[:plant:] Right. Let's talk guides.

I always saw guides as part of the package: you get the game, you get the guide. So pretty much any game I end up owning, I try and track down a guide for it. I still don't have a huge collection yet, but its growing. The art is one of the bigger draws, since we usually don't get artbooks on this side of the world, but I like to have all the secrets laid out in front of me in case I just can't figure it out on my own (Wild Arms guides and their puzzle-box solutions pay for themselves after about the first hour). I'm all for beating games on your own, and I usually don't use the guides to help me through the first time, but they're just that extra bit that makes the whole experience feel more complete.

I also notice that old guides are usually harder to find than old games. I got Dawn of Mana for Christmas, but the game itself came out in early '07. I thought it would still be around, but I looked everywhere for the guide with no luck. Same thing happened with FFIV Advance last year. Its like stores cycle through guides after a few months, with only the high profile stuff like WoW and Mario sticking around forever.

And Versus, yeah, those were excellent. I have the Versus Books guide for Street Fighter Alpha 2 complete with pictures of every attack from every position, along with the percentage damage of each hit, and strategies for every specific character vs. character match-up. Not to mention concept art, exploits, tournament reports, codes for every version, and a poster. Those guys didn't go out of business, they worked themselves to death.

Jam it back in, in the dark.