Monday, April 23, 2012

The little gaming manual that was

=I love reading video game manuals. Too bad that are being phased out completely as digital distribution is the next big thing. Even store bought games barely have any manuals, basically one or two pages of controls, and that's it. It makes me sad that yet another childhood ritual...opening a new videogame and enjoying the often well written and entertaining manual...is pretty much gone. And games still cost 60 dollars if you buy them physically, so there is yet less to the total package for no reduction in price. Maybe a lot of the younger generation could care less, who needs game manuals. They are archiac and old and why would you need a manual for a phone application anyway? Oh, and all games have a hand holding tutorial in them that you have to go through, no matter if you want to or not. I'll especially miss RPG manuals, which used to be 20-50 pages long and filled with character bios, magic attacks, weapons and sometimes even pictures of the monsters you will fight. An enjoyable reading experience, a lot of fun, and that's even before starting the game proper. Japanese RPGs had great manuals, but we all know how unpopular JRPGs are now, right? Anyone else who will be mssing video game instruction manuals? Me, I'll be reading and rereading mine, happy in nolstalgia while the state of gaming becomes more and more depressing.