The news earlier this week that games publisher Ubisoft is "going green" by scrapping paper games manuals - digital only for their console titles now - is a mixed blessing. Yes, this has to be good news from an environmental point of view – Ubisoft's bank balance will benefit from the cost-reduction too, of course – but it feels a little like the end of an era to me. Ok, I'll admit it, I rarely read the manual these days. In fact, if I have to refer to one it usually means the game is not doing what it should – namely introducing players to the game in an effective way. But I will miss them, especially when it comes to role-playing or strategy games.
Of course, the golden era for manuals was back when games boxes were as big as those that housed VHS tapes. From the mid '80s to mid '90s you could barely open a game without a hefty tome to peruse. PC and Amiga games in particular – and especially RPGs – generally had large manuals, often alongside anti-piracy devices, cloth maps and the rest. Happy days indeed.
Oh go on then –what was your favourite games manual from back in the day? My favourite – and, to be honest, rather obvious choice - would probably still be the manual from the original Elite. Heck, it even came with a novella too. Modern day manuals can still be interesting – some of the GTA ones for example. But what about you? What was your favourite gaming manual?
