10 Video Game Traditions That Are Dead And Buried
4. Instruction Manuals
Instruction booklets for many games were merely as the name suggests - an image of the button layout and a few tips and tricks on how the game works. However, more and more games used them as a place to create something beautiful and memorable, showcasing high-quality artwork and drawing you into the world.
In a time before the cutscene, the manual was usually the place to give context to the game’s story and they could tease you with what's to come.
Whether you were reading it in anticipation of playing a game for the first time or diving in to satiate your desire for more content, instruction booklets were a part of the game you could hold in your hands and pour over for hours.
This one, in all fairness, has a good reason for dying out and a lack of manuals with games is definitely better for the environment. Additionally, perhaps more importantly for the conglomerates behind them, it’s simply cheaper not to produce them.
It’s certainly not something that we need back by any stretch of the imagination. Like most of the things on this list, it’s merely a representation in the change of priorities and tastes in gaming. As the industry pulls ever closer to digital releases over physical ones, things like instruction booklets simply have no place.