Do any Vita games come with manuals?

[Vectorman0]

I have a vita now, and I have read games only have manuals digitally on the game card. Are there any exceptions to this thus far?

[kupomogli]

I haven't seen one. The only additional slips I've seen in there is if the game offered a redemption code.

[Belmont008]

Yeah, I've noticed this too. I have 6 games and no manuals. Black Ops that comes with the system doesn't even come with the case.

[Rickstilwell1]

That's cool. That's one less thing to have to deal with when trying to get a complete collection!

[Nebagram]

The cases do, of course, still have the little clasps on the inside to hold the manual, just no actual manual. Do the redemption code slips really need restraining within the case that badly?

[Rickstilwell1]

The cases do, of course, still have the little clasps on the inside to hold the manual, just no actual manual. Do the redemption code slips really need restraining within the case that badly?

It was probably just cheaper to keep the plastic mold the same rather than change it to exclude the clasps in case they ever needed them for a specific game. A third party company could choose to include a manual in the future if they wanted to. NIS or Atlus might like to if they get on board the Vita to do some RPGs later.

[BlastProcessing402]

That's cool. That's one less thing to have to deal with when trying to get a complete collection!

That's like saying it's cool you have one less mouth to feed if someone in your household dies. Well, maybe not that bad, but still. You lose a lot more by not having manuals at all than you gain by easier CIB collecting down the road.

[kupomogli]

That's like saying it's cool you have one less mouth to feed if someone in your household dies. Well, maybe not that bad, but still. You lose a lot more by not having manuals at all than you gain by easier CIB collecting down the road.

You don't actually lose anything. Every retail Vita game has a digital manual that you can open in the Vita UI, although the card does need to be inserted. You don't actually lose anything by not having a physical version of the manual. Infact, having these digital manuals are sometimes better than having a physical copy. Some of the digital games also have a manual as well. I think every game has seven extra mandatory pages of crap. Treasures of Montezuma Blitz, a digital game, has just those pages and the title cover. Never played the game so there might be a manual or tutorial in game. Uncharted Fight for Fortune has 15 pages plus an extra 10+ pages of crap, but it also has an in game tutorial that goes more in depth.

I looked at a few PS3 manuals, and a few digital manuals just now to compare. First off, the digital manuals are in full color. The Vita manual pages, taking up the size of the Vita, are half the area size of the PS3 manuals. However, they had more than double the amount of pages that contained information and went into a lot of detail, including pictures, graphical icons, etc, in comparison to the PS3 manuals. I didn't check Mortal Kombat for the Vita on how many pages it had, but the PS3 version has no game information at all, it's a fold out which displays nothing but warnings and copyright information. Considering it's the same game, I'd assume the manual would also be similarly as bad.

[substantial_snake]

I actually have two of what you could loosely define as physical vita "manuals" . One is in the Project Diva F which is just a folded page with basic controls along with several ads and an large AR card but in full color and the other is the artbook/manual/guide to Ragnarok Odyssey mercenary edition.

The PSP had such good colorful and thick manuals its a shame that the vita wont follow that example. They may not have been realistically necessary for the vast majority of games but they were always fun to occasionally flip through and enjoy the artwork or random things you would sometimes fine in them. The Vita digital manuals are on average really nice but it still doesn't beat having something you can physically hold in your hands.

[Tanooki]

When I had one, of the six games I had I think one maybe two had one and that's it. Annoyingly it was all guesses as I never bought new with it except for a game or two and they didn't so I didn't know if I got ripped off or not. It's a cheap corner cutting rotten tactic to not lower prices but cut down on quality and quantity.

[kupomogli]

When I had one, of the six games I had I think one maybe two had one and that's it. Annoyingly it was all guesses as I never bought new with it except for a game or two and they didn't so I didn't know if I got ripped off or not.

Seems like this was a post less about being informative and more about bashing the Vita. You think, you guess, maybe one or two. Did you even own a Vita?

It's a cheap corner cutting rotten tactic to not lower prices but cut down on quality and quantity.

It's not really a cheap rotten tactic. I'd rather get a digital manual that is in depth and the quality of older manuals with all color rather than getting a piss poor physical copy of the manual like many developers do today, including first party. Your precious Nintendo is no different. Mario Kart 7 includes a fold out with six pages of information, the remaining six pages are warnings, copyright, the front, and advertisement. Super Mario 3D Land is a fold out with four pages of information and the remaining four pages are warnings and copyright.

[G-Boobie]

When I had one, of the six games I had I think one maybe two had one and that's it. Annoyingly it was all guesses as I never bought new with it except for a game or two and they didn't so I didn't know if I got ripped off or not. It's a cheap corner cutting rotten tactic to not lower prices but cut down on quality and quantity.

Not having a physical manual is pretty much irrelevant since a digital manual is always included. I'm not sure why the absence of a physical manual infers a lack if quality, though I guess you technically have a point about quantity.

Manuals are on the way out, period. Most current gen game manuals consist of copyright and legal info with a control layout, if you're lucky. Making that digital (or cutting it out entirely) has no impact on the quality if a product. It's something for collectors to get used to, I guess.

So no: I have yet to see a Vita game come with a physical manual. I suspect that we'll see a few games come with an AR card or something, assuming the hardware lasts long enough.

[Tanooki]

I grew up with the NES and stuff since. I like having something in my hands I can keep always open and reference if I need to. Digital manuals are just cost cutting and corner cutting. They're not making the game a dollar less for me removing it so it's just scraping more off the top and giving me less so I have issue with that.

[PreZZ]

I grew up with the NES and stuff since. I like having something in my hands I can keep always open and reference if I need to. Digital manuals are just cost cutting and corner cutting. They're not making the game a dollar less for me removing it so it's just scraping more off the top and giving me less so I have issue with that.

The collector in me loves the manual, but honestly i cant remember a single game in the past 15 years when I had to read it to understand the controls or gameplay (maybe Dragon force!) I just open them when I get a game to check out the drawings (working designs, Atlus) but doesnt really matter gameplay wise and never open them again.

[G-Boobie]

I grew up with the NES and stuff since. I like having something in my hands I can keep always open and reference if I need to. Digital manuals are just cost cutting and corner cutting. They're not making the game a dollar less for me removing it so it's just scraping more off the top and giving me less so I have issue with that.

So if I infer your point correctly, if every Vita game came with a three page booklet with all the legal stuff and seizure warnings, you'd think that everything is fine. Is that correct? Because that's all anything comes with anymore. Explain to me how having that digitally impacts you negatively.

[kupomogli]

I think digital has actually pushed developers to make better manuals. Like I explained above. Mortal Kombat for PS3 has a manual that has nothing other than warnings and copyright information A fold out that includes four pages. I checked the manual for the Vita one and it has 13 pages, 27 altogether including the warning or copyright information.

If Mortal Kombat's physical manual compared to digital tells where manuals are headed. I'd rather have the digital manual. It actually has a manual, despite not having a manual.

The only reason they don't want to give us full paper manuals, is because all that paper costs money.

*edit*

Previously I didn't check the Vita manual. I did today though.

[duffmanth]

i can't remember the last time I read a game manual?

[The 1 2 P]

Has anyone bought any Japanese Vita games yet? I'm curious to see if those too are sans manuals. I ask because the Japanese way of doing things isn't always the same as the way we do things here in the US.

[substantial_snake]

Has anyone bought any Japanese Vita games yet? I'm curious to see if those too are sans manuals. I ask because the Japanese way of doing things isn't always the same as the way we do things here in the US.

Kinda, as I mentioned earlier in the thread Project Diva F has a folding insert with basic game controlls along with an AR card, lots of adds, and safety information. Really just a slightly more lazy of what most Nintendo First party games is doing with the 3DS's folded page manuals.

[kupomogli]

This video shows Japanese Vita games having manuals. Lord of Apocalypse, Ridge Racer, and Dungeon Hunter Alliance(Dark Quest.) If anyone owns Ridge Racer and Dungeon Hunter Alliance on the Vita, maybe they know if we received a manual for the games. If we didn't, then looks like Japan is receiving physical manuals and digital manuals while we're only receiving the digital manuals. Also. It looks like Lord of Apocalypse has less than 10 pages in its manual, so probably similar to MK PS3 having nothing in its manual and the Vita version having a better digital manual.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeODXpTWZh0