i get the impression a lot of you guys have some money to spend.

I actually wouldn't mind getting the guide to Deus Ex HR so that i didn't have to keep pausing the game and getting on my computer, i could just have the guide on my lap.

but i don't have enough money! every month i end up overspending and tapping into my savings just to make it through the month, obviously i can't keep that up.

still, the internet is free and abundantly willing to impart gaming secrets to me. thus, i end up alright in the end. i will survive.

The thing is online guides often give way better advise even if it is without maps and stuff.

I usually use the internet for help, especially since I don't have a lot of money to spend. If I can get the guide at a reasonable price I would go with that. For the same reason Siannah said.

if guides were more like developer commentery or how the created the game would be better,, but i guess sometime its developer comm is better ingame

Generally, I won't buy guides unless I'm concerned the game will both need a walkthrough and won't have one in time, or ever. Some games you can just tell no one else is going to care. Generally you end up surprised someone was paid to write a guide about those games, but it happens more often than you'd think.

That still doesn't make me do it, though. The last time I bought a guide that wasn't included in a collector's edition was way back when I wanted a guide for Harvest Moon: Magical Melody, because HM is one of those series where if you don't know what you're doing, it's just not as fun. Imho.

That said, there's a hidden advantage to guides: they tend to be written about the alpha or beta version of the game. The guide I got with my collector's edition of Heroes of Might and Magic V is about a radically out of date version. Sometimes level strategies are entirely broken even pre-patch, units entirely changed, maps drastically terraformed. It's like a relic of the past!

I've got a few guides for games like Homeworld or the Witcher, but they came bundled with the game itself. I see no reason to buy a guide separately, especially nowadays when there's almost guaranteed to be an equally good guide on Gamefaqs or even a wiki.

If I manage to find a guide for an RPG I'm enjoying at the used book store, I'll grab it.. otherwise? Feck that noise. >.>

Generally guides are a waste, and I would never buy an MMO guide.

Never have and never will.

Although I love the two game guides that came with my original WoW Battle Chest edition back in 2007... which I threw in the trash can some time ago.

Once the information is outdated, no matter how good the quality, it is useless, and I rather not waste space to keep useless stuff.

I've bought the odd guide here and there, mostly on a whim more than anything, sometimes bundled with the game. I've picked up the guides for Resident Evil 2, Final Fantasy 7 and 8, Anachronox, The Official Book of LSL, which was part guide book part companion... I also got one of those little hint books for Leisure Suit Larry 6 as a bonus on eBay when I purchased a boxed talkie release of Shape Up or Slip Out. Escape from Monkey Island came a thin hint/walkthrough booklet thing, and I think my copy of Starship Titanic came with a guide too, not sure.

I like the guides from Gamespot, especially some of the ones for older games like Baldur's Gate which are downloadable PDFs. I subscribe to GS so I have access to all their guides and if they don't have it, there is always gamefaqs, Google, etc.

On some special occasions I will get a print guide. I have one for Morrowind which covers the expansions too. It's a fun guide to peruse and find quests and other things I missed, details on character creation choices and more. I am planning to replay the game sometime soon where I never did the main quest nor the expansions when played it in the past. A refresher on the stats, choices in character creation, etc. will be cool. I am the kind to spend a while reading about a game before I dive in. The Gamespot Baldur's Gate guide was great pre-game reading because it taught me about AD&D rules governing the game and about character creation and the importance of the various stats, abilities of various classes, etc. In a way both these guides just mentioned here contributed to fun for me. I liked starting off with some idea of what I was doing.

Not too long ago (I think there must have been a big sale) I bought all the Sierra adventure games on GOG and I know I will sometimes get stuck in these for sure. So I went on Amazon.com and was able to find at cheap to reasonable prices the original print guides for each of these series: King's Quest, Space Quest, Quest for Glory and Police Quest. These will make the games more fun for me since i can easily get help if I get stuck.

Once I realized I could find guides for good old games on Amazon.com I went on a bit of a spending spree. I found guides for The Ultima Collection and Ultima IX so I have that entire series covered. Then I did the same for the Might and Magic RPG series of games. Lastly, since I am brand new to turn based strategy games and own the Might and Magic ones, I got the guides for the first, second and third games in the series. I figure they will be fun to have and get me off to a good start. I have played a bit of the first Might and Magic strategy game and I really liked it. So I'm sure I'll put these guides to use over time.

All those are the first time I've bought a printed guide since I got the Morrowind one quite a long time ago now. I wouldn't attempt to buy a guide for every game I own nor do I think it necessary but for those good old games I just couldn't resist getting good old guides too.

As a kid, I always used to. I loved (still sometimes do) reading them, for the sake of reading them, and seeing what I may have missed in a game. (I am a RPG gamer) But lately I have skipped out on it. Sometimes I read them online for fun, but it is nothing compared to reading a paperback one, and with money being tight, I don't have the cash to throw around like I did as a kid.

I think the readability of guides has lessened to a certain extent.

If you can get your hands on one, get the Stonekeep strategy guide. It is a great read, plus it had the lyrics to the faerie songs.

http://www.amazon.com/Stonekeep-Official-Strategy-Guide-Secrets/dp/1559587334 (PS: I hate Amazon, just for reference)

Wishlisted for now but I'll pick that up in the future. Thanks!

I bought one, and I regreted. Nothing you can't find on google nowaday....

I made a point of seeking out the guide for "Empire Earth", and I enjoy having it. If you are a big fan of a game, it makes sense to have the guides, if they are well written.