Mon, Apr 19, 2010 | 20:22 BST
Ubisoft ditches paper manuals in green effort
Ubisoft said today it’s to drop paper manuals on all 360 and PS3 games in an effort to be more “environment-friendly”. And to save some money, probably.
Shaun White Skateboarding will be the first game to benefit from the “initiative” this autumn.
All instructions are to be supplied in-game from now on via “digital game manuals”.
Why? “Ubisoft internal data shows that producing one ton of paper used in Ubisoft’s game manuals consumes an average of two tons of wood from 13 trees, with a net energy of 28 million BTU’s (equivalent to average heating and energy for one home/year), greenhouse gases equivalent of over 6,000 lbs of CO2, and wastewater of almost 15,000 gallons,” said the company in a statement.
“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.
Right on, Laurent. Now, maybe you should stop printing discs altogether?
24 comments
#1
Bulk Slash
19/04/10, 7:34 pm
Do I need a constant internet connection to read it?
#2
Moonwalker1982
19/04/10, 7:46 pm
I don’t mind it too much, cause i don’t look in the manuals at all really, to be honest. But i already know two folks on youtube who will be very pissed, lol.
#3
Dr.Ghettoblaster
19/04/10, 7:59 pm
They going to lower the cost of their games by a few bucks as well for the inconvenience and lack of complete package…yeah right
#4
bluemanrule
19/04/10, 8:01 pm
The art of the instruction manual has been lost for some time anyway. This just solidifies one company’s view on how much it values instruction manuals.
#5
Hunam
19/04/10, 8:02 pm
Not having a manual in the box makes things look cheap to be honest. When DVD’s stopped throwing in the little two page info/chapter cards it just somehow felt like I wasn’t getting my monies worth anymore.
Also, if they were green they’d use some of that recycled paper lying around.
#6
Anders
19/04/10, 8:11 pm
Meh. I like my manuals.
#7
one million
19/04/10, 8:11 pm
Can they do that? I bet there’s some mandatory info in manuals that’ll have to be printed elsewhere on the box. Like parental controls, technical support stuff, license agreement.
#8
Phoenixblight
19/04/10, 8:20 pm
@7
In game menu.
@5
No they can’t do that because it actually costs more money to use recycled paper and metal over the non-recycled
#9
DaMan
19/04/10, 8:21 pm
who needs this crap anyway, it’s not like they ditch collector’s editions or something.
#10
AHA-Lambda
19/04/10, 8:50 pm
ok i admit i dont really read them but yeah i agree with hunam that it just feels cheap and cincomplete which is why i hit rage with used games w/o manuals.
So when the new assassin’s creed, POP or ghost recon come out the left side of the box is going to be empty and will only have a disc, i’ll just feel cheated out =/
#11
Old MacDonald
19/04/10, 9:14 pm
LOL, Ubisoft. That is just weak.
#12
DeSpiritusBellum
19/04/10, 9:37 pm
You know what’s an even better way to conserve nature? Don’t buy Ubisoft games!
They come in nasty boxes and wrapping and they’re made from dirty filthy plastic and glass.
And the ones you get online… Well. I bet they cut down the bandwidth forests to stoke the internet for those. That would explain why their servers keep crashing without explanation. The lost orphans they keep in the dungeon just weren’t shovelling fast enough.
#13
onlineatron
19/04/10, 10:21 pm
This displeases me… I love game manuals, especially those printed in colour and in a unique fashion.
#14
Hunam
19/04/10, 11:13 pm
@8
They didn’t say about cost though, that was Pat pointing out what they didn’t want to say really. There is a lot of recycled materials just sitting around unsold, if it was really about being green, they’d use that stuff.
#15
Phoenixblight
19/04/10, 11:19 pm
@14
They are going “green” to save Cash obviously all the trees they have to kill and then print out the books cost them money. Its about the cash they are just saving face by saying its to help the environment.
Going green is a bunch of bullshit anyways it actually costs the US more money to recycle than to use raw materials. Only Metal is actually profitable being recycled.
#16
xino
19/04/10, 11:52 pm
FINALLY!
Ninja Gaiden 2 did this! It had manual in-game as well as the manual itself!
I don’t know why games don’t have this this 7th gen!
No one reads manual anymore!
If you are used to a games genre, you’ll be familar with all types of things in any game on that same genre!
Manual does not produce “what if game doesn’t load” or bullsh like that. It just tells you how to insert the disc, turn on console and make sure controllers are connected etc.
I wish more developers will do this.
Only 40% still read manuals.
#17
scuz
20/04/10, 1:06 am
fuck i really can’t remember the last time i looked at a manual except to find the cd key, this one’s a no brainer imo
#18
Happy Hardon Harry
20/04/10, 1:20 am
About time, all publishers should just put in-game digital manuals within the game itself, just like PSone games on PSN.
Plus you can access the manual in-game at anytime.
#19
firelink
20/04/10, 3:28 am
Too bad they are not as keen on being gamer-friendly.
#20
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20/04/10, 3:46 am
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#21
Keivz
20/04/10, 3:56 am
I noticed Assassin’s Creed II on the PC didn’t have a paper manual. I do admit to having that ‘this is cheap’ feeling initially but I honestly don’t miss the manual really since I almost never read them. If they stop releasing game discs and go download only then I think that’s a step too far.
#22
Blerk
20/04/10, 8:31 am
But what about all those people who can’t figure out how to put the disc in their machine and turn it on? How will they ever cope?
It’s the end on the way, guys. This week – manuals. Next week – big plastic boxes. The week after – discs.
#23
mojo
20/04/10, 8:37 am
1:
epic!!!
what if Ubis Manual Servers get DDoSed?
seriously this is complete rubbish..
whatever, ubisoft. Wont buy ur games anyway..
#24
lovemoose
20/04/10, 8:51 pm
Greenwash.