Well, last night I added a help system to Crashblock. I didn't go for the "In-Game" hints & prompts style, but an option from the menu which gives a detailed breakdown of the game and controls. The reason I didn't do an ingame tutorial part was basically, because generally:

1. they annoy the crap out of me.
2. People only care about them once so it's a load of code for very little use
3. Replay value suffers if you have to follow tutorial to start (Good example: Tachyon, bad example: Tribal Trouble)
4. They can introduce bugs into the game. I've seen a really good game

I like games where you can skip the tutorial altogether, or have it as an option. When it's enforced, it detracts from the game and ruins the immersion.

I quite liked the comments on the "Next-Gen" video posted a little while ago when they complained about in game tutorials making games too noddy.. The player walks up to a button and big arrows appear "Press this here - Use Action Key" It should be obvious enough anyway.

So.. I've gone for help pages.

My opinion aside, has anyone gone for a tutorial? I'd really like to see one done properly where it actually adds to the game.