Reports from IT Media (via Kotaku) claim that PlayStation’s Vita games will completely do away with physical instruction books, a longtime perk loved by collectors.
Physical media continues to disintegrate as video games move toward a market caught in the clouds. Most of these transitions seem appropriate since publishers and developers don’t waste resources, but questions regarding money saved on the consumer’s end remain at large. When Microsoft first released their Games on Demand service, prices were no different than — this is still the case — brick and mortar retailers. Services like Steam, however, constantly slash prices on their digital networks, with impressive sales and promos passing savings on to shoppers.
It’s an uncanny move for an industry itching to go all digital, so physical copy fans should give Sony some credit for using flash media instead of nothing at all. Then again, terrible sales from the digital-only PSP Go probably helped in Sony’s ultimate decision for the PS Vita. Though it’s 2011 and the gadget world continues to rapidly evolve, many gamers still love having something to hold onto.
Also, let’s not forget about that new game smell… fantastic.
Chris Hernandez
They could easily have an instruction booklet build into the game accessible from the menu or something, similar to how certain Wii and 3DS games work.
Rian Quenlin
It’s not like instruction manuals are even needed these days with every game having tutorials of sorts. More advanced or in-depth ones could use it but smooth and easy to learn interfaces have all but rendered them obsolete.