A Glance At Gaming Manuals: Past And Present Part I

One of the first things most gamers do after purchasing a new game is look at the instruction manual. Whether we're simply looking for the control scheme, reading up on the story, or going through it religiously it's something a lot of us do. In these articles I'm (Seth from GameTopius.com) going to be comparing old manuals with new manuals and deciding, in my opinion, which ones come out on top. To kick things off I (Seth from GameTopius.com) decided to start with one of gaming's biggest icons and see how his instructional booklets stack up against one another...(more after the jump)

[EvilCackle]

It seems like most games these days do everything to ensure that the gamer doesn't need to ever consult the manual (button prompts, in-game tutorials, etc.). The only time I really read manuals these days is if it's a PC game and I need something to do while it's installing.

[Timesplitter14]

manuals are not necessary. Well not these days at least.

But I still think they're cool

[JOLLY1]

The Earthworm Jim manuals. They were absoluetly hilarious!!

Table of contents
table of continents
contents of table

(I wonder if they have those in pdf form)

[squallsoft]

..I remember looking at the manual for the original Legend of Zelda. The art for the monsters was so much more detailed than in the actual game. It really helped to flesh out the world more in my little kid imagination... I guess with the super detailed graphics and story exposition in today's videogames, thats not as important anymore...

[The Great Melon]

I have never thought of it that way. Always wondered why the manuals got so slim. I loved looking at the Metroid II manual for the Gameboy with designs of all the enemies. Bubbles for that statement, it makes a lot of sense

[Counter_ACT]

What a boring article.