Green is the new black, at least when it comes to tech companies. Whether it’s Sony Ericsson with their GreenHeart range of environmentally friendly phones, or the Eco Mode on some of Lexmark’s latest printers, a green function seems to be in every product brochure. The French game developer and publisher Ubisoft is joining the eco club with an announcement that they will no longer be making use of paper manuals in their PS3 and Xbox 360 game cases.
 
The new in-game digital manuals will be accessible via each game’s menu system. According to Ubisoft two tons of wood from 13 trees are utilised to produce one ton of paper used in the production of their games' manuals. But it's not only the environment that is set to benefit from this move to digital manuals, gamers too will have easier and more convenient access to gaming manuals, with gaming manuals also set to be more interactive and intuitive. The first game that’ll be making use of the new digital manual system is Shaun White Skateboarding appearing later this year.
 
Besides discarding paper manuals, the firm behind the Splinter Cell series and Assassins Creed, has joined forces with Technimark, Inc. to deploy environmentally-friendly PC DVD game cases. Splinter Cell: Conviction is the first game to be packaged in one of  these. 
 
“Ubisoft is often recognized for making great games, but it’s a special privilege to be the industry leader at saving trees,” said Laurent Detoc, president of Ubisoft North America. “Eco-friendly initiatives are important to the global community and introducing in-game digital manuals on Xbox 360 and PS3 is just the latest example of Ubisoft’s ongoing commitment to being a more environmentally conscious company.”