With the advent of digital downloads, the physical format in video games is a thing of the past and more if it is the manuals. The instructions, which were once included in the game boxes, gradually ceased to exist and became a PDF or web link. Fortunately, there are people like Kerry Hayswho took on the task of Get all Super Nintendo game manuals to scan them and offer them for free download.
Hays, better known as Peebs, has been streaming Super Nintendo games on Twitch for 8 years. The streamer comments that one of the reasons why he decided to make this compilation was because there was no good source for SNES manuals on the internet.
After searching the Wayback Machine for a couple of years, buying a scanner, making a lot of good friends, and having almost 100 people on the internet submitting scans, I can now present you all: a complete collection of English SNES manuals.
The Web SNES Manual Archive includes a listing of 844 manuals, all with a link to the Internet Archive. In order not to unleash Nintendo’s wrath, these files are shared for non-profit and educational purposes. There were no donations, advertising, or rewards from Patreon, just dedicated people who scanned the manual and sent it to Peebs.
Although most of the content is from the English NTSC versions, there are PAL manuals in Spanish, such as Disney’s Aladdin either Sensitive Soccer. The listing has jewelry like Super Metroid, Mega Man X, super mario rpg either Illusion of Gaia. There are also more modern manuals, such as the starfox 2which were adapted to the original format, as if they had been published in 1992.
The project not only covers the Super Nintendo, but all consoles
In accordance with NPR, Peebs started his collection with 650 scans. and asked for support from other internet users to collect as much as possible. On the SNES Manuals website there are also links to other projects, such as a (still incomplete) list of Super Famicon versions or manuals for Nintendo 64 and Virtual Boy.
The project manager has the goal of replicate this project on all consoles in order to preserve as much of this material as possible.
Preservation for me is everyone having access to these things when they want and where they want.
Peebs asked people who have access to a manual, poster or special version to scan it and send it to him. the cselection of Super Nintendo can be downloaded from Internet Archive or access each one individually using the web. There is also a link to 724 high resolution manuals compiled by another user, although Hays’s listing is the most complete in English.
Peebs’ compilation work is one of the most admirable things. He not only took on the task of putting together all the manuals, but also make sure the scan was of quality and the final version was offered for free for all.
Manuals are a dying art. More than three decades ago were an essential component of a video game where the controls and instructions on how to play were included. In some cases, guides to the first levels, tricks or a map were offered. As the console generations progressed, manuals became irrelevant. For the time of the PS3 and Xbox 360, companies like EA or Activision only included a sheet with information about the guarantee and links to the web.