When Game Manuals were actual Game Manuals [Halo 2]
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
| Cookie | Duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". |
| cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional | 11 months | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". |
| cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". |
| cookielawinfo-checkbox-others | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. |
| cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". |
| viewed_cookie_policy | 11 months | The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data. |
I still think all games should come with manuals, even digital. Take fighting games for example, I want a PDF breaking down every single mechanic instead of having to rely on wikis and YouTube.
Growing up this used to be my favorite thing about a new game. Cracking it open in the passenger seat of my parents card. Shuffling through to find the manual.
Skip everything telling you what button does what to find abilities or weapon information. I’m gonna cry.
I still have my 100 page manual from Baldurs Gate 1…
whats cool is there were two manuals for halo 2. a covenant covered one for the limited edition h2 and a spartan one for regular edition h2.
I loved manuals, the fallout manual even had post apocalyptic recipes in the back. They used to have so much information and fun to read when you couldn’t play.
recall games like baldurs gate and vampire the masquerade redemption came with whole books as manuals
I miss this as well. The best one I’ve seen was from the game Clive Barker’s undying. The game came with a diary that introduced the story of where the game started. It basically was a diary written by the owner of the house you where set to investigate in the game and it was hundred-something pages long.
Luna Silver Star Story came with a hard back book for it’s manual with silk book marker and a colored cloth map. I didn’t even pay above average price for it.
Remember the pokemon red/blue game manual. I must have read it 100 times.
Ah. Opening up the game to read the manual on the way home from the store. Bliss.
I remember reading GTA maps on the way home those were the days.
Of I’m not mistaken, this was like the last generation of consoles that did manuals. I’m guessing it’s because as things got more digital, game developers cared less about it.
Would love to buy a new game and get one though. Even just for a small nostalgic feel.
I loved them so much. It’s a pity they don’t make them anymore
Arcanum even had a bread recipe.
Those were the days. Publishers don’t like doing that anymore. They like sitting in silence in their offices, except for the calling up studios saying “Is it done yet? Is it done?”
The manual when world of Warcraft came out was awesome
These need a come back.
I think at the very least they should put a QR code and you can access a digital manual with information, default keybinds, some lores/arts.
Now it’s..pay 30EUR more “digital deluxe edition” that contains a digital artbook.
Earthbound manual for SNES. Complete game playthrough, scratch and sniff stickers,etc.
I loved game manuals; especially some gave you tidbits and easter eggs like pokemon ruby / sapphire with their hint of brail or ratchet & Clank and how they had hidden cheats
Ahh the good old days… When your new videogame manual was the BEST things to look through while pooping.
I used to take these to school and read them during lunch break
I’m just thinking of every Mario game that came out for the Wii, they all had an entire book, and that was just for one language. Where I’m at, they printed the whole manual in English, Spanish, and French. You could tell it was a Mario game based on weight alone
Nothing even came close to Blizzard game manuals back in the day. They had full on novellas in them.
Gonna miss those nice little booklets.
Nowhere in the manual did it say that the Jackals may at some point be armed with snipers!
The frustration was real!
The worst is when you get a physical menu that only has a QR code inside. Why waste paper like that if I have to go online anyway >.>
The plastic smell of the new game and the book ….
I miss Home World 1’s manuals and Baldur’s Gate.
Those old school flight sims from Jane’s Defense and Falcon 4.0 were nice and THICK.
Sly 1-3 did something similar to this with there manuals being the thevius racconius.
KKnD has my vote for one of the best game manuals ever made.
Command and Conquer had the best box… so solid and square… smelt soooo good, like a new game. Bring back hard copies!
Nintendo Switch games dont even have manuals, yet they come with a place for it.
I read Halo CE top to bottom 100 times to prepare before playing on my uncles Xbox and a 32″ PLASMA TV. That was a massive deal at the time. I miss gaming feeling like that.
Now manuals are “how to purchase more storage to play our game!”
I loved the Arcanum manual with all the experiments and I think there was even a recipe for cooking lol
Original starcraft had such a good ol big manual. Read it like a million times.
as much as I liked physical instuction manuals, I’m glad they are going away now, no need to kill more trees when we can just post these info on the internet, which costs less trees. and can scale better
The birth of forced tutorials was damn near a direct consequence of ditching game manuals, and that makes me doubly sad.
Fallout 1 and 2 had the Vault Dweller Survival Guides ring bound.
Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries had the Mercenaries handbook published by Outreach Publishing.
Dark Reign, Homeworld and Homeworld Cataclysm pretty much had thick manuals where at least half of it was worldbuilding and lore.
Falcon 4.0 had what is essentially a proper flight manual.