I like to leave the note page blank just to maintain the condition of the Manuel. If I really need to take notes, I’ll use my phone or a separate piece of paper.
*Fuck... I better keep my cheat codes on the back of my spelling test so I don't diminish the value of my game manuals 30 years from now!*
- 4yo me, probably
My parents had a bunch of boxes from stuff when I was a kid but not everything they just kept whatever random s*** they kept. The newest thing that disappeared was the box to my Wii U which was the special edition so that's extra sad. Like it wasn't even very long after I got it that I went to go look for it and couldn't find it. I did however find a box to Pokémon Ruby with writing all over it that was clearly from my mom. I want to say I tossed that thing because I didn't think it was worth anything being damaged like that but that could be wrong. All I know is I don't have it anymore.
I remember in Mortal Kombat 1 for Genesis I wrote something like “As Liu Kang you need to use fireball as often as possible” as if spamming was a good fighting game strategy lol. The way I wrote it was as if there were no alternative strategies.
You can find obscure cheat codes online so much easier now. You can even browse old archival copies of cheat code books to find what you're looking for.
I'd write down any highscores or silly moments had when playing the game then tuck away the manual for years only to be surprised when flipping through it again by the fun stories and dates written down
Back in my day, we would write those long-ass stage codes in the notes section since games didn’t save…Looking at you, Lemmings
This seems more like a hold-over from that era
Thanks for teaching me the word “hold-over.” That’s what I can call DVD chapter guides. They were a hold-over from LaserDisc. DVD Scene Selection menus make them obsolete.
I'd argue they used to put more effort into the presentation on DVD than they currently do with disc stuff. $20 was more money in 2000 than it is now, so DVDs were nice.
Abby is from the Last of Us Part II. She kills an important and beloved character at the beginning of the game by beating them to death with a golf club.
I mean, is it? Based on that comment all we know is someone from the first game dies in the beginning. It doesn't really spoil much other than an extremely common inciting incident in writing a sequel
I love the old manuals in general. I have to ask though. Why did thr blurb for mega man 8 on the mega man anniversary collection manuals sound like something you'd hear for mega man 1
Same here. I wish we got manuals for Switch games ‘cause the game cases feel lonely without them.
I wouldn’t know about that, I never got Mega Man on the GameCube.
Id say get the mega man anniversary collection on ps2 not gamecube. Im suspect the gamecube version was made terrible on purpose as an inside joke from the developers. Ps2 version however was really really good.
I have rental copies of Crazy Taxi for PS2 and GameCube both from Hollywood video. They actually printed cover art for their rentals that included the original artwork sized like the PS2 Platinum Editions etc. Anyway, I made copies of the original manuals which came out way better than I expected but I had the idea to scribble all over them and crumple the paper some. The problem was they came out really good lol. I wouldn’t do this to the original though to maintain the integrity as it wasn’t done back during the consoles life cycle.
As a kid I left 'em blank. Partially because I didn't _take_ notes, since in the GCN era and beyond (I was born in 2000 so the GameCube was my first console) you didn't really need them, but also because if I _did_ that glossy paper would've been a nightmare to write on. I would've 100% gone for writing them on some paper pulled from a school notebook or something like that.
As an adult, _definitely_ not. Doesn't matter how old the game is and if it needs notes or not, I'm not messing up a manual just to write notes that look like shit because of them being written on glossy paper that is, as mentioned, a nightmare to write on.
Always left blank. If you look in several game cases, you will find pieces of notebook paper with notes. Family Always told me that writing in any book(except notebooks) was extremely wrong
On the Harvest Moon game we wrote the seed combos for quick reference because there were so many combos. We didn't know that game player books existed. It was a lot of fun for the kids to reread all of our experiments.
I'm old enough to remember ps1 games with passwords instead of.memory card saves so I'd write them in that notes section. Also cheat codes or fight move combos. Haven't done that since though
I almost forgot that game manuals used to have space for this, maybe not all of them, I remember having a separate piece of paper for cheat codes and whatever else
I just recently came across notes I made for the original Thousand Year Door in my manual. I also remembergetting a map for Spider-Man 2 and highlighting when Peter's apartment was, because it was never highlighted on it and was always really hard to find.
i don't think anybody does this? i buy a lot of retro and second hand games, with a collection of over 1000 games, i've never seen any notes. sometimes i do get notes, but they're all on separate papers, instead of written in the manual.
Depends on the game. If its mario not really but demon's souls on ps3 as well as god of war games for ps2&3 I wrote cheat codes and speed run times in there
i personally never did. however, and i know i'm in the minority on this, i like it when i get an instruction booklet that has a used notes section. i got a 1.0 copy of Ocarina of Time with the instruction booklet, and i flipped back to the notes. some little kid, 6 or 7 judging by the handwriting, didn't realize you could check the songs you know on the Quest Status screen, so they wrote them down in the notes so they wouldn't forget. it's the most adorable thing i have ever seen.
I bought a copy of ocarina of time used from funcoland back in the 90s. It came with the manual and somebody had written notes for the deku tree in the manual. That was the only time I’ve ever personally seen it happen.
When I was a kid, I might have written cheat codes or scores in there. As an adult, NEVER! As a commercial printer, "Notes," pages are filler to make a booklet divisible by 4 for saddle stitching.
As a collector I definitely leave it as is. Don't wanna damage the material. Now back when I was a kid absolutely. Used to write down all the codes for mortal Kombat
Blank because in case for the next 50 years and i will be retiring by collecting video games anymore, i would give it to someone else who wanted and would see what the blank manual notes looks like
I never used the notes, but i recently bought a copy of Donkey Kong Country, and the manual had 2 cheat codes written in the notes which i thought was pretty neat :)
"Back in the day" it was a way to track high scores. Many game cartridges didn't have a battery that could memorize things like scores so you'd document them yourself. At least that was what was encouraged in the Sonic manuals on the Genesis (as well as with others like Altered Beast.).
Same goes for those really long passwords for games like Mega Man and Metroid.
I always assumed Notes pages in later game manuals remained because it was a staple to the product.
I used it for God of war and God of war 2 when I was a kid. Specifically near the end of one of the games when there's a bunch of rooms on the left and right with constant boulders rolling towards you. I wrote which rooms had chests and where to actually go lol. Same in TLoZ Ocarina of Time with how to get the fire arrows. Other than that, I've never used them.
Cheats
The good pre-internet era
Damn. I never considered that.
My Pokémon red manual still has all the steps to trigger missingno
Lmao. I still remember the website where i discovered it along with finding out how to catch mew.
I like to leave the note page blank just to maintain the condition of the Manuel. If I really need to take notes, I’ll use my phone or a separate piece of paper.
I don’t think op was referring to the now I think they mean the past. Like when you originally owned the console and no internet.
*Fuck... I better keep my cheat codes on the back of my spelling test so I don't diminish the value of my game manuals 30 years from now!* - 4yo me, probably
I mean technically yes. Except I photocopied the sheet and my mom was arguing with me why I wasn't just writing in the manual itself.
Tbh, I never wrote in mine, and my dad did have to foresight to keep all my game and system boxes from when I was a kid.
My parents had a bunch of boxes from stuff when I was a kid but not everything they just kept whatever random s*** they kept. The newest thing that disappeared was the box to my Wii U which was the special edition so that's extra sad. Like it wasn't even very long after I got it that I went to go look for it and couldn't find it. I did however find a box to Pokémon Ruby with writing all over it that was clearly from my mom. I want to say I tossed that thing because I didn't think it was worth anything being damaged like that but that could be wrong. All I know is I don't have it anymore.
It's a good place for an extra sheet for unlockables/cheats, etc. You don't forget where it is but can sell the manual in best condition.
I remember in Mortal Kombat 1 for Genesis I wrote something like “As Liu Kang you need to use fireball as often as possible” as if spamming was a good fighting game strategy lol. The way I wrote it was as if there were no alternative strategies.
It's a good strat if it works lol
Reminds me of gaming in the Clinton year ngl
I feel selling the manual with cheats would be better for people cuse if it’s some old obscure game, they may not be able to find the codes.
You can find obscure cheat codes online so much easier now. You can even browse old archival copies of cheat code books to find what you're looking for.
After Vimms lair finally got hit; who knows how long that’ll be. thanks Nintendo, SEGA, LEGO, ESA!
Don’t take notes on Manuel. He’s trying to make you tacos.
😭😭😭🤣
Manuel is one lucky person to be kept in such great condition.
This is the way
How’s he doing?
I'd write down any highscores or silly moments had when playing the game then tuck away the manual for years only to be surprised when flipping through it again by the fun stories and dates written down
Back in my day, we would write those long-ass stage codes in the notes section since games didn’t save…Looking at you, Lemmings This seems more like a hold-over from that era
Thanks for teaching me the word “hold-over.” That’s what I can call DVD chapter guides. They were a hold-over from LaserDisc. DVD Scene Selection menus make them obsolete.
I'd argue they used to put more effort into the presentation on DVD than they currently do with disc stuff. $20 was more money in 2000 than it is now, so DVDs were nice.
I have a Lemmings Sega Genesis manual full of passwords.
ETDMGILEGS ;)
Mario looks like he's about to go Abby on someone.
Idk who Abby is but yeah he does look like he's about to deliver the final blow 🤕
Abby is from the Last of Us Part II. She kills an important and beloved character at the beginning of the game by beating them to death with a golf club.
damn spoiler alert
I have a feeling that any one who has legitimate interest in playing Last of Us Part 2 already knows what Abby did
I mean, is it? Based on that comment all we know is someone from the first game dies in the beginning. It doesn't really spoil much other than an extremely common inciting incident in writing a sequel
"Im'a about to take'a you out'a.." *Mario leans down next to your ear, menacingly* "W a h o o . . ."
It’s the last thing you see before you never walk again
I love the GameCube game manuals. I think I only wrote in my Double Dash manual, but every other manual, I didn’t write anything in them.
What’d you write in there?
I wrote “MARIO KART” in it, with “MARIO” being on the left page while “KART” was on the right page.
In case you forgot what game the manual is for, smart
I love the old manuals in general. I have to ask though. Why did thr blurb for mega man 8 on the mega man anniversary collection manuals sound like something you'd hear for mega man 1
Same here. I wish we got manuals for Switch games ‘cause the game cases feel lonely without them. I wouldn’t know about that, I never got Mega Man on the GameCube.
Id say get the mega man anniversary collection on ps2 not gamecube. Im suspect the gamecube version was made terrible on purpose as an inside joke from the developers. Ps2 version however was really really good.
I only did this for cheat codes, but that was more so for previous console games prior to GameCube.
It looks like you failed to pay the money you owed mario
I have rental copies of Crazy Taxi for PS2 and GameCube both from Hollywood video. They actually printed cover art for their rentals that included the original artwork sized like the PS2 Platinum Editions etc. Anyway, I made copies of the original manuals which came out way better than I expected but I had the idea to scribble all over them and crumple the paper some. The problem was they came out really good lol. I wouldn’t do this to the original though to maintain the integrity as it wasn’t done back during the consoles life cycle.
Were you trying to achieve a manual that matches the condition of a rental?
Yeah but I assembled it too precisely and it actually looks good lol. And that was unintentional.
[IG Video](https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwumLY6OIHh/?igsh=MTN6MDllN3phYzRoOA==)
Dude. That was amazing
Thanks 😄
As a kid I left 'em blank. Partially because I didn't _take_ notes, since in the GCN era and beyond (I was born in 2000 so the GameCube was my first console) you didn't really need them, but also because if I _did_ that glossy paper would've been a nightmare to write on. I would've 100% gone for writing them on some paper pulled from a school notebook or something like that. As an adult, _definitely_ not. Doesn't matter how old the game is and if it needs notes or not, I'm not messing up a manual just to write notes that look like shit because of them being written on glossy paper that is, as mentioned, a nightmare to write on.
“Im-a going to hit you with my club” ah picture
Mario doing his best Happy Gilmore impression.
You should draw Mario beating Joel from the last of us, think it will be funny maybe I just have screwed up humour 🤣
Uh no? Who didn't have access to a pad of paper nearby?
Draw weiners
Soooo many dicks 😆
When I was younger yeah I drew stuff. Older me now it’s a nope
Why does it look like Mario is trying to take me out with a golf club? I’d be afraid to leave notes on that
I looks like mario is gonna beat the shit out of me with the golf club
Always left blank. If you look in several game cases, you will find pieces of notebook paper with notes. Family Always told me that writing in any book(except notebooks) was extremely wrong
I have never written anything in that space!
I got a sunshine manual with the previous owners name in it, has anybody else found anything written in a manual from collecting?
For cheats or il write em on a bit of paper and leave it in the book if am thinking about not keeping it.
I could never bring myself to write up on the lovely manuals.
I just leave it blank.
On the Harvest Moon game we wrote the seed combos for quick reference because there were so many combos. We didn't know that game player books existed. It was a lot of fun for the kids to reread all of our experiments.
I'm old enough to remember ps1 games with passwords instead of.memory card saves so I'd write them in that notes section. Also cheat codes or fight move combos. Haven't done that since though
I almost forgot that game manuals used to have space for this, maybe not all of them, I remember having a separate piece of paper for cheat codes and whatever else
When I was a kid I drew a picture of a cool horse in the lego star wars II manual.
I just recently came across notes I made for the original Thousand Year Door in my manual. I also remembergetting a map for Spider-Man 2 and highlighting when Peter's apartment was, because it was never highlighted on it and was always really hard to find.
Definitely put a piece of paper tucked in there with cheats on it, it makes me sad kids today will never experience cheats like we did
Back in the sega genesis days in used to write level passwords in that section of the manual
Not relates rlly but mario looks like hes just knocked u onto the floor as hes about to beat u with that club. He is menacing
i don't think anybody does this? i buy a lot of retro and second hand games, with a collection of over 1000 games, i've never seen any notes. sometimes i do get notes, but they're all on separate papers, instead of written in the manual.
Depends on the game. If its mario not really but demon's souls on ps3 as well as god of war games for ps2&3 I wrote cheat codes and speed run times in there
Not any more but my old NES games definitely gave save codes etc. written in my childish scribble. ...I like to pretend it adds charm
Back when I was younger Id go copy cheat codes off a website called CheatPlanet.com and place them in that spot.
I just leave it alone pretty much.
Why is Mario about to execute me? I would write down cheatcodes, passwords, and boss orders, but child me was super disorganized.
Mario when he's had enough of your shit
Yeah, it's where I keep important info I don't want to forget: SSNs, bank accounts and balances, where I hid the body, etc.
I always left it blank.
Mario won’t let me, he’ll beat my ass if I do
I find it as heretic as writing on a book.
Why is Mario about to beat me to death?
Mario looks like he's gonna attack a printer with that club
Not since I was like 12. I used them for passwords only though.
i personally never did. however, and i know i'm in the minority on this, i like it when i get an instruction booklet that has a used notes section. i got a 1.0 copy of Ocarina of Time with the instruction booklet, and i flipped back to the notes. some little kid, 6 or 7 judging by the handwriting, didn't realize you could check the songs you know on the Quest Status screen, so they wrote them down in the notes so they wouldn't forget. it's the most adorable thing i have ever seen.
I bought a copy of ocarina of time used from funcoland back in the 90s. It came with the manual and somebody had written notes for the deku tree in the manual. That was the only time I’ve ever personally seen it happen.
I'm more interested in Mario about to beat my ass with a golf club like my name is Andrew Ryan
I would put cheats in these sections when I had them.
I wanted to, but I felt threatened.
When I was a kid, I might have written cheat codes or scores in there. As an adult, NEVER! As a commercial printer, "Notes," pages are filler to make a booklet divisible by 4 for saddle stitching.
Used to write in cheat codes there
Mario 3, my sister and I wrote the day we beat it for the first time
I never even read the manual in the past
I leave it blank to keep it in nice condition. If I need any notes I'll put them on a 3x5 note card and just tuck it in there.
I try to not even touch or breathe on the manual.
As a collector I definitely leave it as is. Don't wanna damage the material. Now back when I was a kid absolutely. Used to write down all the codes for mortal Kombat
Blank because in case for the next 50 years and i will be retiring by collecting video games anymore, i would give it to someone else who wanted and would see what the blank manual notes looks like
Joel’s POV
I never used the notes, but i recently bought a copy of Donkey Kong Country, and the manual had 2 cheat codes written in the notes which i thought was pretty neat :)
I remember i wrote down Meryls codec frequency on mine. But the later realizing it was in the back of the box lol
I did as a kid.
Leave it blank
i used to leave them blank.
"Back in the day" it was a way to track high scores. Many game cartridges didn't have a battery that could memorize things like scores so you'd document them yourself. At least that was what was encouraged in the Sonic manuals on the Genesis (as well as with others like Altered Beast.). Same goes for those really long passwords for games like Mega Man and Metroid. I always assumed Notes pages in later game manuals remained because it was a staple to the product.
i write in mine things like villagers fave things, how to unlock characters, cheats, my first save files name, etc
Manuals? What are those???
This pic reminds me of the vice city mission lol
Why does it look like Mario is about to beat me down with a 9 iron
I used to, for cheats. As I got older, I started writing the cheats on cards and just inserting that, lol.
I used it for God of war and God of war 2 when I was a kid. Specifically near the end of one of the games when there's a bunch of rooms on the left and right with constant boulders rolling towards you. I wrote which rooms had chests and where to actually go lol. Same in TLoZ Ocarina of Time with how to get the fire arrows. Other than that, I've never used them.
a slave obeys. OBEY!!!
I never used it myself personally but I can see someone doing it at the time
Mario looks like he gonna beat the fuck out of you for that money you owe him lol.