I bought the original Gold and Silver Nintendo Power guide way back when, just because I could. It was pretty helpful. And also I bought the Jak II guide, which was just fun to read, and it had a bunch of special drawings and concept art in it. It was pretty much like the limited edition art book sort of thing.
A nicely packaged tome of information, supplemented with screenshots, maps, in-depth description of the mechanics written by people who use their spell checker and sometimes have access to developer input, all available on Day 1.
A giant text file or forum, with information that's not necessarily correct, which has to slowly build over time and is dependent on someone's commitment to actually finishing the game, writing the info and writing skills.
As for actually using the guides: Some games are just too big to just "restart" when you missed something in the first 10 hours. I really don't have the same amount of time left to replay a game as when I was 18.
I bought the Fallout 3 strategy guide because I like having the text/pictures in front of me as opposed to on my computer. It was helpful in finding some of the sidequests at least.
People buy them so they can get the most out of the product that they possibly can. Well, sensible people anyway. People who buy the guides when they buy the game are just lazy and don't want to put the effort it. Not that there is anything wrong with this, that's just how they like to play their games. Some also buy them for the same reason they might buy an art book, because it's another product related to the franchise they love.
The only guides I ever bought were for FFX and FFX-2 (go ahead, judge), and there was a LOT of 'end-game' content in those games, which I struggled with greatly without the guides.
When I was younger and the internet was not a viable way to search for game info, I used to occasionally buy them. But currently I do not get it, unless there is some kind of bonus stuff inside or wrapped with it in a collectible fashion.
I use to buy them back in the day because dial-up sucked and I didn't have the PC in the same room as my consoles. But that all changed I got high speed and my own PC so I don't need guides anymore.
I've always felt that guides were for people that either don't care enough about games, or just plain out suck at them. More recently, I've felt that it may be a good idea, because whenever I see them in stores, I like the look of them, and I may want to collect them. I have so many games that it may benefit sometime when a friend wants to use one for a game. I've always liked the idea of a physical copy instead of using the internet. I probably never will buy a guide, nor ever try and attempt to use an online one either. I hate guides because it just shows you don't know how to overcome problems in games, and relating that to reality? Yeahhh; always have to overcome simple things yourself if you want to accomplish in life. Some help is good, but still...
never bought a strategy guide, always relied on the internet but i do see why people prefer strategy guides they're easier to read and they usually have pictures
I used to buy strategy guides before I realized that the internet was a better source of information. I have guides for Super Mario Sunshine, Pikmin 2, Star Wars Battlefront, and Star Wars Battlefront 2.
I think guides are good for titles like a Grand Theft Auto that has a lot of collectibles in it, or a game which is very level-up heavy and very specific on weapons and stats.
I like the feel of a book; flipping through pages is a lot more satisfying to the eyes than the glow of a laptop. I will get a guide for things like RPG's where I'll need information on a constant basis, or if they have something nice like a soundtrack.
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