Diary of a Manual: Part One

Whether you disc or download, the modern era of gaming has all but done away with paper. Manuals have gone the way of legend, relegated to cheap digital links or in-game button mapping. Collectors may still seek their complete editions with wide-eyed wonder, but how do you explain the appeal to a generation born without?

[Orchard]

I used to spend so much time as a kid just reading the manual before playing my new game lol. Some were so well designed too, like the MGS manuals.

I do miss paper manuals, but it is better for the planet to no longer have them - plus digital games exist now, and tutorials are more in-game now than on paper which is an improvement.

[P_Bomb]

It’s funny ain’t it? I buy more digital now than ever, games do make better use of in-game tutorials, but I still light up like a kid when I find an old manual!

Found The Immortal instructions the other day. Hard as hell game that I never owned, only rented. But I have the book for some reason lol. Into the vault it goes… 👍

[TiredGamer]

And yet, paper manuals still exist, you just have to pay for them with premium offerings. Despite what most companies claim, cutting paper manuals (renewable resource) from plastic cases (non-renewable) was done only to cut costs. Game companies pocketed the change while force-feeding condescending in-game tutorials that we now have to slog through.

Cheers to the brilliant game manuals of the past that helped brighten my childhood days and drive the anticipation of playing a new game.

[P_Bomb]

It does seem like the premium packs are where it’s at. Still offering a lot of the maps ‘n’ books of old. Cyberpunk probably offset the cost of their manuals by the amount of pre-orders they had. What was it, 8 million?

Replayed a bit of AC Origins recently on GP and holy smokes it took a long time getting out of tutorial town and into the opening titles.

[Sidewinder-]

Even now, it's good to peruse a digital manual while your game downloads on Steam.

[P_Bomb]

Good point. Takes time to download/install some of these heavies. Perfect time to check out a few pages.

I literally had to take screenshots of the button mapping in RDR2. It had so many variables and the screen kept auto-scrolling through them. Got tired of waiting for the one I needed to come back around lol.