Please don't phase out Game Manuals.

I just got UFC 3 the other day, and I love it. But there are some aspects of gameplay that I feel need further explanation, and some of the concepts this game has implemented need some clarification as well.

But the problem is: this game didn't come with a manual. Just a slip of paper for an online pass, a first-run DLC bonus code, and a lame slip of paper folded up which basically has health information and crap.

That can be forgiven if the manual is included on the disc somewhere (or if you hold the Home button on PS3 you could choose the option from a list). But that isn't even the case here. The manual is not in paper or electronic format on UFC 3. The lame slip of paper I mentioned says to go to their website for the manual because this is part of their commitment to "going green." I call BS on that.

I understand not everyone (not even me) reads the manuals very often in the first place. But when you need it and it isn't there, that's a different story. For THQ not to include even an electronic copy of the manual on the disc is assinine. It's arrogant, and also insulting because of the "going green" angle they tried throwing at it.

How do you feel? Do you think games should forever have a paper manual? Are you ok with just a digital copy? Or do you like THQ's approach (making you go to some website).

i support eliminating paper manuals. helping the environment is a noble cause (although i suspect most companies do it because its cheaper), but i think it also supports good game design in that the growing irrelevance of manuals keeps the information in game rather than paper pamphlets. but if the manuals do go digital rather than disappear, i think the best method is one where the player can quickly access by pulling up a menu in game (like the ps home button) rather than searching online.

of course, i didnt complain when i got that sweet map with skyrim...

I appreciate the game manuals and I used to love reading them in the car on the way home after buying the game but let's be realistic, they're pretty pointless now. You read them a few times and then never ever again. They cost more to make and they're harmful to the environment. last thing we need is extra wastage. I say get rid of them, most of the stuff in them and a whole lot more can be found online

I loved manuals back in the day. They were thick and robust and full of fantastic information and (sometimes) well written and in many cases absolutely necessary to play a game properly, if at all. Now, though...there's so much tutorial stuff built into games that manuals have become useless. I don't think I've even opened a single manual this generation because, really, what's in there that I need to know so badly? Even controller maps can be viewed from the pause screen of almost every game, and that's mostly what I used them for last gen when I went back to a game I hadn't played in a while.DJ_Lae

I rarely use manuals either. But after I spent over an hour creating my fighter, then discovering I can't import him into career mode...I was left needing an explanation. For the first time in years I was actually quite furious that I didn't have something for reference on hand.

Manuals aren't as good as they used to be any way I say get rid of em.

I'm fine with digital. I can't remember the last time I even looked at a manual.

I always, ALWAYS want a manual if care is taken in its creation, which sadly has not been the case for many years now. As it is, "manuals" nowaday consist of two black and white pages so why bother? Man do I miss the days of gaming where every aspect of a game was paid careful attention to. Welcome to the digital age. Nothing but code. So fulfilling compared to how it was. MirkoS77

Agreed. I miss the days when I would come home with a new game on the SNES. I would go upstairs, to my room, and open up the box, then read through the instruction manual, reading everything that it had to offer about the game and what to do. Nowadays, everything is done in a videogame, where they offer some kind of tutorial that's either full-on or just offers the basics and nothing more. I think that developers need to flesh out the manuals more these days instead of leaving everything up to code, IMO.

What? I cant believe im hearing some of you supporting the phasing out of game manuals. Maybe we need to phase out discs as well & go pure digital downloads, since discs are bad for the environment after people throw them away. Get real

The manuals themselves have always been needed. I love them & always look over them before, & while playing a game. These games that dont include them dont even allow you to access them anytime you want.

I remember having a few games where i needed to consult the manual about some of the gameplay mechanics, so i paused the game only to find out you couldnt access the manual while you are playing the game. I think on another game you couldnt access it in the menus either.

If these things are the future then people need to be able to access them at any time. In the menus, during the game, during multiplayer, during a cutscene, any time. Other wise just give us our dam physical copies.

Oh & making you go to THQs wbesite is complete bull. So now you need internet accessto look at your manual? Thats ridiculous.

I don't care too much about an actual manual as long as the equivalent of the manual is included on the disk.

What I really can't stand is the way they say they're doing this to help the environment and that rubbish. Then they stick advertisements for other games in there and all that crap. And a single guy could plant far more trees in a half hour than leaving the manual out of a game would save. It's just so obvious they're trying to save a few cents per unit and giving us some politically correct bull**** as an excuse, like we're all morons or something.

It's fine if developers cut back and don't include them, I just cut back on how much I'm willing to pay for their game.

I want to keep my paper manuals and art books and so on, and I don't think paper manuals are going to destroy the environment (if that is the case should we stop buying books completely? and what about the tonne of crap I get through the door and from my kids every week from their school's).

I want to keep my paper manuals and art books and so on, and I don't think paper manuals are going to destroy the environment (if that is the case should we stop buying books completely? and what about the tonne of crap I get through the door and from my kids every week from their school's).

SapSacPrime

Don't forget toilet paper.

What? I cant believe im hearing some of you supporting the phasing out of game manuals. Maybe we need to phase out discs as well & go pure digital downloads, since discs are bad for the environment after people throw them away. Get real

brucecambell

[QUOTE="brucecambell"]

What? I cant believe im hearing some of you supporting the phasing out of game manuals. Maybe we need to phase out discs as well & go pure digital downloads, since discs are bad for the environment after people throw them away. Get real

DJ_Lae

I want your internet connection. That would take me eight hours, minimum. Randolph

You don't have cable internet connection?

I used to like reading them, especially if they contained plenty of fluff, but it appears that they're just cutting down on them more and more. I often just find the necessary information in the game anyway.CRS98

[QUOTE="CRS98"]I used to like reading them, especially if they contained plenty of fluff, but it appears that they're just cutting down on them more and more. I often just find the necessary information in the game anyway.Dracula68

[QUOTE="Randolph"]I want your internet connection. That would take me eight hours, minimum. Dracula68

You don't have cable internet connection?

Manuals are useless, but they're awesome.

I enjoy reading the manuals, often too. Looking at the art, game items, background story etc.

It's fine if developers cut back and don't include them, I just cut back on how much I'm willing to pay for their game.

topgunmv

LMAO!!! An eye for an eye. I like your mentality.

Oh & making you go to THQs wbesite is complete bull. So now you need internet accessto look at your manual? Thats ridiculous.

brucecambell

And you know you won't be able to view the manual until you register an account with them. :roll:

You people who don't like manuals are crazy. I posted this a bit back, won't take the effort to type it out again. This was in a DD thread, to which this also applies.

"I enjoy the tangibility of something and believe gaming is a much more fulfilling when not only the game is great, but the package it comes in is well done as well. Again, The Witcher II for example. I remember the very early Ultimas for the Amiga that came with cloth maps. The Working Design games for the Saturn (or Looking Glass, can't remember which) that had exquisitely detailed manuals. The content is important but so is the manner in which it's presented. This is why I do not like ebooks. I love perusing my shelves of books (and movies and games) deciding which I want to read/watch/play, not go down a digital list on a cheap tablet. I enjoy seeing the craftsmanship of a book, its smell, and the feeling of the paper. It may sound ridiculous and insignificant to some, but I love it. Touch is one of our most intense senses, and I do not believe it should be minimilized and disregarded out of convenience. It's great to have on a plane or trip, then I can have 50 books. But if I can help it, I want physicality.

DD is a serious threat to this. I'm sure many who read this will :roll: while thinking, "oh, please, give me a break. Most games come in cheap DVD cases". Granted, but there are exceptions every once and a while, and they are much better games for it. They'll think me old-fashioned and sentimental, which is fine because I am. Digital distribution is like the pleasure of sex without the sense of smell, touch, or taste. Sure it'd still be satisfying, but not nearly as gratifying as if it were there."

So yea, I want a nice full color hefty manual to flip through looking at artwork and such while in bed. Something I can check out about the game when I'm not actually playing it, and not doing so on my computer screen. But as I said, the way it's been for a while now it's pretty much dead anyways. The first step in phasing out physical altogether, and so many people seem that they couldn't care less. It's really sad. Guess I'm in the minority here.

Bring on the solely digital age! :cry:

Don't worry Mirko. DD only is like 10 years away (but hopefully it never happens). We don't have to worry about that now, and next-gen systems are coming equipped with physical media support. It's too early. Look at how well PSP Go did. That was their market test and it failed.

I always, ALWAYS want a manual if care is taken in its creation, which sadly has not been the case for many years now. As it is, "manuals" nowaday consist of two black and white pages so why bother? Man do I miss the days of gaming where every aspect of a game was paid careful attention to. Welcome to the digital age. Nothing but code. So fulfilling compared to how it was. MirkoS77

Back in the megadrive/snes days i loved looking at the manual, especially the *** ones had fantastic art.. i dont think they are needed nowadays though...

But please get rid of this online pass, one time DLC nonsense....

I miss the nice big manuals. I remember Fallout 2 had around 150 pages, and had it's own humour, and could even be read. I cringe when I see those 2-3 page manuals for RPGs.

Dude!

Instruction Booklets are a must!!!

I like it when they have tips you can't find in the game.

To late for that because I just bought PSvita with Little Deviants as the pack in game. No manual. But I also bought Uncherted Golden Abyss, Lumines Electronic Symphony and Dungeon Hunter Alliance. All 4 games have no manual.

I like the days when the manuals were really well done. The 3rd/4th Generation eras. But alas those days are done. Sigh.....

[QUOTE="Randolph"]I want your internet connection. That would take me eight hours, minimum. Dracula68

You don't have cable internet connection?

I don't know where you live, but here in the States most internet provides are scum and villiany. I know with Time Warner Cable, they are under no legal obligation to give you the internet speeds that you pay for, I pay "for up to a 2MB connection", which is actually still fairly expensive per month. Really they could give my 56K internet speeds I cannot do jack **** about it because I pay "up to" not "2MB minimum" . This problem is only further complicated by the lack of actual competition in many areas.

Back in the megadrive/snes days i loved looking at the manual, especially the *** ones had fantastic art.. i dont think they are needed nowadays though...

But please get rid of this online pass, one time DLC nonsense....

sydstoner

I miss the days when if I wanted to play a game on a console, I opened the box, stuck the cartridge or disk into the system and turned the power on. I also missed the days where if I wanted to play a game on the computer I simply installed the game, entered a CD-Key, which was not a one time use code so I could lend or sell the game if I so choosed, and clicked on the executable. I miss the days when there were no pre-order bonuses with different bonuses at different stores, I miss the days of not having to unlock a game in Steam, and Games For Windows Live, and be restricted if I can lend or sell that game despite purchasing a physical copy of it, I miss the days when console games did not come with a 25 digit code to unlock the multiplayer portion of games, or content that should be aviable for everyone. I miss the days when things that should have been part of the game were included with the game and not as day one or week one paid DLC, I miss the days when expansion packs actually gave you your moneys worth for new content ($10 for three maps? Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of World War II cost $20 and had about a dozen new weapons, about a dozen new vehicles, and eight new maps), I miss the days when consumers weren't treated like potential criminals and actually had consumers rights with video games like they did with every other medium or object they owned.

Video Games have become far too much about the money, and that is a real problem. Yes I know that video games are a buisness like anything else, but when it is becoming this blatant and this obnoxious, it has got to stop. Can you imagine in movies you purchased could only be played on one account or were tied to a specific DVD/Blu-Ray player? Can you imagine if you only got the bonus content to movie via pre-ordering? Can you imagine if you had to pay an extra $5 for the Epilouge in a Harry Potter Novel? I just want to play video games, I don't want to have to jump through hoops to get all the content that should be in the video game to start with.

As for the whole manual issue, I love well thoughtout and useful manuals. I remember as kid when I had a Nintendo 64 and then a GameCube, I would always unwrap a new game on the way home from the store and just read through the manual and flip the box over about 100 times just in anticipation and excitement of my new game. I still love manuals and I will be sad when they finally bite the dust. :(

They should still exist in paper. How the hell am I supposed to read the in game manual on the way back from the store?

[QUOTE="sydstoner"]

Back in the megadrive/snes days i loved looking at the manual, especially the *** ones had fantastic art.. i dont think they are needed nowadays though...

But please get rid of this online pass, one time DLC nonsense....

DarkGamer007

I miss the days when if I wanted to play a game on a console, I opened the box, stuck the cartridge or disk into the system and turned the power on. I also missed the days where if I wanted to play a game on the computer I simply installed the game, entered a CD-Key, which was not a one time use code so I could lend or sell the game if I so choosed, and clicked on the executable. I miss the days when there were no pre-order bonuses with different bonuses at different stores, I miss the days of not having to unlock a game in Steam, and Games For Windows Live, and be restricted if I can lend or sell that game despite purchasing a physical copy of it, I miss the days when console games did not come with a 25 digit code to unlock the multiplayer portion of games, or content that should be aviable for everyone. I miss the days when things that should have been part of the game were included with the game and not as day one or week one paid DLC, I miss the days when expansion packs actually gave you your moneys worth for new content ($10 for three maps? Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of World War II cost $20 and had about a dozen new weapons, about a dozen new vehicles, and eight new maps), I miss the days when consumers weren't treated like potential criminals and actually had consumers rights with video games like they did with every other medium or object they owned.

It's true that some games don't need a manual but it's always great when a manual has interesting things to read and goes into great detail. I've especially liked the MGS manuals which show a comic story of Snake taking on soldiers and explaining techniques that can be used in game. I also love reading about the key characters in RPG manuals as well as the lore of its universe.

I really don't think game manuals should be phased out or it will affect the games we play. Games will become simplified and I can already see games putting in giant buttons in the game world to represent buttons on the controller, just in case you forgot how to attack an enemy. It's true that a lot of games don't necessarily need a manual for most people but getting rid of manuals completely will hamper the games that DO need them, and great manuals can actually be a joy to read if written in a creative way.

They should still exist in paper. How the hell am I supposed to read the in game manual on the way back from the store?

TJORLY

But seriosuly there are needed, when i got Mafia II back in 2010 the manual only expained a small portion of the game and I had to download the rest onto a pdf so i was basicaly using my laptop and the ps3 at the same time.

Also with Splinter Cell Trilogy, I need the manual a few times in game.

I want my manuals.

There are a million more things out there going on in the world that are more wasteful when it comes to trees and paper.

A manual/booklet that comes with a game explaining the controls is an absolute must.

Almost every single game out there has a different control scheme, different button layouts, etc. etc.

These are video games, not movies where you just press play.

Admittedly, I haven't read an instruction booklet to figure out how to play in probably 10 or so years, but I understand that some people need them, and at the very least they should include them on the disc.

Edit: On a more serious note, the smell! What about the smell!!?