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Game Manuals: A Lost Art

Am I the only one severly disappointed with modern day game instruction manuals?
Back in the good ol' days when I tore open a new game for Christmas or birthday or whatever I always read the manual first. It was a ritual for me and I loved it. It got me sucked into the game's world and I couldn't start it until I thumbed through the manual.
Back then manuals usually outlined the story, had tons of artwork and sometimes served as a strategy guide for early parts of the game. Pokemon Yellow I remember had a walkthrough up through Brock and the Boulder Badge.
Look at the early guides, like the LoZ guide. It had beautiful artwork, maps, and even a bestiary. During the NES days and before the games were very limited in their technology and capabilities so it was the job of the manual to suck you in and tell you the story and introduce you to the world the game took place in.
Nowadays games are like movies so I guess it isn't much needed but I miss it so. SS was another reminder of that, the manual was paper thin and that was with 3 translations in it!
What does everyone else think, anyone remember those days when a game manual was a book into itself?
 

Ventus

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That was back in the day when game manuals actually mattered - when controls needed to be explained. Nowadays, game manuals are a waste of space and time as controls can be picked up like it's nothing at all. I loved staring at all the pictures and stuff, and yes I loved how the explanation of the story was there. I just can't read that in a modern game, because it doesn't go as in depth as they did back then.
 
Joined
Dec 28, 2010
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I agree, even though I'm only 14 and started my gaming life with an original DS, I can still remember some decent manuals :)
Hmm... Im in the UK and the SS manual is huge with tons of translations...
 

SuperSilly

Horizon Walker
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Most of the games I've ever owned were used, and didn't some with a manual. (Curse always being behind by a console generation.) When I did happen to have a manual, I would always look through it while waiting to play the game for the first time. Having the manual usually hyped me for the game, and it was even harder to wait to play it while looking at it.

Manuals are kind of obsolete now though. They're nice, but it costs money to have a manual, especially a big detailed manual. If you can put all the relevant information into the game itself, you don't need a manual and it makes sense to cut back on the manual to save money. Manuals are definitely nice though, and when I get new games I try to get a copy with the manual, if it exists. Even if all the information is in the game, I like browsing through the manual anyways. However I won't go in depth into it unless I have a long wait time to play the game for the first time, or if the game itself doesn't have the information I need.
 
To this day, I regard N64 Instruction Booklets as the best ever made particularly Super Mario 64's and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's. The gravitation away from instruction booklets can be accredited to the M rated Call of Duty games, which barely have any explanations whatsoever and usually only one lazy image of the game screen explaining the various items shown. Gears of War 3 has no manual whatsoever and asks the player to go online to view it! I was shocked, however, to see Nintendo moving away from Instruction Booklets with the 3DS. Ocarina of Time 3D has such a hastily put together folding Instruction Booklet that it pales in comparison to the original's. Super Mario 3D Land's manual only explains basic controls and leaves the rest to an e-manual, which still barely offers more help! It's sad to see but the days of instruction booklets are slowly fading away.
 
Joined
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New York, US
I have some fond memories of game manuals myself. I always used to be about a generation behind with my game systems, and so I mostly bought used games, but I always tried to get a copy that came with a manual if I could. Lots of times I would have to wait before I could play the actual game when it arrived, so I'd have to content myself with reading the instructions, and I must say they always got me really excited for the game. Actually, I can remember even wanting to wait a little while to try out Mario 64 because I was still reading the manual.

These days, I do miss the thick, hefty, interesting booklets that used to come with games. In fact, last week when I picked up SS (which I haven't been able to play yet, as I've been on vacation) I was sort of looking forward to reading the manual, only to find out it's got this flimsy, thin little thing hardly explaining the controls. Sort of disappointed me. However, I can understand why they've switched over from big long explanations of every facet of the game to brief instructions on how to get going: first of all, those big old manuals used a lot more paper, and with people trying to use less paper these days for environmental reasons, I'd think it would make sense for a big company like Nintendo to cut down on their paper use; and second of all, manuals aren't really necessary anymore. Usually games have tutorials in the beginning, or they're similar enough to other games that you can figure them out on your own without too much trouble. They aren't necessary for story-telling reasons either, because increased memory space has allowed developers to tell the story they want right in the game for quite a while now.

Those awesome old manuals will just have to remain a thing of the past, I guess.
 

Mikau94

Zora Warrior
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I miss good quality instruction manuals, they were so much fun to look at and see all the artwork. Now you just get a black and white manual with boring tiny text and a few screenshots.

I remember picking up ALttP and staring in awe at the beautiful artwork and pouring over every line of text. Zelda manuals are some of the only good manuals anymore, they are fully colored and still have artwork that you wouldn't see anywhere else. I would like to see the manuals from the good old days come back someday.
 
I miss good quality instruction manuals, they were so much fun to look at and see all the artwork. Now you just get a black and white manual with boring tiny text and a few screenshots.

I remember picking up ALttP and staring in awe at the beautiful artwork and pouring over every line of text. Zelda manuals are some of the only good manuals anymore, they are fully colored and still have artwork that you wouldn't see anywhere else. I would like to see the manuals from the good old days come back someday.

I disagree. Skyward Sword's manual is absolutely horrible.
 
S

SS,OoT,WW,TP

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There are no need for manuals today because everything is included in-game, with the tutorials and cutscenes, people don't put that much in manuals. The only game that I know of that doesn't have tons of tutorials in the game is pokemon, which is good because I don't want to hear stupid stuff like how to fight all over again.
 
There are no need for manuals today because everything is included in-game, with the tutorials and cutscenes, people don't put that much in manuals. The only game that I know of that doesn't have tons of tutorials in the game is pokemon, which is good because I don't want to hear stupid stuff like how to fight all over again.

This statement is wrong on so many levels. Manuals provide a nice look at a game when you can't play it.
 

LolGames4U

Viceroy of Area 11
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Dec 24, 2010
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USA
I never had any games with good manuals...I'm too young I guess! The only games I remember with good booklets were Super Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, and maybe a couple GameCube...unfortunately all those got lost! :( But I wish I could've seen some of the NES and SNES manuals!
 

Night Owl

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I feel the transition away from the manuals is partly because few read them anymore. I read them but nowadays they barely serve any purpose but to explain the controls. I guess this is in a effort to save companies money.
 
Joined
Sep 25, 2011
I got a game recently, I think it was Black Ops, well not recently but recent for me, and seriously, it was just a cover of a manual. All it had were the seizure warnings that come with all games and the legalities of it all.
 

TrueChaos

Defender of Hyrule
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Oct 14, 2011
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Weymouth
i liked reading them for the back story, character bios and stuff but they don't seem to be in them as much any more
 

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