Videogame Manuals

Gone are the days of the huge paper based monstrosities that nine times out of ten you would look at once and then never again.

The times have changed and rather than setting the table for an environmental complaint, we have offset the concern by creating a digital variant. An online resource to locate and discover but the question arises as to whether companies need to even bother.

With the user experience driven more towards on-screen, self-service and game guides, do we miss that which felt so familiar?

Paper Based Bundle

The original manuals for the first Pokemon games were beautiful.

100+ pages of beautiful illustrated images, featuring Pokémon, status ailments, maps and details on equipment. It was the epitome of above and beyond, really celebrating the series as one of my favourites.

I even remember taking the manual to school to share it with friends and also chat through parts of the game/get other friends invested in the series and everything that it has to offer.

This poster-based wonder was fantastic whereas many others were lacking in style and substance. Maybe something that has more to do with company vision than anything else.

I remember Nintendo manuals offering more than the Sony equivalent but then that could simply be the lens of hindsight.

What I do specifically remember is that by the time the PlayStation 3 arrived, manuals had all but disappeared, with tiny one-page sheets that listed the controls added for reference.

By the time the PlayStation 4 arrived, I don't even remember checking for them, which stays true with the PlayStation 5 and beyond adverts for other games or services, I believe it is safe to say that the days of the electronic manual, beyond a specialised reseller, are over.

An Electronic Offset

The environment is a key conservation. It should be an essential life force and we should know it as this but we have to admit the mistakes of the last generation in order to build the future.

A key part of that is saying that we did get it wrong, yet understand today, that printing for the sake of printing is wasteful.

It's like cooking a meal and then throwing it in the bin. Whilst we could all acknowledge the effort that goes into producing the Pokémon manual, we would be looking at it thinking, this is bad for the environment.

The user experience is much more fluid in terms of the fact that it is available when and if we need it. Not as additional paper that takes up more room in our homes.

The Art Evolved

Online communities that are dedicated to games and every part of them are what we are all looking for.

Communities of like-minded individuals who have played games relentlessly and want to help others by being available to guide them through their journies, whether that is through guides they have written or videos they have published.

Communities that they grow behind the screen and endgame in cosplay, attendee events and share guides and advice with other like-minded individuals, ensuring that the art form truly transcends that which has come before.

This is the evolution of the humble manual and it is amazing to see how far it has come. To shift from being available on paper only to now being available online, in whichever format the user sees best, which is amazing.

No longer are we tied to a paper-based format that most likely destroys the habits of seals across the world, it also helps to grow the reach of a game and sow the seed for a long-lasting community.

The art form that is a videogame manual may have shifted from print to digital but when you consider what else it has gained then you really can't help but smile.

A Final Thought

I have love and appreciation for those people who created manuals for those early games such as Pokémon as you crafted so much for me and I wish I could say that I appreciated all of them as much as I should have but that works be a lie.

I loved the Pokémon manual, yes, but that is very much it. I do still have the original games on the original Gameboy but they are without manuals and I can live with that. I can just nip online and see the manual, ensuring that I do not miss out on anything and my conscience is clear.

The bubbly manual will always have a place in my heart but all my brain simply needs to say it's that it's evolved and we have so much more than we had before and I can rest easy.

The days of the in-game, paper-based manual are over but we have evolved and do now have the superior community-driven narrative that I can buy into quickly and easily.