In video games, it is very important to know how to play the game. What does this button do? How do I make my character jump? How do I win? The answers to these questions can be found in the game’s manual and can often contained the game’s story, lore, art, and other information about the game as well. Or at least it used to.
Back in the late 70’s to 80’s, at-home video game consoles, such as the Atari 2600 and Nintendo Entertainment System, were invented. The games for these consoles could not store much data, so to deal with this, they created game manuals that could instruct players on how to play the game, what the objective may be, and what buttons do. kind of like an instruction manual for a board game. Because these games could not store much data, most was used to create levels or add gameplay rather than story. This led to the story of the games being in the manual, so players could get a better sense of the game and so they could enjoy it more. Again, since there was little storage space on the game cartridges, characters’ and enemies’ art couldn’t be displayed in full High-Definition and were made of small pixel art. This led to having the full, higher quality art of the characters being put into the manual as well.
As time went on, the hardware capabilities for game systems and game cartridges increased. Game manuals were still included with the games even though they were now able to store data for tutorials within the game for how to play and had enough storage to include the story. The manuals may not have been able to serve their full original purpose, but still did as it was a set precedent to include.
By around 2005 to 2006 the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 were released. These consoles had a new function from other game consoles. They included an online store that allowed you to purchase games straight from the console and download them without the need for a game disc. These digital games came with digital manuals as well. Even though discs were not needed, they could still be purchased, and they included a physical, paper manual, as they always have.
By around 2010 to 2012, most, non-Nintendo, disc copies of games stopped including physical manuals, as they weren't really needed anymore. The games could include tutorials on how to play the game and had control references within the game. The games could now also store the entirety of the story. By this point, they could also use High-Definition art within the game. Because of all this, game manuals no longer served a purpose and were no longer included with physical game sales. However, Nintendo still decided to include game manuals with many of their Wii-U games. Nintendo stopped including physical manuals with physical game cartridges when the Nintendo Switch was released in 2017. As of now, game consoles, such as the new Xbox Series S|X and PlayStation 5, are getting digital-only versions that cannot even accept game discs or cartridges anymore, making physical games soon to be obsolete as well.
The rise in technology and digital gaming has brought an end to physical manuals and soon to physical discs and cartridges.
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