fantasy XII(regular edition)
Zelda: Twilight Princess
2x Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl, Sticker collection
2x World Of Warcraft: Dungeon Companion II (10 in stock)
Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (hardcover)
Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings
Mario Galaxy LE(hardcover)
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon- Prima
Ninja Gaiden Sigma
 
[quote name='Animal7390']nothing is EVER taken out of the system. if you look through their systems you can find regular nintendo games, its actually kinda cool.[/quote]
Ya, even Playboy stuff is still in there last time I looked :applause:I wish I could have used the discount on that stuff hahaha.

Anyway - no drops today at BBY. And I am off next Monday.... prob better this way, I would have to go in at 5 am like I did today (and yesterday) :drool::drool:
 
[quote name='MasterSun1']Man, I would love to snag the CE Fallout guide if it gets pennied.[/QUOTE]
Don't hold your breath. That one's not going to Penny for awhile.
 
[quote name='MasterSun1']Man, I would love to snag the CE Fallout guide if it gets pennied.[/quote]

I luckily got a regular edition for free. A customer came into gamestop to trade fallout in and wanted to trade the guide in, since we don't do trades on guides he just said we could throw it away.
 
I had someone let me know that the FFIV (DS) guide has been pennied at GS. My guess is that it's not the only one.

Anyone that has some spare time might want to head over to GS and see what else might be pennied.
 
[quote name='shrike4242']I had someone let me know that the FFIV (DS) guide has been pennied at GS. My guess is that it's not the only one.

Anyone that has some spare time might want to head over to GS and see what else might be pennied.[/quote]


ahh sh!t I looked at it yesterday at GS!
 
Looks like Super Mario Galaxy, LoZ: Phantom Hourglass, and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Exlpoerers of Time/Darkness are missing from the website, so they might be worth checking. I'm not sure if anything else is missing or if that's recent or not, but maybe. I'll try checking after work, but that won't be for another six hours... Hopefully I can find a FFIV guide before they get trashed.
 
[quote name='Rave Child']Looks like Super Mario Galaxy, LoZ: Phantom Hourglass, and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Exlpoerers of Time/Darkness are missing from the website, so they might be worth checking. I'm not sure if anything else is missing or if that's recent or not, but maybe. I'll try checking after work, but that won't be for another six hours... Hopefully I can find a FFIV guide before they get trashed.[/quote]

Not sure about the Pokemon titles, but PH and SMG are from previous drops, so depending on how astute your GS is, they're going to have been wiped clean for quite a while.
 
I thought the PH and SMG that dropped at GS were the hardcovers. I'm talking about the softcovers. As far as I know, they've only been pennied at CC.
 
Not to be picky, but Simon was not like the rhythm games out today... Simon was all about memorization of a pattern and repeating it... These music games don't require that, you follow the prompts on the screen and act upon them at that moment...

On topic, looking forward to the next drop... I remember a few years ago when the holiday guide drops were the only time I was able to score guides because the employees were too busy with other things...
 
[quote name='zman73']Not to be picky, but Simon was not like the rhythm games out today... Simon was all about memorization of a pattern and repeating it... These music games don't require that, you follow the prompts on the screen and act upon them at that moment...[/QUOTE]

That's how rhythm gameplay works the first time you play a song, but when you really get down to it the entire game is memorizing the pattern being thrown at you.
The comparison is obvious and is even relatively accurate, but it still misses the point. Though presumably that is why he said it, I guess.
 
[quote name='Rave Child']I thought the PH and SMG that dropped at GS were the hardcovers. I'm talking about the softcovers. As far as I know, they've only been pennied at CC.[/quote]

Ah ok, my apologies. It didn't even register in my brain that there were two versions, even though I own both the SMG and PH hardcovers.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']
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That's ALL Guitar Hero, Rock Band and so on really is, is a video version of Simon.[/quote]

Don't necessarily agree with the comparison but you game historians might be interested in knowing that Simon was invented by Ralph Baer, the man largely credited with invention of the video game since he designed the original Magnavox Odyssey which was sold in 1972. See article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Baer

Admittedly, there is a lot of controversy about this since Nolan Bushnell claims that Pong came first (kind of like the Tesla vs. Marconi radio controversy).

Class dismissed! ;)
 
Anyone ever go to Gamestop and find a guide then ask them to double check the price, then have not 1 but 2 employees start bitching to your face it's the price marked because the game is brand new. Then after that turn around and say they couldn't sell the guide to you?
 
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My luck with these are beyond horrible (zero for every time at every store I've ever looked), but I'm going to run over to GS later to check it out. :p
 
[quote name='Techsticles']Anyone ever go to Gamestop and find a guide then ask them to double check the price, then have not 1 but 2 employees start bitching to your face it's the price marked because the game is brand new. Then after that turn around and say they couldn't sell the guide to you?[/quote]

I can't even count the number of times that's happened to me at a Gamestop around here. Although, I am kind of known as 'the penny guide guy', since that's just about the ONLY time they really see me in their stores.

Funniest thing is that the only store I have luck getting even ONE guide from nowadays is the one that the district manager(who put down the heavy handed edict to not sell pennied guides)uses as his office/base of operations for his district.

EDIT: I added Final Fantasy IV and WOW: Burning Crusade to the recent drop list on the first page(second post). Thanks to Shrike and Antic for the information. Are there any other drops someone can confirm or confirmation on those two?
 
[quote name='Techsticles']Anyone ever go to Gamestop and find a guide then ask them to double check the price, then have not 1 but 2 employees start bitching to your face it's the price marked because the game is brand new. Then after that turn around and say they couldn't sell the guide to you?[/QUOTE]

Absolutely. I feel ya brother. That blows 2x because it's difficult enough to find a store that hasn't pulled it already.
 
oh fuck, was JUST at GS and they had 4 FFIV guides sitting behind the counter. Prolly could have gotten one if I had asked (surprisingly decent people working at this one). Oh well... sigh.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']I can't even count the number of times that's happened to me at a Gamestop around here. Although, I am kind of known as 'the penny guide guy', since that's just about the ONLY time they really see me in their stores.

Funniest thing is that the only store I have luck getting even ONE guide from nowadays is the one that the district manager(who put down the heavy handed edict to not sell pennied guides)uses as his office/base of operations for his district.

EDIT: I added Final Fantasy IV and WOW: Burning Crusade to the recent drop list on the first page(second post). Thanks to Shrike and Antic for the information. Are there any other drops someone can confirm or confirmation on those two?[/quote]


I can confirm the FF IV guide...just picked one up for 0.01....no Burning Crusade guides to be found. Thanks again for the heads up, Antic.
 
I can confirm WowBC. Saw a stack of them today behind the counter at Gamestop. The manager said they pennied out today. Didn't want it so I passed.
 
Could any CAGs that had luck with the new guides at GameStop give some SKUs (would be a six digit number)? Could be helpful in checking online what stores may still have these in stock.
 
[quote name='Collectorguy00']Hey guys, I went back about a month in posts and I couldn't find if the hardcover guide for Mass Effect is pennied at Best Buy. Any help?[/quote]It's not. It's down to either $17.49 or $19.99, not pennied.
 
[quote name='FOnewearl']Could any CAGs that had luck with the new guides at GameStop give some SKUs (would be a six digit number)? Could be helpful in checking online what stores may still have these in stock.[/quote]

Your World of Warcraft SKU is 871856
 
Also confirming FFIV for a penny :)

Funny story - I was driving by a BB that is impeccable about pulling their penny guides and I thought I'd look in anyways. I found an opened Zelda: Twilight Princess hardcover book missing all the stuff on the inside, but still! Brought it up and the cashier had to call the manager over to find the SKU so she could ring me up. 20 minutes later I had the guide for a penny :whee:. (it's on my tradelist)
 
Picked up an FFIV guide today at GS, as well as a Civilization Revolution guide (to go with my recent $14.98 purchase of the game at Target). A couple of the employees were surprised some penny guides were still on the shelf. One was even more surprised the Civ Rev guide was a penny - too bad I got the last one :D
 
Just visited my favorite dumpster and only found 3 Burning Crusade guides.
Is anyone gonna wanna trade these or should I just drop them off in the dumpster tomorrow night.
Also they're clean. The dumpster is mainly cardboard.
 
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