I actually like them for that very reason -- the first 4-5 hours isn't far enough into the game that any kind of spoilers will really hurt the experience, and knowing some of that info makes the very early parts a little more enjoyable; you can hit the ground running rather than being confused until you finally get the hang of things.
FFXII's was probably my favorite; lower price, no advertisements. FFXIII's I bought not just to get into the world but also because some of the illustrations contained the COcoon, Pulse, and Etro writing that I was trying to figure out. I also bought Type-0's; are there any others?