Remember when video game manuals were awesome?

[JoshGod]

Perhaps as they are read far less often less effort, time and resources are put into them.

 

[Yellowbeard]

I remember a great one for a Star Wars flight sim from the 90s....

Tie Fighter? I have the strategy guide/storybook for the collector's edition of that game that must have been a couple hundred pages, at least. Between that one, the one for the old Wing Commander games and the Sim City 2000 guide I have there must be almost a thousand pages.

 

[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".

Half-life or Halflife 2? I'm hoping that was the anthology pack I got too, because that sounds a lot like a bootleg copy from China or some other place where they make those knockoffs.

There was no steamless HL2.

Sorry I got my facts wrong, just checked the DVD now and it has Steam on it, but none of the box art mentions it.

It's not Steamless, but it's a physical release, completely legit. It comes on 5 DVDs but still has you install Steam for product activation.

 

[Merkavar]

remember when all the stuff in the manual wasnt just as easily found on the internet.

do you really want games in cereal boxes and 150 page manuuals when its all free on the net.

 

[Snotnarok]

Sonic had some badass manuals, told you the name of the badniks and you know Dr. Robotnik. That's right, Robotnik, not Eggman.

 

[hamster mk 4]

The manual for "Their Finest Hour: The Battle of Brittan" was about an inch and a half thick and contained the history of the battle including weekly kill tally's as reported to the press by Germany, Great Brittan, and the actual losses. It listed the RAF and Luftwaffe bases, the importance of radar, propaganda posters, air combat tactics, and aircraft specs. I used as a source for my 4th grade research report. I had to properly cite a game manual in a school project, how nerdy is that?

 

[Nouw]

Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War still has kickass manuals, information of the new units and story and etc.

I completely agree, I miss the old cardboard boxes PC games used to come in and the manuals were half the fun of buying a game.

Starcraft had a wonderfully large and illustrated manual which I've often used as an example of a good manual.

Starcraft 2 however had a terrible manual in my opinion.

 

[Tylmarande]

I also remember the original Starcraft manual, although not nearly as thick as Baldur's Gate, was like a short novella onto itself with half the booklet telling the origins of the various races. Interesting reading actually!

Starcraft two had several (booklet-sized) pages devoted to giving people who were new to the Starcraft Universe a relatively detailed summary of the First Game's Plot. I really appreciated that one, since I hadn't actually beaten the original Starcraft.

I also liked the Fable 3 Guidebook.

 

[Roxas1359]

I remember those times. I keep all my manuals for the games that I bought new, but sadly nowadays I see many games just putting a little card or something inside the case not really explaining much and wouldn't really help. I also remember the cereal computer games for I have some and I still have a floppy disc game.

 

[northeast rower]

Fallout 3's was good, Grand Theft Auto IV's was great. I really loved how it felt like an actual travel advisory (until you took the time to read it).

 

[pope_of_larry]

Well my fallout 3 one got wet witch made it look old even petter some of the cover got torn off to make it look even beter.

 

[The Night Shade]

MGS series have great manuals

 

[duchaked]

Fallout 3 had a pretty good manual, if I remember correctly. Had a cool layout and some useful tips, I was happy with it.

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

AC:Brotherhood's is worse...its a pamphlet.
The actual "instruction manual" is in-game.

yeah that's the first one that came to mind
the most recent I got, but still...just goes to show...

 

[kickyourass]

Ohh I know what you mean, I remember Baulder's Gate: Dark Allience, and how it gave back stories to the PCs and had little snippets about all the monsters, they were awesome. But now I'm lucky to find one with more then three pages lazily stapled together (except for RPGs, they still seem to have pretty decent manuels most of the time).

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

- Warcraft III

The Warcraft II manual is amazing So much backstory to read

 

[Brian Hendershot]

Yes to all of those. I miss the good old days of instruction manuals. It gave me something to read on the way back home in my parents car, or when I was in the bathroom. And it wasn't just boring manual stuff either. Some of the manuals had, wait for it, back story and hints.

The not getting a good manual is a bit disappointing. Gives me the same kind of feeling the one time I got acrappy pre-owned, generic case for a video game at Gamestop (ya know the one's they stick the games in that were brought in with no cases?)

 

[tawmus]

I do miss a good manual. Before you could look up anything and everything on the internet, it was your only reliable source of info on the game. I think that is why games seem easier now, you can just go online and look for a solution if your stuck.

 

[RelexCryo]

I just like reading manuals. I am kind of ssad to see them going away too...and it is sort of amusing in an era when they want to prevent piracy. Don't they realize awesome fluff motivates you to buy the game?

 

[BurnOutBrighter]

I just like reading manuals. I am kind of ssad to see them going away too...and it is sort of amusing in an era when they want to prevent piracy. Don't they realize awesome fluff motivates you to buy the game?

Hence the rise of the "Collector's Edition". There's still awesome fluff, but now they just want you to pay for it.

 

[Kadoodle]

Fallout 3 has one of the best manuals to date. I too miss the days of manuals, I'd always skim through them first before I played my new game. Apparently people don't know how to read anymore, so goodbye manuals.