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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I checked guides that were not on the BB website:

Metal Gear Solid (hardcover) $30
Lego Batman $20
Lego Indiana Jones $10

007 Quantum Solace .01
Crash Mind Over Mutant .01
FF Tactics A2 .01
Silent Hill Homecoming .01

I went to 4 BB's and 2 had none of the guides missing from the website displayed. They were either pulled or someone got there before me. I got to one 10 minutes before open and saw some frugal looking people ;) waiting outside, but I could not wait so I don't know what happened at that store. I will hit 3 more stores on my way home and report again.

Just had my wife price a Gears of War 2 LE and it was $30.
 
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I got Star Wars Clone Wars Lightsaber Duel/Jedi Alliance for .01 today...it was reported as unpennied.
 
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[quote name='PapaSmerf']
007 Quantum Solace .01
Silent Hill Homecoming .01
[/quote]

You found those for a penny? Those would be new drops.
 
[quote name='Doomstink']You found those for a penny? Those would be new drops.[/quote]
That's what I was looking for. Like I posted though, it seems like guides have been pulled today. I left one Silent Hill and picked up one 007 at two different stores leaving several. I did not price guides found on BB website.
 
[quote name='PapaSmerf']That's what I was looking for. Like I posted though, it seems like guides have been pulled today. I left one Silent Hill and picked up one 007 at two different stores leaving several. I did not price guides found on BB website.[/quote]

Thanks. I'm going to go hit a BB today in hopes of getting some of the guides. Hopefully they weren't pulled.
 
[quote name='PapaSmerf']I checked guides that were not on the BB website:

Metal Gear Solid (hardcover) $30
Lego Batman $20
Lego Indiana Jones $10

007 Quantum Solace .01
Crash Mind Over Mutant .01
FF Tactics A2 .01
Silent Hill Homecoming .01

I went to 4 BB's and 2 had none of the guides missing from the website displayed. They were either pulled or someone got there before me. I got to one 10 minutes before open and saw some frugal looking people ;) waiting outside, but I could not wait so I don't know what happened at that store. I will hit 3 more stores on my way home and report again.

Just had my wife price a Gears of War 2 LE and it was $30.[/QUOTE]

Thanks a lot for checking, PapaSmerf. It's good to see some honest-to-goodness helpful information in this thread, for once, instead of the 'ol "I bought this guide today" nonsense that has spread throughout this thread.
 
Confirming NEW drops @ Best Buy (edit: these were marked 03/01/09)

Picked up:
Bioshock (New Version for 360 & PS3)
Midnight Club: Los Angeles
Silent Hill: Homecoming
&
Soul Calibur IV (regular edition)

didn't pick it up but saw:
Head Coach 09
007 Quantum of Solace

it also looked like a couple limited edition guides dropped in price by a couple bucks i.e. Prince of Persia & Gears of War 2, not totally sure about this though.
 
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As I'm going to BB anyway to pick up my XBL 1600 pts card + Watchman promo, I'll have to check and see if the newly dropped guides are there.

Assuming they haven't been cleaning up guides, I should luck out.
 
[quote name='Sacsquash']Confirming NEW drops (edit: these were marked 03/01/09)

Picked up:
Bioshock (New Version for 360 & PS3)
Midnight Club: Los Angeles
Silent Hill: Homecoming
&
Soul Calibur IV (regular edition)

didn't pick it up but saw:
Head Coach 09
007 Quantum of Solace

it also looked like a couple limited edition guides dropped in price by a couple bucks i.e. Prince of Persia & Gears of War 2, not totally sure about this though.[/quote]

Aghh was just at BB yesterday. Not sure if I can make a trip for a few days.
 
[quote name='Sacsquash']Confirming NEW drops (edit: these were marked 03/01/09)

Picked up:
Bioshock (New Version for 360 & PS3)
Midnight Club: Los Angeles
Silent Hill: Homecoming
&
Soul Calibur IV (regular edition)

didn't pick it up but saw:
Head Coach 09
007 Quantum of Solace

it also looked like a couple limited edition guides dropped in price by a couple bucks i.e. Prince of Persia & Gears of War 2, not totally sure about this though.[/quote]

Went back to BB that did not pull and indeed picked up Bioshock, Midnight Club and Soul Calibur IV for a penny each. Don't know why I did not see them the first time. Thanks Sacsquash!
 
[quote name='Sacsquash']Confirming NEW drops (edit: these were marked 03/01/09)

Picked up:
Bioshock (New Version for 360 & PS3)
Midnight Club: Los Angeles
Silent Hill: Homecoming
&
Soul Calibur IV (regular edition)

didn't pick it up but saw:
Head Coach 09
007 Quantum of Solace

it also looked like a couple limited edition guides dropped in price by a couple bucks i.e. Prince of Persia & Gears of War 2, not totally sure about this though.[/QUOTE]

Was this at BestBuy?
 
Just grabbed Bioshock at my local BB before they cleaned them up. And the cashier didn't feel like counting out 99 cents for change so she let me just take it. Woot.
 
My Best buy had lots of Midnight Clubs, 007, Bioshock and Silent Hill. i guess they dont care about pulling off guides this time. the last big drop, they pulled out guides when they opened.


Edit: i just realized now i have 2 copies of Bioshock since i got the old guide before the PS3 version came out, lol
 
The first BB I stopped by already pulled everything, I could see several gaps on the guide shelves. The second one I hit up I was able to snag Midnight Club: LA, Bioshock and SCIV. They also had 007 but I already have that guide from the GS drop. This was the Roseville, CA BB.

The one guide I wanted was Silent Hill...nada at this BB so if anyone hits up their BB later and happens across an extra, keep this CAG brotha in mind.
 
Second post is edited with the FOUR guides that dropped.

Can anyone confirm that the ones that were UNpennied ended up pennying again?

Here's the list I added to the second post:

007: Quantum Of Solace
Bioshock(PS3 version)
Midnight Club: LA
Soul Calibur IV(softcover)
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Second post is edited with the FOUR guides that dropped.

Can anyone confirm that the ones that were UNpennied ended up pennying again?

Here's the list I added to the second post:

007: Quantum Of Solace
Bioshock(PS3 version)
Midnight Club: LA
Soul Calibur IV(softcover)[/quote]

You forgot Silent Hill: Homecoming
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Second post is edited with the FOUR guides that dropped.

Can anyone confirm that the ones that were UNpennied ended up pennying again?

Here's the list I added to the second post:

007: Quantum Of Solace
Bioshock(PS3 version)
Midnight Club: LA
Soul Calibur IV(softcover)[/quote]

and forgot Headcoach '09

doubt anyone would bother picking it up though.
 
[quote name='Sacsquash']and forgot Headcoach '09

doubt anyone would bother picking it up though.[/quote]

Head Coach 09 is from a prior drop, I believe, no? OOPS!! I did forget Silent Hill Homecoming.

Thanks lawdood.
 
Just got back from BB and no go for me, all penny guides were pulled even the ones that were for the month ago drop and then went back up in price.
 
Scored at my BB.
They put out some guides from last drop that must have lingered around in the back instead of being trashed.

Can Confirm:

Midnight Club : LA
Bioshock (new edition)
Soul Calibur 4 Regular Edition
007 Quantum
Silent Hill: HC

+

Mass Effect LE
Soul Calibur LE
Final Fantasy Ring of Fates
and Wario Land Shake it
managed to find their way back to the shelves. Nice surprise. All were a penny too.
 
[quote name='Pookymeister']Scored at my BB.
They put out some guides from last drop that must have lingered around in the back instead of being trashed.

Can Confirm:

Midnight Club : LA
Bioshock (new edition)
Soul Calibur 4 Regular Edition
007 Quantum
Silent Hill: HC

+

Mass Effect LE
Soul Calibur LE
Final Fantasy Ring of Fates
and Wario Land Shake it
managed to find their way back to the shelves. Nice surprise.[/QUOTE]


Are those last guides still a penny?
 
I just got home. Was going to report Silent Hill and 007 .01 @ BB. Some racing game and some others were pulled by the media manager when I went to the register, but I didnt see what they were.
 
Yea just picked up 2 bioshocks 2 007s, infinite undiscovery and soul calibur 4. Each a penny: will verify this with receipt scan if there are people not believing me.
Employees took most of it when I talked to one they said they've been dropped for the whole weekend.
 
[quote name='Wolve11']Yea just picked up 2 bioshocks 2 007s, infinite undiscovery and soul calibur 4. Each a penny: will verify this with receipt scan if there are people not believing me.
Employees took most of it when I talked to one they said they've been dropped for the whole weekend.[/quote]

Is that the old Bioshock version or the new one for the PS3? Never mind, I saw the previous post.
 
Infinite Undiscovery has been added as well. How about Grand Theft Auto IV? That game has been out almost a full year now, so that guide is bound to drop sometime soon.
 
[quote name='Wolve11']
Employees took most of it when I talked to one they said they've been dropped for the whole weekend.[/quote]

I was at BB on 2/28 and noticed some guides were missing, so that makes sense to me. They must be dropping on Friday's now. The last drop was on Friday too.

[quote name='boneless']Is that the old Bioshock version or the new one for the PS3?[/quote]

New one (but the old is pennied too)
 
Was able to grab a few Bioshock,Midnight Club & Soul Calibur IV at the Crossroads BestBuy in Raleigh, NC.

I had a terrible experience at Crabtree, Raleigh, NC. I had 2 of each guide almost in my basket when an employee comes up and GRABS the guides out of my basket saying he needs to check to see if they were in the system. He was completely rude about it plus invaded my space. He's lucky I was in a good mood. I went to pick up my Watchmen/Live from Customer Service since I did instore pickup. On the way out, they emptied my bag and checked my receipt multiple times - making it look like I was the person who would steal? What the hell. I hate that store. Not ever going back.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Infinite Undiscovery has been added as well. How about Grand Theft Auto IV? That game has been out almost a full year now, so that guide is bound to drop sometime soon.[/quote]
No GTA4 - I was looking for that one also. I have the list and will type it up after this.

You will see some guides on this drop you saw on the last drop - a day after the last drop BBY sent out a notice saying pretty much "oops, our bad - some of the guides were not supposed to be pennied out".

ya...

look for list in a few mins, it was a pretty good size list.
 
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You will see some guides on this drop you saw on the last drop - a day after the last drop BBY put out a notice saying pretty much "oops, our bad - some of the guides were not supposed to be pennied out".


I am going to put the SKU for guides I am not sure the version of....

World Of Warcraft (8048855)
World Of Warcraft bu(ndle?) (9078464)
Midnight Club LA
Soul Caliber IV
Infinite Undiscovery
Silent Hill Homecmming
WWE Smackdown vs. Raw (newest one)
Bioshock
James Bond 007 Quantum Of Solace
SOCOM
Brothers In Arms Hells Highway
Pokemon Pocket Pokedex
Spore Limited Ed.
Battlefield Bad Company
Fracture
Codes and Cheats Winter 2008
Madden 09 Limited Ed.
Warhammer Online
Crash: Mind Over Matter
Warioland Shake It!
SW Clone Wars Lightsaber Battle.
 
[quote name='fuss']No GTA4 - I was looking for that one also. I have the list and will type it up after this.

You will see some guides on this drop you saw on the last drop - a day after the last drop BBY sent out a notice saying pretty much "oops, our bad - some of the guides were not supposed to be pennied out".

ya...

look for list in a few mins, it was a pretty good size list.[/quote]That explains why they went to pennied status and back to full price in a couple of days. Glad someone had an idea what was going on.

Re: GTA 4 guide, I picked one up when they went to 25% off its current price of $9.99. Better safe than sorry at $7.49 than passing on it.
 
Whew, made it back. I got one for each game in my backlog!
MAJOR Thanks to those who checked today! I will have to try and find and Infinite Undiscovery now.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Head Coach 09 is from a prior drop, I believe, no?[/quote]

You are correct, I just checked it dropped way back in October '08. It had a date for March '09 on it so I figured it was new, Sorry.
 
[quote name='fuss']You will see some guides on this drop you saw on the last drop - a day after the last drop BBY put out a notice saying pretty much "oops, our bad - some of the guides were not supposed to be pennied out".


I am going to put the SKU for guides I am not sure the version of....

World Of Warcraft (8048855)
World Of Warcraft bu(ndle?) (9078464)
Midnight Club LA
Soul Caliber IV
Infinite Undiscovery
Silent Hill Homecmming
WWE Smackdown vs. Raw (newest one)
Bioshock
James Bond 007 Quantum Of Solace
SOCOM
Brothers In Arms Hells Highway
Pokemon Pocket Pokedex
Spore Limited Ed.
Battlefield Bad Company
Fracture
Codes and Cheats Winter 2008
Madden 09 Limited Ed.
Warhammer Online
Crash: Mind Over Matter
Warioland Shake It!
SW Clone Wars Lightsaber Battle.[/quote]

I'm assuming you mean the Warhammer bundle, fuss? That was one of the ones that dropped the last time, but was raised back up the next day or whatever.

Also, which WOW's dropped? I know the WOW guide bundle dropped the last time, but I'm unsure if it was one of the ones that was raised back up or not.

What gets me is that a few years back, I checked the Best Buy in Springfield(PA) en route to Atlantic City and they still had Maximo: Army Of Zin guides on the shelf and that guide and game have been out for a LOOOOONG time as of that point.

However, the last time I went to AC(about a year or so ago), they had finally pulled the guide. Yet, when I had it price checked back then, it was still full price. So maybe some items never drop to a penny?
 
[quote name='fuss']No GTA4 - I was looking for that one also. I have the list and will type it up after this.

You will see some guides on this drop you saw on the last drop - a day after the last drop BBY sent out a notice saying pretty much "oops, our bad - some of the guides were not supposed to be pennied out".

ya...

look for list in a few mins, it was a pretty good size list.[/quote]

Sick part about GTA IV is that I already picked up another copy of the guide besides the one I bought when I picked up my PS3 and a copy of the game last April. I got it from my local game shop for $5. I was initially buying it for a friend who bought the game the same time as I did(Wally World at the midnight launch).

However, they assumed that since I told them I get guides for a cent at times that I got that one for a penny and would just let them grab it gratis.

So, now I'm stuck with it. Ahhh well....
 
[quote name='Amc5kidz']Was able to grab a few Bioshock,Midnight Club & Soul Calibur IV at the Crossroads BestBuy in Raleigh, NC.

I had a terrible experience at Crabtree, Raleigh, NC. I had 2 of each guide almost in my basket when an employee comes up and GRABS the guides out of my basket saying he needs to check to see if they were in the system. He was completely rude about it plus invaded my space. He's lucky I was in a good mood. I went to pick up my Watchmen/Live from Customer Service since I did instore pickup. On the way out, they emptied my bag and checked my receipt multiple times - making it look like I was the person who would steal? What the hell. I hate that store. Not ever going back.[/quote]

That guy was there on the last drop. Guess I'm skipping that store tomorrow. Hopefully, "Turn-to-start" hasn't cleared out all the other area stores yet.

All the new drops today were Brady guides. I suspect we'll get a drop on Prima guides within the next four weeks.
 
Doom - I left a few at the Crossroads BB - they have more BioShock and Soul Calibur. I now see that SOCOM has dropped and they had that as well. I really want that guide for myself. If you can't find anything you want, let me know and I might be able to hook you up.

As long as we succeed beating out "turn-to-start"
 
I have just completed my marathon BB and Target spree on the way home from work. Now that fuss has posted the additions I found, The only info I have to report is that out of the 7 BB's I hit today, 3 had pulled guides.
 
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