Is 'no manual' the norm now?

Edrof

Edrof

Edrof

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Just bought Anno 1404 from an online shop and am dismayed to find no manual in the (sealed) box. Aside from the fact that the shop was selling it new for much cheaper than Steam, I wanted to have the manual as I expected it to be quite a complex game, so wanted to have the manual for reference without having to alt-tab all the time.

I'd print the file, but my printer is out of action at the moment. Anyway, I haven't bought a boxed game for a while, so is this the norm now?
 
Paradox Interactive games tend to have large PDF for printing.

But yeah, manuals are dissapearing sadly. The witcher 2 collector's edition had a meaty manual at least though, got it right here. :D
 
Obviously not as complex as Anno but just bought FIFA 12 which had nothing bar the serial number in the box.

Just to make things more pointless you put the disc in and then Origin appeared to download the whole game from the net before installing. :confused:
 
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I still buy boxed games, most still come with a manual.

Half life 2 didn't come with a manual.

I have a lot of boxed games, half life 2 doesn't have a manual and my budget line games do not have manuals.

They're exceptions to the rule.
 
lot's of games tend to guide you along for the first few levels so you learn what the controls do.
With Anno 1404 theres the chap that helps you & gives you tips so you can soon get the hang of what needs to be done.
I find it easyer to be shown how to do something then to read about it, it's also more fun as you can get right into the action with out having to first read a manual.
There's also loads of sites online to help you out forums ect.
 
Love the old school style, like Ultima VI. A map of the entire game (printed cloth!), a stone (Orb of the Moons), a full sized manual, a compendium and lore booklet, and 4 floppy disks :)

That game was awesome. Cheat by swapping disks and access forbidden areas, loads of little fun exploits... :)
 
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Did you buy the gold edition of the game? They tend not to include manuals in my experience. However, boxed games do still generally come with manuals, even if they're more like pamphlets for the most part these days.
 
They're obviously trying to kill off boxed games by making them seem crap, you are lucky to get a single sheet of paper with an image and a CD-key on these days.
 
Last decent manual I got was Civ IV.
Pretty much all the recent games now are just small leaflets with, if you're lucky, a quick reference control guide printed on one side.

I was greatly dissapointed with the pretty empty boxes I got with Empire and Shogun 2 total wars. Especially after such exhaustive books that game with Rome and Medeival 2 :(

Even console game manuals are getting less and less with in game 'tutorials' or easy first levels becoming more and more implemented (the latter of which I dislike greatly!).
 
Original civ 4 had a BEAST of a manual! (like a small novel)

Even 5 boxed had one I think but yeah so dismayed that even fifa 12 on the ps3 didn't have a book, so theres nothing detailing the controls.... @_@
 
I remember reading through my Neverwinter Nights manual when I first got it and had never even heard of DnD.. That was an interesting read, especially on the classes :D
 
Was it apache longbow and EF2000 that had books on how to fly and the lot included in the box?

I remember Microprose Grand Prix for the Amiga and Grand Prix 2 for the PC had really good manuals telling you about braking and racing lines..

Silent hunter 4 had a fairly decent PDF manual for download if you didn't get the manual with the game..

Not providing a small sheet with the controls nowadays is cheap and lazy if its hardcopy but then most games nowadays have onscreen prompts saying press this or that to do what you need...

Gaming today isnt about having a keymap card next you, its all mostly onsceen anyhow.. but the manuals for some games were quite handy.
 
I'm more likely to go to the menu and check the in-game controls (because I may want to rebind something) than I am to hunt for a manual with the controls in it, since the former kills 2 birds with 1 stone.

You could say that they were lazy in the past by not providing you with a decent enough tutorial as its easier to learn by doing than by reading it in the manual and trying to remember when/where to use it.
 
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