Just a thought, maybe taking out these manuals will encourage users to buy the more expensive strategy guide. I'm getting tired of games being $60 and them coming out with a $15 DLC every 2 months. If they make 3 or 4 them you can end up paying upwards of $100 for a fracking video game. I want to support the developers and would most likely buy the DLC's if more of my money would go to them. I want more games direct from the developers rather than EA middle-manning the whole thing. I wonder if there are any statistics on how much the developers really get from the game.
As someone mentioned before, every AAA PC title has now gone up to $60 over the past year. A trend I've began to see is that the lesser titles have gone from $30-$40 directly to $50. pisses me off we spend so much on hardware and get charged the console tax. Also, why are digital downloads the same price as a physical copy? you'd think with no physical product and shipping costs that the price would go down. Same with e-books cost the same as a hard copy(and music). Whatever the market will bare I guess.
I'd like to go back to something captaincranky said. Using the "environmental" excuse is pure BS. The chemicals used to make the plastic pollute the environment far more than making paper, same with the machines that run them. I'm currently writing a lengthy research paper on "green technology's" and if the move to computers justify the cost and environmental damage caused by manufacturing the electronics. Thank you -cranky- for giving me some good talking points. I always enjoy your rants even if they are directed at me.
I remember 7-8 years ago almost all games came in a cardboard box and there was a small jewel case inside that held the CD. Give me a cardboard box and use less plastic if you want to use the "environmental" argument. Anyway, I find it much more convenient and harder to lose the CDkey if it is on the back of the jewel case than it is on the back of a paper manual. manual.