WHAT WILL I READ IN THE BATHROOM NOW?

Personally I could care less, even the good ones I rarely read much.

"WHAT WILL I READ IN THE BATHROOM NOW? "

I'm old school and I don't mind at all. My big realization that manuals are a thing of the past was when I bought Half-Life 2 and found only a tiny quick start index card inside. Personally I'm surprised this industry-wide shift hasn't happened sooner. Every game these days has a tutorial which drags on far too long, making the manual unnecessarily redundant. The only games which need manuals are the thick European sim and strategy games, and they all come with a pdf now instead of a manual.
 
Plus, how many gamers don't have access to the internet anymore? They can get far more information from the web than a tiny manual could ever hope to provide. I'm amazed people still buy strategy guides when everything is available for free online.

Wait, no manuals? Now what will we do immediately after we purchase a game we really want to play?!

What should I read while I'm installing the game on my harddrive then? :(

" @ninjakiller said:

"WHAT WILL I READ IN THE BATHROOM NOW? "

An E-book on your i-Pad...? "

I'm supposed to go and buy and notebook for my notes now? COME ON.

Huh? Ditching manuals was clearly a move to cut costs further, why would they add an extra DVD instead? That SMG2 has it is for completely different reasons.

I really only used manuals to sniff that new, mint condition smell. If they could just fill the game box with that smell and go away with the manual, I'd be good.

I really like how nobody gives a shit that manuals are vanishing, yet you aren't complaining about the $1 you could be saving on the game? C'mon people, I thought gamers were all about complaining when they're getting shafted/cheated etc?  
 
Ohhh no but that's right, you only complain when it looks like you're being cheated. 
 
Personally, i'm very sad to see people ditching manuals, it's not something I think we should be supporting. r.

Gosh I remember, as a kid, reading the manual on the car ride home. Making sure I know the ins and outs of the game. Then when I get home, I don't even play the game, I go to t he washroom to finish the manual off. Once its done, then, and only then, do I feel like I've earned the right to play the game. But truth be told, I haven't read a manual in ages. If I think something is wrong in the game, I sometimes check the manual to see what it says, but 9 times out of 10 the manual cant explain shit. So really...I guess it was time for this move. Once they stopped having colour, then stopped being useful, you really could tell the manuals were on their way out...quite a bummer.  
 
Soon enough, so will discs. consoles will come with their version of "steam". Hell, On-Live is already doing it. 1-2 years from now, there won't be discs anymore. In all honesty, whats the point? It costs money to manufacture, put the design on it, make a case, make a design for the case. Its just pointless. Plus, with the growing trend of DLC released with the game, I'm sure the next step is removing the disc completely.

*sniff* i guess it ok

The worst idea is that there's an audience out there who need to watch a DVD to play a game.

A DVD is stupid. If there is no manual, but the game needs to explain things, it should be done in a tutorial or separate help section on the game disc. Having online manuals would be okay with me as well. If I need to look up something specific while I'm in the middle of a game, a DVD would just be more of a hassle and time waster.

Here's a good idea; you know how those PS1 games on the PSN have digital manuals similar to the original manuals? They should make all manuals like that.

I had no idea SMG2 came with a DVD manual. That's hilarious, as the Wii doesn't even play DVDs... :) well played Nintendo!

I really like how nobody gives a shit that manuals are vanishing, yet you aren't complaining about the $1 you could be saving on the game?

"  @HandsomeDead said:

" The worst idea is that there's an audience out there who need to watch a DVD to play a game. "

If your referring to Super Mario Galaxy 2's DVD, it's targeted at young kids between the ages of  7 -12yrs,  everyone else can use the regular paper manual and videos found in game.  "

I thought the reason they didn't put manuals in was to cut costs, do DVD's cost less than paper now?

" I thought the reason they didn't put manuals in was to cut costs, do DVD's cost less than paper now? "

"  @HandsomeDead said:

" The worst idea is that there's an audience out there who need to watch a DVD to play a game. "

If your referring to Super Mario Galaxy 2's DVD, it's targeted at young kids between the ages of  7 -12yrs,  everyone else can use the regular paper manual and videos found in game.  "

I still remember reading the Starcraft and Warcraft (I, II, and III) manuals. There was so much stuff in them, like a TON of background story information that you wouldn't get by just playing the game. I can't think of any better manuals than Blizzard's stuff, and I'm one of those guys that read the manual before playing the game.

Where will I put my notes?

Manuals are awesome when they put thought into creating them, not like Ubisoft's lazy black and white booklets though. It was always pretty neat how some game manuals had concept art.

I wish more effort went into manuals.  Even when you're not in the car, it can always be fun to read the manual for informative information or background information.

If they put quality into them, maybe I'd read them. The most recent example of a good manual is Final Fantasy XIII-- full of color and gives us background information on the characters.

" @HandsomeDead said:

" @Linkyshinks said:

"  @HandsomeDead said:

" The worst idea is that there's an audience out there who need to watch a DVD to play a game. "

If your referring to Super Mario Galaxy 2's DVD, it's targeted at young kids between the ages of  7 -12yrs,  everyone else can use the regular paper manual and videos found in game.  "

I was between 7-12 when I got my N64 and I didn't need a DVD or anything showing me what to do on Mario 64 or Banjo-Kazooie. Why do the kids these days need to be shown how to play? I highly doubt Mario Galaxy 2 is so complicated that a DVD is needed to show people what to do. "

 
Why, because this isn't Mario 64 or Banjo. The game is hard, as EDGE Magazines 10/10 review states:  
 

 All these worlds are yours, but some may take a while to claim. From the fourth map onwards, Galaxy 2 really ups the challenge, rarely dropping you on to a platform that isn’t sinking or melting, or pitching you towards an incline that isn’t heavy with massive rolling cogs. It’s hard, but for  the best reasons, earning the right to frustrate through the sheer quality of its ideas. The increased difficulty is merely a by-product of the new knots in which the designers want to tie your brain.     

"

" WHAT WILL I READ IN THE BATHROOM NOW? "

Most games have tutorials that are better than manuals anyway. 

If anyone thinks that no printed manual will mean cheaper games, they're deluding themselves.  Most AAA rated titles have increased in prince in the last 5 years and the success of experimental increases such that which was tried with MW2 shows that game prices are going nowhere but up.  WAKE. THE. FUCK. UP.

" @Willy105 said:

" @Linkyshinks said:

"  @HandsomeDead said:

" The worst idea is that there's an audience out there who need to watch a DVD to play a game. "

If your referring to Super Mario Galaxy 2's DVD, it's targeted at young kids between the ages of  7 -12yrs,  everyone else can use the regular paper manual and videos found in game.  "

Other way around. The DVD is for the adults trying to learn how to play the game. The kids can learn how to play it by themselves in a heartbeat. "

 Read the investors meeting transcripts...  "

" I'm old school and I don't mind at all. My big realization that manuals are a thing of the past was when I bought Half-Life 2 and found only a tiny quick start index card inside. Personally I'm surprised this industry-wide shift hasn't happened sooner. Every game these days has a tutorial which drags on far too long, making the manual unnecessarily redundant. The only games which need manuals are the thick European sim and strategy games, and they all come with a pdf now instead of a manual. Plus, how many gamers don't have access to the internet anymore? They can get far more information from the web than a tiny manual could ever hope to provide. I'm amazed people still buy strategy guides when everything is available for free online. "