Instruction Manuals are Obsolete

[Anayo]

In the 80's, processing power and memory were extremely limited. Getting multiple colors to render on the screen at once was pushing it. On top of that, the Atari 2600 had some fairly complicated "game mode" switches on the system itself for adjusting difficulty and other configurations. So, it was impossible to encode instructions of how to fully play the game within the memory of the game itself. They included an instruction manual because paper could store more memory than solid state at the time.

Even when games reached a point where they could have tutorials and lots of text in them, instruction manuals made it possible to explain back story or nuances that would be hard to figure out. Like unlocking bonus stages by running past the goal posts in Sonic, or the fact that Knuckles' favorite food is grapes.

Why do games still have instruction manuals? Am I the only one that feels like it's some kind of unnecessary vestige?

[MrPopo]

Why do games still have instruction manuals? Am I the only one that feels like it's some kind of unnecessary vestige?

I love instruction manuals. For one, I like the bits of story they put in. Sure, I might get the same amount, but it gives me that scent of blood in the water to drive me to action before I put in the game.

Next, I personally would like to see less and less in-game tutorials and putting it all back in the manual. About half of the things there are in-game tutorials for I already know how to do thanks to being a massive gamer. The other half I could just as easily pick out of the manual. Even with the tutorials are skippable they usually have an annoying amount of lead-in text before I can say "fuck off, I know how to play".

[gtmtnbiker]

Why do games still have instruction manuals? Am I the only one that feels like it's some kind of unnecessary vestige?

I can see doing away with hard-copy manuals. Lots of software no longer have this. I like what Nintendo did with the Virtual Consoles where you can bring up a help screen to understand button mappings, and game play.

[Niode]

In my opinion that's the best thing about Demon's souls, a lot of the game isn't explained. A certain portion is explained in the manual, more than what is explained in the tutorial, but you really should read the manual for it before playing it. How else will you know what all those symbols mean in the inventory screen?

[Luke]

I still love them. I still read them.

RTFM.

[Anayo]

I read instruction manuals when I was little and impressionable (that's why I know Knuckles' favorite food is grapes.) But nowadays I just pop the disc in the drive and figure it out as I go. I wonder why they don't save money and trees by not printing them.

I can think of only two exceptions. The first is Street Fighter-style games that rely on button combos for special moves.

The second is the Sega Saturn game Dragon Force. I found it very daunting and complicated at first, and there wasn't any in game tutorial to explain the point of the game to me. (Needless to say my copy was disc only.)

[CRTGAMER]

I like reading manuals, hate getting a complicated game or new cell phone with no manual.
There's the collectors value aspect of it too ............

[sevin0seven]

Instruction Manuals is a must for me though I barely read them. It makes my collection complete and look nice.

[Alpinex2]

One of my favorite things is collecting manuals and complete boxed games from the nintendo and super nintendo era.

[MrPopo]

I like reading manuals, hate getting a complicated game or new cell phone with no manual.
There's the collectors value aspect of it too ............

This man gets it. Falcon 4.0!