Game Manuals, what happend to you?

[Choca Cola]

So a couple of months ago I was reading the Fallout 3 manual and thought "This is a great manual with it's style of an actual Vault Dweller's survival guide and how it explains the game in a manner that's enjoyable to read". So, thinking that the New Vegas manual would be just as good, I opened it up to find a god-awful 10 page manual that explained the game in a almost polar opposite way that the Fallout 3 manual did. So after reading it I not so suddenly (most people have noticed this by now) that most game manuals were becoming shorter and shorter, and at times doing little more than show the control scheme and a the link to Xbox-Live customer support.

Game Manuals, what happend to you?

[OPOC1L1PSE]

In an effort to save paper, they made them shorter. Some games even put the manual in the game itself. It's more eco-friendly. A bit surprised that you didn't know this, seeing as it's been in effect for a while in lots of games too.

[Choca Cola]

In an effort to save paper, they made them shorter. Some games even put the manual in the game itself. It's more eco-friendly. A bit surprised that you didn't know this, seeing as it's been in effect for a while in lots of games too.

I was aware of this, it just sucks that game manuals aren't like how they used to be.

[Mythonian]

Oh god, I just remembered the manual for Heroes of Might and Magic III. It was like a book and detailed every aspect of the game, easily being 100 pages or so...

[Spartanbh]

I remember I used to read all the HALO manuals in order when I was bored...I remember every time I bought a new video game the first thing I would do in the car was open the game up and read the manuals on the way home...nowadays all there is, is a thin one page paper...Manual books were just a neat little extra that games would include, especially when they described the events, the people, and the items/weapons in video games. I miss them =(

[Gargoyle]

Hell, some manuals are two pages.

[Sicarioano]

In an effort to save paper, they made them shorter. Some games even put the manual in the game itself. It's more eco-friendly. A bit surprised that you didn't know this, seeing as it's been in effect for a while in lots of games too.

Kinda like how xbox discs are shitty as fuck. I've gone through 3 Halo Reachs because they fucking crack in the middle then it just spreads throughout and becomes unreadable -_-

[Blackhawk570]

Some games are incorporating in-game manuals so it saves the trees. Trees ftw.

[Silko]

Saving the trees? You guys high or something? Its all about saving money. Less resources the manuals need the less they have to spend.

[H2O Yordle]

It also saves companys money to not have to print off the manuals.

[SuRroundeD By 1]

I remember I used to read all the HALO manuals in order when I was bored...I remember every time I bought a new video game the first thing I would do in the car was open the game up and read the manuals on the way home...nowadays all there is, is a thin one page paper...Manual books were just a neat little extra that games would include, especially when they described the events, the people, and the items/weapons in video games. I miss them =(

Haha dude, I used to do the same thing . . . first thing I did after getting Starwars: Battlefront 2 was pop it open and read the manual . . . I do that with all of my games . . . I've noticed the same thing.

And about the game disks, I really don't blame the disks, I blame the boxes. When you put a disk back in its box the 'disk holder (or disk ring)' that holds it latches it in and holds it so much that it takes a little bit too much force to take it out . . . that easily ruins the disks. Personally, I liked the Halo 3, two disk 'disk holder'. It was easy to take games out of, with little force, and it held two . . .

[Acid]

What are these game manuals you people speak of? (Sorry, I don't really play console games anymore.)

But I do remember manuals for games being fun to read like you said the Fallout 3 one. As well as the Morrowind, and Oblivion one. But I've gone full PC now and only once in a great while will I get a box editing of the game (so far only SC2 and BF3), otherwise everything I buy is through Steam.

[Nocte]

They took our game manuals away years ago, few games kept making good manuals, but now it's even less.

Have you also noticed that Original Xbox games could take more punishment? My Halo 2 disc looks like I took sand paper to the damn thing and still works perfectly fine. I get one scratch in an Xbox 360 game and disc unreadable.