The Demise of the Video Game Manual

Thieves? What have they stolen?

 

Ok, maybe thieves was the wrong word to use, how about shortchangers? As I said, rewards that used to be part and parcel of a game are now charged for extras. Don't you ever feel short changed? Extra venues or items that were once bonus unlocks are now charged for even though in some cases the physical data is already on the disc you purchased.

A prime example is the Need for Speed Hot Pursuit: Armed and Dangerous pack. When you go to the PSN store and click purchase and then confirm you're presented with a download of just a few K, the 2 new game modes that you've just paid £5.49 for you already own, what you've just paid for is an unlock key that just gives you access to something that is already on the disc but you're being charged an extra fee to access it. Surely you must see that that's unfair. It's like being charged extra to get the subtitles up on a DVD or paying to access the extra features. It's impossible to justify.

Extra songs in SingStar, or Rock Band etc on day of release yes, all well and good because not everybody likes the same style or genre of music but come on, anything else is just taking the piss. Street Fighter costumes at over £3 for 4 outfits, updateable weekly football stats for FIFA, fees of £10 a month to play DC Universe online, instant unlock codes that render your brand new game a pointless experience because the MTV generation can't be arsed to put in the hours needed to beat the thing. It's all one big con and steadily and progressively getting worse.

 

So don't pay for it. Don't buy the horse armour. Don't buy the themes.

It's shitty behaviour, no question. The genuine gameplay extensions, though? Where you get new content? I understand that buying an unlock code for stuff that's on the disc already is some bullshit, but honestly I can't remember a time where that was an issue. Most of the time when I've bought DLC it's taken a good while to download, and that's because it's new content. If that wasn't the case for some Tiger Woods game... eh. Wish I could care.

 

Some DLC content, as consumed has said, is a joke. I think games should have more unlockables and things for actually doing well in the game. I suppose it's like having to buy Super Sonic in Sonic 2, or buy the Lancia Stratos in SEGA Rally on the Saturn. Cheat codes in games have basically been and gone (I still love; up down left right a b c!), which is fair enough.

Something that irks me is the EA new model of selling you the game, and then charging you more money to be able to play online... in addition to your xbox live gold account fee!! Utter joke. I only mention this as I do enjoy playing NHL with my brother, and always have done since 1992

 

Only applies to second-hand copies of the game (new copies have online free), but still - it sucks. I'm currently trying to get my DLC & XBLA games moved from one console to another, and it's started making me concerned for the future of the stuff I've bought when Xbox 360's Live goes away... :/

 

Quite right. It's something that people rarely think about, but if XBL isn't supported in 5 years and your xbox/hard drive dies... that's it? No hard copies? Digital media is convenient but I always prefer to have a physical product if possible.

 

It's something that's mentioned practically daily here, and I tend to agree: digital downloads, mandatory online verification, all that stuff is worrying in terms of longevity. Sometimes it's patched out later, but that can't be relied upon, and the idea of not being able to play even the single player component of (game x) just because someone turned the server off is disturbing. It's also dramatically more appealing for developers, though; lower costs, potentially less money lost to the middle man, more robust protection against piracy.

 

No real man reads manuals anyway.

 

Western games in general have poor manuals & thats why i dont rarely care about box art or the manual & stuff when im buying 360 games.

However when i import from Japan im always treated to lovely full colour manuals, can't see them vanishing any time soon in Japan. Only cheap ass western devs that are charging the same yet providing less value for money.

 

Sort of on topic in the cheap ass western area. Why are US 360 titles put in to such shitty cases? The plastic they're made from is so cheap, especially the clear insert part and some have bloody holes cut out from the case where the disc goes! I really dislike those cases.

Yakumo

 

EA will forever leave a bad taste in my mouth for the whole "red bug" fiasco of Battlefield 2. Doesn't mean I'll avoid every game they publish but I waited a long time to see Dead Space appear on steam for $5. I'll gladly do it again for Dead Space 2.

Gaming manuals at one point held the backstory to a game when the game simply didn't have enough space on the ROM chips to "waste" on something that could be printed on paper. Zelda for the NES comes to mind as there is only a handful of text in game explaining things, same goes for Super Mario Bros. I don't have the manual for either but I'd wager the damn thing does have some details.

The manual for Body Harvest for the N64 was invaluable to me as well. Early in the game you were to acquire dynamite to blow away a landslide to continue the game. Problem was I didn't have a clue as to how you were to change your weapon from the pistol you had at the time. For some reason I didn't think to just press every button until I found the right one but a quick read of the manual said that the correct button was up/down on the D-pad. Felt like a total moron that day.

Since some games arguably contain more story within the gameplay than can be included in a good 300 page novel (I'm looking at you FFXIII) the manual having more story than the game itself doesn't make much sense. Now there are books out there that do bridge the story between games, act as prequels, etc but they are BOOKS and not 30-50 page MANUALS. Halo is one of the earliest examples I can think of where reading the manual as a tutorial to learn controls, hit combos, etc isn't necessary as the game does this from the get go by throwing you into action without a weapon forcing you to learn on the fly how to play.

Strike two against manual content.

Game credits? Been seeing those played at the end of a game's story completion since at least 1989. Neat shit in the box such as maps, control overlays for your keyboard and such? Haven't seen that Age of Empires 2 in 1999 when they dropped in some cards to show off the upcoming (then cancelled) AoE card game as well as a tech tree for upgrades in game.

With digital downloads we clearly don't even need a phsyical storage medium anymore negating the space where a manual could clearly be inserted.

The only real point I can make that is clearly demonstrative that removing the manual is a bullshit reason by claiming it is a "cost cutting measure" is that if it actually cut costs they'd learn to pass it on to the damned consumer. Weren't we promised that CDs would be cheaper than cassettes because they were far cheaper to manufacture? Total bullshit.

 

What irks me, is that I have to be logged into XBOX Live to play the full Rez HD and Trigger Heart Execlica that I bought... why?!

Once I disconnect from the 'net, I end up with trial versions again. Retarded. :flamethrower:

 

Those are the so called "eco boxes" made by a company called Viva. They have less plastic to be more "environment friendly"

http://www.viva-eco-box.com/about.html

http://us.kotaku.com/#!5415367/changing-video-game-cases-go-for-the-green

http://www.thebitbag.com/forumz/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=405

Curiously, all companies these days use plastic clamshells for pratically all accesories (cables, controllers, .... ), computer peripherals, and so on. Couldn't they just use recycled paperboard / cardboard? You know, since they are so worried about the environment...

 

Stop using logic!

 

Sounds like your games have to be migrated from an old console to your new one, or somehow your games are not linked correctly. Here, try this: http://www.xbox.com/drm