Topic: Game Manuals

There is a topic on Ubisoft respect on Wii page. After I posted my comment I was reminded of somewthing else I hate about Ubisoft/EA (and EA owns a chunk of Ubisft, big surprise, they are both so piss generic)

They have the cheapest, crappiest, most uninteresting manuals known to man. It is a manual that says we take no pride in our work. It is a manual that says we spent as little as possible as we could on this.

Now Nintendo manuals are ok, I am never too impressed with them, but at least they put some work into them and usualy have some interesting art. From the GC era Battalion Wars and Pikmin 2 and Mario Strikers come to min as above averaged. Wii Sports had a really really crappy manual, and I am somewhat disappointed by the 3 language region manuals, but I guess what do you do, I can see why it is.

Best manuals are probably from computer games, from what I have seen - not sure if that still holds true today though I no longer buy computer games.

One last thought - VC should have WAY better manuals, like say original reproductions and wiiware game could do a lot better as well.

I think a lot of ppl appreciate a good manual. Do you agree?

Seriously? Real gamer's don't need manuals.

I used to love game manuals back in the day, and if there is a control layout page I will have it there beside me when I start to play. It's the game I'm after not an art pamphlet. Otherwise, an in game menu will do me just fine. And I quite like the WW/VC manuals, not much to look at I'll admit but they do the job.

I consider the manual to be important.

Real gamers don't need manual, um ok.
@Jayarr- Are you serious?

*@Machu- I find that some VC "manuals" don't always do the job well enough. Don't recall for sure, but I think Ogre Battle (not completely sure) was missing info. I like psns download manuals better. They scan the whole thing in. You don't miss anything, It's a virtual copy of the original and easy to take care of

@orlick- I like having manual and I like when they put effort into them, just like you. I like rpg manuals I think, funny manuals too. Don't like when I get a very small(made with one or 2 sheets of paper) manual or ones that just black and white. I prefer color. The manual for me, i think, is part of the game and the experience.

Its not that we expect the manual to be a players guide JAyarr, if that is what you mean, but they are nice.

I like to go through a manual, for whatever reason I just appreciate them. The old PC games, man themanulas were like small books, loaded with backstory, game inspirations, etc. Some games on PC used the manuals for dialouge to save disc memeory, ala Sentinel Worlds 1.

I really do not feel VC/wiiware mauals 'get the job done' either - some of those VC games, like SNES Harvest Moon, if you had not played the game you would have no idea what to do to get a crop - least ways you would not be sure. I had a hard time figuring out how to play cubello at first, I had no clue. Maybe that is pathetic, but not being able to see the cubes launch I was not sure what I was doing....or even what color I was shooting, or if I was erasing blocks by aiming at them and clicking.

I never read the game manual before I play the game. Only if I need help on something with a control, or if I want to look at the pictures.
But yeah, 95% of my game manuals are unread probably.

My friends & I used to have a rule where you had to play the game before you read the manual. A little redundant these days as most games seem to have lengthy mandatory tutorials.

I've been enjoying some classic manuals thanks to the website that Bass kindly directed us to. It seems to me they often put more effort into the art work back then due to the limited graphical capabilities, or at least that's how it appears to me in retrospect. The original Zelda manual is beautiful. There's also some humour to enjoy as well, Rare were quite aware of how superfluous the manual was when making their DKC booklets. Certainly I only read them when I'm bored.

The manual was a bigger deal to me when you used to buy games in big cardboard boxes. Not sure why.

As a kid I woud read the manual on the drive home so I coud jump into the game as easily as posable nowa days I rarely look at em at all/

I agree. I love having the manuals, reading them to get the back story on the game, and it just feels more complete when I have a copy. If you go to www.replacementdocs.com you can download the original manuals for most VC games as scanned .pdf files. It'd be nice if they just had them on Wii, but this works pretty well too. I've downloaded a bunch from there. When I buy a used game off ebay, I usually pay the extra to make sure the manual's included too.

nice link token girl.

I have not looked to see if this site has VG links, but - that would be a good one....

@longtimegamer: I really wouldn't know to be honest. I rarely if ever check them anymore. If I need to know what a button does, I'll press it and see what happens.

I find reading manuals quite helpful.
Many cases where the manual discribes a small but helpful feature that otherwise I would strugle without.
Plus there's back story & neat art as well but all in all the instruction manual is a must read.

So real gamers don't need manuals, huh? Well, I happen to own many manuals, and I read them every once in a while. Though I'll admit I only read them all after I had played the game. But I barely check manuals anymore, unless I'm interested in the plot.

^^I don't think they're as well done as they used to be either. I think part of that may be that game stories are presented in cutscenes and such in game, whereas in the 16 bit generation and before, they were often only in the manual for non-RPG type games. I liked knowing why I was running from one side of the level to another. There also used to be a couple of hints too that would be helpful, which was good when I was a kid. They also didn't really do tutorial type things in the beginning of most games too, like they do now. Publishers spend less time on them, because everything you need is in the game, so you don't really have to read it. Personally though, I'd rather read the manual and not have to have the flow of the game stop to explain a button function (unless it's something new you just obtained).

I have tons of manuals from the Game Boy era, and PlayStation, and GameCube, and Wii, and one for the SNES (Arcana). That's it.

I keep most of my manuals, but I don't look at them.

You should see the Dutch manuals. They contain wrong translations everywhere, seriously I could have done that better.

I only read the manual if the game didn't explain something (like how to save). Or when I play a fighting game, the manual usually will tell you basic moves.

i love looking at manuals, mostly bc i draw all the art on it, but get the guide instead