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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Hmm, that might explain why so many stores were very good about pulling the guides this drop. Even the one store that NEVER tosses penny guides did, although I think that may have been because I took half of their Gears 2 LEs. They promptly removed them from the shelf after that (too bad I didn't take more!) and I bet they took care of the rest afterwards. I'm guessing it will still be possible to get overlooked guides at some stores, and maybe by the next drop a couple months down the road they won't pay as strict attention.
 
Freaking hate my local gamestops. There are 3 of them all within like 5 minutes of each other. The guy that works at the one is a gamer and as soon as he sees the guides marked down to a penny he goes around all 3 stores buying them all up and then ebays them.
 
[quote name='guinaevere']It is a cool bag. I use mine for holding extra controllers, because I couldn't think of a better use for it. I suck at the game, though.



Okay folks, listen up. I have some potentially bad news for everyone.

Cyric told me yesterday that a GS Manager was just fired for trading in pennied out guides to a used-book store. So DMs are being told to crack down and make sure penny guides are field destroyed (they're supposed to be field-destroyed in the first place, most DMs and managers get extremely lax about this policy, which is why many of us are able to score the guides when they drop).

With a little luck, many DMs and Store Managers wont be too worried about field destroying future penny drops. And those who do crack down, only do so for a short while.

Just an FYI.[/quote]

What? How would news of that trade-in ever make it back to GS Corporate? Why the hell would the used book store even care where they came from?
 
[quote name='guinaevere']Okay folks, listen up. I have some potentially bad news for everyone.

Cyric told me yesterday that a GS Manager was just fired for trading in pennied out guides to a used-book store. So DMs are being told to crack down and make sure penny guides are field destroyed (they're supposed to be field-destroyed in the first place, most DMs and managers get extremely lax about this policy, which is why many of us are able to score the guides when they drop).

With a little luck, many DMs and Store Managers wont be too worried about field destroying future penny drops. And those who do crack down, only do so for a short while.

Just an FYI.[/quote]Yuck. Never good.

Then again, the stores out in my area have been very firm about not letting penny guides stay on the shelves. They only really carry the newest guides on the shelf, so it's hard to know if they have any or not.

My preferred GS store never gets me any penny guides, though they do hand me lots of promos out of the promo drawer, so I suppose, it's a tradeoff.
 
For penny drops at bestbuy, is getting the guides like getting them at GS, as in they can say no? or is it like a holy ground where they let you have them no problem?
 
[quote name='shieryda']What? How would news of that trade-in ever make it back to GS Corporate? Why the hell would the used book store even care where they came from?[/quote]No idea. Possibly someone from who works at GS in that managers district wandered into that used book store and recognized the guides and mentioned it to their DM. Possibly someone at the Used Book store knew the manager in question and mentioned it to someone else at GS... gossip gets around. Especially if the manager wasnt liked.

In truth, I dont know the specifics, its something I was curious about myself. But the end result is the same; a store manager was fired for not properly destroying pennied-out guides, and now there is a potential crack-down on proper disposal of said guides.
 
[quote name='BarbblerElf']For penny drops at bestbuy, is getting the guides like getting them at GS, as in they can say no? or is it like a holy ground where they let you have them no problem?[/quote]


For the most part they dont care, but once in awhile you get the occasional dick Blue Shirt that comes around and says only one of each guide or you have to buy the game with it to get it for a penny...

Most of the time no issues though.
 
[quote name='BarbblerElf']For penny drops at bestbuy, is getting the guides like getting them at GS, as in they can say no? or is it like a holy ground where they let you have them no problem?[/quote]

I only had a problem when the store manager came over one time. He ended up keeping the guides for me, though, then letting me come back a following day after they were "destroyed" and keep them. This was the only time an actual store manager was called over, but the other of 3-4 where a blue shirt was called over were fine. The blue shirts always said something to the effect of "if that's what corporate prices it at...." 80-90% of the time the cashiers will ring them up with no problem. The only cashiers who bother to ask (in my experience at least) are young and new, and are worried about getting in trouble. Usually, the cashiers just comment how it's a great deal.
 
In truth, I dont know the specifics, its something I was curious about myself. But the end result is the same; a store manager was fired for not properly destroying pennied-out guides, and now there is a potential crack-down on proper disposal of said guides.
Click to expand...

Well, my chances for guides at Gamestop can't get any worse.:)
 
[quote name='Rave Child']I only had a problem when the store manager came over one time. He ended up keeping the guides for me, though, then letting me come back a following day after they were "destroyed" and keep them. This was the only time an actual store manager was called over, but the other of 3-4 where a blue shirt was called over were fine. The blue shirts always said something to the effect of "if that's what corporate prices it at...." 80-90% of the time the cashiers will ring them up with no problem. The only cashiers who bother to ask (in my experience at least) are young and new, and are worried about getting in trouble. Usually, the cashiers just comment how it's a great deal.[/quote]

About how many do you bring up at once? Do you bring up like 3 and if it goes off without a hitch you get more and go back to the same cashier?
 
[quote name='BarbblerElf']About how many do you bring up at once? Do you bring up like 3 and if it goes off without a hitch you get more and go back to the same cashier?[/quote]

i bring up a few and when the cashier says something about them being only a penny i ask if its cool if i run back and grab a few more. theyve always said yes.
 
[quote name='Derrick1979']For the most part they dont care, but once in awhile you get the occasional dick Blue Shirt that comes around and says only one of each guide or you have to buy the game with it to get it for a penny...

Most of the time no issues though.[/quote]It's complete crap if they feed you a line like that about needing to buy the game to get it for a penny. The system has it for a penny, no add-on purchase required.
 
[quote name='guinaevere']It is a cool bag. I use mine for holding extra controllers, because I couldn't think of a better use for it. I suck at the game, though.



Okay folks, listen up. I have some potentially bad news for everyone.

Cyric told me yesterday that a GS Manager was just fired for trading in pennied out guides to a used-book store. So DMs are being told to crack down and make sure penny guides are field destroyed (they're supposed to be field-destroyed in the first place, most DMs and managers get extremely lax about this policy, which is why many of us are able to score the guides when they drop).

With a little luck, many DMs and Store Managers wont be too worried about field destroying future penny drops. And those who do crack down, only do so for a short while.

Just an FYI.[/quote]

That sounds pretty bad. Same basic thing happened here a few years back. Employee got caught selling em on ebay and as a result i've gotten about 4 guides from gamestop in 4 years as a result. No one can sell em, the DM told them they would be fired if they did.
 
[quote name='BarbblerElf']About how many do you bring up at once? Do you bring up like 3 and if it goes off without a hitch you get more and go back to the same cashier?[/quote]

It depends how badly I want the guides. If it's some LE guides or an RPG, I bring maybe 3-6 up at once and see what they say. Of course, I bring up the ones I don't want first, in case I get denied. If I don't really care as much about the guides, or I already have a ton, I save myself the trouble and I bring up like 9 or so, to make it like $.10 or some amount of exact change that I have. There isn't much need to get more than that from a single store, since you ought to leave some behind for your fellow CAGs. ;) I usually just make a second trip a couple days later to round up what's left.
 
So I attempted to clean out a circuit city today which was full of game guides but when I brought them up to the cashier, they said that some of the books were sold as part of a package and could not be sold individually.

So I bought the ones I could which were:

Rainbox Six Vegas x3
Tomb Raider Anniversary x1
Viva Pinata x 2
Yoshis Island x1

So I stood there waiting for a bit for the manager, after a while she came and t ried to help me and she attempted to adjust the system to sell em to me.

The ones I had were:

Age of Empires 3
Army of Two
Devil May Cry 4
Halo 3
S.T.A.L.K.E.R
Zelda Phantom Hourglass

After several attempts she couldn't modify them and brough over a liquidator...after speaking to the liquidator for several minutes about how I knew they were a penny, she finally said I cant sell them to you for $.01 but I will sell them to you for the price on the back with 10% off...I said no thanks and walked out...
 
[quote name='shieryda']Well, my chances for guides at Gamestop can't get any worse.:)[/quote]Doh! The good thing is, you also have GameCrazy up there.

When I visit my big bro in chicago, the GCs I go to are always super cool about giving penny guides. I actually had to throw out a few duplicates because my luggage would have been too heavy for flying home. :lol:
 
Should i go to a near by gamecrazy to see what they have. Are they good at getting rid of their guides a short time after they get pennied? or can they be like gamestop and have a bunch of old penny guides in a corner? and are they like gamestop or best buy when you try and buy them
 
The Gamestop in Mansfield, TX over by Target had 3 Castlevania guides still out with their regular price tags. I asked the guy working there about Tales of Vesperia, and he thought they still had it in stock, only to -his- surprise that they had been pennied out. So that store obviously doesn't keep track of what gets pennied. ^^; I passed on the Castlevania guides, since I had no need for them

Really wish Last Remnant would get pennied. :
 
[quote name='shieryda']What? How would news of that trade-in ever make it back to GS Corporate? Why the hell would the used book store even care where they came from?[/quote]

Considering the fact that the used book store was probably buying them for more than a penny, I'd be curious if I were the book store owner as to where they came from.

When I did my massive cleaning and dumped the 400+ guides I had from my hoarding days to the one local shop, they were giving me $1 each for the first 60-70, then they dropped it to 25 cents each for the remaining 300+.

I looked at it as me dumping shit that was never going to get me any offers(either on here or Craigslist or wherever), so I was happy enough to get rid of them.

Of course, I did use the term 'dumped' more than a few times and pretty much was gloating to the one clerk who works at the shop about how I only paid a cent for each. :lol: Needless to say, after surveying the piles of mostly crap guides I had dumped off on his shop, the owner REALLY doesn't like me anymore(not that he ever did I think since I sold him other stuff in the past that I got uber cheap and later on laughed about it to him).

On a thread related note, I finally got 3 guides from one of the hardest GS stores in my area to get them from.

I ended up getting 2 copies of DAH: Path Of The Furon and their single copy of COD 4's guide.

I figured when I saw them on the shelf, they would price check them and tell me they couldn't sell me them.

Now, if I could only find the Rise Of The Argonauts hardcover promo book that came with pre-orders from GS. The closest store with ANY copies listed as in stock is about an hour's drive from here.
 
I've had no luck at GameCrazy's, so it's all manager dependent. My GC is terrible about tossing penny guides, but I've been denied every time I've tried to buy them. The best they've been willing to do was half off MSRP.

Seems like Best Buy is the only safe bet.
 
[quote name='guinaevere']Doh! The good thing is, you also have GameCrazy up there.

When I visit my big bro in chicago, the GCs I go to are always super cool about giving penny guides. I actually had to throw out a few duplicates because my luggage would have been too heavy for flying home. :lol:[/quote]

Yeah, but you're a chick. ;)
 
I guess its worth a stop off but i hate when they tell me they cant sell me them. I feel like a moron for standing online and then getting denied and walking away with nothing. However, the feeling of getting all those guides for less than a quarter is so worth the hassle. Seems like i leave my house every day the last week guide hunting. ^_^
 
[quote name='shieryda']Yeah, but you're a chick. ;)[/quote]

Are they still called 'chicks' when they are 35+ ??? :whistle2:$ MY personal experience with GC has always been bad.


I hit 5 GS/EB and got 1 of the castlevania guide. I did talk to one guy who took my number and told me he would hold some for me next drop, so it was not a complete waste.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']
When I did my massive cleaning and dumped the 400+ guides I had from my hoarding days to the one local shop, they were giving me $1 each for the first 60-70, then they dropped it to 25 cents each for the remaining 300+.
[/quote]

In the last 3 weeks, ive sold 5 guides for $500 total - so sometimes it's worth hanging on to them ;p
 
[quote name='Pookymeister']In the last 3 weeks, ive sold 5 guides for $500 total - so sometimes it's worth hanging on to them ;p[/quote]

What guides were these?!
 
No luck finding any guides at the 4 GS I've checked so far. Really want the Fable II LE and Tales fo Vesperia guides. Hoping that BB will penny these in their next drop (atleast ToV). I have yet to be denied a penny guide at BB. I've actually had pretty decent luck at GS when I'm able to find guides.
 
My experience at Gamecrazy is good. My local store that I buy stuff and do pre-orders at is great with penny guides. In fact, whenever I walk into the door, the manager usually sets a stack aside and lets me pick and choose what guide I want.

As for Best Buy penny guides, most don't care and encourage me to take however many guides I want. In fact, like posted earlier, most are surprised about the price and tell me that I'm getting a steal.

Guinievere: Yes, I
 
All in all, a pretty nice haul over the weekend in San Diego - no problem at all at any of the Gamestops I went to. If I found any guides on the rack I'd take them up to the cashier and politely say "these may be on clearance", and was never turned down.

It probably helped that I tried to buy at least one (non-guide) thing in each of the stores, so as to not look like too much of a freeloader.

Results of scouring about 14 different stores:

007 Quantum of Solace
Fable II LE
Final Fantasy IV(DS)
Final Fantasy:Ring of Fates
Final Fantasy Tactics A2
Gears of War II LE
Socom Confrontation
Soulcalibur 4 (softcover)
World Of Warcraft: Dungeon Companion II
Zelda: Twilight Princess (softcover Wii version)

For you locals - I also saw the following, which I didn't grab:

Final Fantasy IV(DS) @ Imperial Beach, Palm Ave store
Incredible Hulk @ Chula Vista mall store
Spiderman Web of Shadows @ Chula Vista mall store
 
[quote name='slowdive21']Are they still called 'chicks' when they are 35+ ??? :whistle2:$ [/quote]What's this 35+?!?!? i'm old enough, you dont have to insinuate that i'm older than i actually am. :rofl:

[quote name='Pookymeister']In the last 3 weeks, ive sold 5 guides for $500 total - so sometimes it's worth hanging on to them ;p[/quote]And you hit me up with a PM saying "gimme X, Y and Z"?!?! I dont think so, Brother.
 
[quote name='guinaevere']
And you hit me up with a PM saying "gimme X, Y and Z"?!?! I dont think so, Brother.[/quote]

You read my pm's and didn't reply? I'm hurt. :cry:
 
I scored at GS for a $.01:
Castlevania OOE
Soul Calibur IV LE

Was happy to find SC LE, the employee was cool about the guides.
 
I went after the Fable 2 LE, GoW2, and Tales guides when this drop hit... nothing out of 7 stores. Appears these stores are all about "trashing" their guides -_-
 
[quote name='Wolve11']I just can't wait to grab a shopping cart and empty out bb when the next drop occurs.[/QUOTE]

Same here lol
Hopefully it happens soon.
 
[quote name='BarbblerElf']
[quote name='Wolve11']I just can't wait to grab a shopping cart and empty out bb when the next drop occurs.[/quote]
Same here lol
Hopefully it happens soon.[/quote]
...and of course you'll share them with your fellow CAGers right?
You should be made aware that "hoarding" doesn't go over well with many CAGers. Its advertisement is ill-advised...unless of course you're a troll.
 
[quote name='Vader582']...and of course you'll share them with your fellow CAGers right?
You should be made aware that "hoarding" doesn't go over well with many CAGers. Its advertisement is ill-advised...unless of course you're a troll.[/QUOTE]

I wouldnt have a problem sharing and I didnt mean I would hord. I am only going to grab one of each guide. Maybe 2 if they have a lot.I was just trying to say Im looking forward to the drop.I only been around for 1 drop(recent GS) so its still pretty exciting 4 me
 
[quote name='gordojones88']Is a Best Buy penny drop suppose to happen soon?

Everybody sounds like they know something about it.[/QUOTE]

All we really know is that it should be a large drop, and it should happen within the next few weeks (as the same thing happened last year, you see).
Don't worry, w hen it goes down we'll all know.
 
God damn my GS is quick at pulling pennied out guides off the shelves. I went in there 4 days after the update on this thread and they had pulled out all the guides one hour or so before I arrived.
 
I have a question about Hollywood Video, I noticed the other day they had a bunch of old guides including, Super Smash Bros Brawl, Devil May Cry 4, Assassin's Creed and the original Fable. (there were several more but those are the ones I remember). I'm just wondering would those be pennied at HWV? I'd love to pick them all up to use for myself, especially DMC4 and Assassin's Creed which I plan on picking up and I think a guide would be great to have for those, thanks for any answers to this question.
 
[quote name='iNFiNiTE HORiZON']I have a question about Hollywood Video, I noticed the other day they had a bunch of old guides including, Super Smash Bros Brawl, Devil May Cry 4, Assassin's Creed and the original Fable. (there were several more but those are the ones I remember). I'm just wondering would those be pennied at HWV? I'd love to pick them all up to use for myself, especially DMC4 and Assassin's Creed which I plan on picking up and I think a guide would be great to have for those, thanks for any answers to this question.[/QUOTE]

None of those are that old except Fable 1.
I work at Hollywood, and I actually did a price check on those last time I was there, because I figured Fable had to be pennied, but none of them were.
 
[quote name='KABUKISTAR']None of those are that old except Fable 1.
I work at Hollywood, and I actually did a price check on those last time I was there, because I figured Fable had to be pennied, but none of them were.[/quote]

Ok thanks. I know they aren't that old. But I had seen people posting about those other ones being pennied, AC, DMC, so I was just wondering, thanks for saving me any hassle of having to scan them myself though man.
 
[quote name='DarkRider23']God damn my GS is quick at pulling pennied out guides off the shelves. I went in there 4 days after the update on this thread and they had pulled out all the guides one hour or so before I arrived.[/quote]

This is why you go on Day 1 after the price drop news breaks!
 
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