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Ubisoft Says No More Game Manuals
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?"
When no one can play your game due to drm servers being down?
(come on, you know it's going to be said many times in this thread.. Might as well get it going early :))
the brown paper written in black with anti-piracy codes (remember Sim City?!)
how long until
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.
Nobody reads instructions. As noted in older /. articles, nobody even reads Terms of Service, even if they end up surrendering their soul. Instructions are always included in the game itself, and if they aren't, are fairly easy to figure out. I've never used instruction manuals, except for when I'm looking at character bios not included in the game, or artwork.
they plan on developing only simplistic titles for the brain-dead masses; instead of huge, complex, detailed games that demand printed reference materials.
I just mash the controls with my fat hands or dialing wand until I figure out what does what.
Everything can be adequately explained in game. That is if a game doesn't have controls and a format that mimics 12 other games.
Since games now ship without a manual I am sure all of those savings will be passed on to the end consumer, right?
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.
I have not seen a decent printed manual for a game in about 10 years now. Sometimes they've got some nice fluff or stories, but as the writeup mentioned, in-game tutorials work a lot better. Having the instructions only printed in the manual is an anachronism in this day and age. Manual designers know that too, since most are at best anemic these days. When you download games from Steam you don't get the manual either. It's only an issue if you're attempting to play very old games like the original X-COM. Even then, the manuals are often available as a PDF.
I read the internet for the articles.
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.
Real men don't read instructions
Green Initiative... yeah right. They're just looking to cut costs to make more money. I bet the "cost savings" doesn't get passed on to the customer.
Well, i will miss manuals. Times was better before, there was big nice manuals full of art. And the games started off the bat on normal difficult instead of a nerfed down unskippable boring training session.
The last game i played from newer date that had gotten it decently enough done was Mount & Blade, stuffed a training session into the menu instead of the normal stupidity. Quite a shame they lacked a manual overfilled with good art.
What are we supposed to read on the ride home after buying it from the store???
What will kids read on the way home from the game store now? I have also found game manuals helpful in many instances where commands and instructions that weren't put into the game were put there. Not every instruction or tip you need to convey can be put into the game without breaking the flow. The game manual helps. Besides, sometimes they're really pretty.
Human beings are the biological version of Von Neumann machines.
...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.
However there are a few games, such as simulations and city building games, such as those created by the late Impressions Games, with vast complexities. Covering this kind of information in a tutorial is a little tedious and the beginners just don't care. It's really for the advanced users who want to understand how all objects interact. So, IMHO there are circumstances where game manuals are warranted, but most of the time I'd say they're not necessary.
Manuals will be available online in pdf form, IF you register the game.
Technoli
Half the games Ive bought within the past year aren't so clear with their "training" phase that most games have. I prefer to have a manual within arms reach so i can quickly look up a hotkey when i first start playing, in-case that game isn't clear.
For example(last night): in Battlefield Bad company 2, didn't realize, or see it at first since it was on the screen for a short time, that the MidM in small text was referring to middle mouse button.
O.o
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...
Most recent games probably don't need manuals anyway. But I, as an avid simulation gamer, still miss the good old times of complex flight sims with huge manuals - think of Falcon. Manuals you actually had to read to be able to fly. Fortunately there are still some niche products along that line. I love my 1600 pages of ring-bound checklists, workflows, operation manuals and documentation for the PMDG MD-11 for Flight Simulator. People who see that on my desk seem to ponder the question whether I am just a nerd or a terrorist each time, though...
Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
This is good, and I applaud the effort to save paper. As the summary mentioned, in-game tutorials and searchable digital manuals have made the printed manual fairly obsolete. However, I will always fondly remember those hefty manuals that you used to get with a huge role-playing game like Baldur's Gate. I loved flipping through those and reading up on the lore or finding out about an aspect of the game I didn't know about from reading just the basic instructions. Of course, I don't know of any games in recent years that have come with a manual like that. I would have loved to have seen one for the Mass Effect games.
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This isn't the sig you're looking for. Move along.
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.
For two different games priced equally:
Ubisoft's idea of game packaging - http://u2mofo.com/newgamecase.jpg
Atari's idea of game packaging - http://nunetherlands.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/witcher-enhanced-edition-package-800.jpg
Guess which one I'm going to buy...
Ubisoft announced last week that they will be ditching the trend of printing instruction manuals for new games under the 'cost savings' initiative.
Odds on them passing along the savings to the customer? Zero. But it doesn't matter. Ever since the internet connection required fiasco I won't be buying any of their crap anyway
I still cannot find the droids I am looking for...
The last time I bought a game, it came on a plastic disc in a plastic case, surrounded by cardboard padding, packed into a laminated cardboard box, and then covered in a plastic wrapper. They've got a long way to go before that's 'green'. Besides, of all parts, isn't the manual the only one you'd actually want to have as a hard copy? I could do without the CD, especially with easily available digital distribution.
# cat
If need be I can make a laundry list of games that have a tutorial or training session that do not cover everything in the manual. I read the manuals and I find that there is always something that the game neglects to mention. This has usually been the way a function of the game works. The game will say touch B to do X, but then the manual will say touch B in this situation to do X, press B in another situation to do Y, etc. Otherwise there is some story or background stated in the manual that does not make it into the game. Manuals sometimes have character descriptions, back stories, or environmental information that will mention something the game will take for granted. For example a character back story in a manual will say something to the effect of "The elves homeland is X." Then in the game it will say something stupid like "Take the elf character home." And you can select from town X, Y, or Z. I will admit that printed manuals may be useless, an electronic manual is just as effective. Final Fantasy XIII has done a good job with an in game electronic manual. Oh, and if anyone has ever said RTFM for anything and is now advocating removing manuals for games, STFU.
I prefer a PDF on the disc. It's searchable by keyword, easy to access, always with the install disc. The most I ever would ever want printed is perhaps an overall map if the game uses one or a single page quick start guide showing the basic key controls.
if they are going green, why are they burning a lot of juice to power up their servers, not to mention customers forced to have their networking gear running to play single player campaigns?
how is this a big deal? Who cares about a game manual? I get 90% of my games on steam anyways so I don't remember the last time I even got a game manual.
While UBI may be the first publisher, I think digital distribution methods like Steam are WAY ahead on this front.
So now I am going to look stupid telling people to RTFM. I don't know, but RTFCH (read the F. contextual help) just doesn't feel as catchy.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
Personally, I like having a manual, but I also apparently like losing them. Sure, ditch the print version, but provide for an online manual. It has been important, time and again, to have some form of manual for games. Whether it's understanding an item, having a quick controller reference, or just the nifty character and enemy profiles. Go green, just don't go without.
And if you're online, there is no need to have a printed version. As much as I hate it, with DRM in place this move makes sense. I support.
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.
Now how are we going to advise epileptics that they shouldn't play video games?
They'll still have a readme file that I can print out on my dot matrix printer and store in a three ring binder for future reference though right?
My grandfather actually used to make me do this when I was little, being an old school engineer. God help me if he saw me uncheck that "view readme first" check-box after the installation.
With their crappy DRM, I wasn't planning on buying any of their games anyway.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
I may not read all my game manuals but it is an appreciated part of the whole experience. Companies that put out skimpy manuals or omit them will find their fan base reduced somewhat. This may not be make or break but it will reduce overall sales.
Disclaimer - This comes from someone who listens to records both for the sound and the experience of handling the discs.
So, I wonder if the savings in production cost will be handed down to the consumer? I doubt it. Green turns to greed once again.
Good for them. Not that I really care seeing as I'll never purchase an Ubisoft game again.
There is a war going on for your mind.
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.
Matthew @ Bytemark Hosting
Is the gaming industry really in that bad of shape that they have to cut manuals, demos, etc? The only other industry that I can gauge this by is the airline industry, which seems to be equally desperate to squeeze out profits any way possible.
... seriously? http://gamefaqs.org/
Buckle your ROFL belt, we're in for some LOLs.
I thought the global warming folks were freaking out about CO2? Paper is made from trees grown for exactly that purpose. Those trees are young, which means they absorb more CO2 than older trees. Shouldn't we support using paper? New paper also takes less chemicals and such to process than recycling the stuff again as paper.
"While no other publishers have jumped on that 'green' train just yet it is likely that others will follow suit. "
Publishers have been going more green for years. Most games I have bought over the last couple of years haven't had a hard manual.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
I remember when reading the manuals were the ONLY way to figure out how to play a game. On Atari 2600 games and the likes you would often need them to figure out what those little pixelated blobs were supposed to be on the screen and what to do with them, and the manual certainly wouldn't fit in 4k bytes of rom. On text based Infocom interactive fiction games you would always need to read through an example session in the manual to figure out the basic vocabulary understood by the particular game.
Utilities and tools would often come with multiple manuals hundreds of pages long, describing every little feature in accurate detail. And they all needed to be fairly well written because the manufacturers could not just push a button and update the books to fill in any incomplete parts.
But for quite a while now most applications have included electronic documentation or built-in tutorials in addition to a printed manual, sometimes even with the exact same content! So it does seem reasonable to only maintain that information in one place if the user can do without.
Documentation in some form is very important and reduces the amount of time users spend figuring out things. Imagine if you had product with a million users, and something all of them need to do took each user 15 minutes to figure out on their own, but could be reduced to nothing by properly documenting it... how many lifetimes have you just saved? (Although it seems like some companies these days intentionally keep things undocumented or obscure so they can keep overpriced contractors and trainers employed)
M.S. hasn't shipped a, even in pdf, for years. Adobe doesn't ship manuals with it's product, pdf or otherwise all the info is on line. I have a large collection of mostly useless manuals. Good riddance.
Meddle thou not in the affairs of Dragons, for thou art crunchy and with most anything.
Game manuals have long been a staple of my bathroom library.
Which usually meant that I had no idea what the heck I was doing until my bowels started moving...
The downloadable games on the PSP include the game manual in electronic format, which is good. But you can't look at the manual while playing the game, you have to exit out of the game (you can use the "Pause Game" function, which saves state to memory while you do other things), load the manual, read it, then go back to to game again.
Since the manuals you get these days barely even document how to start the game, much less how to play the game, I don't mind. Example: In God of War 3 (the last game for the PS3 I will ever buy), it doesn't even document the controls for how the character is supposed to swim!
I might be among the few but I really enjoy a good quality hard-copy of a manual. It's one reason I buy a game rather than just download it. And lets face it, sometimes a flip through a book is just easier than poking through a poorly made in-game help system.
NO GAME MANUALS?
Oh my fucking god!
What's next? Executing every child who doesn't stamp a green leaf into their forehead?
This environazi insanity has to stop!
surely a typo.
I going to have nothing to read when the DRM server is down.
I find the manuals often have useful tidbits that make the game better to play and impress friends (or yourself if playing alone).
If you need a manual to play a game maybe it's time you stopped playing games and took up more meaningful and educational persuits in your life. This isn't rocket science people. I haven't gotten a manual with a game in years and I've never once thought that a manual was needed.
Yes. Glad we had this discussion.
Make a PDF, put it on the disc, make a website for the game (you already do for most) and provide more details like level maps, community, tips, tricks, etc...
Pop some ads up on the site, drive more sales through tie-ins (World of Warcraft keyboards anyone?) and related products and that will do just fine.
There are amazing game manuals out there that are very creative and have great art. Those are well worth reading. To the rest: yeah go ahead, put it on the disc.
I miss my cloth maps of Britannia, my microscopic space fleets, my peril-sensitive sunglasses, and Max Payne mouse pads (still in use to this day). And the humor in the original Fallout and Fallout 2 manuals was priceless. For Fallout 3 I had to go online to figure out how to turn on the flashlight for my XBOX copy. Sad.
...servers as the electricity costs/footprint alone is much more hurtful than a dead tree manual. Green initiative my ass, lying sack of cheap bastards.
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The SimLife manual was my introduction to evolution. Appropriate for a simulation, it included a lab book with suggested experiments to run and space to record and analyze the results. The main manual was over 200 pages and went into significant detail not just about the game (which was ridiculously complex) but about genetics in general, and also included a bizarre series of cartoons wherein a family gradually mutates themselves. SimEarth was similar with its coverage of Gaia theory, though I never really could get into that game. Relatedly, I've spent more time reading AD&D manuals than playing.
But I'm the kind of person who enjoys reading manuals anyway. Netscape's heartwarming introduction was delightfully cheesy.
So I would welcome digital versions of instructions that will work on my e-reader. Maybe include .PDF and .EPUB versions of the manual. That way those of us with e-book readers can have easy access to the manuals.
Now you'll just be forced to buy a "premium" copy of the game if you want a hardcopy manual. Even worse, be forced to buy a strategy guide.
~Vexed and loving it!
For which YOU need manuals. Only games I've needed a manual for in the past decade have been the Europa Universalis and Hearts of Iron series, both available with my purchase in PDF form for free.
It's a small but important point: after all, there could be somebody else who also needs detailed manuals for FPSs and even if your policy were put in place, he'd complain about paying for only a thin reference sheet.
No problem is insoluble in all conceivable circumstances.
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!
Since so many of them stunk, can anybody list which box manuals were actually worth reading?
Two that come to my mind:
1) Final Fantasy VII. We had a computer, but we didn't have a Playstation. When FFVII was released to PC, I was so excited. The manual that came w/ the game had a step-by-step game guide of the first "chapter" of the game. It wasn't a complete walkthrough, but for someone who had not played that-intricate a Final Fantasy game before, it was incredibly helpful and informative. It was complete with full color print, screenshots, stats on some of the early monsters & weapons, and a good explanation of the materia.
2) Sierra's "King's Quest 6". The game manual was written as though you were a traveler passing through the land of King's Quest 6. It wasn't just a "Here's the backstory" and "Here's the controls" type manual. There were fictional stories written in the manual that shed background on the plight of the different islands, almost like short stories in-and-of themselves. It was really quite fun to read.
global warming global cooling global dimming global skimming
Imagination drew in bold strokes, instantly serving hopes and fears, while knowledge advanced by slow increments...
Given the form and content of current printed manuals, they might as well leave them away. Either they are useless and not needed anyway or they are printed so small that reading the printed manual puts more strain on your eyes than an online or PDF version.
Even back then, there were more shoddy than nice manuals, come to think of it. Those that I remember fondly were the ones for Sid Meiers Civilization and Railroad Tycoon as well as Geoff Crammonds F1GP. Coming to think of it, Gunship 2000s manual hat the same format (although I didn't spend that much time playing Gunship compared to the former three). Thinking even more about it, all four had been published by Microprose.
Incidently, Civilization IV had a neat manual, the size of the DVD case, tied to latter with a cardboard sleeve. I actually found the manual more entertaining than the game itself and I hope that Civ 5 will follow in that tradition ;-). But by and large, I can't really remember any other outstanding manuals, though I bought plenty of games since the mid eighties.
Actually, most people don't really use "the amazing information machine in front of them". As in, looking up what they need. No, they visit a message board to ask basic questions that would have been answered more quickly if they'd just bother checking the game manual.
Don't underestimate people's laziness and stupidity.
When I was a kid, just going to pick up a new game was an event that added to the experience. I'd roll on into Babbages with a fistful of allowance and lawn cash, and change it in for a shiny box full of a game and awesome goodies. Jump in the car (or city bus, or whatever) at the end of the shopping trip, and all the way home I'd pour over the stories and instructions, and by the time I actually sat down to install/load the software, I already had a feel for the game, and its universe. Made it better. I actually got Civ 1 for Xmas when on vacation in Florida, with my computer hundreds of miles and a week away. By the time I got home...holy shit did I want to play that damn thing.
Without that tactile, physical presence...the evidence of ownership and impending experience? I just don't think it'll be the same when all that is crammed into a 30 second trailer and a tutorial level.
Next month there will probably be a headline like "Ubisoft says no more games". Talk about savings!
They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it's not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance. - Terry Pratchett
>> Ubisoft will be ditching the trend of printing instruction manuals for new games under the 'green' initiative ...and of course its just coincidence that it also happens to save them a lot of money.
So I guess they will be passing thew savings onto us then? No I thought not...
I've always been a fan of nicely designed manuals. But the last time I've seen a good one was back in the 80s. Everything since then has been halfhearted, poorly designed junk. Few people seem to read them. I'll flip through them once myself and never refer to them again. Might as well get rid of them and include instructions in the game. I don't mean annoying tutorials that get in the way of me just playing the game. I mean a separate set of instructions I can read through at my leisure.
Why not offer them as PDF versions and the ebook reader format(s)? Makes perfect sense to get both distribution channels out there and they don't add any cost to toss them on the disk or for download.
Don't try to hide it. The only reason they are banning instruction manuals is because it allows them to eliminate one more expense, and of course the prices of games will remain the same. They have prepared this very carefully by making game manuals progressively less useful over time. Now that most manuals are nothing more than installation instructions, disclaimers and a key map (if you are lucky) nobody will care.
I can still remember my childhood where we had an Macintosh with a flight simulator game. Printed out, the manual had the potential for a very nice blunt weapon. Later there were games like Homeworld. The manual for this game included a comprehensive back story, information about ALL game mechanics and detailed information and specs and artwork for every ship in the game.
Green? If they really want to be green they should distribute the games in cardboard boxes or digitally and stop wasting development resources on useless DRM.
Okay, I'll admit I'm most likely in a drastic minority, but I like paper game manuals. I sort of like having some concept of how to play before turning the game on and having to sit through some heavy-handed and badly-written tutorial (worse if they try to voice-act it into the actual story, which frequently* produces disastrous results). Plus, the whole thing about a paper manual just feels better to me than an online one.
But, all things considered, they're most likely doing this because depressingly few people read the damn things anymore, what with the aforementioned heavy-handed tutorials being in the game itself, online versions of the manuals, and, sadly, people who, during online multiplayer matches, will stop everyone else to ask how you do things covered in the manual in the first place.
So honestly, despite my own personal misgivings over it, I can't fault Ubisoft at all for this. Why should they bother wasting money on developing paper instruction manuals when nobody's going to bother even looking at them, right to the point of stubbornly refusing to read them? They can claim it's for some green initiative, but it's business sense, plain and simple.
*: No, not "always", and no, I don't need examples provided.
Demanding constant attention will only lead to attention.
You have to use that fancy IPad for something besides a trendy paperweight. This is the perfect thing - put all your game manuals on it.
well, if you need a manual to play a video game at least, which should have intuitive controls... I always thought of the manual as being a hold over from board games like monopoly... people read the book because the BOOK was the rules. With video games, the game itself enforces the rules, so there is not much need to write them down.
The kind of stuff you DO need to read for certain games will never be published in a manual anyway like drop percentages or cookie cutter strategies, the internets are much better at getting that kind of information out anyway, especially since for most games, the optimal strategy was not even discovered by the game makers. The diablo 2 manual didn't say "pick the biggest slowest weapon plus mana leech for a barbarian and use whirlwind as your main attack" because the designers didn't realize how overpowered they had made that skill, but every message board ever contained that information... until it was nerfed.
Although I am not sure what my kids are going to do to curb their excitement on the way home from the store if they can't pour over the manual during the car ride home... and then immediately and permanently ditch the manual once they can play the actual game.
Since I am buying no more Ubisoft games, fine with me. And not buying Ubisoft is even greener! Actually, this policy is not new. The great manuals of olden days were cut down to mere pamphlets with the same argument. Will Civ 5 have a good manual? Probably. Will SC2 come with a good manual? Bet they want you to buy the strategy guide instead. All the games I get by digital download come with .pdf manuals, no real problem. And you read Keybindings through the Options interface anyway.
Paper manufacturers don't go around cutting random trees; they either grow their own trees or buy them from someone who owns the land. If people stop using paper, that land will be used for some other purpose.
They're doing this to save money, nothing more.
I'm tired of this whole green fad already. It has turned into an excuse for any company to be cheap and charge you more for less while under the guise of doing something for the environment. Most stores are now charging for plastic bags, not because they may be expensive to make or because they flat out want to make a profit on them, but because it's 'for the environment'. Give me a break.
-Xoltri
My friends and I used to buy games based in part on the manuals. One of the best manuals ever came from Dynamix when they released Red Baron. It was a very well illustrated history of aviation and aerial warfare during World War One. Another great manual was the Falcon 3.0 bible. Back in the day you could practically judge the depth and quality of a simulator based on the size of the manual. Who can forget all of the old Sierra Online games and the manuals that contained clues about how to play the games?
Times change. Back in the day the manuals added a level of immersion that in many ways helped compensate for the poor graphics and choppy game play. The manuals helped fuel the imagination. Given the extreme realism of games and the computing power available, manuals are less and less necessary. In a lot of FPS games (Fallout 3 and CoD/MW2 come to mind), the tutorial is built into the beginning of the game.
One problem with printed game manuals is that they don't change with the game. Want a laugh? go read the manuals that came with Diablo2 or vanilla WoW. Games can get patched and tweaked to the point that dead tree format instructions aren't even remotely close to what the current game is. PDFs on the other hand can be patched with game content.
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
The iPad, or any real mobility device, could make a great game manual browser. Download as ePub or PDF and go for it. No more printing costs; no more shipping costs; just pure profit.
I'm not sure, I have to admit I was never excited about the lame "default" manuals that come with games. They usually do little more than just enumerate the keyboard commands and menu options, kind of like motherboard manuals.
Now, strategy guides are a real, non-trivial resource. But those never come with games anyway.
Tsunami -- You can't bring a good wave down!
Back in the day when computer games were complex simulations, extensive manuals were essential for gameplay - and often brought the flavor of the period to the game. One of the best I can think of was 'Red Baron'. That manual was a fine treatise on the evolution of air warfare in WWI. And then there was SSN688 and the waterfall sonar display. Really interesting to get to understand that thing - and context help wasn't going to cut it. And of course the grand daddy of all manuals was Falcon 4.0. An amazing sim in the midst of a real-time evolving war. Awesome games. Great manuals. Now we get point and shoot.
I bought Settlers 7, running on a mac (10.6.3), the game doesnt even start.
So I guess I paid 50 bucks for an electronic manual.
Hasn't Valve been lacking manuals for some time now? Don't think I've ever heard anyone complain about it either.
Apparently wizard is not a legitimate career path, so I chose programmer instead.
Really, there's hardly any reason to write a manual for distribution as a PDF, much less print it. A short "Getting Started" writeup and in-game help properly done should be fine. If they want to ship some prose for the backstory or something as a document your can read on your computer outside the game (during server downtime say) that's cool.
I was thinking about this for consumer electronics, too. My MacBook didn't come with a printed manual to speak of, and the documentation isn't one big tome either. Why don't things like digital cameras include better documentation and contextual help on them? (Better yet, be easier to use, but photography has inherent complexities that we've yet to simplify). Having to dig up the paper manual to figure out how to change a setting is so 20th century.
Yes, it's definitely more "green" to not print paper manuals. But anyone who thinks that this is anything less than a cost-saving measure are, I believe, just trying to fool themselves.
The companies that write good manuals (Bioware, in the past at least, has done a nice job with games like NWN and BG2) will probably continue to do so as part of the value-add to their customers. Ubisoft, in particular, doesn't really seem to be in the business of making games for gamers anymore, but rather games to sell to the masses. So if the masses don't read the manuals, why bother?
I still have a huge box full of old manuals like the ones from WCII, Homeworld, Starcraft, and Warcraft. I like those manuals because they have short stories in them that are fun to read.
You even had companies like LucasGames back in the day that gave you a whole extra book of Henry Jones' journal for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. You didn't have to read it (and, as a small kid, I couldn't read cursive handwriting anyways), but it was a great value-add. So Ubisoft is making a business decision to offer less value at less cost? Fine then. Just one more reason not to buy (which doesn't automatically mean "pirate", by the way) Ubisoft games.
as long as it's accessible WHILE PLAYING THE GAME. Don't make me quit and fire up Acrobat Reader to look up one command.
Never let a lack of data get in the way of a good rant.
I vote that they put the manual on GameFAQs.com with everything else. That would be pretty cool.
Sure, people could print them at home now, but the Bard's Tale games included complete spell lists in the manuals. I remember spending many late nights hovering in front of my friend's C-64 and paging throught the manual to find just the spell we needed (until we had most of them memorized). Playing those games now, after the booklets are long gone, is painful.
On a more recent note, I really enjoyed the manuals that came with some of the editions of Guild Wars--great artwork, and fun text blocks. Sure, Plants vs. Zombies didn't need a manual (and didn't ship with one--thanks, PopCap Games!), but there will still be times when manuals will be a good addition to the gaming experience. In other words, if it will be a useful refernce or has other redeeming qualities (i.e., is a work of art), let them ship. Otherwise, it's fine to go without.
I use irony whenever I can, but my shirts are still wrinkled...
I have an Ubisoft game called Silent Hunter III. It came with a nice small pamphlet for a manual.
The modding community created an expansion package called The Gray Wolves Expansion.
The manual for it is, literally, a book. It comes in PDF format.
I'm quite content with the PDF manual.
A work that expires before its copyright never enters the public domain and thus enjoys eternal copyright protection.
> UbiSoft wins. The game strategy guide industry wins. The customer loses.
On the contrary, the customer still wins. The manuals that come with the game are worthless, as I am sure you'd know if you read one in the last ten years. Strategy guides by companies like Prima, on the other hand, are awesome. For example, I bought the Fallout 3 guide, since I love the game. It is an incredible book, hardbound, 500 pages thick, and has EVERYTHING. But it wouldn't be right to force it on everybody; some people are fine with playing the game without any reference. Bundling it with every game would have unnecessarily increased the cost, which is already too damn high. This way I buy what I want, and they don't have to, so the consumer definitely wins.
I loved buying games for the amiga or atari st, with the big boxes and manuals. Most weren't written very well, as they may have been shoot em ups. But the sims or games like civilisation, the manuals that game developers (now gone) like microprose printed in their boxes were fantastic. 300-400 page think well printed manuals. Keyboard overlays for all the keyboard commands. I loved the smell of a well printed manual, opening the box and seeing all the keyboard layouts, manuals and other goodies. I yeah loved it.
But now? Well there are still sims out there for the PC. But I have not tried them out. Games these days, even RPG etcs are made to be easy to play. Game gui's have come along way, to avoid heavy keyboard use. A lot of games on consoles, to be frank, do not need manuals. I do miss the massive video intros though, too short these days.
Ubisoft is right, but at least have a PDF for PC games and consoles should always have online help.
I buy most of my games on Steam anyway. I don't even get a box to look at.
Personally I find little use for them beyond laughing all the silly little mistakes that they invariably make.
fuck you ubisoft you piece of shit, fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck yoooooooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
Awesome, that's one less inducement to buy the game instead of pirate it. Well done, Ubisoft!
egypt urnash minimal art.
They are just doing it to drop production costs as the most expensive part of the shipped game is usually the manual. (Collectors edition goodies don't count.)
Their just trying to score some cheap brownie points with the stupid by claiming it's motivated by green. Too bad they got that last letter wrong.
I needed to read the manual for Oblivion, I must have missed something during the tutorial (that your 'tab' menu is a doubly nested notebook control and that your lifebar, weapon equipped, spell equipped and compass were the outermost tabs).
Made the game unplayable not knowing how to change spells/equipment.
What do they mean "No more gay manuals?!" I thought they were all pretty gay but still.
Ubisoft is digging themselves a hole that they most likely will not get out of. With DRM and now the lack of game manuals, I doubt they'll even last 3 years.
On another note, I rather like having a physical copy (read: paper) of the manual. I like reading the manual before I get the game installed (for example, as soon as I purchase a game). And then there's the fact that I may want to read the manual when I'm playing the game. I can't read a PDF while I'm playing a game, unless things have drastically changed (no, I should not have to purchase a 2nd monitor).
And then there are games like Grand Theft Auto that include large colorful poster/maps of the in game world. Whenever I play a GTA game, I usually post the map above my computer as a reference. That's a reason why I've never purchased a GTA game (I don't even know if the digital versions include the map as a PDF file) through digital distribution (eg: Steam). For one, my printer can not print pages that large. Secondly, since I would have to print a rather large and colorful page, it would eat through my ink. And then there's the fact that (for an example) the GTA games are cheaper at retail than on Steam. I can (and did get) GTA4 for $20 several months ago, while on Steam it's still $30. I got the older games years ago, but today III, Vice City and San Andreas can all be had for $10 each.
Another argument against piracy goes bye-bye.
"I like to have the box with the disk and the printed manual."
I wonder what percent of legal purchasers had this for an argument.
45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
Falcon 3 ...
Comache/Hokum
Fallout 1& 2
TES 1, 2, 3, 4
Baldurs Gate 1,2, ToSC, ToB
Wing Commander 1, 2, 3
Elite
Settlers 1, 2, 3,
Strike Commander
AV8B Harrier
Deus Ex
Dungeon Keeper
Having a nice printed manual to leaf through can be one of the joys of a new game ... just as there is something special about buying music on vinyl that was lost for cassettes and CDs, could there be something lost for games here?
I don't really know, the only games I play now are my childhood favourites on my SNES (yes, I still have it and it still works - though I do have to do the NES "cartridge-blow" trick from time to time) and I haven't bought a new name since Civ 3, so I'm not really in their target audience anyway ...
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. - Dr. Seus
Now we just need to get the whole industry to realize they don't even need full jewelcases to distribute the games. I'd be ok with the tall format, just slim it down.
I will miss manuals though, Zelda manuals are among my favorite.
There is a movement from delivering games from shelves to online delivery. Fairly soon this will be complete... so how do you expect the games to provide instructions? Answer: Online as well of course.
This "green initiative" is pure BS. There's nothing green about it, except the money they will save by not printing/delivering manuals while they switch to the online sales delivery style.
Besides... my GTA game didn't come with a stinking manual. It came with a map and a book of credits and some story to read... which I didn't of course... because who wants to read when one can just play instead... am I right?
All this company is doing is planning for the future and saving some money in the meantime. The paper saving (which is truly minuscule... be real) is a consequence and not a purpose for this change.
I mean, just because you play video games... it don't mean your have to be a gullible fool... or?
Backinmyday, not only did I get a manual, I got peril-sensitive sunglasses, a microscopic space fleet, a pin button, pocket fluff, a replica of the Vogon destruction order for the Earth, and no tea.
Nowadays, you don't even get the no tea.
--I'm so big, my sig has its own sig.
-- See?
UbiSoft wins. The game strategy guide industry wins. The customer loses. More of the usual.
Only their top CEOs win when they cut and run before the company goes under. You can't treat your customers as badly as they have been lately without losing them and gaining a reputation as a company to avoid. Their management is signing their death warrant with moves like this.
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
I'd be willing to bet that this has more to do with increasing profit per unit rather than being "green". With the cost of printing those manuals(which, aside from the cardboard cover insert, is the most environmentally friendly portion of a complete game package) reduced, they also substantially reduce shipping weight.
Those savings will not be passed on to the consumer in any way and games will still be $50+
When companies go "green", they don't mean enviro-friendly, they mean money.
I already have a ban on Ubisoft for their draconian DRM scheme. This is on top of their lazy console ports they have been doing for years and I guess add no game manuals on top of that.
I'm a firm believer in vote with your wallet. I have voted Die Ubisoft DIE, but it will only work if other agree with me.
Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon what's the difference? All steal money from devs and control with walled gardens.
If they're trying to save the trees, are they also getting rid of the huge, gigantic boxes that will now contain nothing but a disc?
Okay but why wasn't isn't information about icons and skill trees in the game? The old reasons, not enough hardware/software resources, don't apply any longer. If there is a real problem, the vendors should provide redundant copies of the documentation to the player: In the game offered in Help or Tutorial, on the disk on a common format like PDF or Html, and the classic pamphlet.
Do any of you remember the good old days of gaming when devs were clever and puzzles were hard and the manuals were part of the gaming experience you would have to look in the manual for the contextual clue to progress on and it was hard enough that if you didnt have the manual you were screwed. Internet out modes that aspect.
If Ubisoft were truly so honest about preserving the environment, why would they insist on keeping 200+ watt servers running 24 hours a day to support their latest DRM scam?
(http://www.petitiononline.com/ew15dl94/petition.html)
The rise of in-game help HAS largely made manuals less important, and as such they've started to become completely useless anyway. A lot of manuals that I've seen completely fail to even cover the game's basics properly.
However, a few manuals are still great. Blizzard's manuals are more than just instructions, they contain a lot of interesting stuff. I still have my Blizzard manuals going back to Diablo, because they're too cool to throw away.
The bottom line is that if a company isn't going to bother making a good manual, then it's probably a good idea to get rid of them. I just hope that a few companies realize that there is a potential way to add a little value to your world and get people a little more invested in their products.
Think of all of the electricity wasted being forced wade through in-game tutorials. Getting rid of those and putting the info in a (preferably recycled paper) manual would be much greener while also improving gameplay. Nothing destroys the fantasy faster than when an NPC instructs you, via your character, to execute some button sequence. And it's even worse on replays when you are repeating pointless missions in order to learn something you already know.
Oblig. old man rant - Think about what it is doing to the youngsters' ability to read a book and then use that knowledge, rather than being conditioned to respond to prompts.
There's a difference. A rural DSL connection at 256 kbps is probably fast enough for Ubisoft DRM to keep the game running, but not to download the game in the first place.
The first time I bought an original game for the super nintendo (before it was all chinese knock-off atari and famicom cartridges), I was surprised at all the garbage that came with the actual game. Not just the (useless) manual, but a bunch of brochures and promotions and crap like that. I haven't bought many original games since then, but if it's still like that, good for them.
--
Stay tuned for some shock and awe coming right up after this messages!
Once upon a time manuals were big 40 page wedges that contained background plot, depth and some vital piece if info that made the difference between being to just play the game and being awesome at it...
These instruction books (and books they were) helped fill the mind numbingly boring journey between buying the game and getting home so you can play it, building excitement so by the time you got home you couldn't wait to start playing. The really good ones were so detailed you were still reading them 30 minutes after you got home....
These days you get install instructions which are just 1) put disk in drive 2) press install, not even a single mention of selecting the right graphics settings for your PC or making sure you have enough free base memory or have the right joystick type for the game...
Anyway more often these days I buy a game, get bored reading the instruction flyer who's only purpose is to have something to print the DRM key on, and not even bother to install it.
Next time I am in the game store I see a game that seems promising and think I already have that other game to play... I'll save my money.
[The Universe] has gone offline.
There have been relatively few manuals I've needed in any form for the last 20 years. Of those, probably 80% would be fine as PDFs. The remainder are useful, informative and/or entertaining artefacts that contribute well to playing a game. And of those, they still don't compare to most of the things I got with Infocom games back in the 1980s.
So for all the dead tree purists out there: if you really cared about good paper manuals, you shouldn't have stood for so many of them sucking their way into irrelevance over the last couple of decades.
they also canceled all the game guide book contracts. I'm not holding my breath on that...
This would make a lot of sense if say... the money they save made their games cheaper?
Ubisoft is rising prices of games, while cutting costs. We, the gamer community are tools and retarded sons of bitches to let this happen.
It would be interesting to see the statistics of how many people actually read the manual. It seems this would make the difference whether you're saving energy by putting it on the web (where electricity must be used in every step) or by printing them out (where electricity is only used in production). Anyone have numbers?
It sounds like they still use the amazing information machine rather than paper, regardless as to what direction they pointed it in...
Fuck the entire green movement in the ass with a broken broomstick.
This is just more proof that the greens are out to destroy our way of life.
I actually agree with them. Providing of course they make the manuals available as PDF's online forever. With most games now you can usually set the keys to whatever you want under an options menu, so I haven't really needed to look at a manual for a long while.
Besides it's fun yelling out at a LAN party "What's the button for parachute? quick!!"
While I can sort of understand that with PC games where you can easily read a PDF with console games it is different.
Plus as a very casual gamer I often forget which buttons do what, so I always have the manual open with the basic controller layout.
On the other hand, games nowadays are so "easy" that there is not much manual needed. Back in the days the manuals had to describe tons of shit you could do and the tons of keyboard shortcuts there were (just remember TIE Fighter).
One good thing with PDF manuals is, that you can copy them into your google docs account and then have them with you wherever you go (if you actually need them ;)
"Freiheit ist immer auch die Freiheit des Andersdenkenden" - Rosa Luxemburg, 1871 - 1919
I've been renting games through a well-known online film and games company for a little over a year - manuals are never supplied (for obvious reasons) and I've only ever wanted the manual for a game once, and that was an odd Wii game with a stunningly poor control interface. By and large, manuals are no longer needed, although I suspect Ubisoft is ditching them more for cost reasons than any real attempt to save the planet.
Best manual in the world was from an old Amiga game F19 Stealth Fighter (Microprose).
Not only did it detail all the controls, backstory etc, but even went into the principles behind radar, plane design, aerodynamics, missile construction, etc
I learnt more from that game than in a year of physics lessons:P
For a long time, a printed manual that you could keep beside the keyboard while playing, has been the only advantage to buying the game, rather than getting the bittorrent edition.
The bittorrent edition has other advantages - actually working, vs the whole DRM thing.
These people must really want me to get the bittorrent edition.
1. I drew up a keyboard layout once in Visio, so that I could then create versions of it for various games. Rainbow Six 3 comes to mind. I keep the paper near my keyboard, because I often forget about 20% of the commands. If this was included with the game, that would have been nice, especially since it likely would have been better cardstock than my coffee-stained 8.5x11.
2. Ultima had the kewlest packaging. I still have the old boxes with the cloth maps tucked around somewhere. Now *that* was the way to package a game.
3. Icons drive me nuts. NWN is a good example. The documentation is needed so that you can interpret all the squigglies. When they just use words on the screen, then I won't need that documentation any more.
Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. - John 14:6 NLT
Those lazy bastards just want to save money on not having to design and print the manuals. This makes me feel old but i still fondly remember the time when games came in big cardboard boxes and the manuals were thick as novels. Ah, those were the times. "Get off my lawn you whippersnappers!" *shakes fist*
What's better than reading an online PDF or HTML text file of a bunch of commands for those who dislike repetitive reading? Playing an online mini-game, which simulates the game experience in a no punishment atmosphere is better. Why read about something when you can do it? Besides, I haven't read a game manual since, well the NES days. I could imagine more online tutorial mini-games being made fairly easily.
> Electronic Arts vinyl-sized game sleeves Since when was vinyl used as a measure of size?
Author, Shell Scripting : Expert Re
I just love nowadays when companies try to save money for being cheap asses and call it going "green".
Thank you for giving me yet another reason to just pirate your games ... has if the DRM stupidity wasn't enough. You do realize that became easier to download and use a pirate copy of the game than actually go trough the painful process of getting the DRMed version to work right? So why the well would I pay to get a worst product than what I can get for free?
So now there will be no reason at all not to download a torrent!
The manuals were the first things i read!!! So much for skipping over those tutorials..... guess i'll just be reading manuals online if they won't print them anymore.