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Unboxing Video: Final Fantasy Strategy Guide Boxed Set

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I’ve been told by readers and strategy guide fans that the Final Fantasy strategy guide boxed set from Prima Games should be avoided at all costs. It’s poorly done. They copy and paste from the older guides. There’s a blatant mistake in one of the character pages.

Well, I can’t exactly do my job if I take all of these complaints at face value and not look at the books myself. Besides, I’m a huge collector, so of course I’m going to buy these books, mistakes be damned. So I have them, I’ve looked through them, and I compared the FFVII guide to the original.

Here are my thoughts:

The too long, didn’t watch version is this: it ain’t that bad of a boxed set, people. Put down the torches and pitchforks.

LEGO Jurassic World Strategy Guide Review

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LEGO Jurassic World strategy guide reviewChris was the first one to foray into the video review waters after his tragic fight with that unicorn, and now I feel it is my turn to jump in. I had so much to say about the LEGO Jurassic World strategy guide and so much I wanted to show that video seemed to be the best format. That and I’m super lazy; you think I wanted to scan in all of those pages? Isn’t that why I use strategy guides in the first place, because I am super lazy (and I like to collect things)?

Regardless of my laziness, I had a lot I wanted to show to help explain exactly why I’m so disappointed in this strategy guide, which breaks my heart to write. It would be one thing if Prima Games slacked on all of their LEGO game guides, but they normally don’t. This book screams of a rushed product, something I noticed with the game as well when I reviewed it. The strategy guide’s only saving grace was the handheld section, which was everything the console section should have been.

Here’s why.

SGR Rating: 3/5

Authors: Rick Barba and Michael Knight
Publisher: Prima Games
Editions available: Paperback
Acquired via Publisher

SGR Coffee Break 23: The Prima Games and BradyGames Merger

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Wait, we are actually talking about something strategy guide related on this episode of the SGR Coffee Break? The world must be coming to an end. That’s right, we tackle the Prima Games and BradyGames merger. This is all adult talk and such.

Oh and we might have info on how to win The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Collector’s Edition Strategy Guide for Free Guide Friday within.

Audio:

Video:

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Video Preview: Splatoon Strategy Guide

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Trying a little experiment here. I got more feedback from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt CE unboxing than I have about, well, anything else on this site, so I’m going to try video previews of every strategy guide that comes across my desk. This means that yes, you’ll hear more of my voice (good or bad) and see more of my awesome yoga outfits.

First strategy guide up for the preview treatment is the Splatoon strategy guide from Prima Games. It’s super tiny, super cute, and seems to have all the info one will need. But is it worth a purchase? Check it out for yourself and see.

Prima Games and BradyGames Officially Merge

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PrimaGamesThe writing has been on the wall for awhile, but today marks it as official: Prima Games and BradyGames are now one entity. There is now only one strategy guide publisher in the United States, as Double Jump and numerous others I have forgotten folded years ago.

As part of the merge, the name of BradyGames is also melding into Prima Games. My orange books will soon be a classic as all of my strategy guides will have the red branding.

We’ve seen this in the works for quite some time. BradyGames was under the Penguin Books publishing umbrella, which is owned by Random House. Random House also owns Prima Games. Then BradyGames’ online e-guides merged with Prima Games’ website a few months ago. Really, this was a matter of time.

I’m mixed in how I feel about this. I really like the idea of competition for guides, because to me, that’s how things improve. If there’s not much competition for best quality strategy guides, then the only motivation for improvement is via the dollar. Granted, BradyGames and Prima haven’t exactly had much competition between the two, as they do not publish guides for the same game. The only competition they really had was in convincing publishers and developers to work with them over the other.

But no point in complaining about what is. This is how it is, and this is how it may stay. Maybe we’ll see more competition in the future with smaller publishers or perhaps with the online market. It’s an interesting time for strategy guides, and to be reviewing them, that is for certain.

The entire press release is below.

Prima Games, an imprint of Penguin Random House Inc., has joined forces with the team at BradyGames. Uniting these two iconic strategy guide publishers brings together over 40 years of expertise, creativity, and passion for the video game industry. Whether in print or digital—from traditional strategy guides to map apps, video content, and eGuides—Prima Games helps players get the most out of their games.

As the premiere provider of official, expert strategy content, Prima Games has the largest catalog of detailed strategy delivered in the most convenient and easy-to-use formats. Products include interactive web-accessed guides, iTunes/Google Play apps, console strategy apps, cheats and codes databases, and traditional print guides. Web-accessed strategy guides (eGuides) are available 24/7, directly from primagames.com with no download or DRM required. Print guides feature complete walkthroughs, detailed maps, instructional screenshots, and a free eGuide for access to updated content. Collector’s editions go even further with exclusive extras such as posters, interviews with game developers, lavish art sections, lithographs, and even in-game DLC.

We Are Prima Games. We Are Strategy. Visit primagames.com for more information.

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