Yay, now games' MSRP will be 58.99? Ahhh! Reality wins again.

I don't care since most game manuals are worthless.  It'd be nice to see this replaced with some sort of in game help/manual system though.  If they really wanted to reduce waste, they'd switch to those cardboard cases that music CDs use sometimes.

No manuals? fine.
but using those eco-boxes? Fuck that shit!

" According to a press release, EA will also start using those reduced-material DVD style cases that we all love. The publisher estimates that it's reducing the amount of material in its packaging by around 40 percent overall. That's a savings everyone can feel good about! "

They make some pretty garbage manuals anyways.

Can't believe it's taken this long. Publishers just needs to put a PDF on their website and that's more than enough. 

I like manuals.  Rare's in particular were excellent.   Viva Pinata and BK:Nuts&Bolts are practically works of art.

Can we go back to non-eco cases now?

I'm more upset that between this and the flimsy "eco-tainer" there's going to be literally nothing protecting the game from the world.  I'd be fine with a smaller but durable container. 
 
ETA: Though this does make nostalgiac for riding back from the Babbages, excitedly tearing open a game, and reading a manual on the way home.

I think the environment wasn't the "green" they were talking about.

" I think the environment wasn't the "green" they were talking about. "

Game manuals have been pretty lackluster these days, anyway -- Ubisoft's put out a couple of games where the manual was just a single sheet folded in half: front-side logo, left-insert legals, right-insert controls, back-side advertisement.

You know what I hate about DvD's? The fucking case, it feels so flimsy and feels like its worth nothing, I love games because they have a nice manual and makes it look special. 
 
 
 
 
:(

I'm kind of saddened by this. I mean, I know I rarely ever use them, but losing manuals and having a huge chunk of the cases disappearing will just make all my cases feel flimsy as fuck. They may as well start selling me games in ziplock baggies with a label on them. I'm not optimistic for it, but I really hope there's a serious case redesigning for the next generation.

" I think the environment wasn't the "green" they were talking about. "

So.. how do i read a manual on the disc from my 360?

" @theguy said:

" I think the environment wasn't the "green" they were talking about. "

"

"The only ever great manuals were GBA game manuals and basically every other boxed Nintendo game because of the amount of care put into the manuals.  "

Wait, what?  They ALREADY use eco-boxes!  I just got four copies of Crysis 2 in the mail with eco-boxes.  Bulletstorm and Dragon Age II were in eco-boxes!
 
*ugh*  I don't mind losing the manuals.  It's been a long time coming now, and frankly, I like that when they are on the disc and accessible in-game.  I've found it pretty handy with Brotherhood.  However, these goddamn eco-boxes...

*shrugs* Manuals have been terrible for a while anyways. p.s. Throwing a fit over this and eco-cases is not a good look. People need to grow the fuck up.

Everything is so user friendly (dumbed down for the masses) these days that the manual isn't really needed at all.  They really are just a waste of paper these days anyway.  I miss the days when games came with huge manuals full of content....*hugs his baldurs gate manuals*

And, conveniently enough, making the standard packaging as shitty as possible provides great incentive for people to buy the collectors edition!  I wonder how good all those tin cases, art books, and plastic scale model plasma cutters are for the environment. 
Oh well. in the end, I suppose it doesn't matter... as long as they end up passing some of those savings along to the customaahhahahahaha 
hahaha--
oh god I can't even finish

this is why i freaking love capcom 40 pages full color manuals

As someone who keeps my manuals as a timeline of my own gaming ( started with Pokemon Blue, when I was 6; at least, that's as far back as I have...), this saddens me. 
 
I like companies like Atlus, who tend to package their games with nice informative manuals as well as soundtracks. EA's manuals, though, don't usually have much in them, so...

Everyone who told me it's okay for MvC 3 n Street Fighter 4 to not have instructions cos "it's all in the manual": fuck right off.
Nobody reads game manuals. They don't exist.

I totally ok with this. They've become pretty useless these days. Planet = SAVED.

Good to hear, let's save the world!

What the hell am I going to smell now, oh well.

In PR terms it's called "going green" 
In reality, it's "saving money"

" In PR terms it's called "going green" In reality, it's "saving money" "

I thought they stopped doing it a couple of years ago.........

How am I supposed to get hype about a game on the way back if I don't have a manual to read when I rip open the case inside whatever vehicle I'm traveling back in?

Yep, we all knew this was coming eventually.
 
This is why I just put my games in CD cases.   More money spent, but at least my games won't get poked by pens or take up so damned much space.

I never really read the game manuals anyway, especially from EA games.

Sooner or later what we will be reading is "EA doing away with discs". Physical media is on it's way out. The end of manuals puts us one step closer to the inevitable digital future.

I think AC Brotherhood literally just had a manual with a cover and a back and the inside telling you the controls. 
 
just put that in the box, so it doesn't feel so empty.

great, even more time walking back and forth from the computer to the couch when I'm getting into a game and the in-game tutorial sucks. SAVE THE MANUALS!

Last good manual I got was for Neverwinter Nights 2
 
Can't count Demon's Souls, that was a full game guide in EU version.

great, 1 less reason to value the legitimate copy of the game.  At least with a good color manual and maybe a map or whatever I felt like I was getting something real for my money.  Is it any wonder people turn to the version without abusive DRM and with the secondary login cracked out?

funny you know how we get the trees for paper we plant them no paper no trees being planted for paper 

so instead of a manual we get a piece of paper with a website with the manual on, and a piece of paper with DLC codes, then a piece of paper with join xbox live, then a piece of paper with adverts  
 
so maybe not reducing the the paper by that much 

While I'm fine with manuals disappearing, justifying it as "Going Green" is kinda garbage.

the funny thing is that games will still be 60 bucks so it's not the consumer that's going to save money, it's going to be the giant game devs.  those sneaky bastards!

I'm with the "whatever" crowd. The last ten or so games I've bought have been digital downloads anyway. Who cares.

As long as the manual is easily accessible in digital form from the game's menu - preferably from the pause menu so it's even easier to get to - then good riddance. I used to have a collector's mentality about game boxes, manuals, etc. but now I look around my room and want less stuff.  
 
Why do I have 2 10lb. boxes of CDs when all of that data fits onto a chip the size of my pinky nail? Why do I have a box of magazines that weighs almost as much as I do when there's digital versions available that have extra content and actual interactivity? 
 
Paper. It was good while it lasted, but there's a reason I haven't hooked up my printer in months. I just don't need you anymore.

While it is a way to save money, I have no problem with it. How many of us actually read the whole thing? I used to read them to see the controls but I can do that in most game menus. And since it will be online its all good.