Poll: does anyone EVER read the manual to a game

[Hey Joe]

I only ever read the manuals during an installation process, other than that I find most modern games are intuitive enough that you don't have to read a manual. Not like the old days where you you thrown into a nigh on incomprehensible world and the manuals were tomes.

 

[Tryzon]

I like sniffing a new manual. They smell wonderful. That makes me a weirdo. I don't care.

Hah! I'm not the only one then!

More concurring from Tryzon.

 

[Shadow Tyrant]

I like sniffing a new manual. They smell wonderful. That makes me a weirdo. I don't care.

Hah! I'm not the only one then!

More concurring from Tryzon.

Fourth'd. I loves me some new manual smell.

 

[Vaemer-Riit]

I mostly read it while I am waiting for the game to Install.

 

[Tryzon]

I mostly read it while I am waiting for the game to Install.

That was the case with GTAIV and I.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

I always end up reading them on the way home from the store, if I'm buying a 'hard' copy of a game, and damn, Team Fortress 2 so could have used a manual.

yes, I know

1. Aim at people not your colour
2. Shoot
3. Repeat as necessary

But, it would have been nice to have learned earlier on about lots of little things, alt fires, other uses of weapons, etc, etc.

Just maybe a page on each class, a couple of pages to each map, all that kinda thing.

I know we're headed to digital distribution, and won't need any of this, but even a pdf on the disc would have been nice. I always feel a lil disappointed when I open a new game and nothing to read

 

[Blazingdragoon]

Lol i dont read them for games because many have in game tutorials. Also the games i buy when i buy them are like the best ones so i end up ripping the packaging and just diving into the game.

 

[fat american]

Usually I get home and lock myself in my room with the light on and the T.V. off and read the manual. I don't know why but it's like a teaser to me. Sometimes I'll spend half an hour reading the manual before the game even goes into the console. Usually I read the index to find the pages of interest and if there aren't any I'll just start playing but some manuals have stories and little character descriptions and what not. I'm not sure because I got special edition and it might be in the special edition book but Gears of War's manual explains how Marcus got put in jail and stuff so you sometimes miss really cool stuff if you don't read the manual.

 

[Kukakkau]

yep as the game loads/installs. just like controls and actions for console games though
speaking of which the most fun of my first 2 weeks of getting WoW was the pictures in the book since i couldnt find my authentication code... clearly hidden in plain view

 

[Sarciss]

No point every game has the same fucking controls, its pointless, what makes me laugh is something on the first few pages where it lists all the buttons as X O [] R1 R2 etc. as if we don't already know.

What does manuals are PC Games, EVE for example.. game loses so much credability from people who can't grasp it, and its not their fault, the game is very complex.

 

[9574121795741217]

I always read the manual. I was actually disappointed when I opened the COD4's case when I got to my car and realized there were only a few pages in the manual. It's a weird habit I picked up during the fifth generation. I didn't read Halo's manual, and I learned the controls easily.

 

[Mephilese]

I only read the Manual if I'm either totally stuck by the third hour of playing OR if I'm say, in a car and cant actually play the game yet.

 

[-Seraph-]

Yes, I do. This way I can easily jump right into the game if it does not have a built in tutorial. Reading takes no more than 5 minutes to go over the essentials and I have no problem with it. That way I know as much as i can going in to the game without being hamperd by any confusion.

 

[Saevus]

Rule of thumb:

If the game was made in 2001 or earlier, or a Troika game, I read the manual from the get-go.

Otherwise? Unlikely.

 

[Xalmar]

I usually just skim over it briefly to know the controls, and I keep it around incase I need to refer to it now and again.

 

[Some_Jackass]

Most games put you through a tutorial anyway, so unless it comes with a plot intro, I wont read the manual

 

[Janus Vesta]

I read manuals if they are more than 15 pages long. Any shorter and they won't give my any information I don't already know or will find find out in the first five minutes of the game anyway. That's why I love the KoToR manuals, almost 100 pages each, full of information and all in one language.

 

[sidhe3141]

I do at least a week before I can even play the game, and then promptly misplace it and forget half the content.

EDIT: Which works out pretty well considering that the manual only occasionally bears any resemblance to the game. At least in my experience.