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WHAT HAPPENED TO MANUALS?
Posts
Shinan
4314
Shinan
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CloseSpeaking of all that extra artwork that people are using to justify manuals, many games these days include an "extras" menu that is brimming with artwork. Sometimes it's unlockable depending on how far you are into the game or it might be collectable. Other times not. Sometimes it's also found in the game directory itself with a huge folder filled with images (and sometimes sounds and music too, once I even found an extra album by the composer of the soundtrack just by looking in the game folder).
In fact more often than not there's loads and loads of additional artwork available to look at inside the games (or elsewhere) these days than there ever were in a manual.
In fact more often than not there's loads and loads of additional artwork available to look at inside the games (or elsewhere) these days than there ever were in a manual.
Shinan
4314
I don't know. Some tiny little image on a A6-size manual page or full-screen HD artwork on a screen.
I mean sure it can't replace posters. But not very many games came with full-size poster art.
I mean sure it can't replace posters. But not very many games came with full-size poster art.
Housekeeping
3571
I think you're underestimating the tangible quality of a manual, Shinan. This kind of thing has a sense of ownership that people cherish--especially those who enjoy collecting. I'm fine with not having a manual, too, but that sense of ownership is why people would fight you over that point.
Desertopa
775
That, and there's a difference between extra information which you can peruse before the game, to build your enthusiasm, and extras you can view within the game, and may even have to go out of your way to collect. They serve very different purposes.
SNES RPG manuals were great - art, character summaries, note pages and tips/tricks. Man, even PS1 ones weren't bad. How else would we know the ages and last names of the FF7 cast?
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
From the DATALOG, obviously
I'm all in for the manual.
...Although it wasn't a manual, I still have the NES Final Fantasy strategy guide. At least half of my enjoyment in playing that game long ago was because I had this huge, lushly adorned encyclopaedia by my side. Back in the day when traditional painting was used instead of the latest Adobe Photoshop.
I wonder if that material component to a game, reinforcing a bond with the game, has been replaced for the new generation, which now doesn't even know what a manual is?
The replacement of the manual by in-game tutorials was a conscious act by developers to finally excise the cost of paper manuals from the game production process, and to minimize player attrition through players who wouldn't want to look up how a game's system worked.
As game production just becomes bigger and more expensive, studios analyze and streamline production into only the most addicting aspects of the game product.
Although, I wonder if it isn't like what BMW and Mercedes-Benz had to go through. As technology became better, lower-class cars started becoming more sophisticated, putting pressure on luxury brands to make some extreme decisions on what car design and interior design meant.
...Although it wasn't a manual, I still have the NES Final Fantasy strategy guide. At least half of my enjoyment in playing that game long ago was because I had this huge, lushly adorned encyclopaedia by my side. Back in the day when traditional painting was used instead of the latest Adobe Photoshop.
I wonder if that material component to a game, reinforcing a bond with the game, has been replaced for the new generation, which now doesn't even know what a manual is?
The replacement of the manual by in-game tutorials was a conscious act by developers to finally excise the cost of paper manuals from the game production process, and to minimize player attrition through players who wouldn't want to look up how a game's system worked.
As game production just becomes bigger and more expensive, studios analyze and streamline production into only the most addicting aspects of the game product.
Although, I wonder if it isn't like what BMW and Mercedes-Benz had to go through. As technology became better, lower-class cars started becoming more sophisticated, putting pressure on luxury brands to make some extreme decisions on what car design and interior design meant.
Like I said, I really didn't bother with learning the material in the manuals, but that doesn't mean I didn't read them. At the beginning, the manual teased the story, introduced you to the characters and constituted your first bit of immersion into the game you just purchased. Moreover, it was a part of the game you could hold in your hand. The old Interprose games were the best. They weren't that great, but they came with all of the "feelies". When you opened the package, you didn't just get a floppy disk and and 15 page booklet: when you turned the package over, a bloodstained bit of parchment fell out with a mysterious cipher, followed by a pewter ankh (all that you have of the late, dear, professor), a detailed map and a mysterious journal (and you could not complete the game if you didn't have that journal).
For Ultima II, I still have the cloth map that came with it. When you got games for the PC, you didn't just get a disk and a manual, you got everything the character starts out with.
For Ultima II, I still have the cloth map that came with it. When you got games for the PC, you didn't just get a disk and a manual, you got everything the character starts out with.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
author=pianotmBullshit, my Amstrad edition of Sesame Street 1-2-3 didn't come with a rubber ducky OR a cloth map of Ernie's bathroom. I played the hell out of that game when I was like 5 or 6.
When you got games for the PC, you didn't just get a disk and a manual, you got everything the character starts out with.
(Or maybe it did and my dad just kept it for himself. THAT BASTARD)
Desertopa
775
author=Zachary_Braun
The replacement of the manual by in-game tutorials was a conscious act by developers to finally excise the cost of paper manuals from the game production process, and to minimize player attrition through players who wouldn't want to look up how a game's system worked.
As game production just becomes bigger and more expensive, studios analyze and streamline production into only the most addicting aspects of the game product.
Well, the Persona series is awfully popular for something that hasn't released an installment since the PS2 generation (next game is slated for a 2015 release,) and Persona 4 had a big art book that came with each copy of the game. Atlus seems to still try and maintain that sort of relationship with their audience.
author=Desertopaauthor=Zachary_BraunWell, the Persona series is awfully popular for something that hasn't released an installment since the PS2 generation (next game is slated for a 2015 release,) and Persona 4 had a big art book that came with each copy of the game. Atlus seems to still try and maintain that sort of relationship with their audience.
The replacement of the manual by in-game tutorials was a conscious act by developers to finally excise the cost of paper manuals from the game production process, and to minimize player attrition through players who wouldn't want to look up how a game's system worked.
As game production just becomes bigger and more expensive, studios analyze and streamline production into only the most addicting aspects of the game product.
Love Atlus games. Magna Carta came in a big double pack with manual, full poster and art book.
That's cool. I didn't know that it was still viable to do that. When I wrote what I wrote, I was thinking of the young kids that play Call of Duty and the like. Those kids are going to grow up to be 16, 18, 25, 35... They've never had manuals. If they're the ones driving major game sales, what will come next? And the generation after them, when those kids lose buying power?
My favorite manuals were the Grand Theft Auto ones. They were made to look like a newspaper, and emersed me into the city, while still telling me controls. For me, it's always been a fond memory to crack open a game and peek through the manual before even turning on the console. From Final Fantasy 7, Metal Gear Solid, to Super Mario or Double Dragon... I just love that little booklet for what it was. Basicly paraphernalia!
Who didn't love reading the character bios in the FF7 manual!?
Who didn't love reading the character bios in the FF7 manual!?
I just want to chip in and say that the hardbound leather combination manual, mini walkthrough, and developer/localization commentary/thanks booklet that came with Lunar: Eternal Blue was the most fucking awesome shit ever and I'd love it if more game developers put that kind of care in their product. I still have mine!
author=DudesoftStill have my San Andreas one, which is that gigantic booklet of SA attractions, footnotes and all that other stuff.
My favorite manuals were the Grand Theft Auto ones.
I lurv <3
