Gaming Guides

[Sketch]

Since I know I am not the only collector, I thought I'd start this thread for gaming guides. More and more are being released as Special/Limited/collector's editions and some are fucking tasty. Irrespective of whether you actually use them as a guide or not, the books themselves are often worth collecting and indeed, many become highly sought after.

Anyone remotely interested in shiny hardback or limited ed. guides would do very well to snap up the Final Fantasy 13 guide ASAP. Seriously, get your pre-orders in while you can because...

"It will be limited to just one print run and each copy will be sequentially numbered" This is pretty unheard of in terms of guides. I have some numbered limited ed. games, but not books.

Here is the spiel from Amazon:

The Final Fantasy XIII collector’s edition guide will be a pristine coffee table book, printed on highest quality paper and encased in a hard cover. It will be limited to just one print run and each copy will be sequentially numbered.

Exclusive additional 16-page section featuring an overview and analysis of the Final Fantasy XIII story, the 100% complete guide to FINAL FANTASY XIII.

• Every secret, every side-quest, every mini-game, every bonus, every Achievement and every Trophy revealed and explained in a dedicated Extras chapter.

• Dedicated walkthrough charts the most rewarding path through this epic adventure.

• Strategy & Analysis chapter exposes hidden mechanics, advanced battle tactics and techniques for obtaining optimal rewards.

• All-encompassing Inventory and Bestiary chapters feature exhaustive lists and tables covering all enemies, weapons and shops.

• Bears all the hallmarks of a Piggyback guide, including annotated maps, hi-res screenshots and a wealth of exclusive, official artwork

• Carefully designed to avoid unnecessary story spoilers

Tasty.

[Rynstex]

How much is that looking to ship for? Done by Piggyback too, whom in my opinion are the best at what they do

Last guide book that I bought was for Dragon Age, mainly because it's a lovely hardback with parchment style paper and just looks really good, it's sat on my shelf ever since really apart from the occasional read of the lore sections.

[Sketch]

I curse myself for missing out on the Dragon Age one...I left it too long and now it goes for silly prices.

This one is 14.99 at Amazon.com. We have Amazon Prime which means free next day delivery, otherwise you could probably get it regular for a few quid...I'm not sure if it would qualify for super saver delivery which takes longer but is free...

[The Preacher]

I only have one of those books, the Street Fighter IV one. I regret not jumping on the Fallout 3 and Dragon Age ones though, they did look great, I just had no money at the time and now people want a lot for them.

[The Rook]

Hmmm, I could get that book and cut out the pictures to display around the house. :p

[Rynstex]

I curse myself for missing out on the Dragon Age one...I left it too long and now it goes for silly prices.

I've just checked how much it's currently going for...*shocked*

Not a gaming guide as such, but my Half Life 2 art book has a particular fond place on my shelf, got it the day HL2 was released, hardback brings back the nostalgia while flicking through its pages.

[MarkuzR]

Hmmm, I could get that book and cut out the pictures to display around the house. :p

I actually did that once... it was a very old book of Gustave Doré etchings from John Milton's Paradise Lost... I adored it and thought it'd be a good cover for our first demo back in 1992. Sure, there were scanners at the time but they were VERY expensive and the only other scanner that I knew of was my mate Graham's hand scanner, so it was stretching the image all over the place. I tried to build a set of wheels with a little motor that moved the scanner at a consistent speed but I still couldn't get the speed dead on for the correct aspect ratio. Ultimately... I just took scissors to the book and cut the thing out. Oops.

[The Rook]

I have the BradyGames guide for Saints Row 2 as part of the overall offer game had on. Not really a great guide, so I'll yet to see a truly awesome guide.

[South Q]

I got the Hardback Dragon Age guide book.

Then again, I got way too many guide books.

[MrCuddleswick]

That Dragon Age book might be useful.

Unlike my Left 4 Dead 2 Official Guide, which is beyond crud.