[General Discussion] Read First, no sir, Play First, no sir, Read First, no sir, Play First

So you've got yourself a new video game. What fun - what fun. Now tell me, do you tend to put your game in the console right off the bat, or do you take your time and leisurely read the instructions and want to get acquainted via books, then jump into the game?

I play the game first, especially with current games where they have a tutorial mode for you to learn by doing the motions, since that way I pick it up much faster. Similarly, you'd learn better by practicing how to drive a car, by actually driving it, rather than reading books about it - it's practical
learning.

Heck, even somewhat complicated games let you learn important points step by step - at first I thought I'd be overwhelmed by all the gambit elements of FFXII, but as stated earlier, the game does a pretty good job of teaching you. As a matter of fact, I don't think I've ever taken a look at the instruction guide. Much of the actions in games these days are quite intuitive, so it's not all that difficult to learn how to play a game. Even when the controls aren't exactly normal, taking Katamari for example, the tutorial teaches you basically everything you need to know. Basically if you've played video games before, most of them will come by naturally.

So, does anyone even bother reading instruction books anymore (besides maybe reference to the button functions on page 3 of the guide).

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Most videogame manuals these days really suck. I can't remember the last time I had to refer to one... they don't tell you any more than the in-game tutorial, and some of them have mistakes, or they try to explain the more complex stuff and get you even more confused. I'm looking at you, Disgaea manual.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I usually skim through the manual because it just gives a basic overview of the game I'm playing. Controls, story, gameplay, and such are things I usually go over. Encyclopedia of information about the game I usually skip though (like a Final Fantasy Manual that lists all the classes and such and takes up like 20 pages.)

How ya doing, buddy?

I always the play the game first, if I get stuck, and only if, then I will consult the manual. If I manage to figure what I'm meant to be doing in a game then the manual will sit in the box for the rest of its days.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I usually read the manual first, so I won't have to bother too much with the in-game tutorials. That way, going in, I'll already have all of the battle mechanics and menu options and layout memorized, and things of that nature.

How ya doing, buddy?

I'm usually inclined to read an instruction booklet, usually because I don't go directly home after I buy games. If i'm eating or something, I open the game and just browse through the booklet as opposed to actually reading it. And some times it seems irrelevant because some booklets aren't really long at all.

Look at Victorious Boxing 2 (Hajime no Ippo 2), that booklet is literally only two pages. One representing the cover and the back cover, and the information inside is just moves crammed to save space.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I always play the game first. The only time I'll actually read the manual before playing the game is when I have no access to whatever console it's played on, or if my brothers are playing it first.

FELIPE NO

I rarely look at the manual for a game, unless I get a chance to read it on the way home (if I'm not the one driving) or if it has some decent illustrations or worthwhile information in it. 90% of the time, they end up like EA's "poster books" where it gives the bare minimum as far as how to play the game (which you'd rarely need unless you've never played a game in that genre before). And worst off, those don't even help you when you DO get stuck or have questions about something (how do you eliminate your squad leader beacon in BF2142 without destroying it? Who knows! The manual doesn't say!). The only recent case I can think of where I had to reference the manual to do something was to find out how to activate Progressive Scan in RE4 for the PS2.

So overall, modern manuals are pretty pointless. There's a few good one out there, but lately publishers have really been skimping on them. Working Designs had the greatest manuals ever though. Those I would always read, if only for the translation notes at the end since it's nice seeing what they changed about the game.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I always read manual first. I really shouldn't bother, but it's a habit I got into from the days when the manuals actually had worthwhile stuff in them, and I've never broken it.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I voted for the 3rd option, but actually I skim the manual just to look at the artwork (if there is any). This is mainly because I nearly always use FAQs for RPG's nowadays. Due to time constraints I just can't wander around in RPG's looking for where I'm supposed to go forever anymore...

Some manuals, like the one for Fallout, are not to be missed...

There's nowhere I can't reach.

If the manuals have pretty pictures then I'll glance at the pictures first, so technically I "read" the manual first. Otherwise I jump right in, most games utilize the same controls, and even if then don't a controller only has so many buttons, and one of them must be the "eat lead" button. Which is really all I need.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I glance over a manual before playing the game.

Most of the time you can play a game without bothering to check through the manual, but some manuals are informative and nice to browse through. We <3 Katamari and Disgaea come to mind.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I almost never read the booklets that come with games. I have at least twenty games with instruction manuals I haven't even looked at. Usually, I'm able to understand the controls by just playing the game immediately.

Most amazing jew boots

I usually flip to the character section to get a brief idea of the game's world, but rarely read more than that. Since most games these days force you to go through a tutorial mode first thing, reading the manual can make the beginnings of some games very tedious. Sort of like how Tales of the Abyss was frustrating at first because I'd just finished Tales of Symphonia, yet the game wouldn't let me do actions in battle until it had taught them to me.

It tends to be far more enjoyable to just dive right into a game.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

And personally I don't see the point of instruction booklets since they're gonna hold your hand through the first 10 minutes of the game anyway... That's like 75% of games today.

FELIPE NO

I tend to read the manuals before playing the game, but not to learn to play it. I usually look for some kind of introduction to the story or a rundown of the cast.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I never usually read much of the instruction manual, but usually I'll pull it out and skim it over while I'm on the ride home from picking up the game. Other than that, I don't really look at it.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I generally read the instruction books first. It's usually because after I buy it I'm eager to start playing immediately but I'm usually still in the store and it takes a while to get back to my room. Most of the times for certain games like fighters and action games I'll pull up the manual if I think I'm missing something. In the case of manuals by Atlus, I almost always read those. their manual for Steambot Chronicles takes my place as being a manual totally worth reading because they poke so much fun at their fans and themselves.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I never feel like I really have to these days, but often times I like to just to get a general feel for the game. Sometimes, with games like Twisted Metal Black, you get personalized or game-related instructions, written from a character's perspective or something.

What really irritates the shit out of me is when someone wants to play the game without any frame of reference whatsoever (i.e. no tutorial, no instructions, etc) and then complain because what they're trying to do isn't immediately apparent.

How ya doing, buddy?

I'll look at the manual before playing. Once I learn how to play, I'll never need to look at it, and since some of my money went into purchasing the manual, why not look at it when it would be most helpful? Also, sometimes games set controls different from the norm, and it's always nice to find that out before starting up a game.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I used to, but yeah, since most games now force some sort of training mode on you, I don't bother.

"Jiggy Joe USAFlag, here's your new mission"
"I have to press X to jump? That's my mission?"
"Yes, then you must shoot three cans and crawl through a ditch full of snapping turtles, press the select button to skip"
"To skip what?"
"This training"
"Okay"
"NO YOU CAN'T. IT'S YOUR FIRST TIME. YOU HAVE TO DO IT"
"But I've worked here for twenty years"
"YOU WANT A FUCKIN' GAME OVER? GET OUT THERE AND PRESS X"

And the majority of manuals are boring black and white garbage dumps anyway. Every now and then a publisher will slip in the extra few bucks and press the colour button on their printer, and maybe put in some nice artwork. Oddly enough, every badly translated budget game that 505 GameStreet spew out comes with a really nice manual. Full of Engrish. That doesn't help at all. But you get tits and stuff.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Infernal Monkey

Oddly enough, every badly translated budget game that 505 GameStreet spew out comes with a really nice manual. Full of Engrish. That doesn't help at all. But you get tits and stuff.

Clearly, if you're willing to part with those guides, I'd be more than happy if you threw these special "omake" prizes into your random draw :3.

DELICIOUS TITS?

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Back in the days of the NES I was real big on manuals. Of course they knew how to make them back then. Compare the manuals for Super Mario Bros. 3, Zelda II, Metroid, etc. with the pretty much anything you buy today. We used to get full lists of enemies and items and shit along with elaborate stories (usually either poorly translated or made up by the translators so they could fill their page quotas), wonderful art that looks absolutely nothing like the sprites you find in the game, all kinds of stuff to make it more interesting. Nowadays we get a short list of moves and a brief overview of the story along with 20 pages of safety warnings.

Of all the recent manuals I've seen I remember the Super Mario 64 DS manual being pretty entertaining, probably since they had buckets of cash leftover to spend on it after doing such a lazy port job. The best manual I ever read was that of Arc the Lad Collection. Yeah, it was full color and hardbound so it isn't a fair comparison, but dammit if I'm paying for a book along with my flat circular piece of plastic with a hole in the middle it better be a good read.

Needless to say I rarely bother reading manuals these days, but if I'm watching someone else play I might glance through it. The only time in recent memory I recall looking at the manual before I finished the game was to find out how to interrogate in Metal Gear Solid 3.

After reading my post I have concluded that there is no hope for me.

FELIPE NO

I always play the game first. Before, I used to never go through the manual, and there's hundreds of games I've never been through the manual before. But for recent games (like last 2 years), I'll skim through the manual at some point, either during some downtime while playing or doing something else. I get the occasional light bulb of insight sometimes doing that. GameFAQs works too though. ^^

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Since day one of buying video games I always read the manual. At worst I just glance through a few pages depending on which genre of the game that I'm playing. Otherwise I've always found the game to be more enjoyable by giving myself a bit of a background by reading the manual first, and then diving into the actual game. I find that the in-game tutorials help augment my understanding of the gameplay that much better by first having read the manual.

Jam it back in, in the dark.