Ubisoft Says No More Game Manuals 400
thsoundman writes with this excerpt from The Gamers Blog: "No more manuals? Ubisoft announced last week that they will be ditching the trend of printing instruction manuals for new games under the 'green' initiative. While no other publishers have jumped on that 'green' train just yet, it is likely that others will follow suit. Printed manuals have been part of gaming since you bought PC games in plastic bags. There have been many standout eras for manuals, such as the NES-era booklets to the manuals that accompanied Electronic Arts vinyl-sized game sleeves. Some may argue that the advancement in on-screen contextual commands and first-level tutorials have made the manual pointless, but is this really the case?"
Good. (Score:5, Insightful)
They've been all but useless for ~20 years anyway. Contextual help and tutorials within the game are usually more useful and intuitive. If I need more help, it's usually easy enough to find what I'm looking for online anyway.
Yes (Score:5, Insightful)
in other words... (Score:4, Insightful)
they plan on developing only simplistic titles for the brain-dead masses; instead of huge, complex, detailed games that demand printed reference materials.
Game Manuals? (Score:3, Insightful)
I honestly can't remember the last time I used a game manual.
The only real reason I know of is to find out the control layout, but that's usually included/changeable in-game now.
Has anybody read a modern game manual? (Score:5, Insightful)
Pfft, yeah, "GREEN!" (Score:5, Insightful)
No, not "GREEN", more like "It's a helluva lot less expensive to just not print the manuals!"
On-line help in HTML or PDF form would suffice for a "manual" and often does in many games nowadays.
Besides, I have seen manuals get smaller and smaller and smaller to the point where they are really just a few pages of basic "How to install game" paragraphs and "How to contact support" *plus* two pages of advertisements for the company's other games, subscriptions, merchandise, etc.
Home Improvement (Score:5, Insightful)
Real men don't read instructions
I like them (Score:5, Insightful)
If the end result was the inclusion of manuals... (Score:5, Insightful)
...either in software form (nothing more fussy than html or pdf, please) or within in-game help, that would merely be a disappointment.
But what really going on here is that they're turning their manuals from a cost to a profit by outsourcing their manuals to BradyGames, Prima, and other publishers. I'm sick to death of paying for games which need manuals (rts/tbs yes, fps, no), but I'm only provided with a razor thin command reference sheet, if that.
UbiSoft wins. The game strategy guide industry wins. The customer loses. More of the usual.
Pretty much useless (Score:2, Insightful)
Game manuals have many advantages! (Score:1, Insightful)
I can remember buying computer games and, I couldn't even wait to get home before I'd rip open the box and start reading the manual, looking at screen shots, viewing the magic spell list for an RPG, etc....
When you're on the go, and you don't have a computer available, good old paper manuals were awesome! And, you can read them without needing a power source.
I still love 'em and wish they won't go away...
Re:Good. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:So games will be cheaper then? (Score:5, Insightful)
Like the "Boss wants a new ferrari" department, and the always popular "How to DRM your way into making games unplayable".
Awesome!
Green? (Score:5, Insightful)
So to be green they're removing the most environmentally friendly part of the product?
It'd be a much more green initiative to replace the plastic case with a paper and card case that could include basic controls printed on it's various surfaces. They could even go all out and switch to all digital distribution.
Re:Why bother with manuals? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Why bother with manuals? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Why bother with manuals? (Score:3, Insightful)
Kudos to Ubisoft. Better for waste, better for their bottom line and practically zero impact for gamers.
Re:in other words... (Score:5, Insightful)
Dwarf Fortress.
Aurora.
Nethack.
Re:If the end result was the inclusion of manuals. (Score:3, Insightful)
When is the last time that a major RTS hasn't had a campaign mode nearly entirely devoted to showing you all of your units and explaining the mechanics and trees? Starcraft and Warcraft 2 had campaigns where the beginning explained these things; the difference in newer games is the general shrinking of the portion afterwords that you have full access to all units.
I know that TBS games can be a bit more detailed and usually only give an overview, but since when is learning their mechanics impossible to do from playing rather than reading?
Even if I did want to read the manual, I wouldn't care if they got rid of the paper manuals in favor of electronic versions; it's the same information whether it's in HTML, PDF or print; one just costs the environment and the company less. There's no disappointment to most people when most people would use the amazing information machine in front of them anyway instead of searching for a manual that's likely not detailed enough to cover the aspect of the game you want to know.
Re:Why bother with manuals? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Has anybody read a modern game manual? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:So games will be cheaper then? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Why bother with manuals? (Score:5, Insightful)
"Green" initiative... Money is green
Re:If the end result was the inclusion of manuals. (Score:3, Insightful)
How is that a loss? There was a time when the game manual had to fire the imagination a little, make up for the chunky graphics, supply a back story, or document some complicated controls, stuff that was difficult/impossible from within the game. Now games have all the technology to explain themselves from the moment they start, and if they can't or don't, they're in trouble. What's wrong with giving some game mapping companies an inside track, folk who do a far more honest job documenting the game than the developers, and letting customers choose whether they want the manual? Developers can leave the books to people who want a colourful walk-through, and make them pay. If it's one less "compulsory" cost in a boxed title, that's fine by me.
Re:So games will be cheaper then? (Score:4, Insightful)
Sustainable forestry doesn't hurt the ecosystem. We can harvest trees until kingdom come and still have trees left, as long as we do it properly.
It's the fossil fuels, inks, and man hours that go into harvesting, producing and shipping the materials and final products that's the problem.
Another reason to pirate the game? (Score:1, Insightful)
Part of the reason I buy games are for the media, case and manual. Taking away the manual is just another reason for us just to download the pirated version and not bother buying. Great work UBISOFT!
Re:So games will be cheaper then? (Score:3, Insightful)
Wrong. It means less trees will be planted. Paper comes from trees planted specifically for that purpose in large farms. The higher the demand for paper, the more higher the need for tree farms to be planted.
Wood pulp is best from younger trees, which soak up more CO2 and pump out more O2 than mature trees.
The only green thing about Ubisoft's decision is the color of the money they'll be pocketing from this.
Re:Why bother with manuals? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Why bother with manuals? (Score:5, Insightful)
$60 (or $40 for an older game) for 20 hours of gameplay is pretty good $/hour of entertainment.
Re:Why bother with manuals? (Score:5, Insightful)
Before you can answer that question, you have to realize that game manuals fall into two, maybe three, categories:
1) Traditional Instruction Manual with story overview, controls reference, and other useful information. No matter what, such manuals are always essential for quick multiplayer games (ie:Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Smash Bros., etc.) for looking up some extra moves while you wait your turn ;-) For some games their useless, but for others their a great reference.
2) "Collectible" Instruction manuals. These are one-step below the dedicated art books that come with recent games, but still include extensive story, background information, artwork, and more. These won't be going away, though I predict we'll increasingly be seeing them only on "collector's" edition copies.
3) The Boilerplate Manuals. These are the ones that Ubisoft and others use the most and should go the way of the dinosaur. These manuals are always virtually identical, contain a picture of the controller, copyright notice, and maybe a copy of the description printed on the box. On occasion, these come in thick booklets that trick you into thinking it's type (1) or (2) before you realize that it's just boilerplate * n languages.
So in summation - if all the publisher's are writing are boilerplate manuals, let's go save some trees. But for those few developers that still invest the time in creating real manuals, those are an important piece of gaming tradition that we don't want to lose.
Re:Why bother with manuals? (Score:2, Insightful)
Because they add to the overall experience of the game. They give artwork, keyboard/controller commands, they give alot of backstory and on the side they make you actually feel like your getting somting for all the money you just spent.
And, most importantly, warn you that they can cause epilepsy seizures. So now how are they gonna do that? Big-assed splash screen right as the disc loads?
Re:The "save the trees" fallacy (Score:3, Insightful)
Unless there is no buyers. By reducing the need for resources in all possible places there simply will not be a market and land that is unused today will continue to be unused. Supply and demand applies as much to land as it does to money.
They're doing this to save money, nothing more.
The paper is not the only thing involved with the printing process. There is a potential for real gains here. Maybe not a big one on the small scale that Ubi is doing it but it is part of the solution of reducing waste, like it or not.
Re:Green? (Score:4, Insightful)
They could even go all out and switch to all digital distribution.
All-digital distribution isn't fun if you can't get cable or DSL where you live, or if you're trying to squeeze 20 GB of a Blu-ray or multi-DVD game over low-end DSL.
Re:Why bother with manuals? (Score:3, Insightful)
Ahh those were the days.
Re:Why bother with manuals? (Score:2, Insightful)
For a complex game that's not a good solution because you may need to have the manual at hand while playing the game to look things up, most games don't survive being alt-tabbed out of.
Re:Why bother with manuals? (Score:2, Insightful)