Ben-DutkaFor as long as we can remember, there have always been game manuals stuck within game boxes. It's just…the way things are.
But given the new "green" craze, perhaps the days of the paper manual are numbered. They certainly are at Ubisoft, as the publisher has revealed an environmental-friendly plan that will remove paper manuals from their PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 games; players will instead receive a digital manual. In so doing, they say we'll have "easier and more intuitive access to game information," it can be a "more robust manual," and this plan will go into action this fall when Shaun White Snowboarding launches. Recent figures state that game manuals for video games consumes an average of 2 tons of wood from 13 trees, a net energy total of 28 million BTUs, which then causes over 6,000 lbs. of CO2 to be released. Said Ubisoft North America president Laurent Detoc:
"Ubisoft is often recognized for making great games, but it’s a special privilege to be the industry leader at saving trees. Eco-friendly initiatives are important to the global community and introducing in-game digital manuals on Xbox 360 and PS3 is just the latest example of Ubisoft’s ongoing commitment to being a more environmentally conscious company."
They even take things a step further by entering into a partnership with Technimark Inc. to release "the industry's most environmentally-responsible DVD case." It'll be used for all PC titles in North America in the future and the first to boast this new eco-friendly case will be Splinter Cell: Conviction , which releases on April 30. Some industry guys have already responded to this move and David Jaffe is none too happy about it; here's what he said on his Twitter page :
"HATE the idea of losing paper manuals. Great manuals add to the experience and – when you are a kid – make the car ride home from the store where you got the game bearable. I LOVED pouring over great game manuals as a kid."
I think we all did, Dave. On the other hand, Cliff Bleszinski says he "fully supports" the elimination of paper manuals, so…who you sidin' with? What's your take on all this?
I bought 2 myworstnightmar. I loved the game cube. I actually played my gamecube more then my ps2 after ffx.
Oh, I love me some Pikmin and Pikmin 2. I hear they are coming out with a Pikmin 3 for Wii.
I guess my point was tongue in cheek, but also, I play my Gamecube games in the Wii now-a-days.
Last edited by MyWorstNightmar on 4/20/2010 4:57:04 PM
Nice spin Ubisoft! Can you please take my discs from me next? I want to download all my games! NOT!
I aprove of this, I can say i very rarely look in the manuals for games. I would not mind it being digital.
Wait, they put games inside of manuals? Since when?
great, I hope you'll be happy when they decide to sell us games in paper sleeves. maybe just a small sticker to say that the game is new while they're at it. you may not read the manuals but a lot still do.
Ubisoft, saving more trees than people money.
Someone needs to camp out at Ubisoft and root through their unrecycled trash. I bet there are tons of pop cans and paper. Bastards.
Wow, the digital age is starting already? That was quick.
I still don't like how the industry is "evolving" towards digital media, but with the way game manuals are nowadays (boring, not much info on the game, etc) I'm actually not against digital manuals. MGS4 pretty much had a digital manual, and that was even better than the real manual was. So as long as they're all like that, I have no complaints.
How can these people be so greedy? Games must be so cheap to manufacture compared to the cartridge days yet here we are paying the same prices, and now they won't even give us a penny's worth of paper to go with our penny's worth of plastic.
Penny for your thoughts?
A whole penny's worth? …gimme a few days.
all the information you need to play a game is usually in the game anyways, whether in on-screen prompts or in a full-on tutorial. i havent touched the manual in years.
For everyone that is in favor of all digital games, get back to me in a few years when ISP's starting capping your DL limit. You can see that all digital games are inevitable and that goes for ISP caps.
As soon as game companies feel the need to eliminate discs, ISP's will see the need to cap your limits. This in-game manual is definitely the first step on a downward spiral.
If you think that games are expensive now, wait until you have to pay for a game and then pay your ISP because you went over the cap. Just a thought.
I'd hate to get to a point where all games are downloaded digitally. That being said…
What does that have to do with removing paper manuals? This is a slippery slope argument if i ever heard one. Removing the paper manuals and putting them on the game itself eventually leads to digital downloadable games only? Wow, really? Did you truly think that one through?
I like having a manual as a collector, but I guess I won't lose any sleep if they make them all digital. But, yeah this is a cost cutting maneuver not a Green thing.
the only green that is trying to be saved is the the green in ubisoft's wallet
Honestly I'm not seeing why some people are so worked up over this. So what if it's just to save them money, why get so worked up over this extremely small issue when there are other things that deserve your attention?
Because this is the article on PSX right now, and when more are posted, we will get worked up over the new articles.
We are calling BS on Ubisoft, because they say it is a way for them to go green, not to save green(backs) as we all think.
If a business does something that we the consumer doesn't like, we have an obligation to speak out about it, not just say, "ahhh whatever".
so you have no real reason to get worked up over it? Look at the overreaction of Rogers71 that i commented on a couple posts up. All that for the removal of paper manuals? I do look at manuals but its not a dire situation that deserved over 100+ comments, or even an article imho
Also, Bulletstorm is the new article, just sayin
Last edited by aaronisbla on 4/20/2010 5:15:04 PM
I definately have a reason to get worked up over it. I want paper manuals. Ubisoft doesn't want them, I do. Therefor, I get worked up over someone trying to take them away. Worked up enough to comment on it at any rate, but not enough to boycott a good Ubisoft game that comes out.
Rogers gave a good explanation of his oppinion, and was not rude about it. Good on him. It was his oppinion, and he put some thought into it.
Oh, and yes, while you are technically correct, Bulletstorm was posted by Ben a whopping 8 minutes after this one, and if you feel that article insterests you, by all means, comment on that one. It didn't catch my interest though. =)
Last edited by MyWorstNightmar on 4/20/2010 5:42:54 PM
his opinion was a slippery sloped argument and that's why i commented on it. It makes no sense that this would be the first step into the digital distribution age. Whether his explanation was good in your opinion doesn't change the fact that its pretty silly to think that
It as much of a slippery sloped argument as those that were saying " First Sony removes the other OS feature, what next, Blu Ray and Games?"
Last edited by aaronisbla on 4/20/2010 7:34:43 PM
Damn. Gaming just isn't going to be fun without going to a store and buying a game in anticipation. But we've got a while for that to happen.
But anyway, sucks for the manuals. To me it's like the law of nature to have a manual. Words of irony, I know.
I'll especially miss the decent manuals. Or the ones that were so thick that it needed more than just a stapler to stick them together. MGS4 is a perfect example of both.
The one thing I can see being cool though is more concentration on the inner case/box cover art. MGS4 is yet another perfect example.
one time i brought my PSone and FF7 to my friends house, and after i got home i realized i had lost the manual…i cried and cried, and he couldn't find it. one day about a week later, his mom cleaned the living room and found it tucked up under the seat cushion.
the moral of the story: don't get rid of paper manuals!
This is the complete wrong direction for game manuals to go. We all know this has nothing to do with the environment.
If anything game manuals need to be bigger with much more information, artwork, hints, and tips.
Instead of coming up with obvious lies, come up with good game manuals.
Dammit… I'm going to have so many people returning games now asking for a replacement because "This was missing its manual".
I can see that happening. I can also see people thinking you're just trying to rip them off when you tell them the "manual's on the disc."
I'm a collector damn it, and I "WANT & NEED" my paper manuals!!!!
If Ubisoft was really doing it ONLY to go green, then they'd also have no problems lowering the prices on any stuff they try to DL at us(yes, that include the manuals!)
Since they're also saving tons of money, then so should we partake in those very same savings too.
But so far, not one of these company's that's talking smack about going DL(& taking stuff away from us) has stepped up, offering to share with us, any part their "HUGE" windfall.
The same DL game shouldn't be the same price as a $60 disc game!
It should be $15 cheaper, or at the very least, $10 cheaper!
Think about it… they have very little overhead with a DL version of a game….
1. They DON'T need to buy discs….
2. They DON'T need all the equipment used to press the game onto discs….
3. They DON'T need a warehouse, or it's added utility bills…..
4. They DON'T need trucks to ship it, or the added gasoline/diesel fuel shipping expenses or surcharges……
5. They DON'T need carboard cartons, plastic cases, shrink-wrap, little security strips, or any other packaging……
6. They DON'T NEED a middleman…
"BUT WHAT THEY DO NEED, IS…….US!!!!
Ya know what? I'm already hating DL crap. If they aren't trying to squeeze every nickel & dime out of it, then they're being all Slim Shady by cutting out parts of their games to re-sell back to us later on as extra DLC $$$$$$$.
It's going to be the death of gaming collectors
(I know I'm slowly dying inside, every time I read more & more of this DL sh!t).
F*ck DL Gaming!!!!!!
Last edited by BikerSaint on 4/20/2010 7:11:05 PM
A DL only future is a future where I no longer buy new games. Period.
Give me a physical copy, or give me death!
It takes the mobility out of gaming too. I can't take a game to a friends house, or swap games for that matter.
HAPPY 420!!!!!
and me without a stash
Why not just make the booklets out of recyclable paper instead? Wouldn't that be pretty much the same in terms of eco-friendly?
DeathofChaos,
The only greening that Ubisoft's thinking about is what's going to be lining the insides of their pockets!
It's all about the dead presidents man….
..those Benjamin's, Grants, Hamilton's, & every extra Washington too.
Ubisoft's money is multi-colored (Euros and Canadian dollars, mostly). ;P
So tired of these publicity stunts of hoping on the Green Bandwagon of doing almost nothing then press releasing it.
Funny too because Global Warming is now nothing more then a fraud. People still act liked they can save the planet by not including paper manuals in their games. Pathetic human beings have become. Each generation always feels the need to latch onto some doomsday scenario.
"Global Warming is now nothing more then a fraud"
No it's not. Go to Google Scholar, search for Global Warming, read scientific papers in published peer reviewed journals until you are bored.
"People still act liked they can save the planet by not including paper manuals in their games."
Ya, that has no real impact.
I pay for physical media. $55 for the bluray disc and the other $5 for the booklet. If you take out the booklet then the price of games should decrease by $5. This sounds utterly ridiculous but when you take something away from your consumer you better be prepared for the consequences that follow. This is the core of what I wanted to get at…
mmmmmm heres the million dollar question.
does ubisoft really give a royal sh*t about the environment, or are they just using that as a excuse to save some cashola?
yea, i thought so.
ubisoft are officially the industries most hated, most tight a$$ed publisher!
and i thought EA and activision were bad!
from now on anything ubisoft = torrent!
Answer: No. None of these people who champion on behalf of the planet do. They care more about themselves and how good it makes them feel to be "doing their part." Environmentalists and bad for humans and the planet.
yeah i know there all a bunch of hypercritical!
i remember reading somewhere that Al Gores house electricity in one night to power a whole US state or something along those lines.
dunno if its true, but i would not be surprised.
another prime example, a few years ago we had strict water restrictions we were not allowed to water the garden between a certain time.
so a photographer pulled up parliament house with a clock and took a photo of the parliament house water sprinklers on watering the garden.
so its ok for them to do it, but not us?
Hey Ubisoft,
Show us all some real environmentalizim….
….go hug every tree that's within 18 inches of a screaming chainsaw.
And please start all your tree-bark fondling in Texas(it's only right, seeing how you've just put us in the mood for another Massacre movie).
With hand held games already going straight to digital downloads, I don't see why losing paper manuals is such a big deal. Now I'm starting to see Kojima's vision of "console days being numbered" but it's more like "physical games being numbered". PSP Go had the right idea, too bad they had to pioneer the damn thing and offer ONLY digital download. The PSP Go is ahead of its time…there are still too many consumers who need their "old school" fix (backwards compatibility) and need of a physical product. Slowly but surely though, it'll all change, once it becomes and industry standard.
Now if the rest of the worlds market would catch the fu** up…
The green framing of this move sounds nice but it's just to make production costs cheaper while the price of retail games will probably just increase as time goes by. More money for the publicly-traded company at the user's expense (anyone surprised?). While I agree paper manuals are more of a nostalgic sort of thing (I still remember the old Ultima manuals and maps that came with the games), it's important consumers don't lose perspective or fall mesmerized under the Ubisoft's 'green' motivation claims, just remember while they make great games they, like every other company, are trying to get as much money out of you as possible. That is why publicly-traded companies exist by nature. It's got nothing to do with art, etc, we just get lucky when a game is great.
Kindle is a perfect example of this corporate gouging. While I don't think the books should be free by any means, new books cost as much as or sometimes MORE as a wireless download then they do actually buying them in paper/print form. I think this pretty much signals the end of the 'paper conservation' era woes. It's got nothing to do with actual, physical paper supplies but everything to do with money money money!
Artists and publishers deserve their profits but also deserve to be called on it when they pull greedy moves like this. I'll keep buying games that are worth buying either way but won't fall into their 'we love the earth' line of b.s.
I'm all for green, but I don't agree with this move. Just like I don't agree with having no hard copy of my game, using space on my games machine and using up my internet downloads with the so called up coming digital age. I don't want to have to go to my computer everytime I want to check something out in the manual or have someone new to the game want to read how to play. And what of those of us who do not have access to computer? It is purely a narrow minded solution. Use recycled paper!!