Time, money and loads of artistry go into designing game manuals, which seem to go largely unread. Almost every game released these days teaches you how the controls work as you play, a sort of built-in manual without all the nifty artwork. Need to know how to activate that Jedi ability? Just stand near the big glowing thing until the game tells you to "Press the B button to use your Force powers!" Unsure how to swap out your weapons? Halo tells you what to do. While having in-game instructions does allow you to hit the ground running, it also makes it easy to miss out on some features the manuals offer. The Grand Theft Auto manuals feature ads that also contain game tips, while other games feature diaries from the main character, often giving you a wealth of backstory, like Harry's journal in the classic Pitfall II.
Gone are the days of games arriving with a phone book-sized set of instructions that required several hours and a great deal of patience to read. But are game manuals a dying breed? What's the last great manual you read?
