Giving Instruction Manuals the Heave-Ho

So, instruction books, eh? How often do we even refer to these things when we buy a game? It’s a safe bet that most people don’t even give them a thought when they’ve finished fighting to get that annoying plastic wrap off of their game and pop in the disc. It doesn’t matter if it’s a side-scrolling shooter, an RPG, or the most sophisticated mech simulation the world has ever seen, there just seems to be no way we could be inclined to skim through the mighty, or not so mighty, tome packed in with the game. Which brings us to the question of whether we even need instruction books in their present form, a booklet/collection of charts/maps that come packaged with the game. I certainly don’t think we need the books.

First off these manuals wear out with repeated use. If there are two or three sections of the manual that need repeated consultation, like a list of spells or charts explaining what the weapons do, chances are good that the bindings of the book and the pages will deteriorate with time. If games’ instructions were stored on the disc(s) instead this wouldn’t be a problem. We’ve seen this happen to a limited degree so far, with fighting games often having a complete listing of the different characters’ moves available for reference when a player pauses the game. Now wouldn’t it be nice if all RPGs had their spell listings, weapons/armor charts, and bestiaries available on the disc(s) for quick reference on the Pause Screen? It sure beats rummaging through a 200+ page instruction book, or pouring over fold-up charts with super tiny writing only to find out that the armor you’re looking for is right on the crease in the chart so all you see is a white, worn out line going 

The other thing we should ask is how much these instruction books effect the cost of the game when you consider that printing these puppies up can run-up a considerable tab. Some of these manuals can be hundreds of pages in length, have hand-drawn artwork made specifically for them, and they’re almost always produced on very high quality paper. Considering that games are stored on a CD-ROM format or on DVD there should be ample space on these storage mediums for the text to explain moves, control idiosyncrasies, weapon charts, and so on. If developers and publishers insist on including these books with their games, consequently increasing the cost to the consumer, they should at least go all the way. The manuals should be hardcover, leather bound, completely in color, perhaps with embroidery on the cover, then be released as a special edition for those who like to have an actual, tangible instruction book in their hands, as opposed to accessing it through an options menu that can be accessed from the Startup Menu and the Pause Screen.

With these types of implementations we could (hopefully) see a reduction in price of games, albeit mild, and easier referencing of the information through in-game access. The only manuals a game would need to be packed with are installation instructions and a trouble shooting guide, and that need only be put on a small, five cent card. So, with this in mind, do we need instruction manuals? It certainly doesn’t look that way.