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I personally don't use game guides a lot, mostly because I'm stubborn and also because if I really am stuck I can usually find it on the internet. However...

I do buy Game Guides because as an aspring designer they're good to look at. They are Game Design Docs all prettied up. So even if it's a guide for a what I've heard is a crappy game it's fun to look at the guide and figure out why it's crappy. wink

I personally like strategy guides as a form of reference... most of the time anyway. Sometimes I don't actually need them till I get so stuck that frustration takes over (case in point: I was actually able to get most of the way through the original Sonic Adventure 2 for the Dreamcast - up to the Eternal Engine level for the Hero side and Security Hall for the Dark characters. At that point I HAD to get a guide or risk driving myself and/or my folks nuts xp ...)
For me, there's another perspective that draws me to the guides: the perspective of fandom. As a die-hard Sonic nut I tend to get anything - and I mean ANYTHING - related to my beloved game series. That includes strategy guides biggrin . There's also been the case that some guides have info that others don't, even though they both cover the same game... I've been known to actually get BOTH in many cases to "cover all the bases"...

Most of the people who put up strategy guides on the internet had to buy them to begin with. neutral So, I guess it's a legitimate argument.

They're only worth it for the art. I personally dont' buy them because I can get any help I need from the interenet, (IF I ever needed help) I've never had to get a strategy guid, not for any game. If I could pass the game and find all of it's secrets without it, why would i use extra money to buy it. That's what I think anyway.

It's always been more rewarding for me to beat the games without the guides, but at the same time, it's helpful for when you get stuck. I've only ever gotten one guide, and that was for FF I&II: Dawn of Souls. I only got that one because it came with my Nintendo Power subscription. If you only want to use the guides for when you get stuck, it's not really worth the money.

I use strategy guides. To me it's not cheating cause the guide can't do the work for you, it can only tell you what to do and even then, if you can't do it...that's your own fault. I mainly use them because I've got to do everything possible in a game. So, if I miss something and find out about it later on...that really pisses me off. So I use the guides to make sure I get everything done that I can do in the first play-through of a game. Plus, I just like to have the accompanying guide to a game, I'm a completist.