f13.net

Just noticed this today. Steam is now selling Prima Strategy guides through their shop.
I couldn't find much info about them through the shop itself, but I assume they are .pdf's

I don't know what I think about this. I have always thought of the Steam Shop as well... the Steam Shop. I think of Steam as a launching platform for games. No one is of course forcing me to buy these new guides, but it bothers me  :headscratch:. Maybe it's just the principle of it or because I kind of see it as the start of a possible trend with Steam to be more than just a game shop, but a place you can buy games and all sorts of dodads for your games as well.

On one hand it is kind of neat. Being able to buy relevant ebooks for your games in the same place you buy your games. I have plenty of friends who buy a statagy guide with every game they buy, so offering that market the ability to get both in the same place seems like a smart move to me.

They didn't release a news bit about this move either, I feel it is kind of a big step for them, a news article on why they made it would interest me.

I mind less that they are selling non games and more that they are selling something as stupid as prima official strategy guides.

The few times I've bothered buying a prima strategy guide I've found them to be rather poor quality and really not worth the purchase.  Of course, with the abundance of online guides (ctrl-f yo) I don't know why anyone would bother.

They're for reading on the crapper. 

I don't mind the guides. As far as quility of them goes, when it comes to a computer game, I see no point in them at all. Google.

I have purchased Prima guides tho, namely for FFT:A2, which is a DS game. It's a portable game, where a portable guide made sense to me. It was rather detailed as well.

or I could you know, use the steam browser and go to GameFAQs.

I buy the real ones occasionally when they're in the bargain bin. I find it easier to have a book next to me for a console game than to have to go back and forth to the computer room or have to set up a laptop next to me (though I at times do both of those).

I've bought a couple of them at full price - GTA: SA, GTA4, Fallout 3 - simply because they contain so much content about the finer details of the game, and because games don't come with, you know, manuals that have all that information anymore.

Maybe I should see if there's a Red Dead Guide?

I've bought one Prima guide (used from Amazon). That was for MOO1 because I wanted to create a remake of it. That one is actually pretty decent because it tells you the exact algorithms used in the game.

Those old Prima guides - at least for games like MOO that actually were complex enough to need guides - were good, way back then.  The Master of Orion and Master of Magic guides are a great example of really well done strategy guides.

Heh heh, thought you meant these (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOO).

Gaming materials make the best restroom companions. Great way to optimize your gaming time!

I liked my Viva Pinata guide.



What.

Yes, I am a game guide buyer.  I don't buy them for every game.  I know you can get stuff off wiki's and other sites, and I do, I just love having them around for the crapper and on lunch breaks.  Just bought Red Dead Redemption and got some info out of there I haven't seen online.  I mainly use them for my second play throughs when I want to know all the nooks and crannies. 

I guess that's why it's called 'disposable income'.

I'd be interested to hear if anyone here has actually bought one of these guides from Steam.