Posts: 953
Threads: 75
Joined: Feb 2003
I was wondering how long you folks keep your game manuals for. I was doing a little cleaning of my bookshelf the other day, and I found a bunch of old ones that I'd tucked away and forgotten about.
I had the manual (and the strategy guide...) for the original NES version of Final Fantasy, as well as the manuals for FF2 and 3. The old Breath Of Fire manuals, and all the extras that come with stuff like that, maps, monster posters, etc. I ended up throwing it all away (I couldn't tell you where in the world my SNES is anymore, and my NES stopped working months ago) but it got me wondering, as I looked at the various computer game manuals I've got.
Pretty much the only two manuals left in my apartment are for WarIII and WoW.
Do you guys actually RTFM, too? When I first got it, I skimmed over the manual for WoW, and then I took it to work last night and read every word. The WarIII manual I looked over the controls, and didn't bother with the (long and good looking) story in the back.
So what about you folk. Use the manuals? Keep them? Toss them? Skim them? Use them (these days) as paperweights?
~Not all who wander are lost...~
Posts: 2,892
Threads: 139
Joined: Jan 2004
I read them after I've fiddled around with the game for a bit (I like to learn things on my own first) and then keep them for basically ever. If I still have the game, I still have the manual and box. And I generally do not get rid of games, even the ones that piss me off like Nox. (Hated that game so much I placed a ban on all Westwood Studio games. Then I noticed that EA PC division and Westwood merged/bought out/something, and after playing the PC version of NFS:Underground, EA PC games are banned from coming into the house too. EA console games are still allowed of course, but the PC ports are done too poorly to be allowed in.)
Intolerant monkey.
Posts: 815
Threads: 13
Joined: Feb 2003
Mirajj,Feb 6 2005, 06:32 PM Wrote:I had the manual (and the strategy guide...) for the original NES version of Final Fantasy, as well as the manuals for FF2 and 3. The old Breath Of Fire manuals, and all the extras that come with stuff like that, maps, monster posters, etc..
!!!!!! People pay good money for those! I certainly would.
Quote:Do you guys actually RTFM, too? [right][snapback]67392[/snapback][/right]
I read the manual when it is well done--some manuals just aren't worth reading. Super Mario Brothers 3 manual... Drool. So many things done RIGHT. Classic Diablo manual, Warcraft I &II manuals... oh so well done. Fallout I&II manuals rocked. Loved the little post-it note styled commentaries.
I try to keep my manuals and other materials, unless I do not like the game at all--then it is thrown away or traded in.
Posts: 953
Threads: 75
Joined: Feb 2003
Drasca,Feb 6 2005, 07:38 PM Wrote:!!!!!! People pay good money for those! I certainly would.
I still have the Nintendo Power strategy guide for FF. I could dumpster dive for the manual by now, though it's snowed the last couple of days, and probably wouldn't be in good shape.
I thought about keeping them, but then I figured, who'd want just the manual, without the game or anything? Since I didn't have the game to go with the manual, I just tossed them. Don't know why I kept the FF strategy guide, but I did.
I suppose I should have tried to sell them, or even just given them away. I really just wondered who in the world would want an old (and in passable, but not great/good shape) manual.
~Not all who wander are lost...~
Posts: 815
Threads: 13
Joined: Feb 2003
Mirajj,Feb 6 2005, 07:51 PM Wrote:I suppose I should have tried to sell them, or even just given them away. I really just wondered who in the world would want an old (and in passable, but not great/good shape) manual.
[right][snapback]67400[/snapback][/right]
Ahem. Me... and I'm sure I'm not the only packrat gaming enthusiast around. Ebay time? or pass to little kid who does have game but no manual time?
Heck, I bought warcraft 2 stategy guide and coveted it when there was no way I could actually play WCII on my Mac (at the time).
Posts: 946
Threads: 102
Joined: Jan 2005
Sometimes manuals have important key codes in them and need to be kept, eg. Sacred, NWN.
Posts: 1,034
Threads: 42
Joined: May 2004
I keep them almost all the time,. Some I don't need, such as the simcity or warcraft 3 manuals, some are useful for information, suc has civilization game ones, and soem are very important, (MOO3, had to read it several times plus game experience to figure out how to do stuff). They are all usually interesting though, so I sometimes pick them up and read them.
I may be dead, but I'm not old (source: see lavcat)
The gloves come off, I'm playing hardball. It's fourth and 15 and you're looking at a full-court press. (Frank Drebin in The Naked Gun)
Some people in forums do the next best thing to listening to themselves talk, writing and reading what they write (source, my brother)
Posts: 3,498
Threads: 412
Joined: Feb 2003
I keep all my manuals in the original boxes. Game manuals are usually pretty interesting and make for great bathroom reading.
Also, a few months ago my mother-in-law gave me some boxed PC games. Among them was a pristine TIE Fighter, complete with 3.5" floppies and all of the manuals and other assorted inserts. It came with a game manual and a larger storybook. The spines of the books were absolutely unbroken, which led me to believe they weren't even opened. I'm just wondering if there is a market for "vintage" PC games on eBay or something. I'd probably sell it if I could be assured that it wasn't a waste of time.
Posts: 1,063
Threads: 48
Joined: Feb 2003
Has anybody noticed yet, or have I just not noticed their noticing?
Posts: 3,498
Threads: 412
Joined: Feb 2003
Griselda,Feb 7 2005, 02:02 AM Wrote:Has anybody noticed yet, or have I just not noticed their noticing?
[right][snapback]67420[/snapback][/right]
You are the very first person to notice! I can't believe how long that took.
Posts: 1,063
Threads: 48
Joined: Feb 2003
DeeBye,Feb 6 2005, 11:29 PM Wrote:You are the very first person to notice! I can't believe how long that took.
[right][snapback]67423[/snapback][/right]
Do tell. How long was that up there?
Posts: 3,498
Threads: 412
Joined: Feb 2003
Griselda,Feb 7 2005, 02:31 AM Wrote:Do tell. How long was that up there?
[right][snapback]67424[/snapback][/right]
:shuriken:
Posts: 106
Threads: 10
Joined: Oct 2003
Mirajj,Feb 6 2005, 06:32 PM Wrote:I was wondering how long you folks keep your game manuals for.
Forever.
Through the years I have bought a plethora of games and I open the boxes with meticulous care like carefully cutting only the top portion of the plastic and opening the box end so there are no creases. I have every game and the associated manuals (and extras) since my first computer, a TI-99/4A (excepting those which I have sold or given away).
Drasca,Feb 6 2005, 08:08 PM Wrote:!!!!!! People pay good money for those! I certainly would.
True. I've purchased older games (for the XT & 286) via ebay. Star Flight is one in particular that comes to mind.
ZR
"Nothing unreal exists."
-- Kiri-kin-tha
Posts: 332
Threads: 10
Joined: Feb 2003
Forever would be my answer to the original post, too. Good, bad, I read through them all at least once, be it before, or after trying the game - usually after. Of course, gems like Alpha Centaury, and Baldur's Gate 2 had me devote a good evening, just to get through their said manuals.
Shame that games these days all seem to be going for "Minibox, CD, a bunch of advertisments, PDF manual."
"One day, o-n-e day..."
Posts: 815
Threads: 13
Joined: Feb 2003
Griselda,Feb 7 2005, 01:31 AM Wrote:Do tell. How long was that up there?
[right][snapback]67424[/snapback][/right]
.... What are you two talking about?
Posts: 1,481
Threads: 111
Joined: Feb 2003
I tend to keep the manuals that contain stuff I might want to read again, such as the stories in the Diablo1 and StarCraft-manual, which tells of the events occurring before the game starts. However, if it's just a manual telling me the same stuff I can find in a readme.txt-file, then into the bin it goes.
Posts: 582
Threads: 45
Joined: Apr 2003
Drasca,Feb 7 2005, 09:56 AM Wrote:.... What are you two talking about?
[right][snapback]67434[/snapback][/right]
Another one discovers the fun things that can be done with our member profile:
Quote: From: Griselda is a smart cookie
:ph34r:
Greetings, Fragbait
Quote:You cannot pass... I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the Flame of Anor. The Dark Flame will not avail you, Flame of Udun. Go back to the shadow. You shall not pass.
- Gandalf, speaking to the Balrog
Quote:Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless, like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow, or it can crash! Be water, my friend...
- Bruce Lee
Quote: There's an old Internet adage which simply states that the first person to resort to personal attacks in an online argument is the loser. Don't be one.
- excerpt from the forum rules
Post content property of Fragbait (member of the lurkerlounge). Do not (hesitate to) quote without permission.
Posts: 472
Threads: 12
Joined: Feb 2003
02-07-2005, 02:18 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-07-2005, 02:19 PM by Baajikiil.)
Drasca,Feb 7 2005, 03:56 AM Wrote:.... What are you two talking about?
[right][snapback]67434[/snapback][/right]
Perhaps the "From" segment of Deebye's proflie... :)
EDIT: D'Oh! Foiled again.
Posts: 472
Threads: 12
Joined: Feb 2003
Quote:Do you guys actually RTFM, too? When I first got it, I skimmed over the manual for WoW, and then I took it to work last night and read every word. The WarIII manual I looked over the controls, and didn't bother with the (long and good looking) story in the back.
Usually not after I've already completed a game. I often find out about features or shortcuts I never knew existed. Sometimes if I'm watching a friend play the game, I take a few minutes to read the booklet while I'm waiting for my turn, or simply to give them advice.
Quote:So what about you folk. Use the manuals? Keep them? Toss them? Skim them? Use them (these days) as paperweights?
I'm also a fairly serious collector of games (console and pc), and have a small fortune in vintage titles. The booklets will often make or break a sale, although a sealed package always takes the cake. I keep every manual I get, and put them in an out of the way bookcase for safekeeping.
Don't throw em out whatever you do. Not very many manuals go for much real money, but $10 for a rare one is not unheard of. I have personally purchased a manual on Ebay which upped the value of a game I already own by around $15(course I only payed $2.50 for it). Strat guides are another matter though, they can become very pricy if they were produced in limited quantities. Heck, I own a few PS1 stat guides that are worth over $100 a piece. I've seen one go for $180 once.
Posts: 1,298
Threads: 79
Joined: Feb 2003
Mirajj,Feb 6 2005, 06:32 PM Wrote:I was wondering how long you folks keep your game manuals for. [right][snapback]67392[/snapback][/right]
:blush:
It isn't only game manuals. I just took a look in the 'manuals drawer' in my kitchen. I had the manuals for appliances that have worn out and been replaced - twice over, even.
Although.... The reason I was even in that drawer was because I just had my original microwave oven die on me. I bought it in 1979, and I still had the manual. :o
And you may call it righteousness
When civility survives,
But I've had dinner with the Devil and
I know nice from right.
From Dinner with the Devil, by Big Rude Jake
|
