Instruction Manuals

[Valiant]

I really enjoy having a good instruction manual to go with a game and I relished the old school 16 bit RPG ones like Phantasy Star, Landstalker, Mana, Fanatasy and Chrono Trigger. What with their novel packed page count detailed character bios, full page pop out maps and reference cards all dressed up in Japanese artwork.

I always prefer to have an American (mainly for having just the one language) or import game over a UK one and apart from the obvious I just cannot stand the black and white photocopied approach they used to take. Over the years as well there was a distinct drop in quality in the presentation of game manuals, especially during the DC/PSOne era due to the limited packaging space.

At the moment I'd probably have to say Animal Crossing was one of my favourite purely for the design and use of the charcters which is laways something Nintendo excels at. In fact one of my all time favourite manuals is with my Japanese Mario World on the SNES.

So erm what I want to know is. What do you think of instruction manuals, past present and future? Are they decreasing in quality? Do you enjoy looking them over from time to time. Are you someone that has to read them through before playing or do you just dive right in? What is your favourite manual? What games have you bought recently that have come with nice manuals and inserts?

Thanks.

[TommyG]

I used to read them cover to cover but nowadays i just dive in. I think the most notable one recently was the GTA-VC one with the fold out map.

[srgbilco]

I always like manuals that stay to the theme of the game. Like the manual that came with Battlezone (great update to yesteryear wireframe hover tanks games. First to combine action with proper base building strategy).

The story of the game was that some Space Metal (TM) has found on an asteroid that crashed to Earth, and now the Russians and Americans are racing to find more of it one the Moon, Mars and beyond in special hover tanks made from this metal. It's set in the 60s.

So the manual opens up with a letter from Eisenhower to one of his generals, the response, various scientists' reports on the metal, detailed specs on the all the ships on your side, sketchy detail on the enemy ships, detail on the planets and moons this metal is supposed to be on, and then it gets to how to save your game etc. The presentation is also excellent, with the letters made to look like a photocopy of the letters, staples, holes, coffee rings and all. The whole thing looks just like you would expect a military manual to be, with even a return address on the back should it get lost. The only downer is that the insides are black and white.

Maybe NTSC-UK should put in a note about the manual in it's reviews? I'd love to see the Steel Battallion one. 8)

[Geoff D]

I hear what you're saying - a well designed booklet does heighten the whole package - I still love it when a game arrives & you ease off the celophane, open the casing, check out the disc etc - the manual is a part of that ritual.

I like the Jpn GC manuals - I do 'read' them, despite not understanding the language - they're usually well-illustrated & quite stylish.

[probeater]

I like reading the story in fps manuals especially the id ones.

[112]

I prefer th jap manuals cos they are well thought out and appropriate to the game usually. My quibble is Pal one which are somtimes 5 pages long and then in 10 different languages! What a waste of space and time! Of course we have to cater for other nationalities but damn! Its usually black and white and pointless. What? colour cost too much? andnumerous pages dont?!

112 ft:

[quirky]

Nintendo PAL manuals are in 1 language only. Or at least my only PAL Gamecube game is.

[mid]

I absolutely loved the one for Captive. Explained the whole background to the game, and dealt with the whole control system well.

You had two manuals, the first was a quick rundown of the background; that you had woken up in a prison cell, and there was this laptop complete with manual. You're meant to be using the laptop to remotely control these robots to come rescue yourself. The second is the manual for the laptop, which is actually the game itself. Quality atmosphere that actually made the most of the fact that you were actually sat at home playing a game.

[stroppa]

I tend only to read manuals when I'm on the bus home from town after buying a game. When I get a game online, I'll read through the start of a FAQ online for the basics while I wait for it to be delivered.

Can't say I have a favourite instruction book to be honest.

[quirky]

That Captive post reminds me - Eye of the Beholder on the 'miggy. It had an ace instructions book, with maps of the world and details of the spells and loads of the monsters. Really got you "into" the game world. Or it did me when I was an impressionable teenager

[Lebowski]

i used to like the ones you would get for uk megadrive games, they were really long and floppy, in about 10 diffrent lang, with just a small part of the page divided up for uk copy, sometimes if you were really luckey you would get a scabby black and white screen shot ft:

one of the best instruction books ive seen is castlevain sotn on psx good instructions little comic artbook and cd full of loads of castlevania music, if only all games were this sweet when you open them.

[Che Musashi]

I really like when they are in color and have nice pictures. When they are black and white I could give a toss. I think to me it reflects on how much a company cares about a game.

If you can't afford or take the time to make a nice color manual, why waste my time. It just becomes another part of the whole collecting experience.

[Adam]

Maybe it's just me, but my Dragon Warrior VII Instruction book is scented! it smells like a sweet bubble gum or something

[Arctic Feather]

Nintendo's manuals are usually colourful with lots of screnneshots etc

One that sticks in my mind in particular is Doshin the Giant

I have to agree that those megadrive ones are terrible - some of them had a third of the page for each language and then 2 black and white pictures at the bottom of some random character/item

[2097]

nintendo's PAL GC manuals are a masterpiece. Very well thought out and always absolutely gorgeous. a shame then that most GBA manuals (if you can get them out of the box ft: ) are about two pages of information in black and white in 7 gazillion different languages.. and then with "notes" pages at the back to make the manual even bigger so that it can be taken out of the box without causing damage. what is the bloody point in notes pages?? surely people have paper?? do people really want to soil their manuals (gosh!)?? isnt it more convienient to write cheat codes or whatever on one scrap of paper rather than in every different manual? or perhaps they are for writing long rants about how pointless note pages are!

a lot of PAL manuals are pretty good too.. Virtua Fighter 4, ICO, Herdy Gerdy, Alundra, Shadow Hearts and any konami PAL game stand out as the best! (eg. alundra = huge colour manual, fold out map with artwork and mini-strategy guide all with brilliant artwork.. or silent hill 2 - lovely manual, two discs, konami catalouge and silent hill sticker!!).