(Action 52)
the mash of competing registers in a videogame manual (neutral technical instruction, map of the territory, emotional prompt) sometimes results in text that can be casually beautiful, mysterious or strange. examples include
haphazardly characterised lists of the fake animals that you must put to death
(adventures of tom sawyer; blues brothers; dr chaos; deadly towers; deathbots; abadox)
taxonomies of elements
(chubby cherub; bad street brawler; beetlejuice; castlevania ii)
taxonomies of representation
(fester’s quest)
text descriptions of “what to do” can be staid or grandiose but tend towards the same manic, unreadable repetitiveness of videogames themselves
(caltron 6-in-1; conquest of the crystal palace; deadly towers; bible buffet)
the game descriptions in the action 52 manual are my favourite and read like dreams
(action 52)
the erotic sublime
(fun house; slurpy)
the long-lived war over what to call extra player characters
(astyanax; athena; panama joe)
enticement through rhetoric
(caltron 6-in-1; caltron 6-in-1; astyanax; video flipper)
tips and hints
(conquest of the crystal palace; day dreamin’ davey; beetlejuice)
you can post your favoured pieces of instruction manual bricabrac itt.