The Death of the Manual - Some New Games Come Without Them Now...

[maxlords]

I have the manuals for most of my games. Guess what? I can't even remember the last time I looked at one at all. I don't bother to read them. So why should they include them?

[Dobie]

I thought EA mentioned they were doing away with the manual all together across all of their games?

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Good riddance.

Instructions are a good thing, paper manuals however are unnecessary at this point in time.

If a game doesn't have a tutorial level or options screens that detail what each and every button on your controller does they can put a digital equivalent of a "manual" on the disc/in the game file somewhere.

It's 2012 my phone can make PDFs.

[Emperor Megas]

Goodness. I suppose I'm one of the only gamers who likes to have an on hand reference to thumb through (and hates PDFs).

Good riddance.

Instructions are a good thing, paper manuals however are unnecessary at this point in time.

As are cases, and graphic labels on the disc, and opening and closing credits, etc..

[Gameguy]

Also, any other games where the manual was never included?

Counting PC games? It's another reason I see no reason to buy them at full price anymore, it's just a disc in a case/box/paper sleeve now.

[Rickstilwell1]

Yeah while they're at it why don't they save money on colored ink by printing every disc as a white label with black text. Very small black text you have to squint to see so they don't use as much ink.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

As are cases, and graphic labels on the disc, and opening and closing credits, etc..

All valid points indeed.

The truth is that as we move towards a time where digital distribution will be the primary method of game delivery anything that is cost intensive to the process of creating/developing a game could become a casualty.

But let's not get fantastical with semantics. We're talking about instruction manuals here.

At the present time the MILLIONS of labels that are printed yearly vs. the actual number of gamers that functionally utilize them for their intended purpose is probably not worth the time, effort and WASTED resources that go into producing them.

[bangtango]

All valid points indeed.

The truth is that as we move towards a time where digital distribution will be the primary method of game delivery anything that is cost intensive to the process of creating/developing a game could become a casualty.

But let's not get fantastical with semantics. We're talking about instruction manuals here.

At the present time the MILLIONS of labels that are printed yearly vs. the actual number of gamers that functionally utilize them for their intended purpose is probably not worth the time, effort and WASTED resources that go into producing them.

I'm thinking the savings from not producing a manual won't be passed along to the consumer (they rarely are).

However, I wouldn't be surprised if it occasionally speeds up the release of a game a little (even by a few days) or maybe even cuts down on the number of bugs in a game (even by one or two).

Why?

Not having to create a full-blown manual, edit the contents for quality control (spelling/accuracy) and then mass producing the thing will free up time and resources for other things concerned with the GAME itself.

[TonyTheTiger]

Goodness. I suppose I'm one of the only gamers who likes to have an on hand reference to thumb through (and hates PDFs).

As a comic book reader I can appreciate having the tactile feedback of holding the genuine article over a digital approximation of it. I think many of us here can say similar things about playing genuine cartridges on genuine hardware as opposed to emulation. Mere psychological benefits, sure, but benefits to those who value them nonetheless.

But game manuals, at this point, would really need to go the way of strategy guides in order to make them genuinely worthwhile as reading material. It used to be that the manual was good for general instructions, plot points, and various informational tidbits that were rarely included in the games themselves. Nowadays, games not only tell you everything you need to know but lots of shit you don't even care to hear.

Manuals, much like printed strategy guides, no longer serve much of a purpose. To justify the purchase price, strategy guides have evolved into guide/artbook/developer diary combos. Manuals would have to do the same to justify giving them a second glance. Adapt or die, ya know?

I'm not necessarily happy they're going away as they've always served for decent bathroom reading. But I can't remember the last time I've had to reference the manual for something while playing and actually found the information I needed. We're talking back during the PS1 era.

[substantial_snake]

But...what will I read on the toilet now?

I really like having a full color game manual simply and its kinda sad to see them fading away. It is however justified, games are filled with so many detailed and integrated tutorials that manuals are largely pointless. That being said I find that a company who puts in the time and effort to make a sweet manual usually produces really good games.

[TonyTheTiger]

That being said I find that a company who puts in the time and effort to make a sweet manual usually produces really good games.

I'll take it in a different direction and suggest that a high quality manual that does double as an artbook and developer diary could be a means to fight piracy on a small scale. Anything you offer your customers above and beyond that which can be pirated is another check mark on one side of the "buy this game/pirate this game" checklist for some people. The less you give your actual customers vs. what pirates can take for free will only encourage further piracy.

[RP2A03]

Manuals have been dying a slow death for years now. They used to loaded with 30+ pages of cool artwork and descriptions of the baddies. Today, manuals are just a bare bones description of the game with little to no cool pictures and are only 30+ pages when they are trilingual.

[Aussie2B]

I've never played a game that I had the manual for before reading the manual. Ever...like, in my life. Even if it means just thumbing through a thick manual I always do. This sucks to me, because they're still putting just as much paper in the case, why not just include the manual? I always read the manuals for games on the bus ride home as a kid when I purchased a new game. I was all primed for it by the time I made it home and new what the game was about and how the control scheme worked.

Yeah, I guess we are the odd ones out. If I have the manual (and it's in English, since I do play plenty of imports), I will always read it cover to cover before I start (when I intend to play a game seriously, that is, not when I'm just testing something out). I consider it a fun part of the experience, and I love when manuals go that extra mile, like in the Donkey Kong Country manuals (but that's extremely rare these days).

I guess it stems from my childhood too. As a child of divorced parents, I spent time at both houses most days (one of the benefits of having parents that lived only a mile apart). I'd walk home to my dad's, where I had my systems, and in the evening my mom would pick me up. When I'd buy a new game, I'd take my money with me in the morning, wait for my mom in the evening to take me to the store, then I'd bring it home to her place where I had no system to play it on. I'd have to then take the game with me to school the next day and wait until I was back at my dad's after school to get started. That left me with plenty of time to eagerly anticipate playing and drool over the manual.

Also, in-game tutorials usually suck. I'd much prefer to flip through a manual at my own pace than crawl through a mindless tutorial. And I stare at screens enough as it is. I'd rather look something up in my time away from a game than wade through menus trying to find one little tidbit of info.

I've yet to buy any games lacking manuals, but my main problem is that they're getting cheaper. Black and white, low quality paper, a lack of useful information, and redundant with the same info printed in a slew of different languages. Manuals were usually so great with the SNES, but it's been downhill since then. They've gotten so lame now that even PS1 manuals seem good in comparison.

[Baloo]

Manuals are just a big waste of paper and don't really give much useful information anyway, they don't even give you cool artwork, bios, or descriptions anymore. So why even have them?

[Lerxstnj]

I will miss them, but I miss looking at LP covers and reading the lyrics while listening to music too.

[The 1 2 P]

I doubt that they're going to charge you less for the game, but they'll give you less for your money. Next will be cases; you'll just get a game in a cardboard sleeve, and no one but me will care.

Counting PC games? It's another reason I see no reason to buy them at full price anymore, it's just a disc in a case/box/paper sleeve now.

Well companies are doing this as a cost-saving measure and I seriously doubt they are going to pass those savings on to us. And if they do decide to get rid of the cases, I still bet they will charge us the full $60. But like you just said, thats yet another reason why you shouldn't buy games at full retail.

I'm all about companies saving money to stay in business but they need to also see things from the consumer side. And considering that most on demand download games for the 360 and PS3 are the same price(or more) as their retail counterparts I'm guessing that the publishers really don't want to see things from our side.

Manuals are just a big waste of paper and don't really give much useful information anyway, they don't even give you cool artwork, bios, or descriptions anymore. So why even have them?

For the most part this is true. But of course there are exceptions. The Halo and Gears of War manuals are all pretty thick, full of color and very informative. But on the flip side, the COD(representing the biggest selling franchise on consoles today) manuals are nothing more than 8-10 page black and white pamplets with little more info than the controller settings.

I know I'm in the minority because I actually look thru my manuals before playing the game, usually just skimming over it before going back later for specific useful info. It will make game hunting slightly easier for finding complete copies but that will be equal parts annoying just trying to figure out which games did or didn't ship with a manual.

[PapaStu]

This shouldn't be a huge surprise. EA started the '6' page manual back during the XBox days. Full color to B&W with 2 pages being credits of some kind was real informative. *eye roll*

Most games have pushed ingame tutorials because manuals were being used less and less. Besides, remember Nintendo & MS have gone to the 'eco' cases, reducing 25% of the plastic in the case, per case. Which lowers the shipping weight of a gross ton of games, which reduces fuel transportation costs and all that. This further gets the games into the 'green' zone that they are being forced into by WalMart, Target and other retailers because they've been forced to cut down emissions.

Sign of the times!

[portnoyd]

The funny thing is, Nintendo manuals have gotten bigger thanks to the trilingual translations.

[Aussie2B]

Maybe I'm the only one, but I really like seeing credits in manuals. It's not at all convenient to beat a game over again (even with a save at the final save point) just to see the credits, and a lot of the time it goes by too fast to take in all of the names. I love to be able to open the manual before I even start and find out who the designer, artist, composer, etc. are.

I'd like publishers to take it a step further and give us even more info about the developers in the manual. I loved how Working Designs would write a bit about the localization process and what was changed from the Japanese original.

Now "Notes" sections, those are just silly.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Maybe I'm the only one, but I really like seeing credits in manuals. It's not at all convenient to beat a game over again (even with a save at the final save point) just to see the credits, and a lot of the time it goes by too fast to take in all of the names. I love to be able to open the manual before I even start and find out who the designer, artist, composer, etc. are.

I'd like publishers to take it a step further and give us even more info about the developers in the manual. I loved how Working Designs would write a bit about the localization process and what was changed from the Japanese original.

Now "Notes" sections, those are just silly.

A lot of modern games will allow you to do a credit roll from the options menu without having to complete the game.