Pamphlet Shelf: Difference between revisions

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== [[Action Adventure]] ==
== [[Action Adventure]] ==
* Taken to its irrational conclusion in ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]: [[The Legend of Zelda Majoras Mask|Majora's Mask]]''. The grandmother in the inn offers to read you one of two bedtime stories. The longer tale of the two could easily fit on one or two pages of a real book. The process of listening to the story takes ''twelve ingame hours'' and requires you to equip a magical mask if you don't want to fall asleep in the process.
* Taken to its irrational conclusion in ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]: [[The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask|Majora's Mask]]''. The grandmother in the inn offers to read you one of two bedtime stories. The longer tale of the two could easily fit on one or two pages of a real book. The process of listening to the story takes ''twelve ingame hours'' and requires you to equip a magical mask if you don't want to fall asleep in the process.


== [[Adventure Game]] ==
== [[Adventure Game]] ==
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== [[First-Person Shooter]] ==
== [[First-Person Shooter]] ==
* In ''[[Marathon (Video Game)|Marathon]]'', you get to kick back at computer terminals dotted around the titular colony ship and read all sorts of snippets from Martian history to philosophical articles to classified ads to chunks of hexadecimal garbage. The compactness and relevance of most terminal texts is implied to be from malignant cyborgs and sentient (not to mention [[AI Is a Crapshoot|completely bonkers]]) computers battling each other.
* In ''[[Marathon Trilogy|Marathon]]'', you get to kick back at computer terminals dotted around the titular colony ship and read all sorts of snippets from Martian history to philosophical articles to classified ads to chunks of hexadecimal garbage. The compactness and relevance of most terminal texts is implied to be from malignant cyborgs and sentient (not to mention [[AI Is a Crapshoot|completely bonkers]]) computers battling each other.


== [[Interactive Fiction]] ==
== [[Interactive Fiction]] ==
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* During the Inventing tutorial in ''[[City of Heroes]]'', one task you are given is to read a specific book. The entire contents of said book are sufficient to fill one dialog window, and no more.
* During the Inventing tutorial in ''[[City of Heroes]]'', one task you are given is to read a specific book. The entire contents of said book are sufficient to fill one dialog window, and no more.
* In ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', information comes in two forms, items in your inventory and books lying out on tables. Items are often letters or notes specifically given to you and written in full (sometimes brief, sometimes verbose) details. Books (both in inventory and more often out) are not quite as full as a book should be, although they contain numerous pages worth of lore. Few if any books have the equivalent of one paperback novel's page of text.
* In ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', information comes in two forms, items in your inventory and books lying out on tables. Items are often letters or notes specifically given to you and written in full (sometimes brief, sometimes verbose) details. Books (both in inventory and more often out) are not quite as full as a book should be, although they contain numerous pages worth of lore. Few if any books have the equivalent of one paperback novel's page of text.
* Played straight, averted, and subverted in ''[[Mabinogi (Video Game)|Mabinogi]]''. Books are only available for purchase from NPCs, or awarded from quests. The only library doesn't have any readable books. Reading the books gets a visual book with pages that must be turned manually. Length ranges from a single (short) page, to well over a dozen or more. Some of them are guides to various in-game functions, which are useful to read; some are skill-granting artifacts or quest items, which don't ''need'' to be read, but which can contain useful info on how to use the skill, or on the quest storyline; and some are completely extraneous, containing nothing but backstory or flavour text. Most of the longest books are the extraneous ones, and the newbie guides.
* Played straight, averted, and subverted in ''[[Mabinogi (video game)|Mabinogi]]''. Books are only available for purchase from NPCs, or awarded from quests. The only library doesn't have any readable books. Reading the books gets a visual book with pages that must be turned manually. Length ranges from a single (short) page, to well over a dozen or more. Some of them are guides to various in-game functions, which are useful to read; some are skill-granting artifacts or quest items, which don't ''need'' to be read, but which can contain useful info on how to use the skill, or on the quest storyline; and some are completely extraneous, containing nothing but backstory or flavour text. Most of the longest books are the extraneous ones, and the newbie guides.


== [[Platform Game]] ==
== [[Platform Game]] ==
* Averted in ''[[Monkey Island 2]]'', where the library mostly contained irrelevant books, and finding the useful ones was part of the puzzle. On the other hand, the book of quotations ''did'' contain remarkably few quotes.
* Averted in ''[[Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge]]'', where the library mostly contained irrelevant books, and finding the useful ones was part of the puzzle. On the other hand, the book of quotations ''did'' contain remarkably few quotes.
* ''[[Super Mario Galaxy (Video Game)|Super Mario Galaxy]]'' has Rosalina's book, which is slowly unlocked over the course of the game. {{spoiler|It contains Rosalina's biography.}}
* ''[[Super Mario Galaxy]]'' has Rosalina's book, which is slowly unlocked over the course of the game. {{spoiler|It contains Rosalina's biography.}}
* In ''[[Spyro]]: Shadow Legacy'', various books have the plots of previous games, or other in-game information, boiled down to about three sentences.
* In ''[[Spyro]]: Shadow Legacy'', various books have the plots of previous games, or other in-game information, boiled down to about three sentences.


== [[Role Playing Game]] ==
== [[Role Playing Game]] ==
* ''[[Dragon Quest]]'' has obeyed this trope from time immemorial; ''[[Dragon Quest VIII (Video Game)|Dragon Quest VIII]]'' may count as [[Lampshade Hanging]], as the hero opens every book to the middle (after flipping two pages) and never turns the page, so he's clearly only reading the page he needs to read out of the book.
* ''[[Dragon Quest]]'' has obeyed this trope from time immemorial; ''[[Dragon Quest VIII]]'' may count as [[Lampshade Hanging]], as the hero opens every book to the middle (after flipping two pages) and never turns the page, so he's clearly only reading the page he needs to read out of the book.
* ''[[Fable]]'': One sidequest early in the game asks you to collect books for an elementary school teacher for him to read to the youngsters. You don't get to read the entire books yourself, but when you hand each one over to the teacher, he reads them aloud to the children, and all of them actually are that short.
* ''[[Fable]]'': One sidequest early in the game asks you to collect books for an elementary school teacher for him to read to the youngsters. You don't get to read the entire books yourself, but when you hand each one over to the teacher, he reads them aloud to the children, and all of them actually are that short.
** Although, we don't know how long the ones he refuses to finish reading are...
** Although, we don't know how long the ones he refuses to finish reading are...
** ''Fable 2'' has some actual pamphlet, but all the descriptions of the books simply ''tell you'' what they're about in a quick synopsis.
** ''Fable 2'' has some actual pamphlet, but all the descriptions of the books simply ''tell you'' what they're about in a quick synopsis.
* ''[[Megaman Battle Network]]'' and its sequels.
* ''[[Mega Man Battle Network]]'' and its sequels.
* ''[[Wild Arms]]''
* ''[[Wild Arms]]''
** Averted in ''[[Wild Arms 3 (Video Game)|Wild Arms 3]]'' with the Adventure Book quest: you have to find eleven books detailing a children's story and then read the assembled story to a certain little girl. The entire story is told with text and still frame pictures, and while not long enough to be a proper book- let alone span eleven books- it's still quite a substantial text compared to the RPG standard. In all honesty, the story was so long and boring that it made this editor realise ''why'' RPGs use this trope so much.
** Averted in ''[[Wild Arms 3]]'' with the Adventure Book quest: you have to find eleven books detailing a children's story and then read the assembled story to a certain little girl. The entire story is told with text and still frame pictures, and while not long enough to be a proper book- let alone span eleven books- it's still quite a substantial text compared to the RPG standard. In all honesty, the story was so long and boring that it made this editor realise ''why'' RPGs use this trope so much.
** There's another one like this in ''[[Wild Arms 1 (Video Game)|Wild ARMs: Alter Code F]]'', though it's quite a bit more random than the ''[[Wild Arms 3 (Video Game)|Wild Arms 3]]'' version.
** There's another one like this in ''[[Wild Arms 1|Wild ARMs: Alter Code F]]'', though it's quite a bit more random than the ''[[Wild Arms 3]]'' version.
* Averted in most of ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' games, in which every book shown is readable, and books often just contain backstory and lore sometimes not even related to the particular games' storyline. Othertimes, they contain [[In-Game Novel|full-fledged short stories]]. They do cheat a bit by padding the shelves with multiple copies of the same book.
* Averted in most of ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' games, in which every book shown is readable, and books often just contain backstory and lore sometimes not even related to the particular games' storyline. Othertimes, they contain [[In-Game Novel|full-fledged short stories]]. They do cheat a bit by padding the shelves with multiple copies of the same book.
** The exception to this is ''The Lusty Argonian Maid''. Yes, because it is exactly what it sounds like.
** The exception to this is ''The Lusty Argonian Maid''. Yes, because it is exactly what it sounds like.
*** That, and ''Boethiah's Pillow Book'', which is entirely represented by:
*** That, and ''Boethiah's Pillow Book'', which is entirely represented by:
{{quote| No words can describe what you see. Or [[Head-Tiltingly Kinky|what you think you see]].}}
{{quote| No words can describe what you see. Or [[Head-Tiltingly Kinky|what you think you see]].}}
** In ''[[The Elder Scrolls II Daggerfall (Video Game)|Daggerfall]]'', various books throughout the game hinted what days to summon Daedric Princes and what to expect from it. ''[[Morrowind]]'' does not have complicated summoning that requires specific storm-less days, and the only remnant in Vvardenfell's selection of literature is referenced in ''Invocation of Azura''.
** In ''[[The Elder Scrolls II Daggerfall|Daggerfall]]'', various books throughout the game hinted what days to summon Daedric Princes and what to expect from it. ''[[Morrowind]]'' does not have complicated summoning that requires specific storm-less days, and the only remnant in Vvardenfell's selection of literature is referenced in ''Invocation of Azura''.
** Skill books even contain these stories, instead of just adding to the skill.
** Skill books even contain these stories, instead of just adding to the skill.
* Followed in ''[[Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door (Video Game)|Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door]]'', to some extent; most of the time, if Professor Frankly has to read a book, he opens it right to the relevant page.
* Followed in ''[[Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door]]'', to some extent; most of the time, if Professor Frankly has to read a book, he opens it right to the relevant page.
** In addition, a player with coins to burn may purchase, one at a time, the Super Luigi series of books. Like in the Pamphlet trope, these books are rather short; however, they are completely irrelevant to the quest at hand.
** In addition, a player with coins to burn may purchase, one at a time, the Super Luigi series of books. Like in the Pamphlet trope, these books are rather short; however, they are completely irrelevant to the quest at hand.
* When larger books are read in the ''[[Fallout]]'' series, an appropriate amount of time passes while the [[Player Character]] peruses them.
* When larger books are read in the ''[[Fallout]]'' series, an appropriate amount of time passes while the [[Player Character]] peruses them.
* Entries in the [[Encyclopedia Exposita|Codex]] in ''[[Mass Effect]]'' appear when something relevant occurs in-game; you don't have to read the Codex, but it provides interesting information anyway.
* Entries in the [[Encyclopedia Exposita|Codex]] in ''[[Mass Effect]]'' appear when something relevant occurs in-game; you don't have to read the Codex, but it provides interesting information anyway.
* Played fairly straight in ''[[Knights of the Old Republic|KOTOR]]''. There aren't any shelves or books, but there are datapads, usually containing only a single paragraph or two.
* Played fairly straight in ''[[Knights of the Old Republic|KOTOR]]''. There aren't any shelves or books, but there are datapads, usually containing only a single paragraph or two.
* ''[[Baldurs Gate]]'' has completely optional books that are longer than typical examples of this trope, but still ''vastly'' shorter than any self-respecting real-world book. They provide a wealth of flavor text, and a few actually are tangibly relevant to the plot (The Dead Three and Time of Troubles)
* ''[[Baldur's Gate]]'' has completely optional books that are longer than typical examples of this trope, but still ''vastly'' shorter than any self-respecting real-world book. They provide a wealth of flavor text, and a few actually are tangibly relevant to the plot (The Dead Three and Time of Troubles)
* ''[[Neverwinter Nights]]'' also has the brief, but setting-enriching flavor text books as well.
* ''[[Neverwinter Nights]]'' also has the brief, but setting-enriching flavor text books as well.
* The ''[[Pokémon]]'' series is guilty of this. Normally, the text is purely for fun, or the character will say something like "A bunch of hard-to-read books are on this shelf," but in ''Diamond and Pearl'' a library is a major plot point, and yet it still does this.
* The ''[[Pokémon]]'' series is guilty of this. Normally, the text is purely for fun, or the character will say something like "A bunch of hard-to-read books are on this shelf," but in ''Diamond and Pearl'' a library is a major plot point, and yet it still does this.
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* ''[[Aidyn Chronicles]]'' does this with any books you find. There are a few libraries in the game, all of which only have a few books you can read, and almost all the books contain only the briefest of snippets that don't even fill the page.
* ''[[Aidyn Chronicles]]'' does this with any books you find. There are a few libraries in the game, all of which only have a few books you can read, and almost all the books contain only the briefest of snippets that don't even fill the page.
* The SNES game ''[[Robotrek]]'' has plenty of this, since beyond plot-related reading the main character learns to produce new items from the Invention Machine by finding "Inventor's Friend" volumes. Then again, the machine just spits items out on demand, [[Epileptic Trees|so maybe he just copies the CD in the back of the book and leaves the written info to the more hands-on inventors]]. There's also a hidden library that contains one of each volume in the game (a few of which are exclusive to that area), but it's still one whole tile of bookshelf for each book.
* The SNES game ''[[Robotrek]]'' has plenty of this, since beyond plot-related reading the main character learns to produce new items from the Invention Machine by finding "Inventor's Friend" volumes. Then again, the machine just spits items out on demand, [[Epileptic Trees|so maybe he just copies the CD in the back of the book and leaves the written info to the more hands-on inventors]]. There's also a hidden library that contains one of each volume in the game (a few of which are exclusive to that area), but it's still one whole tile of bookshelf for each book.
* ''[[Betrayal At Krondor]]'' has you come across a library, and it deals with the issue in its trademark manner - you get a long, wordy narration describing your characters trudging through shelves and shelves of dusty ledgers, obsolete textbooks and illegible scribblings to find a little tidbit of information in the margins of a half-hidden combat manual, for example.
* ''[[Betrayal at Krondor]]'' has you come across a library, and it deals with the issue in its trademark manner - you get a long, wordy narration describing your characters trudging through shelves and shelves of dusty ledgers, obsolete textbooks and illegible scribblings to find a little tidbit of information in the margins of a half-hidden combat manual, for example.
* In ''[[Dubloon]]'', you can find a short piece of info about a mysterious captain who searched for the Golden Chest many years ago. This short piece of info can be found in ''[[Rule of Three|3]] tomes, each lying next to each other''.
* In ''[[Dubloon]]'', you can find a short piece of info about a mysterious captain who searched for the Golden Chest many years ago. This short piece of info can be found in ''[[Rule of Three|3]] tomes, each lying next to each other''.
* In [[Dungeon Siege]] and especially the expansion, there are numerous books lieing around to read. However, there's always only a single page that remains legible for [[Apocalyptic Log|various reasons]].
* In [[Dungeon Siege]] and especially the expansion, there are numerous books lieing around to read. However, there's always only a single page that remains legible for [[Apocalyptic Log|various reasons]].
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== [[Stealth Based Game]] ==
== [[Stealth Based Game]] ==
* Averted in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2]]'', where the extras section has a book, mentioned in the game as being an account of the events of the first game. It is an actual book at 300-some pages.
* Averted in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty]]'', where the extras section has a book, mentioned in the game as being an account of the events of the first game. It is an actual book at 300-some pages.


== [[Turn Based Strategy]] ==
== [[Turn-Based Strategy]] ==
* ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'' averts the trope with the Germonik Scriptures; choosing to read them leads to Ramza summarizing the contents, after noting that it took him quite some time to get through it.
* ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'' averts the trope with the Germonik Scriptures; choosing to read them leads to Ramza summarizing the contents, after noting that it took him quite some time to get through it.


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== [[Fan Works]] ==
== [[Fan Works]] ==
* Parodied in ''[[Turnabout Storm (Fanfic)|Turnabout Storm]]'', when [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|Twilight Sparkle]] gives [[Ace Attorney|Phoenix Wright]] a "'detailed' encyclopedia" on the different species of ponies. It's literally three bullet points long, and Nick finishes reading it in "[[Memetic Mutation|ten seconds flat]]". Justified in that the book is meant for very young readers. This gets brought up again a little later, when Nick mistakenly calls Rainbow Dash an earth pony.
* Parodied in ''[[Turnabout Storm]]'', when [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|Twilight Sparkle]] gives [[Ace Attorney|Phoenix Wright]] a "'detailed' encyclopedia" on the different species of ponies. It's literally three bullet points long, and Nick finishes reading it in "[[Memetic Mutation|ten seconds flat]]". Justified in that the book is meant for very young readers. This gets brought up again a little later, when Nick mistakenly calls Rainbow Dash an earth pony.
{{quote| "It's kinda sad I couldn't get down a book with twelve words."}}
{{quote| "It's kinda sad I couldn't get down a book with twelve words."}}


== [[Web Comics]] ==
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* ''[[Adventurers (Webcomic)|Adventurers]]'' makes fun of this trope [http://www.adventurers-comic.com/d/0187.html in one strip.]
* ''[[Adventurers]]'' makes fun of this trope [http://www.adventurers-comic.com/d/0187.html in one strip.]
** As does [[Captain SNES]] in [http://www.captainsnes.com/2002/06/25/152-wish-i-could-get-that-much-sleep/ this strip.]
** As does [[Captain SNES]] in [http://www.captainsnes.com/2002/06/25/152-wish-i-could-get-that-much-sleep/ this strip.]


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