Remember when video game manuals were awesome?

[BurnOutBrighter]

Remember when you got a real, pages-bound-together manual, and not a reference card?

Remember when PC game boxes were the size of cereal boxes?

Remember when manuals were packed with backstory, in-depth strategic analysis, and even some witty jokes?

Remember when you got an accompanying booklet written in an in-universe style to flesh out the backstory and characters?

I don't know whether it's a digital age thing, or a cost cutting thing, or a laziness thing, but these days, for better or worse, you learn to play the game while playing it. Tutorial prologues are common, and they're great because they get you actually playing the game, which is the best way to learn how to play it (you can't learn to drive by reading the road code can you?), but it's also a shame that the actual packaging that you get games in has become more and more neglected. Even today, lots of "collector's editions" are content to just throw together some concept art into a booklet and call it a day.

That type of stuff makes me want to keep games. It makes them more than just a computer program on a disc or a hard drive. It would be easier for me to sell my current-gen PS3 collection of games that I actually play than part with my beloved copies of SimCity 2000, Homeworld, and Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri which I haven't touched in years. Part of it is for sentimental value, but part of it is that the manuals are just so damn cool.

Some of the best manuals I have:
- Command & Conquer: Red Alert (had a Morse Code secret message along the bottom pages, which transcribed into something about giant ants)
- FreeSpace 2
- Homeworld (which is not only a manual but an incredible "Historical and Technical Briefing", packed with backstory and sci-fi goodness)
- Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
- Warcraft III
- Wing Commander III (as well as the playguide, it included the "Your Personalized Guide to the TCS Victory"
- Wing Commander IV
- Wing Commander: Prophecy (which came with the in-universe "TCS Midway Integrated Combat Information System")
- SimCity 2000 (one of the funniest manuals ever)
- Seawolf SSN-21 (everything I know about submarines I learned from this game and its manual)

 

[Netrigan]

Nothing, I repeat nothing, beats the Infocom Feelies. Scratch-and-sniffs, comics, newspapers, matchbooks, pens, microscopic invasion fleet, fluff... I loved their extras.

But a lot of it was anti-piracy efforts in the days when the only thing standing between you and unlimited copies were your game manuals. Infocom tended to shy away from schemes that had players entering in the third word from the fifth sentence on the eight page sort of schemes by just coming up with such a cool package that people would want to own it.

 

[Talson]

Sadly, I don't remember. I'm not old enough. Except for one time. I found an unopened box of Sid Meyer's Alpha Centauri in an antique shop. Gotta say, I liked the whole package. Some huge box filled with all sorts of goodies instead of some doofy plastic case.

 

[BurnOutBrighter]

I actually think the worst manual I've ever seen was for Half-Life 2 (the pre-Steam, five DVD physical version). It wasn't even a manual. They just gave you a card with the controls (which was of course useless if you customised them) and said "good luck, buddy".

 

[DustyDrB]

Metal Gear Solid 4's manual tells you how to play the game by way of a comic.

That was pretty cool, but honestly a manual is something I might read a little bit of in the restroom and ignore otherwise.

 

[Reed Spacer]

Fallout 3 had a pretty good manual, if I remember correctly.

Same with the other two Fallouts.

 

[Flig]

I never really paid much attention to manuals, but I remember one I did look at was the Shadowrun manual. It was suppossed to be an RNA Security training manual stolen by the Lineage, and it had some witty little comments written by the lineage in the margins. I liked it.

 

[Phlakes]

I still like looking through some of the N64 manuals I still have.

 

[MazzaTheFirst]

I do remember them. But it was more of a case of older games which did not have the in built tutorials or control schemes. Mostly just pick up and play games. Now that games can integrate more detail within the game itself, it has sort of become just a tradition to include a manual.

 

[Fanta Grape]

Erm, first thing that comes to mind is the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy game

But I think most of the nintendo ones are pretty fun looking

 

[Radeonx]

There are still some awesome game manuals.
The biggest company I applaud for this is Nintendo. Every first party Nintendo game on the Wii has a fully colored, illustrated, and descriptive manual.

 

[badgersprite]

I still have The Guidebook To The Land Of The Green Isles (King's Quest VI) somewhere in my house.

I think the only game manuals that stand out in recent memory are the GTA ones, because of their unique design and the way they try to resemble a tourist brochure that would exist in universe. They're the kind of thing that get you excited about the game you're about to play as you're reading it. They're smart, funny and they give information in the form of fake ads; always a plus.

 

[gundargundar]

I think it was empire earth but the manual was HUGE basically a giant book. I remember reading the whole thing a while back just for fun. Stuff like that improves the game so much. Wow, I really want to play empire earth now

 

[Tips_of_Fingers]

When I was younger, whenever I bought a game I'd always sit and read the manual on the bus. I'd never start a new game without flicking through every page of the manual to see what secrets it would yield.

Hell, I still do that now, but the difference is that I can get through modern game manuals within 5 minutes, usually less and don't feel enlightened or humoured by them.

The GTA games have always had awesome manuals to browse through

EDIT: Damn game manual ninjas lol.

 

[Quicksilver_Phoenix]

I love manuals like what they made for Prince of Persia: The sands of time.

Y'know, the ones where the describe characters, locations and enemies as well as the practical stuff like controls, combos and tips. All with pictures to illustrate the point!

 

[The_Deleted]

Worst manual ever goes to Modern Warfare 2, hands down. 6 or 7 pages of black and white that don't explain anything.

6 or 7? It was 3 or 4 at best.

 

[Canid117]

Indeed I sometimes miss the olden days.

 

[Falko]

The MGS games have awesome manuals, full of awesome artwork and other cool stuff. The coolest feature is that instead of a diagram of the controller, the controls are explained through a comic. MGS4 even has two comics! One to explain single player, one for multi-player