Before the internet and its abundance of Wikis and GameFAQs, if you needed to know all the details about a certain video game, your best bet would be a strategy guide. Prima Games stood as one of the most recognized publishers of that market, offering books that contained maps, secret locations, tips, and cheat codes for hundreds of games, ever since it was founded in 1990. After an "extremely difficult decision" by owner Penguin Random House, Prima Games will be shutting down next spring, after almost 29 years of creating physical game guides. Reportedly, the team at Prima will stay on until early 2019 in order to complete the last handful of books that they've been contracted to publish, the final of which appears to be one for Bioware's Anthem. All three of their offices in Roseville, Indianapolis, and New York, which employs at least 40 staff members will be closed by March 2019.

Source

 

[Kurt91]

My favorite strategy guide was the one for Star Fox 64. Each level gave you background information about the planet, whatever lived there, the atmosphere makeup so you knew if it was suitable for organic life, etc. They even came up with an explanation for those arched rocks you fly through in Corneria to open the secondary route, and it really made each level feel more like an actual place. A fold-out poster with blueprints and schematics for the Arwing, Bluemarine, and Landmaster. That guide was pretty awesome, and you don't get stuff like that with a text walkthrough on GameFAQs. If they had kept up with that quality, getting extra art and concept stuff from the developers, maybe a couple interviews like the one with Miyamoto in the Star Fox 64 guide, I doubt that they'd be closing down today.

 

[Kioku]

It was only a matter of time. I honestly feel they've had a good run.

 

[Deleted User]

I wouldn't worry too much about not being able to access the guides when they close.
I know the guides are.. *ahem* preserved like many other gaming magazines that were big in the 90's.

 

[Maximilious]

Damn this is a shame. Guess the value of their product is going nothing but up in the future as collectors items. I wasn't planning on it, but I just pre-ordered the Smash Bros. Infinite guide they are releasing next month. It just so happens to be on sale today too (on Amazon).

 

[Heran Bago]

many publishers just copypaste a random Gamefaqs guide

Do you have a source for this happening? I would like to read more.

 

[Plstic]

Their earlier guides were great but didn't hold a candle to Nintendo Power guidebooks.

 

[FAST6191]

Don't think I have had a paper game guide since tomb raider 2 I think it was, and that was only because it was given to me. Even those I was still on dial up (save for the one or two friends that had dads at BT and thus had ISDN) I still found online a viable option.

Thanks for the news though.

 

[Abstract3000]

This explains no Dragon Quest XI Guide.... Sad really, I hate listening to random people talk on youtube while playing a game let alone watching others when I would prefer just to play myself. IGN is loaded with so much Ads & Spam when you block it all, it can no longer process and freezes the browser forcing me to use Linux like a condom whenever poking that bitch. With everyone shifting to Videos GameFaqs isn't what it was, and if relying on the Net rarely do you find a dedicated site that covers everything, but rather several different pages containing some of the info. Prima will be missed, their guides were always complete and gave me a single source when going for completion on my RPGs

 

[Plstic]

This explains no Dragon Quest XI Guide.... Sad really, I hate listening to random people talk on youtube while playing a game let alone watching others when I would prefer just to play myself. IGN is loaded with so much Ads & Spam when you block it all, it can no longer process and freezes the browser forcing me to use Linux like a condom whenever poking that bitch. With everyone shifting to Videos GameFaqs isn't what it was, and if relying on the Net rarely do you find a dedicated site that covers everything, but rather several different pages containing some of the info. Prima will be missed, their guides were always complete and gave me a single source when going for completion on my RPGs

I would recommend watching long plays then. The original meaning of LP is long play not lets play lol.

 

[mesakagi]

very sad.

 

[Knight of Time]

Very sad indeed...I bought many of their physical guides, and got a few digital guides as well (I got at least one through a code inside one of my physical guides, and got access to a few others thanks to Gold Points I received on Nintendo's website from some games I purhcased, that I used to purchase those guides). I'm crossing my fingers that Prima Games will allow people to download their purchased digital guides regardless of whether they used Gold Points or not.

 

[medoli900]

And nothing was lost. Prima's guide are full of error and assumption that they claim as facts (which are debunked most of the time, if not always).

 

[hollowtip]

Wow. I had no idea one of their offices is right by where I live.

 

[Lumstar]

My Nintendo has Prima guide rewards. Somebody may as well back them up for posterity.

 

[Beerus]

damn i loved thier pokemon guied from gen 1-3 on where to catch pokemon from fr/lg/xd/Colosseum/ruby/sappire and emerald sad to see them shutting down

 

[MurraySkull]

And nothing was lost. Prima's guide are full of error and assumption that they claim as facts (which are debunked most of the time, if not always).

NOT true, unless you're talking about Kirby 64.

 

[Deleted User]

Given that patches and DLC are a thing guides quickly become out of date. Online guides are quickly and easily updated, physical books are not.

 

[Lucifer666]

Damn it, I used to collect their Pokémon guides as a kid. I learnt so much about Daycare breeding through these, and it was a huge help filling up my national dex. A real shame, since online sources aren't nearly as entertaining to dig through.

 

[eyeliner]

It's always sad to see a company close. I wonder what will happen to the employees?

Guides are easily replaceable, people and jobs are not.

And the digital goods, I hope Penguin has them on a server. No reason to quit hosting them if a subsidiary closes.

 

[CrossOut]

Sad to see people losing jobs but with a lot of things being digital it was sadly a matter of time before this would happen. I wonder if they considered making the guides digitally via an app or something? That would be alright. Though the amout of sites that have guides made for free via its users could be a damper to them making money off of it.