VGC's Anonymous/"General" Topic:

[turf]

Good Luck!  I'm sure you'll get it.  You're awesome!

Aww, it takes awesomeness to recognize awesome! 


In the end I think it went fairly well! They said they got a good vibe from our talk, so I guess that's good. They were very relaxed and they looked like they were trying to persuade me to choose them as much as I was trying to persuade them to choose me! 

If it's what you want, I sure hope you get it.  I love seeing good folks do well. 

[disgaeniac]

Huh, I've never even considered using a strategy guide for GTA lol. I'll be looking to pick up the PC version of the game at some point myself.

About guides...I've never quite been able to figure out what determines which games do/don't get a guide made.

You'd think that, the bigger the game = the higher the likelihood of it having a guide - while the smaller/more niche the game would = less chance of it having a guide; I mean, that just sounds like common sense, right 

I've seen too many exceptions to that, though - both with games that you just *know* will have a guide...not having one and games that you just *know* are too small/niche to make printing & publishing a guide worthwhile...getting one.  Anyone have any answers/insights or theories on this?

Also, since I don't know, pretty much the same question for which games will/won't have accompanying OST's made & released for them - anyone know what determines these things?

Congrats, kashish 

I know you've been wanting that LE for a good while, now...let's just hope that your Secret Santa isn't giving you the same thing 

[bikingjahuty]

I'm not sure if anyone else watches his videos on youtube, but Adam Koralik is maybe the worst sony-hating fanboy I have ever seen. I swear he is still butthurt almost 14-years later for the PS2 dominating the Dreamcast. Get over it dude.


Sincerely,


I huge Dreamcast fan who can see the PS2 for how great of a system it is despite its role in the Dreamcast's demise.

[davifus]

I'm not sure if anyone else watches his videos on youtube, but Adam Koralik is maybe the worst sony-hating fanboy I have ever seen. I swear he is still butthurt almost 14-years later for the PS2 dominating the Dreamcast. Get over it dude.


Sincerely,


I huge Dreamcast fan who can see the PS2 for how great of a system it is despite its role in the Dreamcast's demise.

Yeah, Adam is cool with his SEGA stuff.

[bikingjahuty]

I'm not sure if anyone else watches his videos on youtube, but Adam Koralik is maybe the worst sony-hating fanboy I have ever seen. I swear he is still butthurt almost 14-years later for the PS2 dominating the Dreamcast. Get over it dude.


Sincerely,


I huge Dreamcast fan who can see the PS2 for how great of a system it is despite its role in the Dreamcast's demise.

Yeah, Adam is cool with his SEGA stuff.

His SEGA videos are the reason I subscribe to him, and occasionally he has interesting things to say about other non-Sega platforms, but whenever Son is brought up, 90% of the time it is pure fanboy hate that defies logic and facts and is purely anecdotal. I just had to vent about this lol.

[argyle]

Huh, I've never even considered using a strategy guide for GTA lol. I'll be looking to pick up the PC version of the game at some point myself.

About guides...I've never quite been able to figure out what determines which games do/don't get a guide made.

You'd think that, the bigger the game = the higher the likelihood of it having a guide - while the smaller/more niche the game would = less chance of it having a guide; I mean, that just sounds like common sense, right 

I've seen too many exceptions to that, though - both with games that you just *know* will have a guide...not having one and games that you just *know* are too small/niche to make printing & publishing a guide worthwhile...getting one.  Anyone have any answers/insights or theories on this?

Also, since I don't know, pretty much the same question for which games will/won't have accompanying OST's made & released for them - anyone know what determines these things?

Congrats, kashish 

I know you've been wanting that LE for a good while, now...let's just hope that your Secret Santa isn't giving you the same thing 

Not an answer to your question, but I've been meaning to bring this up here - did you know that Prima and Brady are now merged? Apparently they are now both owned by the same parent company. As someone who enjoys collecting physical guides, this is sad news. Back in the heyday of guides - which I'd say was the PSOne era - you would often have multiple companies putting out guides for the same game. I know there are 3 or 4 different guides for FF7, for example. It seemed back then EVERY JRPG got at least one guide. Most of the PS2 era ones did too, but there started to be some that didn't especially towards the end of the cycle, plus during this period one company would lock in the rights to make a guide for a game and that was it (again, this was later in the cycle - I have 2 different guides for Maximo, for example). Then last gen guides really dropped off - the only JRPGs that got them were the extremely popular ones. Also during this time the companies that made guides pretty much dropped down to 2 - Brady & Prima. So now with them being one company, I'm afraid that will mean we're going to be seeing even fewer guides coming out.

I know the internet is a cheaper and often better source of info, but that has rarely been the reason I've picked them up - to me, a nice physical guide is just a really good collectible for games I enjoy the most. It's kinda sad to me to see them going away.

[disgaeniac]

I didn't know about the merger.

I *can* refute only big/AAA RPG's getting guides last (7th) gen:

4 (off the top of my mind) would be Resonance of Fate, NieR, Valkyria Chronicles, and Cross Edge.

Also, depending on how one views Disgaea - all of them have also had guides.

This is where I'm confused because, games of similar popularity, sales, niche-ness, and print run sizes (Ateliers, Guided Fate Paradox, Agarests, Neptunias), etc,,,haven't had guides 

[kashell]

I like guides from the PS1/PS2 era. But, other than that, I just stick with online resources for the most part. When I got the game, I bought the Tales of Xillia 2 strategy guide. Honestly, it was not money well spent. I could have figured most of the stuff out on my own through trial and error. It was a nice looking guide, though. I liked that it came with some bonus stuff.

Want to know something fabulous? The new Hatsune Miku game that I got yesterday came with an instruction manual. An INSTRUCTION. MANUAL. I haven't seen a Vita game have one of those yet! I can already tell that I'm going to love this game. I haven't tried it yet since I'm still knee deep in Hearts and don't plan on stopping for anything. XD

[bobster]

Huh, I've never even considered using a strategy guide for GTA lol. I'll be looking to pick up the PC version of the game at some point myself.

About guides...I've never quite been able to figure out what determines which games do/don't get a guide made.

You'd think that, the bigger the game = the higher the likelihood of it having a guide - while the smaller/more niche the game would = less chance of it having a guide; I mean, that just sounds like common sense, right 

I've seen too many exceptions to that, though - both with games that you just *know* will have a guide...not having one and games that you just *know* are too small/niche to make printing & publishing a guide worthwhile...getting one.  Anyone have any answers/insights or theories on this?

Also, since I don't know, pretty much the same question for which games will/won't have accompanying OST's made & released for them - anyone know what determines these things?

Congrats, kashish 

I know you've been wanting that LE for a good while, now...let's just hope that your Secret Santa isn't giving you the same thing 

Not an answer to your question, but I've been meaning to bring this up here - did you know that Prima and Brady are now merged? Apparently they are now both owned by the same parent company. As someone who enjoys collecting physical guides, this is sad news. Back in the heyday of guides - which I'd say was the PSOne era - you would often have multiple companies putting out guides for the same game. I know there are 3 or 4 different guides for FF7, for example. It seemed back then EVERY JRPG got at least one guide. Most of the PS2 era ones did too, but there started to be some that didn't especially towards the end of the cycle, plus during this period one company would lock in the rights to make a guide for a game and that was it (again, this was later in the cycle - I have 2 different guides for Maximo, for example). Then last gen guides really dropped off - the only JRPGs that got them were the extremely popular ones. Also during this time the companies that made guides pretty much dropped down to 2 - Brady & Prima. So now with them being one company, I'm afraid that will mean we're going to be seeing even fewer guides coming out.

I know the internet is a cheaper and often better source of info, but that has rarely been the reason I've picked them up - to me, a nice physical guide is just a really good collectible for games I enjoy the most. It's kinda sad to me to see them going away.

That IS sad  :'(. Though to be fair, some of the guides coming out then were pretty terrible. The Brady and Prima guides were usually top notch. I imagine that's why they prevailed while others floundered.

[disgaeniac]

How close are you to finishing/beating & writing up a review for Hearts, kash?

Oh yeah - all of this talk about guides, and I've been forgetting to mention something to you all: most of you who shop @ GS probably already know that, if you buy a game + the strategy guide for that game at the same time that - on top off whatever else you've got going - you'll also get an additional 20% (I *think*) discount off of the price of the guide for buying both items together ; they've been doing this for years so, common knowledge; right?

I thought so 

What might not be quite as commonly known - since they don't advertise it (not to mention, that many *employees* don't even know the policy ) is that the game & the strategy guide do *not* have to 'match' (both be for the same game:)

According to my managerial friend, on-the-inside, it doesn't matter what games & guides are paired together.

So, you could buy any game...and say that the guide for that game costs $15 *but* - you see an awesome $40+ hardcover CE guide for a different game than the one you're buying; when ringing up & paying for your game - tell them that you also want to grab that sweet & fine looking CE guide...if they don't give you/don't know that you're entitled to the 20% discount for any game + guide combination, tell them to ask their manager & if they don't know - tell them to call corporate, since it is their store policy

Anyone know who the parent company is/who owns GS?

I believe that, a few years back, I saw/heard/read somewhere that it was either Borders or Barnes & Noble.

Can anyone c/d this for me?

[argyle]

I didn't know about the merger.

I *can* refute only big/AAA RPG's getting guides last (7th) gen:

4 (off the top of my mind) would be Resonance of Fate, NieR, Valkyria Chronicles, and Cross Edge.

Also, depending on how one views Disgaea - all of them have also had guides.

This is where I'm confused because, games of similar popularity, sales, niche-ness, and print run sizes (Ateliers, Guided Fate Paradox, Agarests, Neptunias), etc,,,haven't had guides 

Well, the four you mentioned were all relatively early last gen. Nier had the bonus of being a S-E title, Resonance & Valkyria were both Sega (which meant a little more at the start of last gen). And sadly, the Cross Edge guide was one of if not THE last guides by DoubleJump Books, a publisher that existed to create guides for niche games. I'd consider Disgaea high profile as far as JRPGs go.

It definitely wasn't a hard cut-off when last gen started, but you can definitely see the steep decline of the number of games that got guides as that gen went on. 

I did know about that policy Kenny, but I almost never buy guides from GS because Amazon usually destroys them on price. 20% off the cover price isn't that great when Amazon typically sells guides that retail for $40 for $25 or less. 

[kashell]

Isn't Borders completely out of business? Barnes and Noble seems to be still going strong.

I have to mention one thing: I have had the displeasure of reading some really, -REALLY- crappy strategy guides. I'd love to see what everyone else has had the displeasure of reading, too.

Final Fantasy IX: This was the worst guide I have ever seen. They offered no help whatsoever for any of the mini-games. Instead, they directed you to some Internet site.

Ys: The Ark of Napishtim: I hate guides that try to use humor. This one did that and it wasn't pleasant.

Wild ARMs 2: This one also used humor, but it was even worse. It felt like I was reading something from a rejected Working Designs script.

Tales of Symphonia: Typos, mistranslations, spoilers and poor lay out made this a joke of a guide. If not for the maps of Sylvyarant and Tethealla, it would have been fire kindling.

What about y'all? What are some of the worst strategy guides you used?

@dark: I submitted my review yesterday! It should be posted soon. I think I'm a little over half-way in Hearts now. The story took a surprisingly bleak turn unexpectedly. Also, the romance developing between Kor and Kohaku is adorable. I love it when characters in RPGs actually express their feelings of love for one another.

[bobster]

Final Fantasy IX guide is the worst. Thankfully, they're completely revamping it all for that box set that's coming out in February.

[soera]

I enjoy strat guides. Its (as Argyle said) one of the main pieces of swag that goes along with a game for me. I feel as if they are almost required to say you have a complete game. I can think of one game that somehow got missed during the big PS1 heyday of guides and thats Tales of Destiny. II has one but the first game does not.

[disgaeniac]

I didn't know about the merger.

I *can* refute only big/AAA RPG's getting guides last (7th) gen:

4 (off the top of my mind) would be Resonance of Fate, NieR, Valkyria Chronicles, and Cross Edge.

Also, depending on how one views Disgaea - all of them have also had guides.

This is where I'm confused because, games of similar popularity, sales, niche-ness, and print run sizes (Ateliers, Guided Fate Paradox, Agarests, Neptunias), etc,,,haven't had guides 

Well, the four you mentioned were all relatively early last gen. Nier had the bonus of being a S-E title, Resonance & Valkyria were both Sega (which meant a little more at the start of last gen). And sadly, the Cross Edge guide was one of if not THE last guides by DoubleJump Books, a publisher that existed to create guides for niche games. I'd consider Disgaea high profile as far as JRPGs go.

It definitely wasn't a hard cut-off when last gen started, but you can definitely see the steep decline of the number of games that got guides as that gen went on. 

I did know about that policy Kenny, but I almost never buy guides from GS because Amazon usually destroys them on price. 20% off the cover price isn't that great when Amazon typically sells guides that retail for $40 for $25 or less. 

Game of Thrones got a guide, too...maybe they were expecting that to be a big one, though 

FFX-2 guide - had no map/mention of the Chocobo Dungeon

loved DJ guides!

I think that CE was their last (and one of their lesser) ones...

Barnes & Noble was/wasn't the right answer!

http://news.gamestop.com/about_us/company_history