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Ubisoft Goes Eco-Friendly By Losing Paper Game Manuals

For 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?

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johnld
johnld
14 years ago

@jawknee
i should do my part too and put my ps3 near a tree/plant. hahahaha. I cant do anything about my energy consumption because my ps3 is fat and it needs what it needs.

MyWorstNightmar
MyWorstNightmar
14 years ago

Qwark, check your facts, we are in the midst of global cooling.

Oh, and do your part, fart next to a tree.

Rings0fUranus
Rings0fUranus
14 years ago

everyone knows promiscuous women cause earthquakes

Jawknee
Jawknee
14 years ago

Ahaha squishy, crimsonwolf might know something about that.

G8GTdriver
G8GTdriver
14 years ago

Cut the cost of the game then. This is strictly a cost cutting measure. 13 trees for the whole industry? Please. These trees are grown for paper now. According to Ax Men on the history channel, the one company dropped 500+ trees in one day.

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

paper comes from soft wood which is farmed in western nations like the US, the UK, Norway, Sweden, Canada and others. All those endless tracts of pine forest laid out in precise rows exist so that we can have printer paper, cardboard, bog roll (aka toilet paper), and all the other disposable paper products we use indiscriminately. Then much of that waste paper is recycled into yet more paper products such as cardboard boxes, paper bags and the like. Lot's of that timber is also used by the building industry. But paper especially comes from commercially grown trees planted for the purpose of making paper.

kevinater321
kevinater321
14 years ago

I actually used to work for those companies. I would walk around a field with a belt pocket thing filled with seeds and drop them every so often. Worst job ever but i got a sick tan and some built legs. 😛

Tim Speed24
Tim Speed24
14 years ago

They replaced you with a machine.

Simcoe
Simcoe
14 years ago

Ha, right timster118! Machines don't have the dexterity to allow them to navigate around cut blocks! Tree planting is one job that won't be replaced by machine anytime soon! So long as there are college and university students, there will be tree planters!

Tim Speed24
Tim Speed24
14 years ago

That's what the lumber jacks said.

Now there's a machine that cuts the tree down, de-branches it and strips the bark, then cuts it into 8 foot sections in seconds. One Machine!

Rings0fUranus
Rings0fUranus
14 years ago

won't somebody please think of the lumberjacks?!

SmokeyPSD
SmokeyPSD
14 years ago

Maybe they could go customer friendly, by ditching the most obtrusive DRM model yet.

kevinater321
kevinater321
14 years ago

If they are worried about the environment they should just go all digital, i'm sure the plastic box is worse than the 10 page book inside it.

Jawknee
Jawknee
14 years ago

Ah, but it doest really matter if these "green" measures actually make a difference. As long as Ubisoft feels good about it and it saves them some cash, that's what really matters. I'd have more respect for this decision if they were just honest about it.

LimitedVertigo
LimitedVertigo
14 years ago

It's all about money, smart move by them.

MyWorstNightmar
MyWorstNightmar
14 years ago

Then we can chastise them for lieing at least right?

You have been for the all digital all the time movement for years, so your vote doesn't count. Don't you have a hard drive you should be backing up right now? =)

LimitedVertigo
LimitedVertigo
14 years ago

Lol, have to admit I was doing that earlier this morning…but just a couple hundred files.

You're mean!

MyWorstNightmar
MyWorstNightmar
14 years ago

When you move, what will take longer, moving all your furniture, or packing up all your hardrives in bubble wrap. And how will you transport them, with all your other household goods, or will they be transported via a seperate trip? Will the box/boxes not only be bubblewrapped inside, but will they be bubblewrapped on the outside? Will you drive the vehicle, or will you demand someone else to drive so that you can hold the boxes still?

And don't tell me you haven't thought about it already. I am sure you have this all mapped out weeks in advance.


Last edited by MyWorstNightmar on 4/20/2010 12:33:44 PM

LimitedVertigo
LimitedVertigo
14 years ago

Multiple trips…and lots of packing has already been done. I enjoy packing and moving and I'm really good at it. All the external hard drives simply get packaged in their original boxes as do all my electronic components, minus my computers. The hardest thing to move is the furniture my dad has build for me and my plants.

Oh and Biker Saint I haven't forgotten to email you my new address so you can eventually mail ICO back to me.

MyWorstNightmar
MyWorstNightmar
14 years ago

I'd offer to help if for no other reason than to see the special furniture your dad made for your plants. Do they have their own couch?

Homemade furniture is the worst to move as it is so damn heavy. Whenever my cousin is going to move, I don't answer his calls because his dad made all his furniture.

Hitch
Hitch
14 years ago

@myworst I think he means the plants are hard to move in addition to the furniture his dad made for him. Not furniture for the plants lol.

@LV Limited I told you a long time ago Bikersaint let me borrow that game and mailed it to me.

LimitedVertigo
LimitedVertigo
14 years ago

Hitch,

My penis, your butt, outside, NOW!

MyWorstNightmar
MyWorstNightmar
14 years ago

LOL, Ben, give me a way to give LV MORE than 1 thumbs up please! Good laugh, thanks!

ace_boon_coon
ace_boon_coon
14 years ago

@ LV

sodomy is not allowed lol lol lol leave that to the xbots

Hitch
Hitch
14 years ago

Hold on let me take a sh*t first… Is it ok if I don't wipe? I'm trying to save paper…


Last edited by Hitch on 4/20/2010 4:16:09 PM

SuMtOnE
SuMtOnE
14 years ago

hmm losin the paper manual… won't the value of the game drops as well… i want my paper manual doh

tridon
tridon
14 years ago

I'm personally not happy about this. Digital manuals drive me bonkers (see PS One Classic off the PS Store). I hope other companies don't follow.

JackC8
JackC8
14 years ago

I really don't care about the manuals as long as they give us some in-game thing to replace it. I am just so sick of this eco-crap though. For chrissakes, you're saving 13 trees. If you want to be eco-friendly, you could easily plant ten times that number of trees in an afternoon. If I spent a coupe hours planting some trees, would every gaming site on the net publish a flippin' article about me? It's just assinine.

Nynja
Nynja
14 years ago

Some games require manuals. Just too much information to figure out without one. I have issues with EA and their 2 page manuals that don't explain much of anything aside from the button mapping.

At least Ubisoft will be including a soft copy, but I whole heartedly agree with Jaffe. Ubisoft should offer users the option to download/print game manuals from their website.

Alienange
Alienange
14 years ago

Gimme a break. No one reads the manuals. The best manual we've had this generation of consoles was found in Dragon Age. Other than that, it's a bunch of four page leaflets showing how to use the obsolete PS3 memory card slots.

Besides, in-game manual is a better idea than me having to get up off my ass to go find the manual in its case.

So what if Ubisoft saves money? Who cares? How does that affect your life? Other than them having more money in their pockets to make more games for you?

I think this move is brilliant. Nobody who downloads songs from iTunes complains that the CD cover art is digital.

MyWorstNightmar
MyWorstNightmar
14 years ago

I will not give you a break.

No one reads the manuals? I read FF13's manual cover to cover. Don't take my manual away from me. You can take my freedom, but I want my manual.

Alienange
Alienange
14 years ago

When I heard about the 20 hour tutorial in FFXIII the last thing I wanted to do was also read the manual.

Glad you enjoyed it though. What's in there?

MyWorstNightmar
MyWorstNightmar
14 years ago

Pretty pictures.

Hezzron
Hezzron
14 years ago

The issue here isn't "Do we like or need game manuals?". It's Ubisoft touting themselves as an industry leader in going "green" by doing away with them. It's a cost saving operation, and they're trying to camouflage it by making themselves out to be Captain Planet.

13 trees is going green? Gimme a break!

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

Re Gimme a break…

Which leg?

…cymbals…

Thank you, thank you. I'm here all week.

Hezzron
Hezzron
14 years ago

This removal of a game manual is just the "lube" to get gamers ready to be bent over a barrel when they play the "green card" to get rid of game discs and push for the even more financially beneficial "all digital downloads".

Alienange
Alienange
14 years ago

I hate to say it, but you're probably right. When it happens, my days of buying new games will be over. I'll just play MW2 with friends until I'm dead. Like what PC gamers are doing with WoW.

MyWorstNightmar
MyWorstNightmar
14 years ago

Let it be known, Hezzron is the first to bring up the slippery slope theory.

Ubisoft better not see me in a dark alley anytime soon.

Tim Speed24
Tim Speed24
14 years ago

@Alienange

"What's that in the corner Gandpa?"

"That's a PS3 that plays Blu-ray disc games."

"What's a disc Grandpa?"

"Leave me alone I'm Playing MW2"

Naztycuts
Naztycuts
14 years ago

@Hezzron EXACTLY! combine what you mentioned with my post on the pay for demos idea the EA geniuses thought up and you see the industry gearing up for the 'Digital Revolution'

@Nightmare If you're talking about the slippery slope being the slip into the digital download age then I would have to say paying for demos would be the 'spearhead' and ideas like eliminating game manuals and phasing out the rest of the physical media are the next logical steps for the businesses to cost cut and turn more profit, I bet their profit numbers are through the roof when they dont have to buy a million blu ray's and dvd9's to produce multiplat games not to mention the other physical expenses they'll be eliminating.

MyWorstNightmar
MyWorstNightmar
14 years ago

Nazty, then their games better be a lot cheaper, cuz I am going to have to buy huge hard drives for all my games, and huge hard drives to back up my huge hard drives. That would be insanity. Look at poor Limited, he has all those games on hard drives, and backed up hard drives. All that digital download has him in the poor house. He can't even afford good furniture, his dad makes it all for him and his plants.
We will have to go back to Atari level graphics to keep the file sizes small enough. Maybe 3D Dot Heroes is the first step to get us used to bad graphics again. If what you say is true, I will jump out a 1 story window.

Alienange
Alienange
14 years ago

@ timster118 – I'll be damned if that won't be true in my case. All digital is retarded in my opinion. Game manuals going digital is hardly a concern, but games? Nah.

Anyways, thanks for the laugh.

Karosso
Karosso
14 years ago

I don't really care much, never look at the manual these days.
Can Jaffe just shut the fu** up about everything and go finish whatever the hell his working on?

FullmetalX10
FullmetalX10
14 years ago

Noooo!! Not the manuals!
I always read those on the back seat going from the city back to my home, I must admit that the manuals these days aren't nearly as fancy as those in the old days, which were several years ago.

Let's for a moment take Kingdom Hearts 1's manual and God of War III's manual.
Kingdom Hearts:
Lovely color cover, Nice Color artwork as the background for every page in the manual. All in all, many colors and attraction points, besides multiple pages of useful information.
God of War III:
Lovely color cover, Boring gray pages with letters and an occasional (a total of 2) colorless Kratos picture seen in the game on one of the 8 pages, opposed to Kingdom Hearts' 25 page colored manual.
Granted Kingdom Hearts is an RPG and God of War III an action game, I still it's manual should be way better looking, it's a piece of art, it belongs with the game itself.

All in all, I don't only think modern day manuals shouldn't go, I think they should go back to the older manuals, with more information, more artwork and better overall attraction.
Just face it, a manual is a part of the experience a development team worked hard on, it shouldn't be left behind, also it shouldn't be digital, that just doesn't work for me, it should be the little book next to the game in the case, like it's supposed to be.

Scarecrow
Scarecrow
14 years ago

This is why the last Ubisoft game I bought was for the Gamecube

Ubisoft can rot for all I care

MyWorstNightmar
MyWorstNightmar
14 years ago

I was wondering who else bought a gamecube besides me.

ace_boon_coon
ace_boon_coon
14 years ago

lol @ gamecube

LimitedVertigo
LimitedVertigo
14 years ago

I did for RE4 and I never regretted it.

MyWorstNightmar
MyWorstNightmar
14 years ago

Are you going to move the Gamecube with you, or leave it as a house warming gift for the next renter?

Scarecrow
Scarecrow
14 years ago

I'll keep it:
-Killer 7
-Tales of Symphonia
-Wind Waker
-Metroid Prime
-RE4 (just like LV)
-RE1 (remake)
-RE0
-Beyond Good and Evil
-Pikmin
-Animal Crossing
-Viewtiful Joe
-Mario Sunshine
-SSBM

And a few other gems I could still get
ps2 was just sick, but Gamecube was the 2nd best console out there.