This was me, but with game manuals. I had a ritual where I used to read through the OOT manual religiously before bed as a kid.

Simpler times.

The first game I ever bought with my own money, was the original Command & Conquer. It came in a huge (compared to now) box with a thick manual, that I remember spending the (long) car ride home pouring over. I miss those times.

Back then, game manuals actually contained useful content. They mostly gave you a huge boost for the early game, since games seldom had tutorials.