I’m not sure if I already did an update on this very topic before The Last Redesign, and frankly, I’m too lazy to check. Because I’m doing one now. On this topic. The topic of video game instruction manuals.

Video game manuals are really an extension of the video game itself and a part of the product at large, but it’s a shame to see them so rarely treated as such. Instead, they’re usually bare-bones lists of basic controls and/or game goals (and the ever-important ‘notes’ section). Looking back over all the manuals I used to read on the return trip home from Toys ‘R Us, I can really only recall a few that stood out as uniquely interesting. Some manuals were filled with tons of fantastic artwork, such as Super Mario World’s depiction of every single move and ability in the game or Secret of Mana’s creepy clay figures of game characters. Others were needlessly exhaustive like Earthbound’s full-blown strategy guide or KoTOR’s slick, spiral bound enyclopia of a manual.

Diablo’s instruction manual has always been my personal favorite. The entire thing is a dark black and white, each page having a cloudy grey background and pitch-black sidebars saturated with artwork and quotations from the likes of Dante, Milton, and Nietzsche. The enemy descriptions and narrative comprise a full 50% of the manual, and most of it is literally useless to anyone who reads it, filled with dense references and allusions that don’t make sense until well into Diablo 2. Plus the whole thing is forwarded by a Chris Metzen poem titled “The Initiate.”

Diablo’s manual is part of the game. It sets the mood before the game is ever installed and is densely packed with information that illuminates not only the game itself, but its sequel as well. Looking over the remainder of my games collection, I can think of no other manual that comes even remotely close to Diablo’s achievement. In fact, as I stare at the shelf filled with last-generation’s titles, I realize I’ve only ever seen a handful of them, and of those only Katamari Damacy’s and Metal Gear Solid 3’s manuals leave any sort of lasting impression.

As I see it, the generally dull, unentertaining nature of video game instruction manuals is really a self-fulfilling prophecy. The manuals are boring because nobody reads them. Nobody reads them because the manuals are boring. And they’ve only managed to become more boring in recent years. Console manuals need to remain thin so they can fit in a DVD case and giant-sized manuals like Diablo’s no longer exist as PC titles now come in small, standardized boxes.

Additionally, there honestly isn’t much need for video game instruction manuals any more, if there ever even was. Almost every game these days has built-in 30-minute tutorials that assume the player has never touched a controller before in his or her life. Even those that don’t offer turotials generally come with some sort of in-game documentation or help menu. The rise of digital distribution through Steam, Direct-2-Drive, and Game Tap on the PC and XBLA, PSN, and the Virtual Console on the consoles leaves no room for physical instruction manuals. And let’s face it, nobody needs a manual to figure out how to play Worms (in 2009) or Adventure Island. Instruction manuals are really just an additional cost publishers would likely love to get rid of. Most of Vivendi’s games now ship with a single instruction sheet at most, Half-Life 2’s boxed version included.

With space limitations, at least when it comes to simple gameplay instructions, a thing of the past with the advent of optical media, there’s really no reason for developers not to just teach players how to play in-game. And though I suppose all we’re losing is a potential, and a rarely realized one at that, the loss is really rather minor. But where will we keep track of important information without dozens of manuals ending in ‘notes’ sections?