I think this was a matter of time with the 3DS since its built in to have the manual.

Call me "old fashion", but I want a "paper" manual with my games. I have the X-Box 360 and 2 of my games, (Mortal Kombat and Batman: Markham City), only just came with the cases cover folded over with the fine print you always see on the back of a manual. I'm guessing this is mainly because of strategy guides but still, I like have a manual with game. But I'm sure some other people may feel differently, but this is just how I feel about it.

I'm a little surprised it's taken this long for this movement to really get started. The interfaces of recent systems not only make it possible to have a digital manual, but it would also be more convenient for the player since they can just pause the game and load up the manual instead of having to fish it out of their case. They could also do things like implement a search feature so you don't have to page through it to find what you want.

Well, this is a sad new development.  Nintendo made the best manuals in the industry, both detailed and rich in color.  Even with the rest of the industry sadly dropping the paper manual, I was hoping that Nintendo would hold on for at least a few more years.  I enjoyed reading those manuals, usually when I got home from getting the game or when waiting at the Blood Center.

While I loved the old manuals, the more recent manuals have been uninteresting (rote instructions with no handcrafted love, humor, or character) and unnecessary. Besides, modern games are so full of tutorials and other instructions, manuals are redundant. Worse, recent ones were a huge waste of paper with all of those languages included. Aside from easy access, the other benefit of having the manuals on 3DS is that screenshots are also in 3D, which isn't possible with paper.

I have to agree with Megabyte. 
In the past manuals were great.  Like the Warcraft or Wing Commander tomes of a Manual.  They really fleshed out the universe.  Now the last manual that I used was Monster Hunter for the attacks. Though that manual had some big holes as well.

Yeah, I too loved the old ones that came with books instead of manuals, still have Baulder's Gate one laying around (couple hundred of pages). 

Still it does makes sense to ditch the manual, saves on material costs and on handhelds it's easier on the player since they can access it on the go.

No manual?  No loss.

Giant holes in the case where there should be plastic protecting my $50 disc?  Grr. :(

At least the Japanese cases have neat inner box art displayed through those holes. Not so in the US.

Darn NoA.

At least they're putting the manual on the cart, your average AAA game only comes with a slip telling you where to download the manual. And three different slips for the free DLC that comes with every damn copy anyway.

I think its good because if your like me, I don't take the game cases with me or the manuals. Perfect!