Instructional History

1up has an interesting new feature today -- a history of game instruction manuals. Well, sort of. What the writer's done is actually analyze the changing purpose of instruction manuals, and their fall from grace in an era where most of the clever and interesting stuff ends up in the actual game itself.

The manuals for Nintendo games existed, above all, to help young players get the most out of their games without needing help from their parents. Not only was the character art bright and attractive, but the instructions themselves were written with children in mind. The Legend of Zelda instructed gamers to "read the story carefully" if they were having any trouble, and when Super Mario Bros. described the "domino effect", it added that players should "ask [their] parents" for more information.

...among other interesting insights. Go read it.