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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So far, this is what we're looking at:

Castlevania Order of Ecclesia
Spiderman Web of Shadows
007 Quantum of Solace
Socom Confrontation
Gears 2 Limited
Spectrobes Beyond the Portraits
Destroy all Humans (Path Of The Furon?)
CoD4
Soulcalibur 4 (soft cover)
Gears of War II LE
Tales of Vesperia
Dragon Quest (IV DS?)
 
[quote name='shrike4242']So far, this is what we're looking at:

Castlevania Order of Ecclesia
Spiderman Web of Shadows
007 Quantum of Solace
Socom Confrontation
Gears 2 Limited
Spectrobes Beyond the Portraits
Destroy all Humans (Path Of The Furon?)
CoD4
Soulcalibur 4 (soft cover)
Gears of War II LE
Tales of Vesperia
Dragon Quest (IV DS?)[/quote]

Home now. Dragon Quest IV (DS) and Destroy all Humans: Path of the Furon are the specific guides.
 
[quote name='shrike4242']So far, this is what we're looking at:

Castlevania Order of Ecclesia
Spiderman Web of Shadows
007 Quantum of Solace
Socom Confrontation
Gears 2 Limited
Spectrobes Beyond the Portraits
Destroy all Humans (Path Of The Furon?)
CoD4
Soulcalibur 4 (soft cover)
Gears of War II LE
Tales of Vesperia
Dragon Quest (IV DS?)[/QUOTE]


Also you missed Fable II LE.
 
Picked up:
Castlevania Order of Ecclesia
007 Quantum of Solace
Socom Confrontation
Soulcalibur 4 (soft cover)

Also: (Not listed above)
Cheat Codes Overload (or something like that)

Did ask about the Fable II LE. Apparently they all sold out long ago... to the employees.
Did see behind the counter 2 of the Gears limited and a couple of others on the list, but beggars can't be choosy.
 
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
 
I also got 2 World of Warcraft Beastiaries that weren't mentioned. Was able to find the GoW2:LE, but no Fable II:LE.

Just as a sidenote, anyone else notice that these were all BradyGames guides? So I guess that means we might see a Prima guide drop next week. (tradelist is updated) and thanks everyone!
 
Just got back from 2 gamestops (snuck outta work)
The guy from the first store was nice enough to give them to me:
- Castlevania Order of Ecclesia
- Socom: Confrontation
- WoW Bestiary
- Destroy All Humans Path of the Furon
- Gears of War 2 LE

He also had Spiderman, Spectrobes, Call of Duty 4, 007 Quantum of Solace...he told me he kept the good guides (SCIV, DragonQuest >.
 
Got shutdown today on ToV, SOCOM and SCIV. No Fable II LE around. They had pulled the Gears II LE and had them behind the counter. This local store (Gibsonia, PA) actually didn't have any of the guides other than the ones I mention above

Does anyone that works at GS or is familiar with their PoS system know what shows up when they scan these guides? On the Pinpad they showed up as .01, but does the employee's screen prompt them not to sell the guides or ask the manager? I ask because the employee ran to the back after scanning everything to ask the manager if he could sell them, then came out and said they were "recalled" "couldn't sell them" "blah blah blah".

I was going to buy a game or two, but after I got the denial I just told them I'd pass on the games I had picked out. Oh well, there are 2 more stores to hit on the way home from work. I just hope this store doesn't call ahead and make sure they pulled all the guides before I get there.
 
yo punkmaggit!!! gonna check out my Uur-ea gamestop for some drops...got rejected a few months ago so hoping...
UPDATE! was able to get 2 guides, i think i was lucky this time cuz they had a new girl there, w/two regular clerks...so they went easy on me this time around the newbie. the guy asked how'd i know about these "penny guides" i said a friend told me. i bought a pack of warcraft cards, too, just in case. the 2nd question he asked (to the other guy) was: "do we want any of these?" referring to my guides "she must've not pulled these 2 from the list,"...the other guy nodded and went over to the guides, went on his cellphone and proceeded to tell someone about the guides they had missed. was he calling another store? anyways, it's all good. (no tales of vesperia or gow 2 LE ...sad, and i even asked if they had guides behind the counter but no dice)
 
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[quote name='punkmaggit']I also got 2 World of Warcraft Beastiariesthat weren't mentioned. Was able to find the GoW2:LE, but no Fable II:LE.

Just as a sidenote, anyone else notice that these were all BradyGames guides? So I guess that means we might see a Prima guide drop next week. (tradelist is updated) and thanks everyone![/quote]

That's a good call about them all being Brady guides. That's exactly what happened in October: Brady first, Prima the following week, and also on a Thursday. Hopefully we'll get some more drops next week. Maybe Disgaea 3 will have a drop soon, too.
 
Was able to get 2 of each of Destroy All Humans Path of the Furon and Soul Calibur IV. Couldn't find a GameStop that had the Fable II LE, Gears of War 2 LE or Spider-man: Web of Shadows. I really wanted to find a Web of Shadows guide. Oh well.
 
was able to grab:

Fable II LE
007 Quantum of Solace x5 (they were gonna get rid of them so, hoarding was the only option)
Destroy All Humans x2
Castlevania

and one of the managers (the only one i like) wanted the Tales of Vesperia guide so i gave it to him...did my good deed for the day :whistle2:D
 
Chicago GS stores are totally on their A-game with pulling the guides. I swore a month or so ago that I wouldn't even try anymore. Now I'm really giving up on them.:cry:
 
[quote name='shieryda']Chicago GS stores are totally on their A-game with pulling the guides. I swore a month or so ago that I wouldn't even try anymore. Now I'm really giving up on them.:cry:[/QUOTE]

I think we have the advantage out here on the West Coast. We can see the updates from the East and make it to the store by opening time. I hit a store right when it opened at 10:00 AM, and by 10:05 they were pulling the pennied guides off the shelf
 
Drat. Had to work through lunch and forgot about the rumored (and now confirmed) drop at GS. Looks like I'll be taking the scenic route home from work...
 
Won't even bother checking, but thanks for the heads up (gotten turned down too many times). Anyone with extras of Gears of War 2, Castlevania or Fable 2, can check my list or send me a pm. Thanks.
 
Second post is updated with the list that Shrike compiled....

Thanks to all who provided info on this drop and to Shrike for compiling the list.

If I missed any, please let me know.

Thanks.
 
[quote name='shieryda']Chicago GS stores are totally on their A-game with pulling the guides. I swore a month or so ago that I wouldn't even try anymore. Now I'm really giving up on them.:cry:[/quote]

Same with the one in Boston. I had my brother go check and they didn't have anything. I never have him look, but this one seemed too good to consider passing up. Hopefully I have more luck when I check after work.
 
Showed up just in time to watch the employees tear the front covers off a bunch of guides. I asked and got shot down. Throwing in the towel.
 
well I managed to go to hte clostst GS near me - one I've never had luck with, and as it happens...I had no luck there.

If anyone might be able to help with a castlevania guide I'd be very appreciative.
 
I didn't have any luck at the GS I tried. I didn't try the other GS near me. The I've never had any luck at the one nearest to me. They also tear them so I don't think I'll bother doing any DDing. I was really hoping I could get Tales of vesperia.
 
Massive score at GS. GoW2 LE, OoE, Spectrobes, 007, Socom, Web of Shadows.
Vesperia, for some reason, was ringing up full price.
I've never had luck at a GS before, but the employees here were really cool. One of them started grabbing up copies of stuff I had taken so that he could get 'em too.
 
[quote name='SDC']Massive score at GS. GoW2 LE, OoE, Spectrobes, 007, Socom, Web of Shadows.
Vesperia, for some reason, was ringing up full price.
I've never had luck at a GS before, but the employees here were really cool. One of them started grabbing up copies of stuff I had taken so that he could get 'em too.[/quote]

Guide drops are typically universal, so maybe the clerk wanted the TOV guide for themselves?
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Guide drops are typically universal, so maybe the clerk wanted the TOV guide for themselves?[/QUOTE]

Well, maybe, but there were multiple copies and the clerks there were totally cool about sharing the rest of 'em.
Perhaps I'll try back tomorrow, or something. No big deal, in any case. The main guides I wanted here were OoE and the GoW2 LE, and I got those.
 
Man you guys are quick!!! You had the list pretty much down.

I applaud you CAG'ers.:applause:

As a side note picked up a extra Fable II LE. Think I might go create one of those trade list things here now.....:whistle2:k

edit: In talks for Fable II guide.
 
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Thanks everyone for the confirmation on the guides. I went to 4 GS's. Three had absolutely no penny guides on the shelf. The 4th one had a few of them. I picked up:

Tales of Vesperia
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (from an older drop?)
Gears of War 2 LE
SOCOM: Confrontation
Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals

Will hit a couple more stores tomorrow and try to score DQIV, Fable 2 LE, and Castlevania.
 
I haven't had any luck at a GS/EB except once a few years ago, and that was in another state. Still, I decided to give it a shot today. I checked 4 stores - 3 had nothing (1 of them had spectrobes, but I was running late for an appointment, and I had already been shot down at another store (see below), so I didn't bother trying), but 1 had a good number of the guides - 007, Spectrobes, DQ, Spiderman, Soulcalibur 4, Destroy all Humans (I don't think I bothered trying for that one, but they had it), and a Gears of War 2 LE. I brought them up to the counter and she rang them up and quoted me $120-something. I told her that I thought they were all pennied out, and she said "no" (I could not see the screen). I asked if any of them were, she clicked a few keys and said "no". I put them all back. She didn't do enough keystrokes to have overridden the prices, so I don't really know what happened. At GS, does it have to do with which barcodes get scanned? Is it possible that store didn't pull down the morning pricing updates? She scanned the price sticker on the front, instead of the codes embedded on the back. Any ideas?
 
guessed:

Sounds like their prices didn't get updated. Sometimes it happens. Might want to try tomorrow. Regardless of which barcode they scan it should come up a penny.
 
[quote name='Sa2vador']guessed:

Sounds like their prices didn't get updated. Sometimes it happens. Might want to try tomorrow. Regardless of which barcode they scan it should come up a penny.[/quote]

Thanks. I don't know if I'll have a chance to try again tomorrow, unfortunately, since I have no plans to be in that part of town. I really would like to get that Gears 2 LE guide (not as much as I'd like the Fable 2 LE guide, but I haven't found that one), though.
 
First time poster but joined not long ago..

Got these at the GS at Broadway Mall in LI:

Castlevania
Spider-man
SOCOM
007
WoW

Only got one each, they still had more than 1 left of each except for the WoW one when I left.
 
Went to two gamestops

1st one had a big box of the guides with the covers ripped off and they still wouldnt give em to me.

2nd one, all the good stuff was gone but the guy grabbed a bunch out of the trash for me.

Not a guide but
Painkiller Overdose PC game was also pennied. They gave me 6 copies.

I didnt know they pennied out PC games
 
Damn I wish gamestops around here would sell pennied guides, Id freak out if was able to get the gears of war 2 le. Or even socom and soul calibur. Lame. Time to start advertising my trading list again I suppose.
 
[quote name='smaaug']Went to two gamestops

1st one had a big box of the guides with the covers ripped off and they still wouldnt give em to me.

2nd one, all the good stuff was gone but the guy grabbed a bunch out of the trash for me.

Not a guide but
Painkiller Overdose PC game was also pennied. They gave me 6 copies.

I didnt know they pennied out PC games[/quote]

i didn't know GS SOLD PC guides! or PC GAMES to begin with..
 
I'll be checking a GameStop tomorrow, hope I manage to have good luck. I've found a penny guide there before, so I'm hoping I can score some tomorrow.
 
I really wanted to check my local game stop today because i know the had fable 2 and a lot of the gears 2 le guides but was too sick to go. Going to try tomorrow but idk if they will give me the guides as the employees are ehh. Just checking the guides scan at .01 and they do not need to click total for it to go to .01 right?
 
Eh went to my local store, saw a bunch of guides behind the counter with a big socom one ontop(looked like they pulled the penny guides or grabbed for themselves...). Feels funny asking "have any 1 cent guides left somewhere?" Oh well.
 
[quote name='guessed']I haven't had any luck at a GS/EB except once a few years ago, and that was in another state. Still, I decided to give it a shot today. I checked 4 stores - 3 had nothing (1 of them had spectrobes, but I was running late for an appointment, and I had already been shot down at another store (see below), so I didn't bother trying), but 1 had a good number of the guides - 007, Spectrobes, DQ, Spiderman, Soulcalibur 4, Destroy all Humans (I don't think I bothered trying for that one, but they had it), and a Gears of War 2 LE. I brought them up to the counter and she rang them up and quoted me $120-something. I told her that I thought they were all pennied out, and she said "no" (I could not see the screen). I asked if any of them were, she clicked a few keys and said "no". I put them all back. She didn't do enough keystrokes to have overridden the prices, so I don't really know what happened. At GS, does it have to do with which barcodes get scanned? Is it possible that store didn't pull down the morning pricing updates? She scanned the price sticker on the front, instead of the codes embedded on the back. Any ideas?[/quote]

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. This store has been a day behind in other promotions, too, so I'm guessing their pricing is just a day off for some reason. Luckily, this is one of the only stores in the area that doesn't toss their penny guides. The still have some Bioshock and a FFIV from a while ago. I'll just check in the morning if the Gears pennied yet. It's the only one I wasn't able to get today I think.
 
[quote name='animemaniac14']i didn't know GS SOLD PC guides! or PC GAMES to begin with..[/quote]

They used to sell USED PC games, but they pennied them out a year or two ago and stopped taking them in.

Some CAG's reported(with pictures) cleaning out 2-3 Gamestops of 100's of used pc games.

If anyone still finds them, they also pennied out the two week WOW trial discs a while back.
 
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