Assassin's Creed Brotherhood 'Manual' Has Been Reduced To This

Kotaku: "Publisher Ubisoft is protecting Assassin's Creed Brotherhood buyers from dangerous staples by whittling down the game's manual to a single sheet, scored and folded for your convenience. Maybe they're thinking "green"?"

[multipayer]

Funny, I got a "Rebuilding Trust" pamphlet promoting this game in OXM magazine(it was $5 for a year). To think the instruction booklet the $60 game came with is no better...

[Red_Orange_Juice]

Cheap bastards, what is this, not a manual, more like warnings summary

[Heartnet]

no1 reads the manuals anyhow :P

[Gam3s4lif3]

hmmm...quite depressing...
o well its not like ill look at the manual :D

[VersusEM]

I know right, the game is the thing that really matters

[Dave1351]

True, if i need help with a game thats where google comes in handy

[RankFTW]

Ubisoft said a couple of years ago that they were going to phase out manuals so no surprise here, well done Kotaku...

[seinfan]

Yeah, I believe they said they were putting the manual in the game menus somewhere.

[branchedout]

I remember when I was younger.

I'd get a game, and whip out the manual first. I wouldn't even touch the disc/cartridge.

I read that loving manual. It gave me tips the game wouldn't. Heck, some manuals walked you through the first stage!

They cared!

Now, game manuals are filled with:
"Lol, plz don't sue us."
"lol. This is ur controller and here are the buttonz."

[ZombieNinjaPanda]

My favorite ones were some of the N64 ones. I remember Donkey Kong 64's manual could have been considered a small book. So much back story in there.

[beeeffess]

Ah the days when you'll get a new game and read the manual on the car ride home.

It would last the whole journey.

It's a shame we don't get thicker manuals. Have you see the Mafia 2 manual. Thinnest manual. Granted it was and easy game to follow but there were a few things I missed which should have been in the manual.

Considering AC2: Brotherhood is focussing on multiplayer there should be a lot more information. I hate how online games just throw you into the game. At least with a single player game, I don't have 5 or 6 people telling me I'm an idiot when I don't know how to do a specific thing.

[gamingisnotacrime]

now games manuals are rarely useful. Is good to see it, but all the important info can be found in the game

[beeeffess]

Manuals for me nowadays serve as a reminder.

Most games this generation feature a tutorial at the beginning but after that you cannot go back to it without restarting the game.

Say I start a game then I stop playing and only come back to it in a few weeks. Chances are I've forgotten how to play this game. I can just look in the manual to get a refresher on how to use the game's features without starting over from the beginning or pressing every button and hoping for the best.

Though some games will have an in game manual such as Fallout 3/NV which is nice.

There are PC games that don't bother putting in a manual and expect you to download the PDF. Alt-tabbing during a game to look at the manual isn't fun. There are some games that don't like it when you alt-tab and crash the game.

[QuantumSponge]

"They cared!"

Ah... it's good to see such wide-eyed innocence still exists. Warms your heart.

Game manuals are dead because they are, for the most part, no longer necessary, as the information they contained has migrated into the games themselves.

And "they" care about as much as they always have. They certainly care about where our money is going.

[TekoIie]

wait... So people actually care about the manual? WOW and i thought hackers were sad...

[Neckbear]

Confirmed for being underaged and started gaming this generation. Go back to your shooters, kid.

Back then, manuals were one of the main reasons to NOT pirate a game. Manuals had glorious artwork, tips, and explained with detail not only the game's features, but the backstory and settings, too.

Hell, when you bought a game, you felt really happy with the whole package. A big, nice box, a heavy manual, and the game itself. Nowadays? It's the Box Art recycled through the disc and the manual, and the manual itself is 20 pages long.

@Dragonfodder

Yeah, as a comment on Kotaku says:

"Game manuals are not gone, they have "evolved" into game guides and cost you an extra $20"

That's also, when available, I pick up games that have Artbooks and Game Guides as pre-order bonuses, with big boxes. It really brings me back to when things were packaged like that.

[AlienFodder]

Complete, "official" strategy guides still do that but I'm afraid they're probably a dying breed as well... I bought the AC II special edition guide last year, which came as a hardcover book, and it is truly a thing of beauty. Obviously the last one of its kind from Ubisoft, though.

[wingman32x]

I agree. I just recently looked through my manual for Zelda NES, and you could tell that they cared about what they put in there. It's one of the most extensive manuals I've seen. It does a really good job of introducing people to the zeldaverse. It's sad that the days of booklets like that are gone. I get kind of excited when I see a beefy manual, but I'm quickly let down when I find out that half of it is just the first half translated to a different language.

[Dac2u]

It's been so long since I've seen that instruction manual, I decided to look it up. It's the type of manual that had me sitting in my mom's car long after we got home, reading though the whole thing. It is kind of sad that they're going away from that.

http://zs.ffshrine.org/link...

[acedoh]

at the original Gran Turismo. Not only did you get the game manual but also a reference book for all the cars. Also I remember in some of the original games if you would get stuck the manual may tell you something to get past that.

[NYC_Gamer]

who cares?most people dont even touch the manual anyway

[Baka-akaB]

I dont get the complain . Most of today's manuals are full of junk and useless stuff anyone with half a brain already ... like how to power the console ... do not eat the disc ...

They give you the needed controls and like most of today's game there is probably a more comprehensive tutorial . The last useful manuals have been for fighting games , when they give you a moves list .

And the last manual i enjoyed were for starcraft 1 and diablo 1-2 . Because they had lots of backstory .

At least you dont have to run up 5-10 pages of legal warnings before finally seeing the controls .

[Neckbear]

Some manuals are useful in understanding complex features the game has that you won't find in the game's tutorial.

Alot of games come to mind when I say this. Even in this generation.

And, to be honest, I love great manuals. They usually include not-so-in-depth character bios, tell you stuff you won't find in the game, and, if they're in color, have really nice artwork here and there.

It's sad we don't see many great manuals this generation, since I love reading through them.

[QuantumSponge]

"Some manuals are useful in understanding complex features the game has that you won't find in the game's tutorial."

That's what FAQs are for. And they usually go into deeper detail than any manual, past or present.

[n to the b]

ah well... there were good game manuals (I too remember the orig NES Zelda manual); but there've also been not-so-great ones. ex: original xbox Indiana Jones manual with bordering made to imitate a roughed-up old map or archaeologist's journal, but yet printed on cheapo glossy paper. I know real specialty paper costs A LOT (used to work at a paper co.), but that just shows no class IMO.

[kumashii38]

it's not a big deal to me.
because, honestly, i hardly read manuals.

[PooEgg]

They will probably sale it as DLC later for those who really want it. Okay, kidding, but seriously we just keep getting less and less in our games don't we.

[FighterJoe]

Risk management.

Ubisoft have the public safety to consider. Paper cuts are a leading cause of game related injuries in the new age of gamers. There is a direct link to the quantity of pages provided and the risk of injury. Ubisoft would cut it down to zero pages but they must warn you of the other (less serious) risks in purchasing, unwrapping and playing video games. It's a lose/lose situation, they can't stop injury but they can reduce the risk.

[El_Colombiano]

This. =P

[Akagi]

I remember the days when CRPGs came with manuals that were a couple of 100 pages long.

[QuantumSponge]

I remember a time when P&P RPG manuals that were 100+ pages long came out. Oh, wait. They still do. They're called sourcebooks.

And "CRPG" is a term for pretentious cocks.

[Akagi]

.

[DNAbro]

I miss the cool manuals with all the bright artwork. Now we are lucky enough to get it in color.

[George Sears]

Yeah. There are some that are unique though. Like Shadow of the Colossus for instance. It was simple (just a picture then a brief summary of what it illustrates. Sort of felt like the voice of light was telling you the instruction) yet nice to read.

R* makes unique manuals as well.

[gamingisnotacrime]

like uncharted, mag etc

the otherts are just delivering the necessary, nothing fancy

[mikepmcc]

The Knights of the Old Republic manual was spiral bound...such quality.

[Zezo]

I don't care, hell all video games companies needs to get on the bandwagon and stop making manuals. Do you know how many trees they kill with every release of a video game?

[trevonn95]

think of COD,HALO and FIFA then think of the trees dumb people

[gamingisnotacrime]

is the way it is, dont blame the gaming industry

[n to the b]

like I said^ I used to work at a paper co. and trust me, more and more paper manufacturers renew their own forests and/or use fast-growing eucalyptus (which I think also appears brighter white to our eye so win/win).

[Tuxedo_Mask]

My Grandfather retired from working at a paper mill, and what n to the b says is absolutely true. All this talk about wasting trees, doesn't anyone realize that trees are a renewable resource?

[George Sears]

What's next? Sell the game with just the CD? Blasphemy I say!

Keep the tradition.

[wissam]

They should have removed it.Next sell only the Disk and remove the
plastic case for sake of nature.

[Capdastaro]

The same plastic case which has already been made and contributing to "climate change"?

[FantasyStar]

Looks like this game became a "used" copy.

Sorry Ubi, but I like my manuals. It's why I go through the effort to buy retail. Otherwise, I can settle for a nice $40 used copy from GameFly that comes with the CD-Sleeve.

[Dsnyder]

We needed them in the 16bit era when there wasnt enought room to put instructions in the game itself but now we can put intructions on a game many times over if we want. Manuals may be non existent by next generation. It would be much better to place concept art bookelts in there; because god knows unlocking them is NOT a reward.

[FantasyStar]

Would you rather precious resources be put into making a glorified tutorial 1st level that you'll always skip after the first time? Or would you better settle for a nice manual which frees up resources to expand on in-game content?

[QuantumSponge]

Talk about a false dilemma. There are other solutions to the problem:

Ex 1. Make a tutorial section that is separate from the game. (i.e. don't pull a Fallout 2)

Ex 2. Include a detailed manual in electronic form.

[n to the b]

hey now those are both interesting ideas no need to bring the anger. it's called a discussion. :)

[tripprowe13579]

there thinking cheap is what it is. dicks

[Dsnyder]

Dont you think it might be a lot more expensive to put insructions in a game than to print it on a few pieces of paper? Use your brains here people. I would rather learn how the game works as I am playing it that sit on my ass and read an instruction manual and waste time when I could be playing the game. Video games do a great service but putting the tutorial in the game.

[soundslike]

the game is so easy it doesn't need a manual. doesn't even need a tutorial

'hold these buttons and run forward'

'YOU WIN!'

[newflesh]

How about recent Black Ops manual? I was pretty shocked to find out it has only ONE page related to the game itself, the others three being legal warnings. Hell, even MW2 had two or three pages, lol. But no wonder considering who is the publisher. Activision greedy bastards

[ian72]

I like to have a manual for my games. The first thing I do when I open a game is have a smell of the manual. ( love the smell of new paper and ink for some reason). I then have a quick look through to see if there's anything extra I need to know about the game and look at the controls. Also reading about some characters background is interesting.

[lugia 4000]

If you find a game in 2142, you will only see a napkin and the disc inside. It protects them from scratches and finger prints. Inside in the same napkin, you will see a handwritten manual in the napkin, and outside, the name of the game, also in the napkin

Just because you destroyed those poor trees!

[QuantumSponge]

"Dangerous staples"? I sure hope the writer is being flippant, because if anyone in the history of the universe actually injured themselves on a *staple* from a *game manual*, they shouldn't be allowed to do... well, anything.

And what's with all the damn whining today? People moaning and bitching about fucking game manuals? The standards of this site sure have gone down. They used to at least moan about things that actually matter.

[Figboy]

i still remember back when i was about 9 years old, my mom bought me a copy of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse on a trip to Gurnee Mills in Wisconsin.

On the 2 hour drive back to Milwaukee, I read that instruction booklet (in fading sunlight) over and over again, gawking at the pictures. by the time i got home i was so pumped up to play the game i'm surprised i didn't faint when i was finally able to power up my NES and play it.

games like Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, and the Ratchet and Clank games always had fun, creative instruction booklets.

when i'm at work, and i have my shiny new game staring at me on my desk, i read the instruction booklet to help pass the time, and familiarize myself with the game before i get home.

there's still a place for well made instruction booklets, even if there ARE in game tutorials (which i also like for the most part).

some of us DO still read, you know. we don't need everything handheld for us in the guise of a filler level designed to extend game play, NOT just to inform us of game mechanics.