GameFAQs Help: FAQs and Guides

What do all the fields mean on the FAQs & Guides pages?

The first field is a description of the file, along with additional information about that file. If a file isn't in a plain text format, that information is also listed. Some of the more common tags are:

(JIS) - Denotes a text file in Shift-JIS format for Japanese text. Most current web browsers automatically will show the text with Japanese characters; see your own browser's help file for more information.
(EUC) - Denotes a text file in EUC format for Japanese text. Most current web browsers automatically will show the text with Japanese characters; see your own browser's help file for more information.
(GB2312) - Denotes a text file in GB2312 format for Chinese text. Most current web browsers automatically will show the text with Japanese characters; see your own browser's help file for more information.
(ZIP) - Denotes a compressed file in ZIP format. Your computer probably already has a program to decompress ZIP files, but if not, a program like WinZip or StuffIt Expander is what you need.
(JPG), (GIF), (PNG) - Image files in JPEG, GIF, and PNG formats, respectively. Most modern browsers should be able to display all three without any problems.

Also, if the guide was originally written for another console, you'll see a note denoting it (i.e. "PS2" for PlayStation2, "GC" for GameCube, and so on).

The next field is the date the file was written and/or submitted to the site, the next field is the author (with a link to that person's Contributor Page), then comes the version number (if it exists), the file's size, and a link to rate the file.

What do the symbols next to some FAQs mean?

A hollow dot () denotes a FAQ that covers general points of a game (hints and tips, basic strategy), but is not a walkthrough or beginning-to-end guide.
A partially filled dot () denotes a FAQ that contains a partial guide for game, but it does not cover the entire game beginning-to-end.
A filled dot () denotes a FAQ that either covers as much of a game as is possible, or contains a full beginning-to-end walkthrough.
A star () denotes a FAQ that is user recommended.

Why don't you have a FAQ for (insert game here)?

Because nobody's written one yet. Be patient, and someone probably will. Remember, guides on GameFAQs are written for free by thousands of different people; we don't control who writes guides for which games, but we list the most wanted FAQs on the home page of the site.

How do you get FAQs and Guides for games that aren't even out yet?

We don't. 99 times out 100, when you see a FAQ for a game that hasn't been released in your country yet, it's already been released in another one. Many console games are released in one region months (or sometimes years) before others, so it's likely that the FAQ you're reading is based on that region's release.

After I rate a FAQ, what happens to that rating?

All user ratings are stored. The top 2% of overall rated files will receive the Recommended status and be sorted to the top of their list.