Dr3Daemon said:
But in this modern post-manual world the most important question is this - if there is no manual to read, what do you do on the journey home when you have just got your new game?
Considering most of our ages, probably drive the car heading home.
I have some nostalgia over old manuals myself. Booklets and Nintendo Power are basically what taught me how to draw as a child. I'd grab one, put it on the arm rest of the couch, grab a notebook and just imitate what I saw. It was, in fact, a
fantastic way to learn. If I were to lament anything from modern manuals and magazines it would be the emphasis on 3D art striving for realism. While a kid can sit there and try to imitate it, they don't really get to absorb a sense of style from it. To this day the way I draw cartoony shelled monsters draws inspiration from Bowser and the Koopas.
I'd love to see more hand drawn art work. Hell, have some hand drawn concept art for Brutal Legend in the manual, for example. It's more than possible considering the style.
But, that does not speak to the practical application of a manual. I feel video games are following other pieces of software that are slowly beginning to stop printing physical manuals and instead have everything in PDF or on a disc. It's cheaper that way, after all, though it hits a major controversial issue when you consider a lot of these discs do not contain a physical copy of the EULA, and if you unseal the disc case, put it in your drive and then disagree to the EULA, you can no longer return that item to most retailers since it has been opened and therefore could have been illegally copied onto your machine, or a number of other issues.
That's a major digression, but certainly one video games are relevantly in.
In truth, I really do want a manual as a reference at the very least. Perhaps building on material in the game to greater detail. As a recent example, at the start of playing Xenoblade Chronicles I was unclear on the instructions as to activate a chain attack. It told me to activate it, but not how. I paused the game, grabbed the manual and flipped on through. To my dismay, the information was the exact same as in the game itself. It wasn't until the game taught me how to Flee that I accidentally stumbled upon how to activate chain attacks.
Even though the game has in-game documentation (which I had checked), I'd like to have the paper manual to flip through while I still can. Having a physical object like that is very convenient as it's easier to find whatever I'm looking for. This is especially true when it comes to games where I stop playing for a week or two to even a month, and suddenly it's asking me to perform a task I cannot remember how to execute. I've checked manuals before, and then found
absolutely nothing on the task I had forgotten. This leaves me to check the Internet, which is harder and longer to execute than simply flipping through a booklet.
There is value to physical instructions. It's not just a matter of teaching a player, it is also a matter of reference, and even if all games don't "need" them, all games should have them, and they should be extensive rather than a simple "here's what buttons do". I'm not asking for a novella with each game, though. Some games are more complex than others.
As for narrative material, this depends on the game itself. Warhammer 40K: Space Marine probably could have done well to have some basic introductory information to the 40K universe. Who are the Space Marines? What's some of the key language they use? What's up with the Space Orks and Chaos Marines? What's "The Warp"? Once again, not looking for a full encyclopedia here, but 10-20 pages of basic information of the universe could help people that aren't familiar. It could also help provide a stepping point.
I like that 40K: Space Marine doesn't waste time trying to teach people about the universe
in game, but those not familiar could easily become confused and just shrug the story off as being weird. True, some will probably research it, but I feel as if more would if the manual came with more information.
And then release a much more detailed codex with a collector's edition.
Not all games need this, but it's not always about need. Sometimes it is about enriching the experience, something that is often over-looked in an industry supposedly focused on entertaining consumers rather than just people looking to make a buck.