It’s been confirmed that the Japanese release of Super Mario 3D Land won’t contain a traditional paper manual. Instead, players will be able to access the instruction manual digitally via the Nintendo 3DS. Expect future Nintendo releases to follow suit.
That is so not a good idea. I love reading paper manuals! I hope that Pokémon games do not follow that.
Print ’em out.
Too expensive, given how much color ink that would use.
uh black and white.
that should be mandatory for all games imo. saves alot of wooden resources
Why would you even need an instruction manual to begin with? It’s Mario…not very hard to figure out.
It reminds me of how PAL copies of Super Mario Galaxy 2 had an instructional DVD. That still amuses me to this day.
They did? I wish that we had one….
My disc wouldn’t work i think my copy got kinda imported from German but with english cover
cool….
No.
Saving tree’s are cool.
This kind of gives me the same feeling as getting a plastic Christmas tree rather than a real one.
Like how fake ones don’t com bust as easily. :P
that is so cool 3D Manual!
yeah why people here upset 3D manual is better in fact you can access it while your playing that even better.
So sad, I love the Instruction Booklet :(
Oooh thats intresting! and great! This should be like this for all games everwhere, get rid of pointless paper.
Sad but good at the same time.
Momma cahinwdisx\
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Why are people said? No one uses the mannuals and it saves paper!
“why are people “said”” bahahahahah
saves trees, and saves money… good idea
Exactly.
then skyrim is going to be killing lots of trees hehe (manual is huge, and the game guide is 650 pages! holy crap)
so if it had one, then you guys would of said “it would help new comers!”
but because it doesnt have one you say its a good idea…
kiss ass
Not exactly. Everyone has different opinions, so there will be some who want paper, some who don’t, and some who are fine either way and look at the positives on both sides. I’m in #3.
“If you need help, check out the enclosed instruction book!!” – Mario
“if you need instructions”
Whelp, time to make a customized one and print it off myself. One more thing to do along with changing a few covers on some 3DS games. Hopefully the manual data won’t be as horrible as what most of them have seemed to be on the 3DS itself.
You must have a lot of spare time on your hands.
About time. If it’s on the game, then I don’t see a problem as long as I can have a nice boxart.
While I like reading instruction manuals in the past, I do agree it is kind of pointless nowadays. Games now include enough information that an instruction manual is not needed. This is a good thing, now we can save on paper and trees.
I was actually just in a conversation about the problems with an all-digital game industry if it became the standard today, as a reaction to those analysts predicting GTA V would only be available digitally. While I don’t see that happening for a good while, now is the time to replace manuals with informative game websites or downloadable PDFs. Game websites have been around for a good while now, and it’s only natural that they’d eventually replace paper manuals. I love the ones I have from my N64, Game Boy and other games, but there really isn’t a need for a physical guide in the modern industry.
i hope next gen console would be completely digital like steam. Nintendo already said wii u isn’t going to be digital all the way (25gb disk), and sony wouldnt let go of the blu-ray so its hard to predict if next gen would turn completely digital. it would be awesome though, faster load times, no scratch disk, and less space consumption from the cases. although we would be losing the ability to share content with friends, but i wont really mind. ea and sony already doing online passes which doesn’t let the user play online on friends consoles, so going digital would be that but just the whole game instead of online play. although it would be hard for some people to get used to that , in time that wouldnt be a problem. i use steam so i already know what going digital feels like.
When the infrastructure is ready for it, I’d be happy to have it. Plus, box art could still be used for special editions and the like, only a code would be in the package instead of a disc. As far as PCs and the like are concerned, distributors like Steam are doing a great job in that field, and phones have been doing this for years.
However, to start such a structure in the current climate would make console gaming more expensive and less practical, intimidating potential customers and turning gaming back into a cult hobby rather than a branch of entertainment. Here’s a few of the problems that would cause this:
– The install time of these big titles: How long will this be running in the background, especially for those who lack a high-speed connection?
– A system only has so much memory to work with. Sure you could just download the game again since you already purchased it, but you may want to make a physical backup copy of the game info. This would result in extra spending on that physical storage along with the price of the game when one could have bought a physical copy for less.
– Transportation of the game would be difficult. This is all well and good for someone who has said game on their laptop, but what about console owners? You can play online with a friend, but what if you’re staying over, you have to use your friend’s system and they don’t have your game? If that information couldn’t be put on a readable disc, either a.) the person must bring a flash drive or b.) the console must have a network it can be retrieved from.
a.) Flash Drive: The system must be able to read bigger files like this directly from the stick about as instantly as a disc, or this won’t be an effective method. For security measures, though, a company may control where a purchased digital copy is able to be played, like in your Sony/EA example, so unless the info could be exported a limited number of times this option can be counted out. Like I said before, the extra money involved with buying physical storage is also a downside.
b.) Cloud Network: Based on the inconsistency in OnLive’s performance 100% streaming can be counted out as a viable option, so the only other option left is downloading for a long time. Neither is preferable to having a disc that starts up quicker.
Of course since you have firsthand experience with digital distribution, so I’m sure you’re aware of these issues. Just wanted to give everyone the benefit.
I am torn on it. I like having a box with a disc on my shelf. It looks nice and I know that if anything happens to my console, my game is still there. I can lend my game to a friend, and borrow one from them. The best thing is I can sell it if I no longer want it.
I like Steam, I have a library of upwards of 174 games so far. Steam can get away with digital distribution for a couple reasons: 1) Massive sales – every day is a new game on sale, plus midweek sales, weekend sales, holiday sales, publisher weeks, and the huge multi-week Christmas sales. This isn’t just know $50 game down to $48.50, I mean 50%-80% off. I don’t know of any console that has that.
2) PC is a continuous, ageless, open platform. My 15 year old games still play on my year-old, mid-range PC. Most of the games I buy today (DRM not withstanding) will probably play on my next couple PCs. I can’t play my SNES games on my Wii without rebuying them on VC (if they can be bought). Sony and Microsoft both have gimped backwards compatibility.
3) Choice. Part of the open platform is choice. With the exception of locked in retail games (like Steamworks or the games that EA is forcing to use origin to play) I can choose to use steam, origin, Impulse, Amazon, or just by the disc retail or even used. Even with consoles today, I can choose If I want the game digital or buy new or used on a disc. If a console would go totally digital distribution only, I can only buy games from Nintendo, Microsoft, or Sony. It is their way or no way. I sure as hell don’t trust them with hundreds of dollars of my money invested in their games that can be taken away at a moment’s notice.
For the love of god no -_-
Save The Tree’s!
Fucking damage control
Why do so many people seem annoyed that the instructions are no longer physical?
so nobody read’s the manual
Hey its yoyo from nintendo3dsblog.com!
I thought you put *nya~* at the end of your comments!
nya! :3
I really doubt this. But we’ll see.
Instruction manuals are really fun to read, like te one from Donkey Kong Country Returns, where Cranky complains a lot about everything in the game.
I remember how he did that in the original game’s manual…
NOOOOOOOOooooo.
Nah it’s cool and more ecologic :D
No way, im buying that game tomorrow, here in japan. Its sad to read this!
Just like PC games .-.
I for one think it’s a good idea, who really needs instructions on how to play a Mario game? You press A to jump and hold the D-pad to move, very simple.
If the price stays the same, then I see this as a rude attempt at saving money. But I still like it XD
That sucks
Oh well, probably don’t need it. Then again i love keeping manuals even if I don’t use it.
I hate what this industry is becoming. I might stop buying games in a couple of years because it is ticking me off so much. Saves me a ton of money.
I think this is a great idea, although there’s the feeling of nostalgia reading an instruction manual.
next thing, they will sell videogames without box, only the cartridge, shit. You dont have the manual inside, but you have all the advertising papers and other trash inside the box, and its a fine thing for some of you, thats amazing.