Why do strategy guides still exist?

[BalancedPro]

Thanks to the Internet we can just look up a faqs for free. Besides looking good on a shelf, what purposes do they serve in today's society?

[Tryhard]

collector's value

you don't exactly print out something from gamefaqs

also because while a lot of them can be poor to mediocre quality, some can be a lot better than anything you find online. for example, I always liked the piggyback strategy guides. They always were very high quality. still got the FFX one, and it has very helpful maps compared to everything online. if you really cared you could go download a pdf online or something, but I liked to have it as a hardcover.

Edited February 10, 2017 by Tryhard

[Magical Glace]

I collect them.

Also I like reading things from physical books haha.

[Anacybele]

What Glac said. I like reading them and they're helpful when you don't have access to internet, like on a road trip or something.

[Randoman]

Having a book guide for games tends to be nicer than switching back and forth between a laptop and computer. Plus, online guides generally don't have as many visual aids as strategy guides and pure text blocks (which is what most online guides are) can only take some people so far.

[EricaofRenais]

Collecting like others have said, one time when I was at a used book store they had two Final Fantasy Prima collector guides that I bought for a friend and she really loved them.  Prima collector guides are really pretty and I keep hoping I will find some of the ones for Zelda at the same store some time.

[henrymidfields]

Not too sure about those in Australia, but I've found Japanese ones to be of reliable quality, and they usually come with maps and graphics not seen over the internet.

[sirmola]

Also, Information on the internet is not very reliable. For example, if you search "pokemon sun moon happiness" on google, the fourth result is a polygon article claiming that you can increase happiness by teaching a pokemon the same two TMs over and over. the 5th result is an article claiming the same thing. 3 months ago, these articles were even easier to find. This method does not work. All of these articles source a reddit thread where the original poster was either mistaken or trolling. Strategy guides have all the information you need in one convenient package, without having to sort through stuff like this.

[Loki Laufeyson]

They are mostly made for collectors these days. This is why you have special hardcover editions of stuff like that. But the others are right, the information is the most accurate, plus they are super thorough. The maps, images, item tables, etc are just too useful, moreso than a text online guide. 

[Reality]

I used to buy prima guides (mainly for n64 stuff) especially for games I didn't own yet- even when I didn't buy them, I would read them in the game store and then put them back on the shelf. A lot gave better previews than the advertisements and magaznie reviews! I liked some of the splash art for stuff like Quest 64 and DK 64 that wasn't really available in the game. I remember a lot of the guide's having amusing mistakes; star fox 64's didn't explain you could get a medal on the red line version of Venom and Banjo Kazooie listed one of the Jiggy's for Click Clock Wood twice. I think the only guide I ever actually used for game help was Pokemon stadium ironically enough. I also appreciate  the writing style of the guides in general- they would play up the "hard parts of the game" but never came  near depreciating the game or its makers for it, but also didn't use "shill" language to suck up and market the thing. It kind of respected the games and assumed that we too wold play along with it fairly. 

[Shinehollow]

I prefer to read stuff from books, and sometimes it's easier to trust the book more than a walkthrough. The ORAS guide has absolutely everything you can find online, and in slightly better detail, too. It has where to exactly find every mega stone and evolution stone in game, and every Pokemon in the you can find in the game and where. It's far easier than looking it up. 

[saisymbolic]

Because people like me still buy them for collection purposes. Also, not everyone has the internet.

But I would echo what everyone has already said. The internet does have just about everything, but a guidebook has the advantage of being able to provide pictures. Everyone loves pictures. Also, guidebooks are sometimes more detailed and more helpful than a FAQ. My Xenosaga II guidebook has recommended spreads for each character, strategies for every single boss (that I have long since memorized) and maps to every treasure. All of it is in one thick tome, so I don't have to juggle between opening different tabs or what-have-you. Very convenient. 

I know the internet is awesome, but there is a reason books still exist.

Edited February 11, 2017 by saisymbolic
grammar

[Samias]

I'll echo that having easy access to various indexes and maps is the best reason to own a guide. However I find the internet actually tends to have better advice for boss strategies and other shortcuts you can find in a game, since guides tend to be written on strict deadlines. I've seen many typos throughout guides because you can't correct typos or bad tables when they go to print.

[kingddd]

Well it's not like all internet FAQs are any better.  This was 100% approved btw for Xenoblade.

Edited February 14, 2017 by kingddd

[Samias]

Yes, guides on Gamefaqs can be just as bad if not worse. I mean, there is the infamous GBA Fire Emblem power ranking that is just totally bonkers, although the official guide isn't much better. I'm just saying print guides are not infallible and later discussion of a game can also yield some more reliable strategies or alternative routes. Especially for the more popular games.

I'd say that Prima is probably one of the worst official guide makers out there when it comes to info, yet they are one of the ones used the most by game publishers to make an official guide. They are there for collector's value because at least they have maps and artwork and nice print quality. However they don't really have great editors. Also on certain games like Pokemon, their first guide released barely covers anything and you need to track down the secondary guides that come out much later, well after Bulbapedia and Serebii have covered the locations of everything in the game, all movesets and evolutions of Pokemon on day 1.