Current Events > Prima Games is shutting down

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2018/11/people-etc-dk-to-close-prima-games/

DK announced the extremely difficult decision that they will no longer commission new Prima Games strategy guides following a significant decline in the video game guide sector, and the US-based imprint will be discontinued in Spring 2019 after 28 years of publication. The company says it is now in conversation with all colleagues in Roseville, Indianapolis and New York who have been impacted by this announcement. They declined to indicate how many employees will be affected, though there are approximately 40 people from Prima on LinkedIn.

The Roseville office will close mid-November, and some Prima Games employees in Indianapolis office will stay until March 2019 to publish the remaining program. Random House acquired Prima Communications in 2001, and Penguins Brady Games was combined under the Prima Games banner after the Penguin Random House merger.
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Bye-bye, overpriced collector's guides
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Thanks gamefaqs.gamespot.com
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I feel overwhelmingly responsible for this.
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We did it Reddit!
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Videogames are getting dumber and shallower, especially the mainstream AAA ones. The niche hardcore games wont generate enough revenue and the audience for those games are already hardcore gamers who likely dont need guides.

Not surprising.
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CyricZ posted...

I feel overwhelmingly responsible for this.

Thank you for your service
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A lot of factors make this unsurprising, video guides and the era of games being continuously patched or even outright completed after release makes printed guides obsolete.
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apolloooo posted...

Videogames are getting dumber and shallower, especially the mainstream AAA ones. The niche hardcore games wont generate enough revenue and the audience for those games are already hardcore gamers who likely dont need guides.

Not surprising.

Yeah, that's the reason and not the fact that better guides are available for free online. Why buy a fuckin' book that you have to search through for information when you can CTRL+F an faq on gamefaqs or bring up a wiki.

Prima guides used to be riddled with errors, some were a lot worse than others though.

I'd say the advent of smartphones were the main factor in the decline of printed guides.
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Internet killed em
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MC_BatCommander posted...

Prima guides used to be riddled with errors

That's the other thing, Prima guides were notoriously erroneous
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but with FAQs, YouTube, and Wikis physical guides are more than a little pointless these days as anything other than collector's items
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Their guides went downhill,

Comparing the Crystal version guide to the new ones is sad. They had paragraphs on the gym leaders in Crystal and for the new ones they often just list the team and weaknesses. They dont bother with movepool, advice etc.
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Its kind of insane they lasted this long honestly

It wouldn't have been surprising if they clocked out 15 years ago
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I still have a ton of my old strategy guides. Mostly from the GBC/N64 era. I liked to get a guide when I got a game. Even back then it was pretty easy to check gamefaqs but I liked having the physical copy so I could read it at school or look at the pictures etc
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This is bizarre timing considering that I just found an old strategy guide for Warcraft II the other day and wondered if the company was still around.
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gamefaqs claims another victim
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Balrog0 posted...

I still have a ton of my old strategy guides. Mostly from the GBC/N64 era. I liked to get a guide when I got a game. Even back then it was pretty easy to check gamefaqs but I liked having the physical copy so I could read it at school or look at the pictures etc

Same. Nintendo put out some pretty nice Official guides filled with original artwork and shit. Prima guides were very cut-and-dry in comparison.
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Versus Books > Prima and BradyGames
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TheCurseX2 posted...

Versus Books > Prima and BradyGames

oh yeah, their guides were hilarious
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CyricZ posted...

I feel overwhelmingly responsible for this.

you're obsolete too
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apolloooo posted...

Videogames are getting dumber and shallower, especially the mainstream AAA ones. The niche hardcore games wont generate enough revenue and the audience for those games are already hardcore gamers who likely dont need guides.

Not surprising.

It's true. Everything is going to be Fortnite, Uncharted, or sports by the end of this gen. It fucking sucks
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Never heard of it before
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time to watch this in remembrance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju-ebkKitvE" data-time="
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Rad_Chad posted...

apolloooo posted...

Videogames are getting dumber and shallower, especially the mainstream AAA ones. The niche hardcore games wont generate enough revenue and the audience for those games are already hardcore gamers who likely dont need guides.

Not surprising.

It's true. Everything is going to be Fortnite, Uncharted, or sports by the end of this gen. It fucking sucks

I like the turn back to local coop that the switch seems to be heralding
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SoundNetwork posted...

CyricZ posted...

I feel overwhelmingly responsible for this.

you're obsolete too

That's not what the millions of hits tell me.
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CyricZ posted...

I feel overwhelmingly responsible for this.

And you did it in your spare time, lol
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eston posted...

CyricZ posted...

I feel overwhelmingly responsible for this.

And you did it in your spare time, lol

Do what you love, and you'll never work a day in your life
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CyricZ posted...

I feel overwhelmingly responsible for this.

You bastard

How will they feed their families now
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I had considered it as a possible career option way back, but even then I knew that given the fact that my guides on GFAQs were free, easily accessible, and easily updateable, I knew back then that business model was doomed to failure.
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CyricZ posted...

I had considered it as a possible career option way back, but even then I knew that given the fact that my guides on GFAQs were free, easily accessible, and easily updateable, I knew back then that business model was doomed to failure.

That, and I imagine it would be less of a fun hobby if you had to contend with deadlines and not being able to choose what games you want to play
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Also good points.
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as someone who collects the guides, this makes me sad. I have about 300 and many of them are prima
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@SBAllen
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eston posted...

CyricZ posted...

I had considered it as a possible career option way back, but even then I knew that given the fact that my guides on GFAQs were free, easily accessible, and easily updateable, I knew back then that business model was doomed to failure.

That, and I imagine it would be less of a fun hobby if you had to contend with deadlines and not being able to choose what games you want to play

That's kind of how I felt about my love of film. I thought about being a film critic or professor. I'd probably be great at it. But if that was my job, I'd probably enjoy movies less.
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SH_expert44 posted...

as someone who collects the guides, this makes me sad. I have about 300 and many of them are prima

Keep them, so that someday you may pass them on to your children, and your children's children
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eston posted...

SH_expert44 posted...

as someone who collects the guides, this makes me sad. I have about 300 and many of them are prima

Keep them, so that someday you may pass them on to your children, and your children's children

My daughter already uses them. I let her play most any game out of my collection so the guides come in handy.
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My Bestbuy still has a shelf of Prima guides. The weight of the guides however made their shelf bend very deep in the middle point.
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pikachupwnage posted...

Their guides went downhill,

Comparing the Crystal version guide to the new ones is sad. They had paragraphs on the gym leaders in Crystal and for the new ones they often just list the team and weaknesses. They dont bother with movepool, advice etc.

To be fair, the games themselves have become a tad bit braindead.
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*dances a jig*
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The Internet has destroyed another company!
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Solar_Crimson posted...

pikachupwnage posted...

Their guides went downhill,

Comparing the Crystal version guide to the new ones is sad. They had paragraphs on the gym leaders in Crystal and for the new ones they often just list the team and weaknesses. They dont bother with movepool, advice etc.

To be fair, the games themselves have become a tad bit braindead.

Pikachu was probably talking about Crystal vs. Heart Gold & Soul Silver guides.
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Hmm
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RIP
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CyricZ posted...

I feel overwhelmingly responsible for this.

You deserve it
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I mean, the writing was on the wall. They saw the internet giving away their product for free and thought, "well, we'll just keep doing what we are doing and double down". They should have tried to transition into other game related ideas and products. It's shit like this that sinks formerly huge companies, because they refuse to adapt.

CyricZ posted...

I had considered it as a possible career option way back, but even then I knew that given the fact that my guides on GFAQs were free, easily accessible, and easily updateable, I knew back then that business model was doomed to failure.

You know, as detailed as your guides are, I've always wondered how much longer you had to spend with a game than other people and how often you descended into frustration when trying to be as complete as possible. For some reason Ogre Battle 64 comes to mind.
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Welp. It was a heck of a run.
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Shadowplay posted...

CyricZ posted...

I had considered it as a possible career option way back, but even then I knew that given the fact that my guides on GFAQs were free, easily accessible, and easily updateable, I knew back then that business model was doomed to failure.

You know, as detailed as your guides are, I've always wondered how much longer you had to spend with a game than other people and how often you descended into frustration when trying to be as complete as possible. For some reason Ogre Battle 64 comes to mind.

He actually brings up an interesting point, too; updateable guides. Games nowadays aren't really complete when they are released. Even if they are 100% finished, they are still bound to get updates and expansion and new content that can make guides completely useless. It sort of makes guides even more useless.

People are going to lose work, which is never good. But let's be real, paid guides were obsolete the moment people started posting free ones on the internet.

I'm just impressed they managed to hold out so long.
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