Games today with their handholding tutorials and moneygrubbing DLC are bullshit

Odradek

I long for the era when people made their games intentionally obtuse to force children to buy non-used so they'd get the manual, and also the strategy guide or official Nintendo Power™  issue dedicated to this game.

Odradek

That was back when games were more about having fun than making money.

Tachyon

handholding tutorials: can be boring, but so long as they're optional it's ok imo

dlc: ideally this should be the same as expansion packs, but in practice i think some of it is overpriced

i see your point, regardless

Crystal

Amusing.

Seriously, though, I only bought the Pokemon or Castlevania ones because autism. Manuals were and still are fascinating to look at for me, except I got them after I'd near-100% a game.

Odradek

I like DLC when its like Dark Souls or Fallout 3/New Vegas which is the expansion pack thing of "Here is a brand new area with its own self-contained story and enemies and bosses".

I think it's less good when it's "Hey here are all these costumes and weapons we already made, but are going to make you pay a dollar each for because we want more money than the money you spent buying this game".

Tachyon

i always read the manual, but iirc a lot of people preferred to just figure stuff out for themselves.

TBH i kinda miss when you had long manuals that explained stuff in detail, i liked those.  Though i suppose these days there's Wikia and GameFAQs.

Crystal

Tachyon said:

i always read the manual, but iirc a lot of people preferred to just figure stuff out for themselves.

TBH i kinda miss when you had long manuals that explained stuff in detail, i liked those.  Though i suppose these days there's Wikia and GameFAQs.

I have some of the aforementioned manuals kept around for that very reason. Like cartridge version of video games, if I cared about them like Central or LGR.

And I'm with Odra on DLC, so I have little to add otherwise.

Tachyon

i'm also in agreement with Odra on DLC.

Aliroz

Tachyon said:

i'm also in agreement with Odra on DLC.

Odradek

Tachyon said:

i always read the manual, but iirc a lot of people preferred to just figure stuff out for themselves.

TBH i kinda miss when you had long manuals that explained stuff in detail, i liked those.  Though i suppose these days there's Wikia and GameFAQs.

Those were really cool.

The last really good one I remember was the Fallout 3 manual, which was presented as an in-universe wasteland survival guide for Vault Dwellers.

Salix Babylonika

the Halo manual was interesting bc it gave the native names for the Covenant 

Odradek

See, what I liked about manuals is that in addition to telling you how to play, you could open them on Christmas Day before your parents would let you start playing games, and learn more about the game you were about to play and get excited about seeing the things in the manual.

Hexartes

I wish games had more Stuff with 'em. Maps and bracelets and lanyards and shit.

glennmagusharvey

Odradek said:

See, what I liked about manuals is that in addition to telling you how to play, you could open them on Christmas Day before your parents would let you start playing games, and learn more about the game you were about to play and get excited about seeing the things in the manual.

I think this sort of vicarious enjoyment is the same reason why I obsessed over player's guides.

thenamelesssamurai

Crystal said:

Tachyon said:

i always read the manual, but iirc a lot of people preferred to just figure stuff out for themselves.

TBH i kinda miss when you had long manuals that explained stuff in detail, i liked those.  Though i suppose these days there's Wikia and GameFAQs.

I have some of the aforementioned manuals kept around for that very reason. Like cartridge version of video games, if I cared about them like Central or LGR.

And I'm with Odra on DLC, so I have little to add otherwise.

I have a bunch of old snes manuals around the house for this very reason. Sadly, my Mega Man X one is kinda falling apart.

Imipolex G

I always liked strategy guides that had maps and stuff because who doesn't like seeing maps of all the levels and stuff? Might actually be more fun than playing the game, in some cases.

Imipolex G

stuff

eriophora zia

I loved the game guide they made for Ocarina of Time. They wrote it in third person like it was a book. It was cool, and I enjoyed just plain reading it as a child. 

Also, I adore games that come with poster-sized maps. I have the maps of Morrowind and Cyrodiil from the Elder Scrolls series hanging on my wall. 

Tachyon

Maps are the coolest.

Imipolex G

Nintendo Power used to write a lot of stuff in third person book style. The earlier Zelda games got that treatment too.

Imipolex G

stuff

eriophora zia

If I ever find myself in charge of writing a game guide, it will be in third person book style and also contain a bonus poster map.