Sega CD, Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast Instruction Manual Scans (+32X & SMS)

[games-go-round]

I know I've said it before, but I really can't stress enough just how valuable of an archive all of these manual scans are.  I keep checking back on this thread for updates, and I'm glad it's still moving along!

Speaking of moving along, I'm finally ready to get started re-printing some manuals of my own!  I'm thinking I'll start with the manual for D, because it's pretty short compared to some of the others.  If I get it done today (which I plan to) I'll post some pictures of it, along with the DVD case that it will be stored in.  If all goes well, I think Street Fighter Alpha 2 will be next - full color, baby!

Again, thanks TSOLfan.  While my girlfriend may not be too happy about it, you've given me a new project to pass my free time.  I, for one, am stoked :-D

[TSOLfan]

3248 scans and 4GB+ later (8GB+ if you count the zip files), my Sega Saturn Instruction Manual Scan project is complete.

Speaking of moving along, I'm finally ready to get started re-printing some manuals of my own!  I'm thinking I'll start with the manual for D, because it's pretty short compared to some of the others.

It seems Sega Saturn developers loved printing manuals with solid black pages with white text, so hopefully you have a lot of black ink

[TSOLfan]

Thanks to ThugsRook over at the Sega 16 forums for this link:

http://www.segafans.com/the-vault/manuals/sega-cd-manuals/

These aren't my scans, but, for anyone that needs Sega CD manuals, this looks like a great resource.  It's missing Starblade, so I'll be sure to get that one scanned in first.  I'll still end up scanning my Sega CD manuals so I have them in the same format as all of my others (for easy browsing on my tablet), as well as for anyone that wants raw JPG scans (as those are all already compressed PDFs).

[games-go-round]

Well, I got the manual for D all printed off and stapled together, but I can't get my images to load up!  Anyone have any pointers?

[TSOLfan]

I went ahead and scanned in and uploaded Starblade for Sega CD along with my other Sega Dreamcast scans for today since it was the only game missing from the Sega CD PDF archive that I linked to earlier, that way anyone just collecting the PDF manuals can quickly complete their collection.

Well, I got the manual for D all printed off and stapled together, but I can't get my images to load up!  Anyone have any pointers?

What I've always done is upload my image somewhere (such as Flickr, Dropbox, etc) and then copied a link to the image and then clicked the image icon (middle row, second from the left) and then pasted the link between the img tags that the button creates.

[games-go-round]

All right, let's see if I got this figured out!

http://s1098.photobucket.com/albums/g374/games-go-round/

There should be 4 shots total.  I had compressed the heck out of them originally, so I may go back and take newer, full-res shots if these don't come out well.  The manual stapled together very well, and the paper I used (taken from an old sketch pad that I trimmed to fit in the printer  ) is easy to handle and grip.  The first time I printed a manual, I used higher-quality matte photo paper, and while the colors were great, the paper didn;t have much texture, and I found it hard to hold onto the manual!

I didn't print the inner pages at the highest setting, so you may notice some vertical lines from the printing.  I didn't want to over-saturate the paper and cause the front of the page to bleed into the back.  The end result is a manual that is accurate, easy to read, and easy to hold.  I *could* have done a better, higher-quality job, but I'm still happy with the result!

More to come soon!  I hope others are working one these, too - I'd love to see 'em!

[TSOLfan]

My spare copy of Virtua Athlete 2000 finally arrived, so I've got that linked up where I had previously skipped it.

MediaFire seems to be acting up at the moment, so you won't see the image previews, but the zip should still download just fine.

More to come soon!  I hope others are working one these, too - I'd love to see 'em!

I think this looks fantastic!  I'm glad someone is finding a use for these!

[comradesnarky]

Is there any chance you could add front and back inlays to the scan folders for the Dreamcast games? A lot of the games you've scanned the manuals for don't have decent quality back inserts or inlays available of the original covers and it would be a great help. 

[TSOLfan]

Is there any chance you could add front and back inlays to the scan folders for the Dreamcast games? A lot of the games you've scanned the manuals for don't have decent quality back inserts or inlays available of the original covers and it would be a great help.  

It's pretty easy to slide out a manual, though, I always loathe cracking open cases to pull out the tray inserts, especially 247 times.

With that said, I'd like to think between these two threads, I've scanned the front and back of the inlays that people have needed:

http://www.thecoverproject.net/forums/index.php?topic=5845.0
http://www.thecoverproject.net/forums/index.php?topic=4680.0

So, I'd rather handle these on a case-by-case basis (pun not intended).

Then again, I may change my tune in a few months, as I've been scanning manuals non-stop since July in my mornings before work, fortunately, with just a few months left to wrap everything up.  Once I get some distance from that (MediaFire tells me I've uploaded 7100+ individual scans thus far), I may feel up to the task, because, I mean, what's another 440 (247 inserts times 2 for front and back scans minus the 27 games in my main scan thread I've already done times 2 for front and back

[TSOLfan]

Seems MediaFire is having some issues at the moment, in that, clicking my links show no files.  I noticed this same issue yesterday morning, though, by the time I checked again in the evening, everything was working again.  I checked a few other MediaFire links (other than my own), and they all seem to have the same issue, so thankfully, it's not just me.

They scans are all there for today's uploads, though, up to MediaFire as to when they'll work.

[comradesnarky]

Is there any chance you could add front and back inlays to the scan folders for the Dreamcast games? A lot of the games you've scanned the manuals for don't have decent quality back inserts or inlays available of the original covers and it would be a great help.  

It's pretty easy to slide out a manual, though, I always loathe cracking open cases to pull out the tray inserts, especially 247 times.

With that said, I'd like to think between these two threads, I've scanned the front and back of the inlays that people have needed:

http://www.thecoverproject.net/forums/index.php?topic=5845.0
http://www.thecoverproject.net/forums/index.php?topic=4680.0

So, I'd rather handle these on a case-by-case basis (pun not intended).

Then again, I may change my tune in a few months, as I've been scanning manuals non-stop since July in my mornings before work, fortunately, with just a few months left to wrap everything up.  Once I get some distance from that (MediaFire tells me I've uploaded 7100+ individual scans thus far), I may feel up to the task, because, I mean, what's another 440 (247 inserts times 2 for front and back scans minus the 27 games in my main scan thread I've already done times 2 for front and back

Oh yes, you've done a few things for me very promptly and I really appreciate it, I just always feel bad asking because I really don't have anything in my collection that isn't already here so I can't provide much in return for anyone here.

[TSOLfan]

Tomorrow I'll be kicking off my Sega CD scans, so everyone can start the new year with 3 Ninjas Kick Back

Even though there are about 100 less games for the Sega CD than the Sega Saturn or Sega Dreamcast, the number of games having 40+ page manuals is much higher (as well as quite a few 60+ and a 70+), which means, unfortunately, it will probably take me about the same time to scan them all in.

[games-go-round]

I'm just glad you're still doing this!  We all really appreciate the work you're putting into this, and without your scans, I'd never know what the inside to the Panzer Dragoon Saga manual looked like... or Magic Knight Rayearth, for that matter 

[TSOLfan]

I'm just glad you're still doing this!  We all really appreciate the work you're putting into this, and without your scans, I'd never know what the inside to the Panzer Dragoon Saga manual looked like... or Magic Knight Rayearth, for that matter  

I'm glad I can share my collection and be a source.  I'm not one for advertising much, but hopefully someone looking for a manual for their loose copy of a Sega CD, Sega Saturn or Sega Dreamcast game will stumble upon the site and be able to check out the manual.  If anyone feels like sharing this thread with any gaming sites they frequent, feel free.  Perhaps it will lead to more scans from others noticing the site for the first time  I'd like to see someone try and tackle manual scans for Sega Master System, or NES, or even SNES or Genesis.  I know those last two have quite a few releases, from my quick research, less than 800 each when looking at US releases alone.  Those numbers can sound intimidating, but, once I finish all of my Sega manuals, that will put me around 650 manuals scanned, so it's definitely do-able, be it one person or a team.  Though, with one person, you do get a level of consistency in how all manuals would look, which I think goes a long way.

A quick note on my SegaCD scans.  Looking over the scans at SegaFans (that I linked to earlier), some are a bit rough (like their version of Wonderdog, which I uploaded to ratigators.com here this morning).  So, I'll keep sharing my SegaCD scans as an alternate source.  Plus, I went ahead and scanned in the "red" version of Wonderdog, as they had the "green" version.

I may come back around after the fact and fill in a few alt manuals, such as the "green" Wonderdog, the matte (not foil) Lunar, and the small Ecco, Sonic, and Sewer Shark manuals (from when they became pack in games), and the blue box version of Night Trap (this is the version that SegaFans has).  Also, my scan for Rise of the Dragon will be the blue longbox re-release version (same as SegaFans).  I have the original cardboard box release, though, it's still sealed.  If I pick up an alt copy, I'll scan that in as well.

A minor annoyance with the SegaCD scans is that there are quite a few manual sizes, so I can't as easily run a batch.  There's the original size manuals for the cardboard box released games (such as Wonderdog).  Then there is the larger size from the jewel case releases, some which are even slightly wider than others (such as Eternal Champions and Wing Commander, 2 of the larger manuals).  Then, the later box releases of the Digital Picture games (such as Corpse Killer) have even larger manuals.  Then you have the manuals for the pack in games, such as Sol Feace and the original Sherlock Holmes that are their own custom size (not even a standard CD case size like the Dreamcast manuals).  Finally, you have a one off like Colors of Modern Rock that is much smaller than anything else, much smaller than Dreamcast sized manuals.

[TSOLfan]

One of today's Dreamcast manuals is Grandia II, which is not only the longest US Dreamcast game manual, but it's also full color (color manuals are more frequent in Dreamcast releases than Saturn, but still by no means common).