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Sonic Adventure 2 Battle: Prima's Official Strategy Guide - Does it really exist?

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by BSonirachi, Jan 11, 2023.

  1. BSonirachi

    BSonirachi

    Wiki Sysop
    Over a decade ago a page for a Prima Strategy Guide for Sonic Adventure 2: Battle was created on the wiki based off an Amazon listing, and since then there hasn't been any images of it anywhere on the internet. However, it seems that this book may not actually exist.

    Just recently, @JaxTH had tried buying a copy from that Amazon listing, and all they got instead was an entirely different guide book by Versus Games. While this supposed book by Prima Games has ISBN numbers on the listing, I did a little bit of research myself and tried looking them up - WorldCat.org doesn't turn up any results regarding the book, but ISBN Search does, and the amount of information they have is just as much as everywhere else (i.e. barely any information or images at all).

    This leads to one of two conclusions: either the book went unreleased, or it never existed at all. Of course, as Jax put it on the talk page, the only way we'd find out whether the book really existed or not would be to get in touch with someone who worked at Prima at the time and see if there are any leftover materials available for it. If none exist, then the page would have to go in the bin - if it did exist, then it'll have a new home in this category.
     
  2. Yeah. I remember specifically checking EB Games and Software Etc in that era and they both stated there wasn't a Prima guide, and I remember the online complaints in the ezboard days that there was only the Versus Books guide. No idea if Gamestop would still have sku listings from that time period. If there are ISBN numbers, is it possible to check records through the library of congress? If not then following up with former Prima employees would be the only course. It definitely seems something happened behind the scenes, so that would be an interesting story in and of itself.
     
  3. Beamer the Meep

    Beamer the Meep

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    As an aside, my brother absolutely adored his copy of the Versus Games book. I think it was given to him by the friend who introduced us to SA2B and he wore that poor thing apart looking for animal locations and raising Chao. Lots of good artwork in that book as well.
     
  4. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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  5. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    The ISBN number looks valid (and the 10 and 13 are a valid pair, for the record).

    0761539298

    The last digit is a "check" digit, so disregard that and you get "076153929"

    Taking a few other Prima Games ISBNs from that time period (with the check digit removed)
    - Prima's Official Strategy Guide: Crazy Taxi for PlayStation 2: 076153647
    - Prima's Official Strategy Guide: NFL 2K2 076153755

    076153 929
    076153 647
    076153 755

    It's meant to be "GROUP | PUBLISHER | TITLE". Working out where the divides are is awkward but I think it's a safe bet it's a Prima Games ISBN. And things like specifying 176 pages probably suggests that at some point the guide existed, but yeah... probably wasn't published.

    How that "other" Sonic wiki is managing to reference it is an interesting curiosity.
     
  6. HEDGESMFG

    HEDGESMFG

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    I had (and extensively used) the Dreamcast Prima Guide at launch, but I got SA2B on launch day as well and have no memories of ever being offered the Prima Guide for it. And I strongly remember the day I picked up both versions of the game.
     
  7. JaxTH

    JaxTH

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  8. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    Unless it's secret second printing of the Dreamcast guide!...

    ...

    (we have the digital version dated 2004, but there's nothing GameCube-related in it)
     
  9. I just sent an email to Prima so maybe we’ll hear back. Figured I’d just shoot my shot on this.

    Not sure how to track down someone who worked on the book specifically though. Are there names listed in the Dreamcast version? It’s likely the same people and you can find them on LinkedIn to ask.

    Edit: Sent a message to the product manager so let’s see what they say.
     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2023
  10. Still waiting on a reply for anyone wondering. They haven’t viewed my profile which is a pretty good indicator they didn’t open it yet though.

    I’ll send out some more to others who worked on the DC copy if I can find them on LinkedIn. Have to use the premium InMails somehow lol.

    Maybe there’s a Sega rep in the book as well. I have a shitload of Sega employees in my network from thesis research so maybe it’d be easier to find someone that way. Not sure how much they’d know, but maybe they’re willing to share better contact info regarding Prima people.

    Edit: The product manager does not recall what happened specifically but said that sometimes the licensing includes books for all platforms and sometimes just one. So maybe it’s the case of them not having the license.

    I asked if she knew of anyone who may remember the specifics (after thanking her for the reply and her work on the guides obv :eng101:)

    Double edit: She says she’ll let me know if she thinks of someone who may know, but I’m just going to move on to another name instead of waiting. The mystery must be solved!
     
    Last edited: Jan 20, 2023
  11. BSonirachi

    BSonirachi

    Wiki Sysop
    So it appears there's another supposed Prima guide book that also has the dubious issue of possibly not existing, and that one being The Sonic Collection. It has the same issues as the SA2B guide in that it only has an Amazon listing, and its ISBN numbers are not valid on WorldCat.org but are recognised by ISBN Search.

    That's two possibly nonexistent books now.
     
  12. I’ve been super busy with work stuff so I haven’t gotten around to messaging more Prima people on LinkedIn. Though as a side note, Hoshino-san accepted a connection I sent last year while researching my masters which was nice. Not like I have anything to ask him though lol.
     
  13. Sappharad

    Sappharad

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    I noticed a related oddity after the last Hidden Palace project deluge stream. Check out the disc for the Sonic Unleashed October 14th 2008 prototype:
    https://archive.org/details/SonicUnleashedOct142008prototype
    The disc says it was for the Prima strategy guide but Prima never released a guide for the 360 / PS3 versions, only the Wii / PS2 versions which were completely different.
     
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  14. JaxTH

    JaxTH

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    Bumping this to see if it actually went anywhere, but to also ask about this strategy guide that was also by Prima in the early 90s, The Sonic Collection.

    I have more faith in this actually coming out since it's an early 90s guide.
     
  15. I don’t remember if I reached out to anyone else, but I definitely didn’t hear back if I did.

    I can check the book to find a different name. Maybe it’s best to find someone who’s a bit lower level because they were likely younger and would recall the work better if it was their first project or something.

    As for that other book: Without scans, it’d be hard to know whom to contact. You’d have to go on LinkedIn, search Prima, then click on thousands of employees to see if the dates match up, then message them and pray they are someone who was involved. Doable, but not feasible.