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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This thread isn't stickied so posting your scores is one way to keep this thread somewhat active and on the front two pages. Otherwise you may see a lot of useless "Bump" posts.
 
[quote name='darkslime']Whatever happened to putting all new information in red font?[/quote]

Not everyone adheres to that policy, so should I miss anything I would hope someone else would alert me since I only skim the last two pages when I check this thread to see if any new info was posted.

EDIT: In case anyone hasn't noticed it yet, the size of the thread has shrunk by about 100 or so posts. This is because I'm going back through and deleting many of my older posts, many of which were bragging posts like I kept trying to get others to stop making.

If anyone else has the spare time and would like to remove old posts of theirs as well to help shrink this thread, you can go back through and hit 'edit' on any of your older posts and they click DELETE, check DELETE and hit DELETE THIS MESSAGE to do so.

Also, if any mods get a chance, could they perhaps delete posts from banned CAG's, such as Mr. Bojangles, from the thread.

Thanks ever so much and Happy New Year to all of my fellow CAG's.
 
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Happy New Year!!

I just found 23 copies of Transformers!!!!:bouncy::bouncy:

...this thread is much more informative and organized than many threads that have turned into bragging blogs and posts about many, many more subjects...thanks to all that contribute! and IATCAG for putting up with us!
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Not everyone adheres to that policy, so should I miss anything I would hope someone else would alert me since I only skim the last two pages when I check this thread to see if any new info was posted.

EDIT: In case anyone hasn't noticed it yet, the size of the thread has shrunk by about 100 or so posts. This is because I'm going back through and deleting many of my older posts, many of which were bragging posts like I kept trying to get others to stop making.

If anyone else has the spare time and would like to remove old posts of theirs as well to help shrink this thread, you can go back through and hit 'edit' on any of your older posts and they click DELETE, check DELETE and hit DELETE THIS MESSAGE to do so.

Also, if any mods get a chance, could they perhaps delete posts from banned CAG's, such as Mr. Bojangles, from the thread.

Thanks ever so much and Happy New Year to all of my fellow CAG's.[/quote]

It really doesn't matter if there are 5 pages or 500. There is no technical reason to delete old posts( see http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=200128) - and in reality they are still there anyway, just hidden from regular users.

Just hit the little arrow button to view last post and work from there if you have been away for a while.
 
Went to Citrus Park Circuit City in Tampa today - Picked up:
Viva Pinata - Xbox 360 - Strategy Guide - rang up .01 cent.
Rogue Galaxy - PS2 - Strategy Guide - rang up .01 cent.
Zelda Phantom HourGlass - Nintendo DS - Strategy Guide - Free!
The genius chick at the register said the prices were obviously wrong so that means they must be 9.99 each because she remembered that was what a manager told her once!!! I asked to speak with the manager on duty - the manager apologized, bagged them for me and gave them all to me for FREE!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!
 
[quote name='Roopug']Went to Citrus Park Circuit City in Tampa today - Picked up:
Viva Pinata - Xbox 360 - Strategy Guide - rang up .01 cent.
Rogue Galaxy - PS2 - Strategy Guide - rang up .01 cent.
Zelda Phantom HourGlass - Nintendo DS - Strategy Guide - Free!
The genius chick at the register said the prices were obviously wrong so that means they must be 9.99 each because she remembered that was what a manager told her once!!! I asked to speak with the manager on duty - the manager apologized, bagged them for me and gave them all to me for FREE!! HAPPY NEW YEAR![/quote]

Nice! The Rogue Galaxy guide is a sweet haul, just because so many of us were blocked by the weird CC "promotional" hangup that wouldn't allow an individual sale.
 
Found Chains of Olympus at my local GS. The guy knows me and was surprised to see it had pennied. Gave it to me for free :D
 
Was wondering if all penny guides always have the blank yellow sticker over the second barcode at Bestbuy? I scanned a few with the barcode and they all range up at normal prices but was wondering seeing the guy in that dept. that handles that stuff said the drops at that store come on Fridays...

Either way if thats the case there are going to be some good drops this time at Bestbuy.

Ones I can remember that had the blank yellow sticker(there were way more):

Soul Calibur IV
Mass Effect (regular and LE)
Metal Gear solid 4
Lost Odyssey
Mario galaxy guide
Mercenaries 2
Assassins Creed (This was the regular one)
FF:Crystal Chronicles (DS)

Im going to check that same store today to see the prices again.
 
[quote name='Derrick1979']Was wondering if all penny guides always have the blank yellow sticker over the second barcode at Bestbuy? I scanned a few with the barcode and they all range up at normal prices but was wondering seeing the guy in that dept. that handles that stuff said the drops at that store come on Fridays...

Either way if thats the case there are going to be some good drops this time at Bestbuy.

Ones I can remember that had the blank yellow sticker(there were way more):

Soul Calibur IV
Mass Effect (regular and LE)
Metal Gear solid 4
Lost Odyssey
Mario galaxy guide
Mercenaries 2
Assassins Creed (This was the regular one)
FF:Crystal Chronicles (DS)

Im going to check that same store today to see the prices again.[/QUOTE]
They're just covering up the other barcode, so it wont confuse the scanner/cashier. Only 1 of those barcodes are needed to scan, and if the other one gets scanned, it wont register in their system. That has nothing to do with when the guide will drop.
 
[quote name='Derrick1979']Was wondering if all penny guides always have the blank yellow sticker over the second barcode at Bestbuy? I scanned a few with the barcode and they all range up at normal prices but was wondering seeing the guy in that dept. that handles that stuff said the drops at that store come on Fridays...

Either way if thats the case there are going to be some good drops this time at Bestbuy.

Ones I can remember that had the blank yellow sticker(there were way more):

Soul Calibur IV
Mass Effect (regular and LE)
Metal Gear solid 4
Lost Odyssey
Mario galaxy guide
Mercenaries 2
Assassins Creed (This was the regular one)
FF:Crystal Chronicles (DS)

Im going to check that same store today to see the prices again.[/quote]I've never seen a yellow sticker over the bar code at BB.
Try pulling the sticker off, then scanning it?
 
[quote name='drawingboard']They're just covering up the other barcode, so it wont confuse the scanner/cashier. Only 1 of those barcodes are needed to scan, and if the other one gets scanned, it wont register in their system. That has nothing to do with when the guide will drop.[/quote]

I just wondered about that seeing the guy said it was inventory purposes but then again every guide has 2 barcodes so why not put the blank over every one?
 
[quote name='Derrick1979']I just wondered about that seeing the guy said it was inventory purposes but then again every guide has 2 barcodes so why not put the blank over every one?[/QUOTE]
Probably because when they do their inventory for the new year, they'll know which barcode to scan. Its actually nice, since one of my BB's just scribbles over the wrong one with a pen.
 
[quote name='Derrick1979']I just wondered about that seeing the guy said it was inventory purposes but then again every guide has 2 barcodes so why not put the blank over every one?[/QUOTE]

Just to play devil's advocate: why would a yellow sticker mean a guide is going to drop to a penny?
 
[quote name='Ubiiquitous']Just to play devil's advocate: why would a yellow sticker mean a guide is going to drop to a penny?[/quote]

It does not mean anything and thats why I "Asked".... I asked simply because most penny guides I have from bestbuy have a blank yellow sticker over the second barcode...

No reason to jump on my back because I was curious about something.
 
[quote name='Derrick1979']It does not mean anything and thats why I "Asked".... I asked simply because most penny guides I have from bestbuy have a blank yellow sticker over the second barcode...

No reason to jump on my back because I was curious about something.[/QUOTE]

Geez, man. Calm down. I thought you were saying that's why the yellow sticker was on the back, so I was wondering why the yellow sticker made a difference. I didn't undestand why the yellow sticker would make a difference one way or the other, so that's why I made my post.

What's with all the sensitivity on this site?
 
[quote name='Ubiiquitous']Geez, man. Calm down. I thought you were saying that's why the yellow sticker was on the back, so I was wondering why the yellow sticker made a difference. I didn't undestand why the yellow sticker would make a difference one way or the other, so that's why I made my post.

What's with all the sensitivity on this site?[/quote]

We are a sensative species... Ahh the second barcode would be the European one and I have noticed at times when they scan them they cover it with thier hand because I guess it wont scan properly otherwise but it is still odd why they put it on some and not others..
But each store I guess would operation on its own conditions on how they handle merchandise..

No worries Ubiiquitous I was reading your post the wrong way as well.
 
[quote name='Derrick1979']We are a sensative species... Ahh the second barcode would be the European one and I have noticed at times when they scan them they cover it with thier hand because I guess it wont scan properly otherwise but it is still odd why they put it on some and not others..
But each store I guess would operation on its own conditions on how they handle merchandise..

No worries Ubiiquitous I was reading your post the wrong way as well.[/QUOTE]

Same here. I thought you were saying that's why it was being done. I didn't realize you were actually asking a question. I was just trying to ask why a yellow sticker would have anything to do with it, so I guess we both misinterpreted, which is easy to do when it's written.

No harm, man.

BTW, I looked on the BB site, and some of those guides you listed are still regular price, so it doesn't look like they dropped today, but perhaps next week? That would be a great drop, but I imagine that's kind of wishful thinking.
 
[quote name='Derrick1979']I have noticed at times when they scan them they cover it with thier hand because I guess it wont scan properly otherwise but it is still odd why they put it on some and not others[/quote]
Maybe the ones they don't cover will drop, be removed, and thus never have to worry about scanning? ;)
 
[quote name='EdgeOfThorns']Anyone by chance spot a cheap Lost Odyssey guide anywhere? I am on the hunt but man i cant find it cheap anywhere.[/quote]

there were some at Best Buy in my area. if i find an extra copy when/if it drops ill snag it for you
 
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I checked today at opening and once again no drop. Ones I checked...

Call of Duty 4
Dragon Quest
BF: Bad Company
GTA 4
Saint's Row 2
Final Fantasy IV
Far Cry 2
Halo 3
Ninja Gaiden 2
Hellboy
Mass Effect (Bundle)
Infinite Undiscovery
Silent Hill: Homecoming
Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway
Metal Gear Solid 4 (softcover)
Assassin's Creed
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Too Human
FFCC: Rings of Fate
FFXII
Gears of War 2 LE
...and many more I can't remember
 
Do they only do drops on Monday? Either way I checked the majority at my Best Buy and they aren't marked down.

Call of Duty 4
Dragon Quest
BF: Bad Company
GTA 4
Saint's Row 2
Final Fantasy IV
Far Cry 2
Halo 3
Ninja Gaiden 2
Hellboy
Mass Effect (Bundle)
Infinite Undiscovery
Silent Hill: Homecoming
Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway
Metal Gear Solid 4 (softcover)
Assassin's Creed
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Too Human
FFCC: Rings of Fate
FFXII
Gears of War 2 LE

I did pick up:
Head Coach 09
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
God of War: Chains of Olympus
Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
Rock Band

All for a penny each with many more left at the store.
 
Drops happen when they happen at BB. Antic checked the guides yesterday and there were no drops.

The ones you picked up dropped about a month ago. The second post of this thread shows everything that has dropped for all stores, in addition to BB.
 
Thanks for checking at BB guys. I'm just wondering, do the stores you check at have price scanners? I've never seen one in a Best Buy, and I wouldn't dream of taking up 20+ guides, let alone 5+, to get checked. Anyway, keep up the great work! I wish I could contribute more...
 
[quote name='Rave Child']Thanks for checking at BB guys. I'm just wondering, do the stores you check at have price scanners? I've never seen one in a Best Buy, and I wouldn't dream of taking up 20+ guides, let alone 5+, to get checked. Anyway, keep up the great work! I wish I could contribute more...[/quote]

That is exactly what you have to do, which is why it is so cool we have brave CAGs willing to do it; Don't forget FUSS either- the man on the inside.
 
[quote name='jericho69']Do they only do drops on Monday? Either way I checked the majority at my Best Buy and they aren't marked down.

Call of Duty 4
Dragon Quest
BF: Bad Company
GTA 4
Saint's Row 2
Final Fantasy IV
Far Cry 2
Halo 3
Ninja Gaiden 2
Hellboy
Mass Effect (Bundle)
Infinite Undiscovery
Silent Hill: Homecoming
Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway
Metal Gear Solid 4 (softcover)
Assassin's Creed
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Too Human
FFCC: Rings of Fate
FFXII
Gears of War 2 LE

I did pick up:
Head Coach 09
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
God of War: Chains of Olympus
Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
Rock Band

All for a penny each with many more left at the store.[/quote]
Cool of you to check, thanks for the effort.
 
[quote name='Ubiiquitous']To get use of a hand scanner, you would need to have a friend that works there, as they aren't for customer use.[/QUOTE]

I remember wanting to get something price checked one time, but there was nobody around to help me, so I went to the computer myself and used the hand scanner to do it myself. I think all you had to do was press F5 or something at the time.

The employee came back and was like "what are you doing?" I replied "your job" and walked off.
 
While it isn't about guides, it is about penny items, so I feel I should note some info I received today. A clerk at FYE today told me that every few months they penny out their posters - granted a lot of them suck, but there are the occasional good ones.

Is this something we should be keeping our eyes on now too?
 
[quote name='Rave Child']Thanks for checking at BB guys. I'm just wondering, do the stores you check at have price scanners? I've never seen one in a Best Buy, and I wouldn't dream of taking up 20+ guides, let alone 5+, to get checked. Anyway, keep up the great work! I wish I could contribute more...[/QUOTE]

I wish Best Buy and especially Circuit City would get price check scanners. It would make things so much easier.
 
[quote name='Visc']While it isn't about guides, it is about penny items, so I feel I should note some info I received today. A clerk at FYE today told me that every few months they penny out their posters - granted a lot of them suck, but there are the occasional good ones.

Is this something we should be keeping our eyes on now too?[/quote]

Start up a thread...

Next time I go to the mall I will check my FYE to look for penny posters
 
[quote name='MasterSun1'] The employee came back and was like "what are you doing?" I replied "your job" and walked off.[/QUOTE]:applause::applause:

Sadly, I've had to do this a couple times as well. Mainly at CC (it's a wonder most of em closed, eh?). I cannot wait for this pending drop though, the February drop is almost always epic. My favorite time of the year for penny guides (and I can still almost always get most of them at my BB, unlike my damned GS's that don't hardly even HAVE guides, let alone penny ones)
 
[quote name='MasterSun1']I remember wanting to get something price checked one time, but there was nobody around to help me, so I went to the computer myself and used the hand scanner to do it myself. I think all you had to do was press F5 or something at the time.

The employee came back and was like "what are you doing?" I replied "your job" and walked off.[/quote]

I was on vacation in Seattle this summer and stopped in a CC to check guides. The store was on an older POS system which I knew how to find employee codes on within just a few seconds. There was no one around so I went to work, found an employee's codes and did some price checks. My friend came over and said "What are you doing!?". I just smiled and told him exactly which ones are .01.

BTW, the quickest way to get help in any store is to start using the POS terminals. Employees generally show up REAL quick.:twisted:
 
[quote name='YoshiFan1']I wish Best Buy and especially Circuit City would get price check scanners. It would make things so much easier.[/quote]

I wish they would too. Although, my local two TRU stores HAD price check scanners in electronics and elsewhere and they took them out. Same thing happened with Kmart.

I guess maybe corporate figured they wanted the employees actually doing their jobs and helping customers. Mind you, I still get the evil glare when I ask for more than a single price check at Kmart.
 
I just take five guides at a time to different departments so I don't have the same guy checking the prices every time. Today a guy had to look at the front of the guide to tell me the price so I went to another to have it double checked and he wasn't lying.
 
I FINALLY found some guides! These are my pick-ups, all from GS:

Civ Rev (sold)
FF VII Crisis Core
Blue Dragon
Rainbow 6 Vegas 2
FF Tactics A2 Grimoire of the Rift
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

I can provide the maker, but not ATM.
 
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