Gaijin Games talks about Ubisoft’s new distribution decision

So Ubisoft’s decision to stop printing manuals for games has been somewhat of a hot topic recently.  I had to ask Alex Neuse about how he felt about this move since Gaijin Games has similar goals to be as “green” as possible.

Q: As a developer that emphasizes being green as well as already being used to digital manuals of a similar nature due to Gaijin Games being a Wiiware developer, what’s your opinion on Ubisoft’s new plans for game packaging?

A: I think that it’s basically The Future!  All media is heading more towards non-physical products, and I think it would be great if this catches on.  Mind you, I”ll miss that “new game smell” that comes from opening a disc game and sniffing the manual.  But I think the trade off is worth it.

I mean, how many times has this happened to you…

You’ve come back to a game after a long break.  Let’s say you were incarcerated overseas somewhere.  You want to jump right back into the action, and in your haste, you’ve dimmed the lights, made a nest on the couch, popped the game in, cuddled up and tucked into a nice belt of Scotch.

Then  you realize that your last save game data was right before a boss.

And THEN you realize that you had been using only one save game slot like a punk.

AND THEN the boss completely creams your corn.  Over and over again.

Now you’ve got to pause the game, untuck yourself, switch on the lights, and do the drunken stagger over to where you left the game box and manual so you can read up on how to control your character.  But the game box and manual don’t exist do they?  Of course not.  You bought this game USED!

Gamefaqs.com.  Incomplete walkthrough.  Spoilers.  Move list that won’t load.  Ah, found it.

By now, you’re about 3 glasses of Scotch into the evening and by the time you’re playing again, you’re too inebriated to pull off the advanced skills you need anyway.

I guess it’s time to stream some Netflix and fall asleep while watching Weekend at Bernie’s.

All of this is going to be a thing of the past because Ubisoft will be there to save us before we have to untuck and turn the lights on.  Ubisoft will save us from drinking too much while playing.  Ubisoft will save us from inadvertently reading spoilers on gamefaqs.  Ubisoft, in short, will save us all.

So yeah, I think it’s a good idea.

So now you know.:P  Personally for me it’s not that big of a deal.  It’s true that I will also miss that fresh smell you get when opening up a new game box, but you know that’s just progress.  Also it remains to be seen if all developers will follow Ubisoft.  So don’t worry recently released prisoners, you never know.