More manuals should be like Uniracers'.

The last manual I bothered reading was from American McGee's Alice. That shit was beautiful, it also provided a bit of back story in form of a diary, penned during Alice's detention in that asylum. 

That kinda sucks. I actually do look at all the manuals and am very disappointed with manuals like the CoD manuals. Manuals forever!

Manuals are a must for most sports games with all the different button combos and whatnot. try playing fifa 10 without the booklet and you will never be able to pull off some of the better stuff in the game

It's nice but I doubt we'll even see cut costs for games, which Should happen, but it's extra easy dollars for the CEOs to jam into their pockets. 
 
While I don't use the instruction manuals, they're taking something away from us for free. It's stupid.

Let me take this minor change in policy to rationalize piracy, idiots around the world reply.

Man, i will miss them, something about not having manuals come with the package feels kinda weird to me. But times move on i guess, and we have no choice but to move along with it. 

What!!!   
 
It had to be Ubisoft.

Sounds dumb, personally.  To paraphrase a good quote, and my dad; a job worth doing is worth doing well... 
 
I love a good game manual.  Now albeit they don't make them as they used to, like Working Designs manuals or even the old classic Jane's manuals for PC games but if they expect me to look at the online version for a manual they must be on drugs; I'm not going to even bother. 
 
If you're going to put a 6 meg PDF file or something online and expect the casual player to give a damn then we're going about this the wrong way.  If you are truly conscientiousness about the environment and saving money then put the manual on the disk, in the menus or in game.  Don't make us go to some website to view it, that's silly.

The game manuals were awesome when the box the game was in was NOT a DVD case.. you know, back when you got a big ass box..?

Huh... I had forgotten manuals were a thing. I have bought all my new games on steam for a while. Still, I remember (and still have a copy) of the Baldur's gate II manual, that was some quality stuff. Think I might have the warcraft II one somewhere, maybe. Still, surprised paper manuals existed as long as they have. 

next step. holographic guy/girl telling you the world of warcraft 7

Good move, I never read those things anymore anyways. There have been a few over the years that have been well worth flipping through, but it happends so seldom nowadays that I wouldn't miss them if they disappeared altogether.

This does bother me the manual is a part of the game (packaging) leave it there.  Also I hate when the inside case is just white if I'm going to pay 60 bucks for a game they can have some kind of artwork on the inside.  So all I can think of is that once the manual is gone I'll have two plain ugly white sides to look at.  We deserve more.

I am torn. On one hand, I am very fond of my old manuals for StarCraft, Baldur's Gate II and Homeworld which were regular books back in the day. However, in the last five years manuals gradually turned into cheap leaflets. Some exceptions exist (the GTA tourist guide shtick for instance), but at this point in time, written manuals are so diminished and meaningless, they might as well scrap them altogether.
 
So, yeah, I am sad to see manuals go for nostalgic reasons, but I don't think they are a great loss in the year 2010. But for the love of god, give us at least a PDF speadsheet or something. 
 

I honestly can not remember the last time I read a manual, So I am actually for this.

I thought everyone was already doing this.  I mourned the passing of the manual years ago.  Not every manual even in the golden age was that great, but some of them were dynamite.  If it saves on production costs and keeps game producers afloat without them having to sacrifice too many of their own, I'm OK with it.  I'm also OK with manuals being an extra in games that really need them, or being part of the larger bonus package deals they have now. 

"

Just say this is to cut costs. "Eco-friendly..." Bullshit!

"

I've still got my beloved manuals from back when they were truly great companion pieces, so I'm all good. Plus now I won't have to guiltily throw away all those French version instruction manuals.

to grandkids: "Back in my day, they would have little books tucked away in the plastic containers where you would find the video game disc. None of these fandangled holly-grams, with your Final Fantasy 47 and your Jungler:The Movie:The Game and what-have-you."

Long gone are the days when few games actually shipped with a real book alongside with the fat manuals.

I do miss the days of great manuals, but as Jeff pointed out those days ended a long time ago.  I never understood the point of printing the 4 page manuals they included in most releases these days anyway.  I suspect that eventually they will stop bothering making the electronic manual and be done with it.

I kinda just flip through them nowadays, if only because I like that fresh printed smell. I also remember the manual for Alundra having the answer to a puzzle I couldn't quite wrap my head around. Oh, you have to stack the sun on top of the moon. Of course!

Starcraft has one of my favorite manuals. Honestly... wouldn't have been the same experience without dozens of pages of history and explanation about things.
 
Games (at least on the PC), used to be like records: the boxes were huge and were practically works of art. Now we're reduced to tiny, DVD sized containers and tiny, DVD sized images. I went out a couple weeks ago and picked up Duke Nukem 3D in the original box at a good will... and it just made me miss the old style that much more.

It's more like 'putting them out of their misery' at this point.  It's sad that manuals have to go, but really they've been gone or going ever since they downsized PC boxes - and how long ago was that?  Ten years?
 
They used to be glorious, now they're just "Here's what a 360 controller looks like.  P.S.  If you have an eppy fit whilst playing this game, don't say we didn't warn you."  You hardly even get a decent 'Guns Page' anymore.

Old school game manuals were awesome, almost like mini books full of fiction and useful information. Nowadays they basically just give you "health and safety" information and disclaimers.

Not big deal I haven't look at game manuel in years.

Manuals have, and always will be, fer yelle' bellies.

What am i gonna read on while i'm on the crapper now? seriously, i agree they are not what they used to be, i used to read them cover to cover before ever playing the game. now they are obsolete, hence i only have a look when i'm sitting in a small uninteresting room and i've finished with all the shampoo bottles. 
 
I'd much rather see companies make an effort to give us the works of art they used to provide rather than just giving up all together.

Won't miss them. Ubisoft's motivation is hardly as innocent as desiring to go green, but that is a positive side-effect of this move, so good on them.

I actually really enjoy a well made booklet inside of the games, especially if it entails more than a how to play and a contact us section.

They should make the games cost less now

Game manuals have gotten so small and shitty, that there's really no need for them anymore.  I'd be fine with getting rid of them completely.

What an interesting article by the crew who regularly exhibit in Quick Looks just how dearly needed manuals are.
 

I remember times when manuals were awesome and actually helped you play the game. 
 
Now they are 10 pages max. anyway and just give you a short breakdown own what your buttons do.

I remember times when manuals were awesome and actually helped you play the game. 
 
Now they are 10 pages max. anyway and just give you a short breakdown own what your buttons do.  

  
@Meowayne said:

" What an interesting article by the crew who regularly exhibit in Quick Looks just how dearly needed manuals are.   "  

  @raiz265 said:

@Meowayne said:

" What an interesting article by the crew who regularly exhibit in Quick Looks just how dearly needed manuals are.   "  

Also this. Sometimes I watch QLs and just facepalm. "

 Ubisoft, I understand that manuals are a waste and I have probably not looked at one in years but if your going to take them out, at least have the balls to tell us gamers your removing it for cost reasons instead of trying to make it look like you are so holy.

I still read them.  I was actually just reading though the Halo 3: ODST one last week sometime while waiting for a multiplayer match to start.  That one was really well done.

I think ubisoft and EA games can get rid of theirs, they are black + white, and they are always only like 5 pages, pretty much so the controls and thats it.  Now other companies, especially japanese ones, like square-enix or atlus, always have full colored ones that are like 20-30 pages.

I guess if they think it helps the environment, go for it. I only kind of treated the manuals as part of a collector's item of some sort; I never really deemed them important, since a game has those tutorials and additional information in-game anyway. No need to print manuals that nobody reads anymore.

HAHAHA How insulting that White tries to spin this money-saving maneuver by Ubisoft as a "green initiative".  I mean, maybe he's just a fuckin idiot. Maybe he's a whore turning tricks for the highest bidder. Who knows? 
Anyway, if Ubisoft passed a share of those savings, however small, onto the consumer I'd be more in favor of the move...That ain't gonna happen.  But if it helps em make better games then whatever. As it is, most game manuals have been shit for years.  I have fond memories of the days when, like Jeff, I'd pour over every detail in the manual whenever I couldn't get my grubby mitts on the game. I even made use of the "notes" sections every once in a while. For example, with Tecmo Super Bowl for the NES I kept track of my major records there (Barry Sanders, over 1,000 yds rushing in a SINGLE GAME, baby).