Prima Games is shutting down

I still have a few of their guides. This is no surprise though given how many flock to the internet for essentially the same information. I personally only bought guides for favorite game series.

I find this news sad to hear myself. I have a bunch of strategy guides myself. I typically buy them for JRPGs that I enjoy because I love all the artwork and detailed specs for enemies and equipment. While I preferred the Brady Games strategy guides it’s still sad to hear Prima going out of business. I know that you can find all the information online for these games now but there is something special in having a physical and tangible guide to look through.

It's unfortunate but in the days of the internet guides like these were on borrowed time no doubt. They used to be invaluable once upon a time and I know people still prefer them but for convenience and price it's no surprise to me that they went out of business.

Hope the employees land back on their feet soon.

I'm amazed they've existed this long already. They were cool and useful in the N64/PS1/PS2 days when the internet wasn't nearly as big, but since then, sites like GameFAQs and Youtube make them really unnecessary at times. I rarely do buy Prima's guide books but the very important I needed a guide was Skyrim because that game is fucking huge due to all the quest but that was my last guide book I bought for a game. I still buy Pokemon Pokedex index book just to look at what type of Pokemon team I wanna try out despite we have Serebii.net.

But I guess the true death blow is the fact that games are so freaking simple these days, no one needs guides any more. Fan made wikis are just too damn good and useful now. I never really pay any attention to GameFAQ, so can't really comment on how it's useful.

Sadly, it was bound to happen.

They failed to adjust their business model to fit the modern era.

No one buys guides anymore, not even a subscription.

Ive said time and again that their guides are amazingly detailed.

All they needed to do was provide free guides, start reviewing content, sell ads, and provide short bite sized walkthroughs on youtube to stay current and modern.

They got lazy.

Specific informational print is dying, it’s too easy to find something on an electronic device for free than to buy something at a store.

It’s sad but that’s just how it goes nowadays.

I had a handful of guides included with LEs I purchased, FFXII and KH2 being the foremost on my mind. But I’ve never gone out of my way to buy a printed game guide. I’m also quite confident the ones I own are produced by Brady Games.

The last one I bought was Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, it's a good long read and I prefer it over the digital guide counterpart. But yea, I don't buy guides anymore other then Pokemon just on the Pokedex content.

I didn’t even know they were still around. The last time they slipped into my conscience was Titanfall 1 and while I loved the game, I felt no need to buy a guide for it. It was a rather large book too.

Most games are that easy and obvious now they don't need guides.

Last game Guide I got was for Silent Hill 3. Turns out that I never needed it.

For me strategy guides weren’t purchased out of necessity but as a way to further enjoy games that I was really into.

Overpriced shit guides.

@Archangel3371: I agree. I didn't buy many, but it was always bought in advance, kind of like a companion comic book or something, rather than "I'm stuck and need a guide"

Same here.

The last one I bought was Fallout 3 before release.

I was so hyped I think I read it from cover to cover before the game released lol

Always seemed like more of a collector's/enthusiast's item to me, never really something you needed. Especially since internet has been widely available for two decades now.

It's too bad, though, fond memories; I'd often read the guides at the book store to vicariously experience games I didn't own.

A shame, Prima guides were always a cool thing to me as a kid, as they were the only good source for things like screenshot guides, top-down 3d maps, and clear 100% guides. But obviously as the internet improved and games moved away from collectathons, they became more and more obsolete, and their online presence is less than stellar.

I still have a few left for games like DK64 and Majora's Mask, so a tip of my hat for the nostalgia they bring at the very least.

It is too bad and is an example where technology makes something that is available for generations irrelevant and obsolete. Just like how digital cameras and smartphones drove celluoid cameras into obsoleteness. How Amazon.com and online shopping drove catalogue shopping (Sears) irrelevant.

As sad as it is I understand why they are shutting down. They were very useful back then but today we have the internet for our guide now and because of this it makes those strategy guides outdated today.

omg they had the best strategy guides why did people stop buying them? FFS man gamefaqs is shit compared to these

Because it's free on the internet

@BassMan: Aren't you just the cutest little ray of sunshine.

GameFAQs and YouTube ate their lunch a long time ago. I'm amazed they've lasted this long. Now if you get stuck in a game all you have to do is pull up a video of someone playing it on youtube.

Not really surprising, they are dinosaurs in a digital age.

I hope the employees easily find other work

I'm shocked to see how any print materials in gaming have still made it this far, honestly.

Yeah, surprised game guides were still a thing with YouTube guides these days, maybe bought my last one years back when I got GTA IV.

Internet walkthrough guides were popular back in the mid-late 90s, so I'm shocked the printed strategy guides still exited into the 2010s.

The trend toward Early Access releases, regular content releases, and half-finished launches killed off any chance printed strategy guides had left.

I think the guides were cool after you completed the game, but the fact that they started selling them at launch of the game was really lame in my opinion.

Damn that sucks, but it was to be expected. i haven't bought a game guide since Batman: Arkham City, back in 2011.

Cows still need them for when they're not playing Sony's movie games lol.

I've never heard about them.

This is the site I use. This is the top site but IGN also does great, in-depth guides complete with pictures, videos and maps.

Prima never adjusted their business model.

https://guides.gamepressure.com/

I mostly bought them for the artwork and the only one I ever used as some kind of walkthrough-help was FFX-2 so i don't miss the 100s of optional things you can do.

@ProtossRushX: Why did people stop buying them, is this a serious question?!? Online guides and YouTube, both free, and both do the same or better job then a mag.

I'm sad to hear them go, I have a few from years ago (FF7, Parasite Eve just to name a few) but they're basically just a collector's item now, and a very niche one at best it seems.

@navyguy21: no dude prima guides and blockbuster video should still be alive today give people choices is what i say look at this book has pictures and walkthroughs you feel safe as **** with this walkthrough going into a hard game. I don't feel safe looking at IGN or youtube thats retarded.

What am I even reading?

I assume you are not American or Canadian.

PS is living in your head rentfree 24/7, lol.

I didn't mention PS, you did, maybe its living rent free in your mind, better luck next time :)

Well, I'm supposed to be a cow, right? So of course PS lives rent-free in my mind. :)

The internet ruined them like the internet ruined blockbuster.

I'm surprised it didn't die in the 2000s, like many print magazines.

Sad to hear this news still have my ocarina of time and wrestlemania 2000 guides somewhere.

You mean the first ten years of the 21st Century?

Only guide/strategy book I ever picked up was when I got Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. Wasn't even a Prima book, it was by BradyGames.

I always drooled over the Prima books when I was young, though. Never did get them because my money was either to be used towards a game or the book, but I never had enough for both. So, what good was the book if you didn't have the game?

I don't know are you a cow???

You know what they say though right? if it walks like a duck, looks like a duck & sounds likes a duck, then it must be a cow lol.

Yes