Poll: Do you Read Video game instruction manuals?

[krazykidd]

So simple question ( again ) Do you read the manual for games you buy ? Why or Why not ?

I never , ever read the manual of a game i buy , iv'e played so many games, that i usually pick up everything fairly easily ( theres only so much that can be different ). Most of the times what ever is important or new will be explained in game anyways so i don't really see the point in reading it.I also don't do in game tutorials because i find them long and boring and i prefer to learn by experience , though this have bit me in the ass before ( stares at Legend of Legaia and Legend of Dragoon ). So rarely have i look at the intruction manual, although i will if i get stuck , only to find hints like 'if you get stuck , examine everything everywhere ' . No shit sherlock :/


Your turn

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

Usually, I only read them when I just got the game and am waiting for the game to install. Other than that, close to never.

Also, the poll needs more options than "all the time" or "never" or "when I'm having trouble"; a good "sometimes" works.

 

[Kieros]

I've managed to hold up my friends when they were wanting to play a game because I was reading the manual for the game, while sitting in front of where the game was located. Unfortunately, there was no option for "If there is a manual, I read it, even if I do not play the games".
Side note: They love me when they wonder "How do I do this", and I having never played it, tell them what to do because... it's in the manual!

 

[kidd25]

every single game that has one, i read it. i read it before i read it, then i read it when i'm stuck and think that i forgot something that could help me.

 

[PatSilverFox]

Always, I love doing that. I read them twice too :3

 

[vashthblackseed]

It depends on the size of said manual and/or if this is the first game I'm playing of the series (should there be more than one).

 

[Et3rnalLegend64]

I ALWAYS read the manual. I'm kinda disappointed when I buy the game used and it turns out that the last owner completely messed up the manual or kept it for him/herself. If I'm at a friend's house and he/she has a game I'm interested it, then I read the manual. I do want to play it of course, but I'm fine with reading it. I'm disappointed in Continuum Shift's poor excuse for a manual.

 

[AussieTex]

I have a near OCD need to read the instruction manual of any game I play, even if I know it will have a tutorial such as Assassin's Creed. Maybe it comes from when I was younger and my father and brothers would not let me play their video games (cause I'm a girl) and so reading the manual was about as far as I could get into a game until my brothers got stuck on a part and rage quit by leaving the room with the game on to fume... allowing me to steal the control and blast my way through the part they were stuck on and the next two levels before they came back from getting snacks.

 

[Liudeius]

I read them if they are something other than instructions.
Maybe something like scattered artwork, or things that build the theme of the game world.

OP: You need a third choice, "occasionally for fun".

 

[Stall]

I only consult them if I am having trouble for some reason. But beyond that, I just tend to feel my way around games, so to speak.

 

[The Madman]

Back in ye olden days when they were good, sure. Nowadays I rarely bother since the vast majority are just a couple instructions better told in-game on a spare piece of tissue paper whoever packaged the game had laying around.

 

[Ulquiorra4sama]

Close to never. Usually i just skim through the pages looking for character bios or some other sort of trivia that the game might leave out.

Other than that i just hope the game has a decent tutorial, and if i get stuck there's always the FAQs

 

[LiberalSquirrel]

It depends. If I'm relatively sure it's going to be another FPS with the same ol' control scheme and nothing amazingly innovative, I don't bother (but then again, I really don't get any of those sorts of games). For RPGs, I always read the manual. They can be helpful... and they can give me some fun backstory.

 

[The Pinray]

I just have this habit since I was a child; when I buy a new game I put it in the console, and read through the entire manual to get myself ready and pumped for the game. Sometimes I even go online to reread the review just to get myself ready.

So yeah, I always do. It's disappointing that developers aren't putting much care into manuals anymore.

 

[kickyourass]

Every single time, though it's mostly just skimming to make sure they didn't throw me a curve ball with the controls or something like that. I usually only need to go through the whole thing with games like JRPGs where the tutorial gives you about 1/5 of the information you need most of the time.

 

[Fugitive Panda]

Why is there no "Only on the toilet" option?

 

[pyrosaw]

Of course. I love the feel of paper.

 

[FalloutJack]

Well, that depends. Would you like to be able to control your game today?

 

[synobal]

Always, to me a good manual is an indication that the game developer cared enough about their game to do something so easy to over look or skimp on well. It tells me that I can expect a similar level of polish in their game.

 

[Stoike]

Usually, I only read them when I just got the game and am waiting for the game to install. Other than that, close to never.

Also, the poll needs more options than "all the time" or "never" or "when I'm having trouble"; a good "sometimes" works.

I agree with above, I do sometimes but only for backstory/descriptions or for really obscure/different controls