While physical video games continue to be a thing, the experience of buying a game on disc continues to be more and more painful. For instance, most Xbox video games are rather hard to find physically, if a copy exists at all. In the case of Gears of War: Reloaded, there wasn’t a physical copy for Xbox.
Elsewhere, the Nintendo Switch 2 has introduced Game-Key Cards, something so egregious that even Japan’s National Diet Library has stated they’re not eligible for preservation due to not having the full license on them.
Going To Get Physical Games Is More Inconvenient Than Ever, But I Still Do It
The experience is fading, but I’ll keep living it as best I can.
Beyond the pain of either not finding specific copies or having to deal with copies that don’t actually have any content on them, there’s also the element of just how shoddy these games are.
One of the biggest reasons I am excited for Grand Theft Auto 6 is to see if Rockstar continues its history of having a stuffed physical copy, complete with a map and other little pamphlets. If it doesn’t, then I will be extremely sad.
Long gone are the maps, posters and manuals, and receiving something as simple as reversible cover art is considered a “W.”
However, with the long-awaited release of Metroid Prime 4 on Switch, Nintendo is doing something a bit differently — making a manual available for gamers, assuming you have a printer to print it out, of course.
Perhaps There’s A World Where Manuals Get Created, And You Can Print Them Yourself
As first spotted by Nintendo Life, over on the Japanese Nintendo website, there is an official Metroid Prime 4 databook, or manual. It’s 24 pages in total, and is chock-full of information on the story, the characters, areas and controls that you’ll encounter throughout Prime 4.
In other words, it’s literally what we used to get before someone at the tippy top decided manuals weren’t cool anymore.
If you happen to grab the full PDF, which Nintendo Life has graciously linked to on its site, then there are directions on how to print and fold the booklet, so that it will fit nice and snug within your physical copy of the game.
There are a few caveats that are worth noting, including the fact that, as of writing, it’s only available in Japanese, with no English copy to be found. That could change, of course, especially if more and more fans find out about this neat little goodie.
Second, you’ll have to do all the legwork yourself, which means having ample amounts of color ink to capture all the details in their glory. Finally, you’ll have to be something of an artsy fellow to follow the directions and fold it to the exact specifications.
I have neither a color printer nor the artistic skills to cut a sheet of paper, so I won’t be partaking, but if you do have all those things and don’t care about the Japanese language, then, by all means, this is meant for you.
Perhaps this is what the future of physical games could look like — a guidebook that you print yourself for nostalgia purposes. Sure, it’ll take some ink and some creativity, but it’ll certainly make all those empty boxes less sad.
- Released
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December 4, 2025
- ESRB
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Teen / Animated Blood, Violence
- Developer(s)
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Retro Studios
- Publisher(s)
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Nintendo
