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General discussion (archive)Are instruction manuals for games dead?(25 posts)(25 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted November 13, 2012
I miss old-fashioned manuals and in my book this is one of the main factors that make retro-gaming so unique...
I'm rather a book worm and if I'm to to read all those supplementary information about game's world, races etc - I would rather do it on paper than in front of my PC.
Posted November 13, 2012
Manuals nowadays are fully implemented in gameplay. It's way easier to learn how to play ingame, and even though I'm pissed that I have to see "press E to open the door" for entire game, it just works.

Only RTS games with complicated gameplay still require manuals. But even for them, it's easier to learn how to play by simply playing a game.

Games design evolved in a good way here. 20 years ago game interface, key bindings etc was rather ununiformed. Now, most games use similar already proven to be good mechanics, so they don't need extra manuals for this.

I enjoy reading manuals for old games, though. Some of them were really, really good. Not only showing basic stuff like key bindings, but also advanced tactics, useful tips, etc.

Also, as somebody above mentioned, some of the older manuals were just pleasant to watch. Little masterpieces.

By the way, I don't miss printed manuals much, because I don't miss retail games at all. Most of the retail game manuals are plain epilepsy/seizure warning anyway, because it's required by law.
Post edited November 13, 2012 by keeveek
Posted November 13, 2012
Yes.
Posted November 13, 2012
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Export: I did used to love reading through the manual before playing a game, or reading them during toilet breaks while playing the game. The thing is, I do honestly think that manuals wouldn't really have existed in the first place if game were always stored on media that has as much space as it does now. Nowadays you can have really colourful in-game manuals with great illustrations, even sounds and interactions beyond just turning the page. Not to mention more advanced tutorials nowadays.

Don't get me wrong, I loved reading through the Fallout 2 and Baldur's Gate manuals, that were novella-sized slabs of info and lore, but in the case of most games, all the information can be relayed in-game (e.g. movelists for fighting games, back on the SNES and Megadrive, you didn't get them in-game) or through tutorials or, and this is something foreign to a lot of older games, intuitive and well-designed interfaces. I didn't really need anything explained by a manual when I played Anno 2070, but I sure as hell had no idea what the hell was going on in Wizardry 8 at first.
This.

Also, manuals often spoil a lot. At least for me, as I always ignore everything about a game once I'm interested in it. Slowly discovering the game and features is awesome. With a manual it's always more like "when will I finally be able to warp?!".
Posted November 13, 2012
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SimonG: Also, manuals often spoil a lot. At least for me, as I always ignore everything about a game once I'm interested in it. Slowly discovering the game and features is awesome. With a manual it's always more like "when will I finally be able to warp?!".
So true. Discovering new spells, abilities etc on your own is a huge part of the fun.

I only read these parts of a manual after first playthrough to see what I missed, how can I use the spells I know in other way, etc etc.
Post edited November 13, 2012 by keeveek
Posted November 13, 2012
Got Resi 6, there is a "manual", it's so useless they really shouldnt have bothered, there is an in game "tutorial" that is a pretty useless forced trudge from A-B to show you some VERY basic stuff, but again, they shouldnt have even bothered with that, its so shite.

I know its probably politically incorrect to want manuals to revert back to the likes of Arcanum, VTMR etc. But I really do miss them, toilet visits have never been the same since the advent of dvd cases :(
Posted November 13, 2012
I have a bad memory about manuals, one manual in particular. I have managed to spill half a cupful of coffee onto the frong page of the manual of Star Wars: Empire at War. I don't drink coffee nowadays.
Posted November 13, 2012
Ahh game manuals.. I still collect all the ones i can find for my owned games in PDF format, since most if not all of my Pc games are digital downloads. I like to read them good old paper manual better for my PSOne and PS2, Wii, DS, PSP games though. But made the jump to PDF for Pc with no harm, i feel it is the natural evolution for that support. As well as in-game tutorials, the real know how i immensely appreciate when they are well done!

I collect my games guides/walkthrough in PDF format as well if i can find them, and i gave up but used to gather the Boxart cover front and back for my games even! Collector obsession much lol.. I moved on to set my Darkadia shelf for that last part now.. :)
Post edited November 13, 2012 by koima57
Posted November 13, 2012
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bansama: I'd be interested to know how many pages the US/UK, etc. have in following for comparison:

Assassin's Creed 2 JP manual == 25 numbered pages, full colour
Heavy Rain JP manual == 27 numbered pages, full colour
Portal 2 JP manual == 9 numbered pages, full colour
I can't say with those games, but I can say that full-colour manuals are incredibly rare in the UK. On top of that, manuals are shrinking like crazy; the Arkham City manual was literally one piece of paper, and the same is true of other recent console games I can't specifically remember right now. Actually, it does seem that Japanese games do focus on the manual more, even in our versions. Nintendo always tend to do nice, full-colour manuals, and some of the best manuals I've seen for console games are for JRPGs.

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F1ach: toilet visits have never been the same since the advent of dvd cases :(
A nice out-of-context quote, there.
Post edited November 13, 2012 by Export
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This is my favourite topic
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General discussion (archive)Are instruction manuals for games dead?(25 posts)(25 posts)
(25 posts)