Post by wafflerevolution on Sept 8, 2013 21:06:12 GMT
by Paully3433
Starting a new series here at CCU, I will look at some of the questions that have been burning for sometime. Certain things fuel the fire as others pitch a pail of water on them. Starting off the series is a look at Strategy Guides and if they are worth it, are really useful a brief history, and if they add or take away from the game your playing. Keep in mind that for the most part I am talking actual covered published guides, not just walk throughs on the Internet. These are actual guides you have in hand.
With that in mind lets first take a look at a few of the company's that we think of when we are used to hearing the term Strategy Guide and what they offer to us:
First is DoubleJump Books, based out of Redmon, Washington. These guys do very few guides, but in the genre that I play, RPG/Strategy they do quite a few. They currently have for sale Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness, Compilation and Disgaea 1, 2, & 3. Also included are Persona 4, Operation Darkness, Mana Khemia, Soul Nomad, Phantom Brave, Genji, and Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow. These are all they have on their website and range from $14.99-$39.99 for a special Edition.
The next publisher is a monster among guides, Brady Games based out if Indianapolis, Indiana. These guys currently have 163 guides for sale on their website. Hit titles from such as WoW: Wrath of the Lich King, Gears of War 2, VC, The Last Remnant, and many many more. They also do most of the Square Enix titles that come out. Currently the oldest guide they have for sale is Final Fantasy VII for $15.99 which is still a pretty solid deal.
The third and final publisher we will look at is Prima Games based out of Roseville, California. These guys have been around forquite some time as well. I have guides from early Playstation era as well as some of SNES if I am not mistaken - and I may be. Prima has to many to show you for guides as well. They offer you a chance to buy the book, buy the download or try it for free, which is neat way of doing things. A few examples of their guides would be Animal Crossing: City Folk, Assasin's Creed, Banjoe Kazooie and many other new releases. All are within the same prices as the other two publishers.
Nintendo also puts out their own guides for some games. GBA Final Fantasy titles all are Nintendo Strategy Guides.
Are guides worth the money? Most guides will run anywhere from $14.99 - $24.99 or more depending on the edition. Gamestop will knock a % off if you get the guide with the game, I forget how much but i think its like %10 or %15. That is still a chunk of change for something you may or may not use. Granted it should keep its value unless it is for a sports title or something. The monetary idea may put some people on the fence about getting guides. It does to me at times.
Now guides have been around for quitea long time. I have guides like I said from SNES and Nintendo Power Magazine did walk throughs on NES games as well. In my opinion they have gotten more detailed with their walk throughs and character profiles. They have added secrets and side quests now where not all did before. They have also gotten larger in size and cost slightly more now then before.
Without sticking to much into history lets take a look at a few of the negatives that may take away from the game. On the contrary we will also check into the positives a little bit later on. First the not so good things. How accurate are game guides? Guides are released typically a week or so before the actual title is out. They are often based on early versions of the game and may or may not include everything they should. This may be more of a problem with older guides then newer ones with publishing taking less time now, but still something to consider. A little blurb off of wikipedia talks about some other mistakes with guides"
"Games journalist and guide writer Alan Emrich has severely criticized recent strategy guides for:
Containing only facts which should have been in the game manual, e.g. about the user interface.
Failing to teach users how to improve their play.
Failing to provide information which helps them to makes decisions, e.g. about the capabilities and costs of units and buildings.
Being inaccurate, often because the developers have tweaked the game during the publication lead time.
The faults, he says, are mainly caused by the game publishers' and guide publishers' haste to get their products on to the market."
Now he has a few good points and a few I don't really think are solid criticizes. The first bullet talks about things that should have been in the game manual. Well the writer for the guide may be trying to help the player. If something isn't in the manual that he deems helpful well then it should be in writing somewhere. He doesn't write the manual and the guide. He is just simply adding things he sees fit. Other positives about guides may include a bestiary and often side quests and secrets you may not find. Again these are my opinions.
I have a hard time writing this once I have gotten into it. Most of us know what a guide shows us and how to use one. I have a strategy guide for every Final Fantasy game I own. Why? Not so much because I need a guide to show me how to beat it, that isn't it at all. In fact, I don't normally use it unless I am stuck with no where to go and have been wandering for hours. That doesn't happen maybe once in about 3 or 4 RPGs. I am on the fence with this one. I truly cannot fight for either side because both sides are right. Both have good points and bad points.
So I guess the choice would be up to you. I considered writing this after a friend gave me a hard time about my FF guides. Now I realize that its just a matter of chose like alot of other things in the world. If I have to make a choice. I say buy the guide, it will be worth something someday. But, don't use it unless you feel really necessary. It does take away the strategy of the game. If you know a boss is weak vs Ice, are you going to try Fire first and realize it heals him the hard way? I doubt it.
I hope you found this somewhat interesting lol....
Starting a new series here at CCU, I will look at some of the questions that have been burning for sometime. Certain things fuel the fire as others pitch a pail of water on them. Starting off the series is a look at Strategy Guides and if they are worth it, are really useful a brief history, and if they add or take away from the game your playing. Keep in mind that for the most part I am talking actual covered published guides, not just walk throughs on the Internet. These are actual guides you have in hand.
With that in mind lets first take a look at a few of the company's that we think of when we are used to hearing the term Strategy Guide and what they offer to us:
First is DoubleJump Books, based out of Redmon, Washington. These guys do very few guides, but in the genre that I play, RPG/Strategy they do quite a few. They currently have for sale Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness, Compilation and Disgaea 1, 2, & 3. Also included are Persona 4, Operation Darkness, Mana Khemia, Soul Nomad, Phantom Brave, Genji, and Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow. These are all they have on their website and range from $14.99-$39.99 for a special Edition.
The next publisher is a monster among guides, Brady Games based out if Indianapolis, Indiana. These guys currently have 163 guides for sale on their website. Hit titles from such as WoW: Wrath of the Lich King, Gears of War 2, VC, The Last Remnant, and many many more. They also do most of the Square Enix titles that come out. Currently the oldest guide they have for sale is Final Fantasy VII for $15.99 which is still a pretty solid deal.
The third and final publisher we will look at is Prima Games based out of Roseville, California. These guys have been around forquite some time as well. I have guides from early Playstation era as well as some of SNES if I am not mistaken - and I may be. Prima has to many to show you for guides as well. They offer you a chance to buy the book, buy the download or try it for free, which is neat way of doing things. A few examples of their guides would be Animal Crossing: City Folk, Assasin's Creed, Banjoe Kazooie and many other new releases. All are within the same prices as the other two publishers.
Nintendo also puts out their own guides for some games. GBA Final Fantasy titles all are Nintendo Strategy Guides.
Are guides worth the money? Most guides will run anywhere from $14.99 - $24.99 or more depending on the edition. Gamestop will knock a % off if you get the guide with the game, I forget how much but i think its like %10 or %15. That is still a chunk of change for something you may or may not use. Granted it should keep its value unless it is for a sports title or something. The monetary idea may put some people on the fence about getting guides. It does to me at times.
Now guides have been around for quitea long time. I have guides like I said from SNES and Nintendo Power Magazine did walk throughs on NES games as well. In my opinion they have gotten more detailed with their walk throughs and character profiles. They have added secrets and side quests now where not all did before. They have also gotten larger in size and cost slightly more now then before.
Without sticking to much into history lets take a look at a few of the negatives that may take away from the game. On the contrary we will also check into the positives a little bit later on. First the not so good things. How accurate are game guides? Guides are released typically a week or so before the actual title is out. They are often based on early versions of the game and may or may not include everything they should. This may be more of a problem with older guides then newer ones with publishing taking less time now, but still something to consider. A little blurb off of wikipedia talks about some other mistakes with guides"
"Games journalist and guide writer Alan Emrich has severely criticized recent strategy guides for:
Containing only facts which should have been in the game manual, e.g. about the user interface.
Failing to teach users how to improve their play.
Failing to provide information which helps them to makes decisions, e.g. about the capabilities and costs of units and buildings.
Being inaccurate, often because the developers have tweaked the game during the publication lead time.
The faults, he says, are mainly caused by the game publishers' and guide publishers' haste to get their products on to the market."
Now he has a few good points and a few I don't really think are solid criticizes. The first bullet talks about things that should have been in the game manual. Well the writer for the guide may be trying to help the player. If something isn't in the manual that he deems helpful well then it should be in writing somewhere. He doesn't write the manual and the guide. He is just simply adding things he sees fit. Other positives about guides may include a bestiary and often side quests and secrets you may not find. Again these are my opinions.
I have a hard time writing this once I have gotten into it. Most of us know what a guide shows us and how to use one. I have a strategy guide for every Final Fantasy game I own. Why? Not so much because I need a guide to show me how to beat it, that isn't it at all. In fact, I don't normally use it unless I am stuck with no where to go and have been wandering for hours. That doesn't happen maybe once in about 3 or 4 RPGs. I am on the fence with this one. I truly cannot fight for either side because both sides are right. Both have good points and bad points.
So I guess the choice would be up to you. I considered writing this after a friend gave me a hard time about my FF guides. Now I realize that its just a matter of chose like alot of other things in the world. If I have to make a choice. I say buy the guide, it will be worth something someday. But, don't use it unless you feel really necessary. It does take away the strategy of the game. If you know a boss is weak vs Ice, are you going to try Fire first and realize it heals him the hard way? I doubt it.
I hope you found this somewhat interesting lol....