Physical Games feel depressing nowadays

Cao Cao

Cao Cao

Member
Bought the new Monster Hunter and expected a thick manual when opening it just to get reminded again what modern gaming has become.

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Compared to what we used to get – detailed manuals, artwork, lore, even fun design touches.
Does it really cost so much extra to print a few pages? Then there is also Day 1 Patches so the disc is even unfinished LOL. The soul is gone. Pathetic times.

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
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I feel your pain. Don't care about physical copies of games anymore, but I used to be an avid film collector and it warms my heart that there are still boutique labels around that actually give a shit about presentation, adding all kind of goodies in the package. You know, Criterion, Arrow, Radiance and so on.
 
Yep its depressing

i miss the heavy feeling of SNES, N64, PS2 games. They got all kinds of stuff in there, guides, maps, marketing goodies, posters etc
 
Cao Cao said:
Bought the new Monster Hunter and expected a thick manual when opening it just to get reminded again what modern gaming has become.

MiHiC41.png


Compared to what we used to get – detailed manuals, artwork, lore, even fun design touches.
Does it really cost so much extra to print a few pages? Then there is also Day 1 Patches so the disc is even unfinished LOL. The soul is gone. Pathetic times.

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
zDAgczJ.jpeg

byHvgRU.jpeg
TS4jert.jpeg
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That's what I'm saying I love my manuals like I like my women... thick.
 
I consider modern physical games worthless plastic.

I only collect retro games until PS3 generation and there's a ton of awesome stuff with thicc manuals and goodies in the box.
 
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We lost quality manuals over 10 years ago. Last game I remember actually had a heafty content was The Witcher 3. But now on physical you dont even get the full game data, to me thats 10 times worse.
 
The lack of manuals doesn't bother me nearly as much as whether I can actually launch the game after installation without an internet connection.

The lack of good collectors editions is also disappointing.
 
I remember the big box PC era of the late 90s and early 2000s. Was a child back then and every time I managed to convince my Mom to buy me a game, I always used to read the manual on the ride home. I remember this vividly with Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun. The manual included lists of units and buildings and also lore. The manual for Age of Empires 2 also included historical notes and context, which was cool. I also remember the physical PC version of GTA Vice City and San Andreas, they both had cool manuals, both were structured as a tourist guide / tourist magazine. Civilization 3's manual was a partial history book, even. The big boxes also almost always contained a poster of some sort. And while I have not experienced this myself, I have seen physical version of the Ultima games, which also included cloth maps and some physical items like coins or the Ultima ankh. And, of course, the infamous big box of Falcon 4.0, with a fucking folder as a manual:

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It's been like that for a while now. I was going to say I feel bad for kids, that they don't have anything to pore over on the way home after getting a new game, like I would back in the day. But then again, I guess a lot of them aren't buying their games in physical shops anyway.
 
Majority just don't care about manuals. It just adds clutter and up the cost of the whole product. I remember only having to open GTAV map only once, and never bother to touch it again. Same with Far Cry 5 map. Even my recent purchase of a new motherboard didn't come with physical manual, its just a QR code to the pdf file.

Not going to miss it at all.
 
Yeah being a physical collector these days are rough. I love collecting games for Switch, especially retro games and other odd stuff that's been put out for physical copies. Collectors editions have been great too with lots of goodies like manuals, art books, reversible covers and stuff. So much fun.

I thought that this would continue on Switch 2 but these fucking game key cards are really killing my enthusiasm around the console and the games. I refuse to buy a physical game if it's not fully on the cart. I didn't buy these "code in a box" stuff or games that required internet connection, like GTA trilogy or Metal Gear Solid collection on Switch either. It's complete shit (I also hate the text on the cover that says "requires internet connection). It's so UGLY!

So yeah, it's a total bummer with the Switch 2 currently. Hard to muster up any hype because of these key cards. I hope they flop hard so publishers change their mind and put the whole game on the cart.
 
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I tried to keep a physical collection for as long as possible, but it became frustrating and impossible to keep.
Poor boxes aside, each game is coming with 10 Dlcs and 20 patches planned to work properly, the supposed "complete editions" often come with the same exact disk as the standard ones and vouchers codes, many games don't come at all in physical, and special physical publishers like Limited Run cost a fortune to import.

I gave up!
But I would let the consoles win. They push digital on us way to much, while their stores, prices and practices sucked.
I'm currently migrating to Steam.
 
Manuals are irrelevant now. Modern games have better tutorials, intro pacing and more detailed lore and instructions menus. Buy an art book or something. Almost all games have homogenized and play exactly the same now and don't need manuals. Back in the day designers experimented with controls more.
 
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At least you can buy physical at all. We PC mains get a colored download button and are supposed to be grateful for the "convenience".
I remember the days of big-box PC releases with artbooks etc....
 
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Punished Miku said:
Manuals are irrelevant now. Modern games have better tutorials, intro pacing and more detailed lore and instructions menus. Buy an art book or something.
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Plus costs money to print. So thanks to all the green nutjobs, the corps will use climate change and saving the planet, not to spend the money on manuals.
 
Just buy Comics, Manhua, Magazines or Art Books. In this day and age, it's okay to cheat for your feelings and you're not crazy for doing that. Use AI tools to make our s real, how about that? Capcom, Konami and others won't complain.
 
not to derail the topic, but the same goes for Movies on BluRay. The other day I bought the new 4K Edition of Camerons THE ABYSS and the packaging (JUST the Disc in an otherwise empty Black Case) seems like a cheap china ripoff - especially compared to the luxorious 2 Disc Special DVD Edition I bought in 2000... and dont even get me started on the boring+unimaginative Still Images for BluRays that once where creative + animated Menues back in the DVD Age :messenger_weary:
 
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CHEROKEEE said:
not to derail the topic, but the same goes for Movies on BluRay. The other day I bought the new 4K Edition of Camerons THE ABYSS and the packaging (JUST the Disc in an otherwise empty Black Case) seems like a cheap china ripoff - especially compared to the luxorious 2 Disc Special DVD Edition I bought in 2000... and dont even get me started on the boring+unimaginative Still Images for BluRays that once where creative + animated Menues back in the DVD Age :messenger_weary:
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Yeah, this sort of crap pisses me off. Somehow back in DVD days all the studios managed to include much nicer packaging, generally better disk setup and more. Yes, there is inflation but overall production costs went down and prices increased a bit. Yet here we are.

And yeah, game packages suck now days unless you get a $100+ special edition. An $80 game somehow can't include a manual and a map worth $0.50 to print.
 
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What's funny is that smaller publishers sometimes still offer nice physical releases, adding stuff like a steelbook, a map or a physical artbook. The Precinct recently got a nice version like that and it wasn't even more expensive.

You won't see that from big publishers. They're doing the absolute minimum needed to sell the game in that form.
 
StereoVsn said:
Yeah, this sort of crap pisses me off. Somehow back in DVD days all the studios managed to include much nicer packaging, generally better disk setup and more. Yes, there is inflation but overall production costs went down and prices increased a bit. Yet here we are.

And yeah, game packages suck now days unless you get a $100+ special edition. An $80 game somehow can't include a manual and a map worth $0.50 to print.
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Yep... its truly depressing. I still have normal Releases like this --> Roger Rabbit Vista DVD from back in the day on my shelf... that offered more content than most current 150 $ "Super Deluxe Collectors Editions" would include :messenger_hushed:
 
I still think the Switch physical games look absolutely ridiculous with those tiny fucking carts in a box that are way too big for them, and most of those don't include manuals as well which just adds to it.
 
This is something only for collectors editions and Limited Run type publishers now. If you expected anything else, you must not have picked up a normal game from retail in...a while.

I was impressed when the back of the Mario Kart sleeve was printed with a controls sheet that you could read from behind the clear plastic when opened. Because I expected nothing.
 
Cao Cao said:
a thick manual
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been a long time since that was a thing. I think the last thick manual was in Pillars of Eternity and they even advertised the physical edition with it because it was rare even then and we're talking about a 2015 game.

EDIT:
 
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Standard editions are just an incomplete data disc at this point.
If you want gadgets and other stuff you should go for the deluxe or collector's editions.
But even there weird things are happening since those versions often come just with a digital code for the game with no disc at all which is absurd.

At this point physical has little sense, you still need a connection to download the full game and patch it. The disc drive is slower than the internet connections many have at this point so it's a pain to install from the disc. Having to change disc when you want to quickly try another game is also annoying.
The only pros are if you plan to resell games or if you fear that your digital account might get banned losing access to your games.
 
We haven't had manuals for over a decade, not sure why you're surprised.
But yes it sucks, my PSX games still have that new manual smell when I open them 💪
 
ReyBrujo said:
Not sure if it adds to the cost, I think they just stopped making them but continued charging as if it was part of the product still.
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It will cost them money especially when print media demand is dwindling and the cost of printing goes up.

www.firstcolumn.com

Printing Costs Are Rising Fast

Printing is often a source of consternation for businesses. Unfortunately, printing costs have been rising rapidly for years due to a combination of factors impacting the entire supply chain. This month, we’ll take a look at some of the reasons these costs continue to rise.
www.firstcolumn.com www.firstcolumn.com
 
Elios83 said:
At this point physical has little sense, you still need a connection to download the full game and patch it. The disc drive is slower than the internet connections many have at this point so it's a pain to install from the disc. Having to change disc when you want to quickly try another game is also annoying.
The only pros are if you plan to resell games or if you fear that your digital account might get banned losing access to your games.
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These far outweigh the cons you listed, especially the red. I don't understand people who defend the practice of licensing the rights to play a game over actually owning a game.
 
Did you time travel from 2005? They haven't had poop books in games since forever. You're lucky to have the game on the disc. Heck, sometimes you're lucky to have the disc!
 
Depends on the company. If it's from a big publisher then they mostly suck. Expect the minimal level of effort, or worse, a code in the box. At least with physical you can still sell the game on unlike digital distro (only reason why i'll continue to buy the Game Key Cards for Switch 2).

Boutique retailers on the other hand are putting out pretty good work. British company Lost in Cult is giving even indie games this sort of treatment:

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The Japanese arm of LRG called SUPERDELUXE is also goated. You can just avoid going with LRG directly nowadays because the Euros and the Japanese will do it better. Those Tomb Raider remasters that LRG were pimping out for extortionate prices? That's just a normal retail release in Europe:

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rubik's dude said:
These far outweigh the cons you listed, especially the red. I don't understand people who defend the practice of licensing the rights to play a game over actually owning a game.
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But really, why would anyone FEAR losing their digital games? I have had digital accounts for almost 20 years (2007 steam) and it's just fine. Same with GOG, PSN,XBL etc

The only way I would fear it, is if I was hacking online games or doing malicious things online. Which in most cases would likely just get be banned from playing online, while still having my games.

Physical games are great, but disc rot is real for older ones, they can get stolen, carts mess up, a storm destroys them, really a bevy of things can happen to them.

Also, it genuinely is nice just going from game to game with a click.
 
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