Poll: Do you read the instruction manual for a game?

[Eclectic Dreck]

Usually not. At this point in my gaming life I can pretty easily grasp most game concepts and controls. I may, at times, examine the configuration settings in order to determine which keys/buttons do what.

There are exceptions. Some PC games take ages to install and one has nothing better to do than read the manual while they wait.

 

[Kriptonite]

I tend to read them for games I've been waiting for for a long time. Especially in the car on the way to play the game. If the booklet hints at a possible story, I tend to try and find that out, I like knowing the background on things usually. Sometimes I'll read the thing and find a helpful tip that I would not have known of otherwise, that is always a nice little treat.

 

[flare09]

I sometimes do, but after I've gotten into the game. Kind of like going over stuff I may not understand or have missed.

 

[Jedoro]

Sometimes

After the tutorial, if I haven't figured everything out, I'll read through it to make sure I'm not missing a key element of the game.

 

[jupla]

While the game is installing, and only for RPG's.

 

[CoverYourHead]

Normally no, but I do for complicated games like RPGs. Pending that I do not, most games force a tutorial on me anyway, I might as well just learn everything then.

 

[Seras]

Normally glance through it before i play then go back to it if something crops up or the game says "do this move!" yet doesnt tell me how.

 

[Nostalgia Ripoff]

Not very often. Maybe if I'm bored while the game is loading I might take at it. Other times I just look at the back cover to see if theres an ad for another game. There usually isn't.

 

[axia777]

No, never. I don't need instructions for video games just like I never need instructions for electronics of any kind.

 

[Gmano]

Yes. It often adds lots of info, plus lots of work went into that thing. And finally its good reads while the thing installs, loads, while someone else plays etc.

 

[GoldenRaz]

I usually check if there's any story or character introductions or the like, and then skim through the rest. It's quite rare that I really read it for any gameplay-related stuff (except for Fallout 3's perks, I repeatedly checked the manual to see what they where about)

 

[leady129]

I often flick through them. Most of the time I just read it for any backstory. 90% of games explain the controls in game anyway.

Sometimes, if the manual is very well done.
As an example, Blizzard tends to include little story fragments of the background of the game in their manuals, I really enjoyed reading those.

Little? Every Blizzard manual I've picked up contains a mini novella. More developers should do this, I think. It certainly encourages people to go through them.

 

[Ben Legend]

I normally do before playing a game, unless of course I already know the details from previous games. A.K.A playing Devil May Cry 4 after spending years playing the original 3.

Although, is it just me, or do developers print less and less information in gaming manuals as time goes on?

 

[grimzero]

sometimes

 

[ShotgunSmoke]

Only the segments about the story and the characters.

 

[Dread Pirate Pete]

I generaly just start playing and then read the manual when I cant figure out a certain control or gameplay element, then I would read things like character discription etc later on.

 

[diddykonger]

rarely i do... most times i figure out the controls in the first few mintues of the game by just messing around with the controls, or most often i follow the games' tutorial at the start of the game.

 

[oppp7]

Normally I read the instruction manual before I play so I know which button is jump.