Do you miss physical manuals?

All digital now, I don't do special edition physicals since it's just needless clutter after so many years of playing videogames. So no.
 
The only thing I really miss about manuals is when I was a kid, after my parents bought me a new game, riding home in the car and immediately opening the box and flipping through it, learning what the controls where, and hoping that the game was good.(if you hadn't already played it at a friends house and knew what you were getting.) because back in the day you only really had word of mouth to go by when choosing your games. Then the moment you got home you would forget about the manual and box and start playing cause there were no updates or patches. I'm happy that I started to take care of the packaging for a lot of my old games at some point.
 
Cant say that i do. Its been years since i last read a manual. I like the manuals for older games though, for nostalgic reasons, but i dont miss it in newer games.
 
Not really. I used to flip through the manuals during the long ride home from the game store when I was a kid. But now I buy most of my games digitally or from Amazon, and in the rare instances where I go out to a store to buy a game I don't have to drive nearly as far.

Also, you don't really need manuals for most games these days because every game assumes you're an idiot and has tutorials for literally everything.
 
I only miss the physical manuals that clearly had a lot of TLC put into 'em. Nintendo's were always the gold standard, IMO. I remember loving the SMB2 manual so much that I bought a replacement one from their online store even though I didn't own the game (always rented or borrowed it).
 
They're good for familiarising yourself with the game before you start. It's also very convenient going back to it when you want to check up on controls or a character. They were very good reading material.

These digital manuals don't offer the same thing, nor are they easily accessible to read.
 
Absolutely, I loved those classic Nintendo and Square Enix manuals since they had so much beautiful artwork in it that you couldn't find in the actual game.
 
I miss physical Nintendo manuals the most. It always seemed like the people who put them together had fun making them, such as when they are chocked full of illustrations and sometimes even the game's character talking to you via text bubbles. They helped bring the game to life in a way.

Having a digital manual as well as the original manual for GBA VC games on the Wii U makes me happy though. Golden Sun even had the map which was nice. Flipping through them via the Gamepad was quick and easy.
 
Platy said:
no, I miss manuals with actual artwork.

These days you are luck if you find a generic cg render, let alone awesome drawings and other concepts that you easily found on early ps1 and before.
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Not only that, some companies are printing whatever info they can onto the back of the sleeve artwork.

When you've got a manual, you can use the reverse of the sleeve for more artwork. I bought a copy of Jeanne d'Arc for PSP over the weekend and was pleased to find some gorgeous art on the other side of the sleeve.

gsGA451b4e66de2ddp1n2.jpg
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I mostly miss having something to read while I'm dumping ass, which was my ritual before playing a game I had just bought. I just use my phone nowadays to fill the void.
 
Not really. I actually prefer the digital / in-game manuals. I don't keep my games in their respective cases so it's a lot easier for me rather than looking for the cases. Plus I have a habit of losing the booklets or accidentally ripping them. I do sort of miss those notes sections lol. I only ever used them once, but it was god-like!
 
Yep. Old School manuals were great when they included some backstory.

The manual for Master of Orion 3 was incredible. Shame about the game itself being utter wank though.
 
Manuals are useless and y'all need to get over thinking that the 20¢ waste of paper is special just because it's paper
 
Yeah, there are some things in older games that are only mentioned in the manual, yet are considered official parts of the story. I also used to read them for every game back in the N64 days. I still remember reading the DK64 and Mario Party manuals (Cranky being the voice of the manual in DK64 was great, & I always approximate a 20 turn game of the old Mario Party games to an hour of gameplay as mentioned in that manual).

I think there was some value there that can't be found in digital manuals, though the latter are certainly less likely to be thrown out, lost, or destroyed from use.
 
Yes, manuals were a big part of the experience of buying a new game, at least initially. The full colour Nintendo ones were especially nice.

I miss them. Why do the majority not care about nice things? We are a minority.
 
I miss manuals. Games that have tons of characters with different stats and movements or RPGs that are very complex could benefit of having a printed manual.

For example, one of the best features of Dark Souls II is power stanceing, which is something that doesn't have an in-game explanation nor doesn't get a mention in the digital manual either. They could've explained a little bit about it in a printed manual.
 
Yes, it was always fun to read them, especially back in the day when they were thick. I don't even bother with the digital manuals.
 
Yeah for RPGs. I had a tradition where whenever I got a new JRPG, I'd read the instruction manual while taking a dump. I think the last time I did that was either Demons Souls or Star Ocean 4.
 
Yep. But I think I also miss more complex games that needed a manual. Old PC RPGs especially were awesome.

I think I just dislike tutorials a lot. I want to be thrown into a world and not have to waste hours while the games teaches me how to look up and down and things of that nature.

Many more resources and budget are wasted on crafting tutorial-like levels to start off a game. These days manuals are so...useless for the most part because of the hand-holding too. I still miss them.
 
I loved it when manuals had artwork and lore in then. I used to read them on the way home and then play the game right after. Although I do like art books for the high quality artwork in them.
 
Kamina said:
I miss paper manuals, yes, and paper boxes instead of plastic ones...
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I can't agree with you there. I hated the paper boxes games used to come in. I always tried so hard to keep them in good condition but eventually they'd always get crushed. I was overjoyed when games switched to plastic cases, especially handheld ones.

I do feel guilty about liking the plastic cases, though, when I think about their effects on the environment.
 
Yes absolutely. Anyone who believes companies "enviorment blablabla" are tools. It's only to save money.
 
Definitely. Especially the scented ones. New box smell... Thumbing through the pages, seeing lore, character art, gameplay options, etc. Was apart of the hype experience.
 
I used to cherish manuals, or at least well made full color ones. But I stopped caring a long time ago. In-game tutorials eventually made them obsolete, and they were just something to flip through will sitting on the can or whatever.
 
Yes, but digital manuals have so much potential that if people would actually make fully detailed and interactive digital manuals I wouldn't really have a problem with it.

Basically, if every digital manual was as good as Mario Maker's, I wouldn't miss physical manuals at all. It's got a custom layout, it incorporates animated characters, pictures, and videos. It has a section that lets you view an animation of the credits. It has special notes from the developers detailing some of their thoughts and ideas when making the game. And it even has a list of top ten tips for new creators, explaining some of the though process behind how actual Mario levels are made. It is fun, interactive, and extensive.

Give me more of that, please.
 
DOWN said:
Manuals are useless and y'all need to get over thinking that the 20¢ waste of paper is special just because it's paper
Click to expand...
They're not all useless. Xenoblade X, for example, just drops you in and tells you jack shit about its smorgasbord of gauges and symbols, and a manual would be really handy for reference.

Of course, not all manuals are equal. When I used to work at publishers, I remember the manuals were usually low priority affairs, usually shuffled off to be written by third party vendors who may or may not have actually played the game, and then they may or may not be passed through QA for verification. At least Nintendo does seem to care about the quality of its e-manuals. I just hate the UX.
 
Nah. I could say I do, but I would just be lying to myself. I never looked at them.

We are a looooong way from the SNES days when they actually added lore and worthwhile reading material.

Septimus Prime said:
They're not all useless. Xenoblade X, for example, just drops you in and tells you jack shit about its smorgasbord of gauges and symbols, and a manual would be really handy for reference.
Click to expand...

If anything Xenoblade is a prime example of why digital manuals are better. It's well laid out, has hot links to the term's it references, and has graphical overlays that make it incredibly easy to read.
 
At worst, they were something to read while installing, loading, ripping, (etc), games and were a good go-to point if the game confused you.

At best, they showed the attention to detail and craftsmanship that went into creating the gaming "experience". Just like with the box art and other included details.
 
I would read them on occasion, but not very often. I liked to keep them in good condition, but would pull out rental games' manuals and read them on the couch or something.

I don't particularly miss them, but I do miss the quality feel that came with a quality manual, if that makes sense.

I don't miss paper boxes, though.
 
No, they're a waste of paper nowadays. Everything we need to know about how we can play the game is in the game itself. There is really no need for them.
 
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