My wife and I go to yard sales every Saturday. Im always on the look out for games and books. One day I hit the jackpot and found a ton of games at one sale. However I only had $20.00 But I did end up buying about 12 games. Playstation 2 games.
And here is what came with all those games besides the game itself
These are game manuals and posters and freebies! One of the hunting game had a Free one year subscription to a hunting magazine! The owner of the game never redeemed it.
I just this week bought Watch Dogs for the PS3. The only thing included in the case was the game itself. No manual, no freebies not even directions for going to a web site to download a manual. No ads for other games by the developer. Nothing!
And I miss that.
Booklets are fun. I always get a smile on my face when I go pick up a game at a retro store and see that it's complete with booklet. Sadly the way forward is pure digital.
Although, I heard that the hard copy of Minecraft still hits the top of the sales charts. Someone still wants physical products out there.
Kightdriver..I buy digital games because lately on the PSN store they are so cheap but somewhere down the line I eventually buy the physical game for a backup and I too like owning the physical game. But yeah, when I do buy a used game I am excited when it has all the original manuals and stuff
I miss manuals too. They were great back in the NES/Genesis days...
Matt, I can remember going through the playstation(1) game manuals like they were comic books...Metal Gear Solid was the first game I bought and it has a nice big manual, for a PSX game
Yeah, manuals made the physical copies feel more complete along with other goodies.
Joe: its like when music went from vinyl to cds. The vinyl had inserts and linear notes and photos. The cd was too small and I couldnt even read the credits. Heck, the other day I saw a Bag of cereal! The cereal wasnt even in a box. that was part of my childhood reading the back of the cereal box while I was eating the cereal.
They've had the bag stuff next to the boxes for a while, I think. It's just the cheaper knockoff stuff. And I get disappointed when a CD has a thin booklet, cause I like the ones with art and liner notes too. Never bought a vynil though.
Yeah, I understand the bags are generic brands but one day it will be polically correct to save the planet by doing away with all excess packaging. I hope Im not around when that happens...lol
Shovel Knight has a massive instruction booklet. It reminds me of the Legend of Zelda one that I read cover to cover many times.
Transmet: Yeah, I can remember going through MGS a couple of times. Its not real big but its bigger than nothing!
I miss instruction booklets, too. They actually came in really handy when I would review a game, as I could refer to them at any time, even if the game wasn't on. What's even worse is that a lot of times, the in-game instructions are very poorly written now, too.
When I was little, one of my favorite point and click adventures was called Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders, and it starred a tabloid news reporter. The game came with a mock tabloid newspaper that had tips in the articles on how to solve some of the puzzles in the game!
Carey: At the bottom of the photo in my blog is a mock newspaper..Liberty Tree, its from one of the GTA games. Plus manuals serve a purpose, I just bought Watch Dogs and Im used to looking in the manual for control schemes and layouts, Heck, I keep blowing stuff up in Watch Dogs because Im hitting the wrong button!
Yeah, instruction booklets used to be a lot of the fun of getting a new video game. The instruction booklets for the origina NESl Legend of Zelda and Metroid were epic. Square used to put out great booklets for Final Fantasy that were 60 pages and had maps and such in them. FFII came with a mock newsletter from Squaresoft USA called the Ogopogo Examiner, if I remember correctly. You simply don't see that anymore except with niche publishers like Xseed or NISA. Nowadays we get crappy in-game manuals and patronizing tutorial levels that make you demonstrate your ability to press "A" to jump to the game's satisfaction before you can proceed.
That said, I got Super Mario Maker for Christmas and it did come with a pretty good size tip book, as well as an in-game manual.
Tutorial levels! Suck! hahahaha
I miss all the free stuff that came with games too. Now-a-days, you get some new games with only the disc.
James, yeah I just bought Watch Dogs, nothing but a disc included!
I don't think we are far away from the time when download vouchers will be the only thing in the case. Sad times.
Sad times indeed....very sad
I know the feeling. Nowadays, except for certain japanese developers like Nintendo and Atlus (and even the former has reduced them) and niche publishers, it's very rare to see manuals, let alone even a page with the basic stuff. Then again, I do have to congratulate the inclusion of in-game manuals.
Alex, When I just bought Watch Dogs and opened the case there was nothing but the game disc. At the least you usually get an add for another game or even a paper explaining the game ratings list..M for mature and stuff like that. This had just the game disc...that was sad