i always see online guides as a bundle deal with a game for 10 bucks extra, and if you go to gamestop, you find a whole rack of guides to your favorite games.


i say, why? the internet should have completely eleminated the market for these things by now. maybe i'm just cheap or something i dunno.

The last guide I bought was for GTA III. I don't see a problem with their existence, though. Specially when they come with concept art and making of info.

I bought them before I had readily access to the internet. Most of them where also fun to read. The last guide I bought was the one from FF XIII and I never really used it because it wasn't interesting to read and online guides where so much better.

The last one I bought was from back in 1994 or so, containing the walkthrough for Quest for Glory III, Police Quest IV, Dracula Unleashed, Legend of Kyrandia, etc. A great book overall.

The last guide I bought, actually was for Breath of Fire IV at a used bookstore a few months ago. I've also gotten a few from my brother who works at a game store and can buy them for a penny when they're clearing out inventory. That's how I got guides for games like Prototype, Duke Nukem Forever, and Star Ocean: The Last Hope! Guides tend to have great artwork and asides to read about. So, even if you don't have the game, or at least aren't playing it, you'll still have a reason to peruse through it.

Digital guides, however, I see no point in getting. I would only want one if you get them for free with the game, there is no reason to purchase them when there is the big ol' internet at your disposal.

I used to, now and then. I think the last one I got was for the first Fable. Mainly just for research, though, or knowing more about the world if it was a game I was really pulled into.

But these days, if I happen to get stuck to the point of needing help, then yeah, I hit the internet.

The last one I bought was for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas back in 2005. I'm not sure why anyone would buy them these days. I suppose it's far more convenient for console games at least to have a physical guide on hand. Not to mention, you could argue that they're more reliable, seeing as any idiot with a computer can write guides online (whether or not that's actually true is debatable).

I suppose it's like getting artwork books when you could have just looked the concept art up online. Nowadays I imagine it's less for their functionality and more for the sake of collecting. So if you're a collector they still definitely matter.

Personally, I make it a rule of mine to not spend any money on anything other than the actual game. A special edition may look cool but ultimately it should be about the game itself for me.

I generally prefer book guides to Internet ones, but they are often out of date, even if they were made for the last incarnation of a game.

The only reason I could see would be some maps in the guide but now IGN has very good guides including such material.

I have some guides - Mostly those splurge games where I go all out (DA:O) for example - These are Hard bound Collector's Edition type things. But you are correct if you just want to look something up the internet is the best place.

I only buy guides for rpgs so i can experience everything and not miss a sidequest or new characters etc

I used to buy them. The last guide I bought was for Assassin's Creed II, but I only used it once for one of the puzzles. Many of the questions I have on games or if I'm confused with something I just google it up or go to GameFAQs.

I used to buy guides a lot. For some games I still do. Reason being that I enjoy the game much and that I simply prefer reading a book then on screen.

I pretty much stopped with the raise of the net, switching to gamefaqs.com for quiet some time. Nowadays even that get's replaced with services like gamepressure.com, offering great pdf-guides.

However, I wouldn't want to miss my Morrowind (400 pages) or Fallout 3 (500 pages) guides in my hand. Getting all that information or a specific part of it through the net, with all it's advertising or miss-leading search results, is more cumbersome and time-consuming then scanning an index or table of contents.

Besides, reading a 500+ pages book - no problem. Reading a 500+ pages pdf? Now who would want to do that?

I would buy for RPG's , especially JRPG's, tons of hidden stuff in them that you really need a guide for, otherwise, I would get them if there was extra art etc.