@MordeaniisChaos: That's a great point I was just about to bring up as well.
I'd gladly trade that wasted space you've noted for elimination of the new eco-case format where the areas behind the disc are not protected at all.
I don't know the history behind it exactly, but I can't think of a good reason as to why the regular jewel case sizes for CD's didn't carry over when DVD cases were built. The only reason I can think of is that marketers wanted larger real estate for the slips of advertising or other associated things you find inside the DVD case itself, which is really a pretty terrible reason to increase the form factor for.
I think the last time I read a manual was about 4 years ago when I bought a game and went to Pizza hut for lunch, and had nothing to do for a minute or two so busted it open.
" Yay, I always love getting less for the same price! "
Dude, seriously? who gives a shit. This is a good initiative - EA saves money and helps out the environment, and you can find everything the game manual had and more online.... so stop. "
So if they're saving money by helping the environment, then they'll pass those savings on to us, the consumer, right?
I hate to be the one to say it but if this were Activision doing this, the Internet would be having a field day with "Bobby Kotick is the devil" rants. You guys are hypocrites. If this doesn't impact the price, then EA are worse than I thought :/
Maybe they should just stop releasing physical copies of games. Then they'd be reducing ca... wait, then they'd more than likely lose money at the sake of really helping the environment! D'oh! Silly notion is silly.
I do wonder how much value people actually put in the manuals of games. Do people really think they're worth $5? As long as they have a comprehensive digital version available -- be it online or on disc, I really don't see the issue. I can honestly say that no part of my purchasing decision for a game has ever been "I wonder what the manual is like," it's all about the game. @sofacitysweetheart said:
" So if they're saving money by helping the environment, then they'll pass those savings on to us, the consumer, right?
How much do you think those manuals actually cost to print? The physical cost of the duplication is pennies, there is no saving to pass onto the consumer.
The biggest impact of this will be entirely internal: they don't have to devote a section of their budget towards paying copywriters, translators or printers. This money can either go elsewhere in the company, or just help lower costs overall from the massively ballooning budgets games have these days. It will help their profit margins, slightly, but companies exist to make as much profit as they, they have no obligation to pass any savings they make on their development process on to the consumer. In fact, one thing that's pretty interesting about games is the price hasn't really changed that much compared to inflation over the years, despite games getting more and more expensive to produce.
Sure, the cynic is me finds it laughable that they claim they're doing it entirely "for the environment," but less paper wasted on these flimsy 6-page "manuals" is still a good thing despite their motives for doing so.
For all but a rare few console games, I file the disc and chuck the rest. Now if they could get rid of the patronising tutorial sections (and the sickening product placement in EA titles).
Hate this... but more so for RPGs and such. Sports games really only need a reference sheet anyway. I always read a manual cover to cover before I play any game, and then again after playing the game for a couple hours to see if I have missed anything helpful. I hope this isn't what every company does now. I still love my Fallout 1 spiral bound notebook, and while that isn't practical for console games, there have been some great looking, useful manuals for games this generation that I would have missed.
Manuals used to be awesome back in the day, when there was actually some effort put into them to make them appealing. In recent years, though, they've all been a few pages long and have had no appeal or flare about them. And besides, does anyone really read manuals anyway? Good move by EA to do away with them.
I must say when i opened my copy of FNC i was alittle pissed i had no manual, I like to read on the bog, maybe EA can lend me SOME OF THE FUCKING NOTES THEY'VE SAVED TO WIPE MY ASSHOOOOLE
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