Manuals were a DRM back in the day i believe, some Sierra games were so dependent on them you couldn't finish the game if you didn't have em :D

Nowadays they are just useless, yeah. With all the dedicated wiki's and stuff little point to them. Nothing more that a nostalgic throwback, if even done right.

People actually read manuals?

With many older games, you needed to read the manual because they contained necessary information about the game which wasn't in the game itself. I'd point to many older RPG's say like Wasteland, Ultima, Realms of Arkania, without the manual it's impossible to know what any of the attributes, spells, skills etc etc even do without reading the manual.

Also in most cases the basic controls where not displayed in the game, so you needed the reference card to even know which keys did what.

Because they're part of the game that you purchased.

I wonder how many people would be okay with buying a piece of furniture with those three dreaded words (some assembly required) only to open up the box and discover no assembly instructions at all.

Same thing. Sure, you can play the game without the manual, but you can also assemble the furniture without the instructions. Both are just harder. But you bought and paid for both and deserve both.

And anyone want a Steam copy of Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space - 0LDJH-38DNX-EHCGM

I never read manuals to learn how to play a game, nevertheless I loved the bulky ones we had in the past.
In some cases they contribute to the lore of the game (descriptions of races, abilities, history...) and illustrations might be really cool, too.

So they're not *necessary*, but make a pretty good addition, if well made.

If you're talking about a demand for manuals here on GOG, then I think it's at least partially a collector's thing. People want the complete package, and that includes the game's manual, especially for older titles. Back in the day manuals were much more elaborate and also usually included nice interior and cover artwork. Older games also rarely had those in-game tutorials that come with modern games, so some of the more complex titles ( RPGs etc. ) could be confusing without a manual.

And I agree it's more fun to figure things out yourself, but that's only true for actual in-game content. When it comes to aspects such as control hotkeys or game settings, I'd rather get info from a reliable source instead of applying the trial and error method. And it's more convenient to get all that information from one source ( such as GOG ) rather than having to look up various random websites for each new game you start.

Try running battlecruiser millenium without the manual, then we'll talk again ^^

* For complex games, the tutorials can be very insufficient. You'll need tha manual to get more detailed info about some subject.

* It's even more important for older, not so popular anymore, games. For those, even finding basic info online about key bindings can be challenging.

* A game manual (older ones, of course, not nowadays pathetic leaflets) often gave you information about the game world, about the story... Without it, you're simply dumped in the middle of a situation you can't understand nor care for.

* Finally, some manuals were directly integrated into the gameplay, as visual aid, info source or hint book (and as nadenitza said, were used as DRM). In fact, it's partof the game! Try playing Police Quest 1 without the "police procedure" manual, or Zak Mc Kracken without the newspaper : Transforms a fun adventure game into a chore.

Sure, many of these info can be googled, sure, but
- The manual gave you the info the author thought you needed, as the author wanted it given. Googled info (or worse, vidéo) is often spoilerific, biased, cold, or all of those.
- The manual informs me about what is in the game. If I don't know the existence of something, I won't google for it.
- A good manual is great to set up the mood (again, Look at Police Quest 1 or Zak Mc Kraken), and simply nice to have around :)

It's of course far less relevant for modern games, where the manual is a puny leaflet anyway and all info is given in tutorial, codex, etc...

EDIT : Another good game manual that I like, and is really NOT optional if you want to play the game properly : King of Dragon Pass

I don't really get it either, flight simulators were always more fun to play without manuals.

There's no necessity of manuals for videogames, that's why they're just about non-existent nowadays. Older games, however, required them - and even now, when you're playing an old game and want to understand it properly, having the information properly structured and passed onto you precisely how devs wanted to tends to be a much better way of learning the game than seeing random tidbits of information from random strangers on the internet - especially since those tend to automatically give you various exploits and information you're not supposed to have at the beginning of a game.

I normally try to make without manuals, but many older games have so poor tutorials that at least I am completely lost with the game, if I don't have a manual to read the ins and outs. Civilization,Master of Orion, Master of Magic, Dungeon Keeper (albeit DK does introduce you to the gameplay gradually, but there are still lots of buttons, the purpose of different rooms etc. which you pretty much have to read from the manual).

THANK YOU. So well said. +1

I would love for someone wondering why the demand for manuals, who's never play any of the Resident Evil/Silent Hill type games, to get and play Obscure from Steam.

No manual, and not much at all in the form of in-game tutorial (which today's games have done a better job of since mostly getting rid of the manual).

That was the most frustrating experience of my life, and I have tried to play hundreds of games without a manual.

ADDED IN EDIT: Most frustrating experience of my GAMING life. LOL. Gawd,how I WISH it were the most frustrating experience of my life...

It is to some people, no doubt. The sort of people who approach things as something to be disassembled, examined carefully and then put together again once they've figured out how and why everything works the way it does. However, most gamers usually just want to get the fuck on with things and just play the game.

EDIT: It's not just old games, by the way: Dragon Commander has a completely useless tutorial that teaches you nothing of how to play the game, although the learning curve is forgiving enough that you can get away with not reading anything anyway. I recall Frozen Synapse having a balls-awful tutorial as well.

I definitely think manuals should be included, and really, why SHOULDN'T they be included? Is there any reason why they SHOULDN'T be included with a game? A manual might add what, ten megabytes to the game's download/install size?

I've never "needed" a manual to understand the controls of a game, but often times in game things (IE: creatures) would only be named in a game's manual.

Manuals were valuable source of info back in the day.
I still have some old ones... do you remember Caesar III manual? It was a book!
Now they are not necessary, but it's still something nice to read. Am I the only one who reads them? :( Also, thank you OldFatGuy +1!
:)