Question of the Day: Do You Ever Read the Instruction Manual?

[wraggster]

I have this thing about instruction manuals. For some reason, I refuse to look at it when setting up a new gadget no matter how complicated things are. I break down eventually when I get stuck, but there is no reason why I shouldn't go to it right off the bat and save some time. Maybe it's a man thing, maybe it's because I'm not patient enough to read before digging into a new device—maybe it's both. Whatever the reason, I don't think I will ever change. But what about you? Do you read your gadget or Games instruction manuals?

http://gizmodo.com/5066464/question-of-the-day-do-you-ever-read-the-instruction-manual

[Auriman1]

For games, I page through the manual for references when drawing. Otherwise, not too much.

For other gadgets, almost never, except for evil devices like watches that it's nigh-impossible to change settings on without proper instruction.

[paul3100]

Hmmm a tough one tbh.

Depends what it is though , if its a game i have bought then i usually read the manual and all the other stuff that come with them but not usually till i have played the game a while or stuck.

As for gadgets i read the manual if i get stuck with anything but other than that then totally NO.

paul

EDIT: damn you Auriman1 for beating me to the punch...my fault for pondering over the question for too long lol

[gutbub]

Well, I'll follow the order of the two before me.
For games, I might glance through the manual, and if I'm stuck, I'll seek help there first.

I don't normally read manuals for anything electronic, I'm good at figuring them out on my own.
For constructing something, I always use the manual, otherwise I tend to mess up and have to restart using the manual anyways.

[trugamer]

Most of the time I'll flick through it on purchase to see if it has any in game information (such as characters, items etc) but if it just contains controls and HUD display I'll just throw it to one side.

[Veskgar]

I have this weird obsessive compulsive thing where I won't play most games until I read the manual from cover to cover. Its really annoying.

But with most RPG / Strategy type games, reading the manual is very important.

[kjetil1991]

im a no reader guy I like to find out things myself ;)

[Facho]

I always read them, sooner or later because I'm the kind of guy who always need bathroom reading material :D

[Aryn]

I only read the manual when there is no in game tutorial available, which is not a common case.

If there is no tutorial I will try to figure things out and then glance at the manual for anything I may have missed.

[davidcrew]

I only read the manual when there is no in game tutorial available, which is not a common case.

If there is no tutorial I will try to figure things out and then glance at the manual for anything I may have missed.


Agreed. Lots of the game already have tutorials spoon feeding us the instructions which in some games is necessary.

But my testosterone pulsating manliness constitution fights any urge to be a sissy sally girl and read the manual all the way through.

The pictures are colorful tho :D

[Emulation_Chief]

Hello:

Yes. I usually read the manuals. Things like button configuration and uses, does not always appear on the game options. Also, you can find discrepancies between the game and the manual itself.

I will cite as example Sonic the Hedgehog for Genesis. on the manual, when explaining the bonus stages, several icons appeared on the paper. One of them is the 1up icon. When you play the game and enter the bonus stage to get the chaos emerald, you will not find that icon, even if you move trough the entire area before getting the emerald or touch the GOAL icons. That is until you activate the debug mode. In the bonus stage, press A to start debug and move the d-pad to your left to leave the boundaries of the stage. Deactivate the mode to see sonic spin until you find a special zone with the manual-mentioned 1up icon.

If you didn't try it before, give it a shot.

[robman84]

Only if I buy something at a shop then have some time to kill before getting it home (e.g. bus journey). My kids generally read the manuals, but more for the "full experience" than finding out how it works.

Used to love reading the cassette inlays from new speccy games I'd bought whilst on the train home from the city (the nearest outlet for decent games when I was a kid).

[mike_jmg]

I almost never read the manuals, only when I get stuck with something, sometimes I end up reading them when I have nothing else to do years later, and I "discover" new things LOL

[jamotto]

I read the manuals, it is an old habit from my computer gaming days.

Quite frankly though what passes for manuals today are pretty lousy. Back in the golden days a game would come with a beefy manual (100+ pages) that included lots of extras, for example Aces Over the Pacific had full color pictures of the planes with specs, a general history of events from the war and tactics and maneuvers that was taken from real flight school material used in WWII.

[goshogun1]

I don't dead a lot of manuals nowadays, because most games have tutorials built in. But, any manual for a game released by Nintendo must be read. They put a lot of time into their manuals. Such as Warioware, Mario, and Smash Bros. And they also put a lot of data that might not be mentioned in the games themselves. Like certain character bios etc. Full color, glossy, chocked full of official artwork and pics, and usually well written. How could I forgot Earthbounds GIANT book that came with it. :D
So yeah, I don't read the xbox 360 7-page B&W pamphlets that they consider game manuals. Not to bash the games themselves though.

[Spanishpeacock]

There is a few games where reading the manual/case actually pay off. For instance, Metal Gear Solid has Merryl's number on the back of the case. For you old school NES fans, Star Tropics taught me a serious lesson about keeping papers... you know what I mean.

[____anders____]

nah i don't read them.. :D