The Demise of the Video Game Manual

Hello all.

I wrote this a few weeks back and thought it might be a good read considering EA's recent announcement that they will not be including manuals in future sports titles.

http://www.videogameconsolelibrary.com/blog/?p=450

As always, comments and insights are always welcomed.

 

I'm amazed they lasted as long as they did, to be honest. From an aesthetic point of view it's nice to open a new game and find lovingly-crafted inserts (a lot of PC games prior to the late 90s especially emphasised this), but from a practical perspective manuals have been completely superfluous for a very long time. Back when ROM space was precious and expensive, and game graphics were limited, manuals were an attractive means of communicating important information, but that's ancient history now.

As you say, though, it'll live on through the rise of the "limited edition" (most of which are "limited" in name only, but that's a different story).

I do still enjoy opening a sealed game, whether new or old - just today I got PC Engine copies of Street Fighter 2 and Circus Lido in the post (thanks Thibaut!) and there's still definite satisfaction for me in that process. No manual can compare to a modern game, though, so I doubt kids today care in the slightest, and I can't blame them.

 

What is interesting is that is that it's EA again who've taken the initiative, as it was them who were the first company to completely do away with cartons for new PC games and just release games in DVD style packaging. I think it was a Command and Conquer game that was the first title they released this way, in the UK at least, because I was working for GAME at the time and a big thing was made about it, store managers at the time were afraid that without the usual frippery the game would be overlooked by customers. That and the fact that DVD box games are far, far easier to steal.

As for the omission now of manuals I can't say I'm surprised, when was he last time most of us actually needed to read one from cover to cover to find out what we needed to know? In days gone by when a new Janes flight sim came out you'd be fucked without one but today if you've played one FPS you've played them all in respect to how they handle and what buttons do what, it's the same with an RTS, a racer, a fighter or and adventure game like the Assassins Creed or Uncharted style games. And that's pretty much it genre wise today, and it's for that reason that for me at least gaming has stagnated to such a point I just can't get excited at all about the majority of todays games, they're either clones or pieces of 'me too' software that are about as much fun as leprosy. Games today are too sterile and target audience driven, there's no mavericks left in the industry. Concentrate on making the game good, entertaining and feeling fresh and the lack of a physical manual will be the least of my worries.

 

Whilst I feel sad that EA is dropping manuals, it doesn't really surprise as their first party games had notoriously bad manuals (essentially a warranty and basic controller instructions). What they are doing now is dropping the basic controller instructions and just giving you the warranty.

What I dislike, however, is their reasoning for doing it: 'saving the environment and reducing recycling waste'. Yeah, right - I don't know of anybody who chucks their manuals away, let alone recycles them. Don't you mean: 'saving a buck or two on this'.

In any case, I don't feel the manual is going to go away - many people said it was the end for strategy guides once the internet came along, but the section seems to have gotten bigger at my local games shops in the last few years...

 

I couldn't care less what EA do. Their recent bullshit about having to sign up to play online with their games and then blocking people in other countries where the game wasn't released was the final nail for me. I mean, I bought the Asian version of Dead Space 2 but can't access the store, play online, use my redeem codes for extras and so on. Basically I only get the 1 player game. EA are the only ones to do this. Some how they always manage to piss my off in one way or another.

As for the manual, I sure hope nobody else follows suit. I like having a flick through them, especially the Japanese ones which are so colourful and well designed. Most western 360 manuals all have the same dull layout.

Yakumo

 

So buy the Japanese version.

I know it sounds callous, but honestly, if you "cheat the system" and buy a game cheaper elsewhere, don't be surprised if they don't honour all the online functionality. It's kind of shitty, sure, but you can't act surprised - you cheaped them for $15 or whatever, now you don't get the online stuff. So it goes.

 

Why should I pay more than the rest of Asia and wait months? The game is region free so why block sections of it? Also it's stated on the box the it is designed for use with a NTSC-J 360 and for us in Asia. Japan is in Asia and Japan uses NTSC-J.

Just to put it in to prospective, Dead Space 2 in Japan would cost 7800 yen. Thats more expensive than any other developed country in the world plus it's still not released here.

 

Have it your way. Move to China to play the game, then

Look, I'm not saying it doesn't suck. But if you buy a game from outside your region (and don't give me that "my cheap Chinese copy includes Japan!" crap, you know exactly why your copy is cheaper) you just have to live with any disadvantages that brings.

 

Why are you so touchy on the subject?

Besides,. Asia does include Japan. After all the Mega Drive had an Asian version which was sold in Japan as well as other countries :nod:

 

You're the one complaining about your purchase. What you choose to buy and from where is your decision, it's not something that keeps me up at night.

Like that has anything to do with what we were talking about.

 

Of course it has a bearing. Microsoft are withholding features that are stated either on or in the packaging. To be fair it's not a grey area, a region is a region is a region. I've got a few Japanese PS3 games that have online capabilities that I can not access because I'm playing the games in Europe. As much as that aggrieves me I appreciate that I can't play online because for whatever reason there may be some compatibility issues, I don't know, I'm not into technical stuff. However the issue becomes clouded when I'm playing Mario Kart Wii online I can play with anyone from any part of the world including Japan so it confuses me somewhat when a region regimented machine like the Wii can play anyone anywhere else in the world but a region free console like the PS3 limits me to western servers. Maybe someone can explain the intricacies for me.

The game in question is clearly an NTSC J copy so any part of Asia that uses that system should have full connectivity and connectability to the net. If any PAL game in Europe can connect then by that measure any NTSC game should be the same in Asia. It's a no brainer. That's the thing that Yakumo is trying to point out. And as for saying he shouldn't have imported a 'cheap Chinese copy' he hasn't, he got a legitimate release for his area. Motorstorm 3 is now a prime example of this. It's been available in Europe yet delayed in the UK, USA and Japan due the the Sendai tragedy. Had you gotten a copy from say Portugal or Germany and not been able to access the online aspect of the game here in the UK you'd be spitting your dummy out left right and centre. Would your copy sourced from Europe have been a 'cheap import'? No, it would have been a standard release for our area, just like Yakumo's is. Withholding accessibility is unacceptable in what is supposed to be a borderless world, a point Microsoft are always harping on about in their press releases for any and all of their products but especially with the online functions of the Xbox 360.

And they wonder why they still can't crack Japan :shrug:

 

Origin including ship blueprints in the wing commander box. That's some materialistic happiness the kids of today miss out on.
Don't need a zip-lock revival though...

 

Origin did some cool releases with the Ultima series too, remember the nice cotton map and moonstone and UO pin and and and...

This is all long ago and I guess this will never really become reality again because "new age players" doesnt give a bloody sh1t if there is a nice or unique manual or gimmick with the software, *sigh* oh boy... and most worst case ever today, only graphics and special fx and sound fx counts, I have the feeling every game today is like the other...

 

Great article! Enjoyed reading it, I share the same feelings. Things are changing too fast, so long for the golden era of gaming

Back in the day, my only chance to get games was when traveling to the US, so manuals used to be all I had during my stay at the US as I had no consoles to try the games on until I came back home. I did study them very thouroughly haha, fun times.

 

Look, if you buy a videogame from China and the online functionality doesn't work in Japan that says something very, very obvious about how the developer/publisher view those regions. You can make excuses all you want but the cold fact speaks for itself - you bought a game cheaply from abroad and its internet functionality doesn't work. Deal with it.

And yes, if I imported a game cheaply from Ukraine or somewhere and the online functionality was similarly crippled I wouldn't be surprised in the least. Disappointed, sure, but I understand that prices in different places are chosen very carefully by these companies to maximise profit, and if I threaten that, they'll take their ball and go home. Capitalism 101.

 

I think you missed Yakumo's point that the packaging says it's for 'Asian' regions and the 'J' (for Japan) in 'NTSC-J' on the packaging is mighty misleading (to the point of being untrue)

 

Had to be EA. The same company that uses the so-called "eco cases" and the one that issued the "Online Pass" crap... Plus their excuses are always pathetic, like "saving the environment".

What is interesting is that by lowering production costs, they don't transfer it to the final retail price. So the truth is that they are lowering costs and raising profit.

I still haven't bought NFS: Hot Pursuit and Dead Space 2 because of this. I'll wait till they get cheaper. Plus i'll stay away their online crap.

 

That's a fair complaint, the "J" is pretty cheeky.

 

Uh? When I pointed that out you basically said I was talking bollocks, another poster points out the same point and you agree

 

A lot of Japanese publishers still have entire divisions dedicated to making manuals... but I think that will change over the coming years (probably sooner than later), as companies here feel the financial squeeze.

I loved manuals back in the day when games didn't tell you how to play themselves. Now, except in certain cases, they are sadly obsolete.