Ubisoft Eliminating User Manuals

[Rational-Delirium]

I don't know about you, but I always buy my games second-hand and most of the time, there isn't a manual in there. I mean, do you really need a miniature book to explain everything that you already know about the game? I don't really care if Ubisoft's motives are righteous or not, at least they're moving in the right direction.

 

[James B Hamster]

I'm wary of this and the slippery slope over which it dangles. I personally have very fond memories of rooting through instruction manuals as a kid: heck, I knew more about the story and atmosphere of Diablo than my father who was playing it at the time. I'd be sad to see these go, seeing how they're one of the few forms of print media of the modern era which maintains a unique feel and scent that is aesthetically pleasing to me (though nothing quite trumps turn-of-the-century browning book pages and rotting cloth bindings; mmm... smells like literature).

 

[Dogstile]

Eh, its cool. Its not like I buy anything from them with all the crap they do anyway. *strokes neverwinter nights manual*

[small]There there, I will never let them take you away...[/small]

 

[Snotnarok]

This makes no sense, none of this eco crap with video games. I want you Escapists to REALLY think hard about this. How many games have you EVER thrown out? How many Manuals have you thrown out? This isn't ecofriendly this is bullshit-tastic

It's not about the end-user throwing out stuff, it's about the environmental cost of creating a user manual. Seriously guys.

Ubisoft: We are removing those 6 pages of paper people will read only once to be more eco-friendly (and save money of course)

Gamers: FLIP THE FUCK OUT!

You mean collectors flip the fuck out. When I grab a old game online I like to get it with the box and manual. Most people don't care, and rightfully so, but I'm crazy, but not as crazy as some collectors that'll bite your arm off if you open a game. My friend has Lunar 1 and 2 collectors for PS1 unopened, literally unopened, wrapped and everything. They're worth a LOTof money, hence why collectors would be upset.

 

[Fineldar]

When I was a kid I loved sitting in the back of the car on the way home and reading the manuals, it built up the excitement even more. Back then the manuals were also pretty big and there were often other feelies as well, the only problem was looking at the enormous dodecafold map in the back seat of a little car.

 

[oppp7]

Feh. Doesn't sound like too big of a deal. Good to see they're thinking of the environment. And this way when you buy a used game the manual won't have a 50% chance of being missing.

 

[Tharwen]

Right now, a team of experts is working out a way to apply DRM to this

 

[inflamessoilwork]

I don't even know the last time I even LOOKED at a game manual, don't care.

 

[Hashime]

My ritual when purchasing a new game is to sit in the car reading the manual while driving back from the store. Without the paper manual how am I going to drive dangerously distracted! Seriously I do not support this because I like to have a reference book in hand when learning a game. I also have a SD tv which means the text in the in game manual will be too small to read on my screen.

 

[Stormz]

Doesn't matter to me. I'm not buying another ubisoft game again (Unless used) They've lost all my respect and they continue to do this bull shit. I like manuals and I HATE drm.

 

[joshuaayt]

WHAT? What am I supposed to compulsively collect now? Stamps? Or are they too eco-unfriendly?
Not that I think that cyber-stamps would be a bad idea.

 

[RUINER ACTUAL]

This makes no sense, none of this eco crap with video games. I want you Escapists to REALLY think hard about this. How many games have you EVER thrown out? How many Manuals have you thrown out? This isn't ecofriendly this is bullshit-tastic

"We're saving money till Digital Distribution takes over hurf durf"

I still have my first video game, if I don't want a game I sell it and what happens then? Someone buys it.

Why don't they go back to CD cases?? They were so nice, and they don't break discs like those goddamned Eco-Box bullshit cases. Eliminating manuals, I don't really have a problem with. Very few manuals have any good information in them. The last good one I got was for Metro 2033, and before that, probably Mechassault 2.

If you have an Eco-Box, DON'T USE IT!

 

[Snotnarok]

This makes no sense, none of this eco crap with video games. I want you Escapists to REALLY think hard about this. How many games have you EVER thrown out? How many Manuals have you thrown out? This isn't ecofriendly this is bullshit-tastic

"We're saving money till Digital Distribution takes over hurf durf"

I still have my first video game, if I don't want a game I sell it and what happens then? Someone buys it.

Why don't they go back to CD cases?? They were so nice, and they don't break discs like those goddamned Eco-Box bullshit cases. Eliminating manuals, I don't really have a problem with. Very few manuals have any good information in them. The last good one I got was for Metro 2033, and before that, probably Mechassault 2.

If you have an Eco-Box, DON'T USE IT!

Ecoboxes break discs? Since when? I've bent discs in half and they didn't snap(was trying to break said disc)

 

[RUINER ACTUAL]

This makes no sense, none of this eco crap with video games. I want you Escapists to REALLY think hard about this. How many games have you EVER thrown out? How many Manuals have you thrown out? This isn't ecofriendly this is bullshit-tastic

"We're saving money till Digital Distribution takes over hurf durf"

I still have my first video game, if I don't want a game I sell it and what happens then? Someone buys it.

Why don't they go back to CD cases?? They were so nice, and they don't break discs like those goddamned Eco-Box bullshit cases. Eliminating manuals, I don't really have a problem with. Very few manuals have any good information in them. The last good one I got was for Metro 2033, and before that, probably Mechassault 2.

If you have an Eco-Box, DON'T USE IT!

Ecoboxes break discs? Since when? I've bent discs in half and they didn't snap(was trying to break said disc)

They don't snap it in half like that. The center of the case is really strong, and I believe when the disc sits in the case, the center pushes out on the disc, and eventually forms small cracks that turn into big cracks, that eventually take out chunks. My friend has had this happen to MW2 and AC2. It is very subtle and slow, but it can happen, and I've read posts on other sites about people having this problem. I don't keep my games in the boxes anymore.

 

[Jfswift]

i'll miss them but really.. it's rare I open one up anymore, everything I need to know is usually provided within the game itself anyway.

 

[ObsessiveSketch]

Even if all the sneaky, slimy, business-y undertones are true, no manuals in games? When you think about how many copies, say, MW2 sold, that actually factors in to a pretty impressive percentage. Even if they're just covering their asses for something, the side-effects of this change can be nothing but positive.

 

[Rath709]

Things that Ubisoft has decided to ditch this year;

- Print manuals
- DRM in a tolerable form
- Any hope of making a profit on single player PC games
- Their senses

 

[Starke]

Oh gawd if all of this 'Eco Packaging' keeps up we are just going to be left getting our games in these.

My copy of Fear came in those... Also my copy of Half Life as I recall.

 

[Starke]

Things that Ubisoft has decided to ditch this year;

- Print manuals
- DRM in a tolerable form
- Any hope of making a profit on single player PC games
- Their senses

You forgot...

-Their dignity
-Their Customers
-Their Ability to See Themselves in Mirrors

Sorry about the double post...

 

[samsonguy920]

This means players will not be required to go online to figure out how to play the game..

And yet they are required to go online to play the game anyway. Even with the console versions, for one reason or another.

...and will have an added bonus of never worrying about lacking a manual should they buy the game used.

That's what PDF's are for.

This will not, Kubiszewski said, affect any in-game tutorials, which will remain available for those who don't want to read through the manual.

But what he really means is, 'Manuals are for sissys. Tutorials are for real gamers.'[/snark]
Probably the reason why there won't be any change in game cost is because the carbon footprint they are saving by not making hardcopy manuals is instead being taken up by DRM server operation and maintenance.

Okay, I will admit I am a treehugger, and I find digital manuals to be the wave of the future and a wise move. But Ubisoft manages yet again to make a radical move and still come out slimy and self-serving. I really would love to know how their so-called tutorials pan out.