With the recent news that Ubisoft is discontinuing game manuals, you might wonder if they're even still relevant. I mean, can't you learn everything you need to know from in-game controller references and tutorials?
As one of the few people who enjoys a good game manual, I'm saddened by this loss but can revel in the past glory days of game manuals thanks to replacementdocs.com. This site is a repository for all of the game manuals it can find, from the Atari 2600 (even if I can't download Pitfall for Game Room this week, I can revisit the Pitfall manual) to more modern fare (like Luigi's Mansion for GameCube, which I just started playing but couldn't figure out how to save my %*#&$% game!).
Have a game manual that's not there? Read the contributor tips and upload it! Just be sure to check out the "banned" list first. Right now, Bethesda Softworks is refusing to allow any documentation for its game to be shared (including the Elder Scrolls series and Fallout 3), and there are a few others that are not permitted. Hopefully they will come to their senses and realize we just want to revel in their games anywhere, any time and on any device that can display PDFs...
_1.png "Pitfall scoring")
When I was a child, the first thing I would do with each new game I got would be to crack open the packaging and leaf my way through the booklet on the car ride home. It was a personal unwritten law that I couldn't pop that new cartridge into the system until I'd finished the manual.
I still do that on occasion in present day (albeit not on the car ride home as that would be rather dangerous with me at the wheel) though the ritual isn't as sacred as it once was. I'm not entirely sure if its because manuals just aren't today what they were in the golden days, or if they just seem so in the absense of the wide-eyed wonder of my youth.