Ubisoft to stop including manuals with their games! - Polidicks

I'm not sure if anyone has heard this story yet, so I decided to post it here: The gist: Ubisoft will no longer include paper manuals with their games, instead it will be an in-game manual. They say it's to protect the environment, but is it that or for saving money? [quote]April 19, 2010 - In an effort to be more environmentally friendly, Ubisoft announced it is eliminating all paper game manuals from its Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC products, and replacing them with in-game digital versions. The first title to incorporate an all-digital manual is Shaun White Skateboarding, which releases this holiday. "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," said Laurent Detoc, president of Ubisoft North America. Ubisoft says these in-game digital manuals will provide "multiple benefits" for the player, including "easier and more intuitive access" to game information as well as providing a "more robust manual." Ubisoft has also partnered with Technimark, a case manufacturer, to produce Eco-friendly packaging for its PC games. Ubisoft did not clarify if its older titles will be "upgraded" to include digital manuals. We've asked Ubisoft for comment and will update when we hear back. Update: Ubisoft admitted that while the company will save money from this initiative, it's too soon to estimate how much. Ubisoft also said it will not be offering downloadable versions of the manuals for players to print out. "The digital game manuals will be for Ubisoft games going forward," a spokesperson told IGN. "While the company will save money on paper, it's unclear if these costs will be offset by the labor of the development team to create a more robust game manual within the game."[/quote] [B]Source[/B]: [url]http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/108/1084483p1.html[/url] Next up, paper sleeves instead of plastic DVD cases, and Game discs without any art on them (and no that's no joke). Cheap Bastards. /rant

Who the fuck cares about the environment? I want a blog of paper that tells me that the green button makes me jump! :mad:

I remember the days of fat 50+ page manuals with full-color illustrations and all that nice shit. I'll probably never buy a Ubisoft game again, what with the back-asswards DRM and now this.

HOW WILL I KNOW THE CONTROLS? /caps (apart from in game tutorials)

FUCKING FINALLY. Christ, this should've happened years ago.

[QUOTE=PrismatexV8;21449562]I remember the days of fat 50+ page manuals with full-color illustrations and all that nice shit. I'll probably never buy a Ubisoft game again, what with the back-asswards DRM and now this.[/QUOTE] I don't think any of us ever will. Ubisoft will end up making browser-based games, so that nobody can pirate it.

[QUOTE=BISCUIT_TINS;21449582]FUCKING FINALLY. Christ, this should've happened years ago.[/QUOTE] Why? did getting a free book with a game annoy you?

[QUOTE=PrismatexV8;21449562]I remember the days of fat 50+ page manuals with full-color illustrations and all that nice shit. I'll probably never buy a Ubisoft game again, what with the back-asswards DRM and now this.[/QUOTE] Screw that, I remember then manuals were at least 200 pages long and had a slew of supplementary information. The M1 Tank Platoon game manual of 1989 had a whole section dedicated to Cold War armored warfare.

Fuck I love manuals, even if I don't use them. But they are still nice to have around. And DVD containers just feels empty without a manual.

[QUOTE=Sajeno;21449568]HOW WILL I KNOW THE CONTROLS? /caps (apart from in game tutorials)[/QUOTE] avatar made reading that all the much better. :laugh:

I don't exactly like Ubisoft, but this is actually a pretty good idea.

I only saw "Ubisoft to stop including..." from the front page, thought it was about that they would scrap their shitty DRM. ...I knew it was too good to be true.

It's not like manuals these days are worth shit anyways. I haven't laid eyes on the inside of a manual for years. Waste of money, paper and ink. Now back in the day they damn well knew how to make manuals. I mean, at least half the enjoyment in Homeworld comes from the fact that the manual really makes the world come alive with backstory and fiction. And Starcraft wouldn't have been the same without the extensive backstory. But nowadays they're little but glorified reference cards, often without a lot of critical information. A welcome change tbh.

I'm not really all that bothered by this. What I'm bothered by is the fact that they're trying to pass this off as helping the environment. They should have just come out and said they were trying to cut costs. It pisses me off because a lot of companies are doing this less for more thing under the guise of "saving the environment."

I like manuals though. And maps, <3 my collection of TES maps.

When I saw this on the main page, it said "Ubisoft to stop including..." before being cut off, and I assumed Ubisoft was going to stop including their DRM. Guess I shouldn't have gotten hopeful.

Then where will the CD keys be?

Ah, but their DRM servers are totally not good for the environment.

On a sticker inside the box presumably. Lots of games with manuals do it that way. Better too, because the manual might get lost more easily than the box.

[QUOTE=The mouse;21449731]Then where will the CD keys be?[/QUOTE] On the back of the case :downs:

Fuck. I liked the Trackmania United manual. I guess Trackmania 2 won't have it then :colbert:

[QUOTE=radioactive;21449753]On the back of the case :downs:[/QUOTE] Digital case? :raise:

well finally. i never read the manual, and it's cool they implement it into the disc now. though it will feel cheap, i hope this move lowers the price of their games down 5 to 10 $

[QUOTE=The mouse;21449731]Then where will the CD keys be?[/QUOTE] That's actually a really good question. My guess on some slip of paper included with their PC games. That or they won't include one because of their "awesome" new DRM, its so much more convenient than a code anyway! :smile: [editline]12:08PM[/editline] [QUOTE=Wii60;21449779]well finally. i never read the manual, and it's cool they implement it into the disc now. though it will feel cheap, i hope this move lowers the price of their games down 5 to 10 $[/QUOTE] It won't affect pricing, and I would be willing to bet you money on that. That's why they made up this whole environmentally friendly thing, because now they can just blame it on that and not lower any prices.

[QUOTE=sgtshock;21449718]When I saw this on the main page, it said "Ubisoft to stop including..." before being cut off, and I assumed Ubisoft was going to stop including their DRM. Guess I shouldn't have gotten hopeful.[/QUOTE] Exactly this, I had my fingers prepared to type "Thank fuck." and then I saw the rest of the title. Fuck this shit, I have a nice stack of manuals from old games sitting around from when they came in a big cardboard box with a jewel case. 200 or so fine pages of Pharaoh, by a company that now wants to cut down from 3 page manuals/shitty one-sheet things to nothing at all. I bet you anything they still include the masses of advertisement inserts and shit in their console games.

They can't afford paper anymore, all money going to useless DRM.

Where will they put the activation codes? :psyduck: Oh wait, they'll make you call a premium rate phone line to have somebody read it to you very quickly and hang up.

the only thing I hate about digital distribution is that I don't get a nice manual that has cool art and little known facts and shit

Hahahaha. Keep fucking that chicken, Ubisoft, your sales will only plummet further.

I wanted a fucking manual, to my suprise when I bought Settlers 7, I didn't get a manual. Pass it off as "Enviromentally friendly" Bullshit, They're being scrooges, A manual is what gets me excited for a game, and also expresses how big the Dev's actually put work into the game, If I find a 70 Page manual or more, I'll most likely think the game is good. Why? Because, It's a sign of how Dev's put work into their game, now, I know it doesn't mean it'll be good or bad, but if a Dev put work into a manual and made it long with fiction, story and supplements, I'd definately know they tried hard here, It's usually the first thing that gets me hooked. Fucking Ubisoft, They fucked me over with their DRM bullshit (which I knew) and now they're being funny assholes by adding a new combination of cutting costs by being the scrooges they are.