Retro Scan of the Week: “Permanent Video Game Instructions”
May 8th, 2006 by Benj Edwards
Wow — these instructions are so permanent that they have outlived the rugged plastic case they were grafted onto! The instructions in question are actually stuck like a sticker on the flip side of the piece you see here. I bet if a set of Permastruct (TM) instructions got caught in a nuclear blast, you’d inspect the site later to find only a smoldering pile of radioactive gravel and, of course, a concise guide on how to play Bionic Commando.
Of particular note is the presumed Permastruct (TM) mascot– we’ll call him Permaman — with his back to the camera, throwing an awkward, off-balance punch at absolutely nothing while shouting vague sardonic threats at the Permastruct (TM) logo. Tony the Tiger would get committed if found pulling a similar stunt on a box of Frosted Flakes. But then again, Tony’s not permanent. Permaman ain’t gotta take no crap from nobody.
May 8th, 2006 at 11:27 am
Heh, if I’m not mistaken, that must be from an old NES rental or something? I vaguely recall there being something similar on the rentals at our local rental joint long before all of the blue and yellow rental stores started popping up everywhere.
What’s on the back of the case? I remember those instructions usually sucked – not much more than a short paragraph telling you to press A to jump and B block.
May 8th, 2006 at 5:27 pm
oh man, this brings back a lot of memories… the local mom n’ pop rental store I frequented as a kid (with pockets full of change I’d collected so I could rent something like “The Last Ninja”) used these for most of their NES titles. The concept lives on with the Hollywood and Blockbuster video chains, but it definitely isn’t the same.
May 8th, 2006 at 10:01 pm
Oh yeah, this rings a bell from when I used to rent games compulsively. These were substitutes if (when) the actual instruction booklets got lost. I heard that some rental stores photocopied the instruction manuals for that eventuality, but were sued for copyright infringement.
February 3rd, 2011 at 1:31 am
I remember these! Yeah video rental stores were always missing the instruction booklets, and I felt so sad whenever I got these ones because they never had the full “story” on them.
September 2nd, 2012 at 9:30 pm
i just got a bunch of them still as a card not used ! i would like to know what they are worth ? iv looked all over the net and cant seem to find them any where ! if any one knows please let me know.
thank you