Getting 'free' games with hardware, then and now...

[pmv]

then (in the bad old days pre-digital distribution):

buy hardware
open box
take cd from box, put in drive, install game

now (in super shiny internet era!):

buy hardware
open box
search around in box
find leaflet with a serial number and a web site address on it
go on-line
create an account on the website...giving masses of irrelevant personal information...remember yet another username and password, check email for confirmation, log into your new acccount, enter serial number...
get given _another_ serial number
go to another website
create another account (check email for confirmation, note down yet another username and password, give personal data out yet again)
enter second serial number, get a _third_ such number descrbed as 'activation code'
download some software
install software
start up software
login to account
find only one of the two free games has actually appeared in your account, the other is mysteriously still 'processing'
start to download that one that is there (will take _days_ but if you don't do it within a few weeks you lose it)
send message to complain about other one not appearing
wait a couple of days
finally other one appears, start downloading that (which makes your internet connection slow to a crawl)...

several days later...

game ready (albelit loaded down with nasty DRM and with no local backup copy on physical media)


Am I a luddite because I think I prefer the old way?

 

[Borealis7]

get off my lawn!

 

[Lil Frier]

Old way: Scratch disc, game unusable in the long-term
New way: Gabe saves us all from discs.

 

[pmv]

Old way: Scratch disc, game unusable in the long-term
New way: Gabe saves us all from discs.

Ah, but having had more game disks than I care to admit, I've never had one scratched (OK I had _one_ shatter into fragments in the drive, but that's a tiny percentage).
I have had hard drive problems that meant having to spend an age redownloading steam content though.

Also none of the above tedium involved Steam. I can cope with Steam, but one of the problems is having to install multiple download services.

Also, my complaint is specifically about freebies with hardware, not games in general. In that case you already have had the physical box delivered, how hard would it be for them to put a disk in it? For retail games there's a whole other issue of needing a physical store with physical stock and a physical distribution service.

 

[Lil Frier]

I don't think it's about difficulty. In many cases, you have something like the AMD Never Settle Forever thing, where you pick your games post-purchase. They can't really give you a disc of them all, then have some magically not work. That, and it's got the potential to be more-expensive to worry about discs and storage of them and possible shipping costs (a crapload of them eventually adds up). Codes weigh nothing, take no space, and require almost no storage room in a warehouse.

Plus, I'm pretty careful with my game discs, but I think I've had 2 broken. My sister broke one, a cousin broke another while borrowing it, and my brother broke the third.

But I agree with dealing with multiple layers of DRM. It's why I don't buy from EA, and all of my Ubisoft stuff is on Xbox. I don't play stupid games with stupid publishers.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Old way: Scratch disc, game unusable in the long-term
New way: Gabe saves us all from discs.

LOL. In my 100's (if not 1000's) of disks, I've NEVER scratched one beyond use.

I did have 1 time where I dropped one in such a way it actually cracked all the way through, but that is in 20+ years. The whole "scratched" disc thing is overblown because 99% of them can be fixed easily.

I will say that I've grown accustomed to discless and like it, but I am picky about where I get them and how many "accounts" I will deal with. I want to play a game, not jump through hoops to use it. So far, only Ubisoft has royally peeved me.

 

[Nebor]

For me, with my GTX 780 ti it was more like:
eTailer tells me they're out of Nvidia Holiday Game bundle and to email them later
I do so
The codes they send me aren't for Steam
I disregard them, knowing that by the time I get around to wanting to play those games, I'll have purchased them for less than $10 on Steam

 

[shortylickens]

Steam is even easier than the disc.
And thanks to broadband, its also faster.

 

[KeithTalent]

The only time I received a game with hardware was when I got The Black Box from Valve when I bought whatever video card it was at the time. That was the best thing ever and super easy too.

KT

 

[darkewaffle]

I got Civ V for free with an SSD and it was just a Steam key on a piece of paper. No problems personally.

 

[cronos]

Open the box. See key in a piece of paper. Enter key on Steam. Done.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Old days: install disc. Play a version that's 6 months old and missing a bunch of patches. Run into game-ending bug. Become sad. Join Jim Jones' cult. Drink Kool Aid. Never play a game again BECAUSE YOU'RE DEAD!!

Gabe saved our lives!

 

[Sonikku]

then (in the bad old days pre-digital distribution):

buy hardware
open box
take cd from box, put in drive, install game

now (in super shiny internet era!):

buy hardware
open box
search around in box
find leaflet with a serial number and a web site address on it
go on-line
create an account on the website...giving masses of irrelevant personal information...remember yet another username and password, check email for confirmation, log into your new acccount, enter serial number...
get given _another_ serial number
go to another website
create another account (check email for confirmation, note down yet another username and password, give personal data out yet again)
enter second serial number, get a _third_ such number descrbed as 'activation code'
download some software
install software
start up software
login to account
find only one of the two free games has actually appeared in your account, the other is mysteriously still 'processing'
start to download that one that is there (will take _days_ but if you don't do it within a few weeks you lose it)
send message to complain about other one not appearing
wait a couple of days
finally other one appears, start downloading that (which makes your internet connection slow to a crawl)...

several days later...

game ready (albelit loaded down with nasty DRM and with no local backup copy on physical media)


Am I a luddite because I think I prefer the old way?

If you're getting your free games on PC through that method, you're doing it wrong.

 

[CrackRabbit]

Open the box. See key in a piece of paper. Enter key on Steam. Done.

Pretty much this. Though I gave away most of the games because I had them already or didn't want them because they were orphaned crap (I'm lookin' at you Nexuiz).

 

[Patre]

Although the registration process was a bit of a pain (which I accepted), I was very happy to receive for free: Crysis 3, Tomb Raider, and Bioshock Infinite with my graphics card.

 

[Elixer]

I like having physical media (for backups) + access online to same version.
I prefer DRM free stuff though.

 

[gorcorps]

If you're getting your free games on PC through that method, you're doing it wrong.

No kidding. The worst I ever had to do was insert the key that came in the box into a website with my email address, and then I'd get keys sent to my email for use in Steam, Uplay, whatever it was. Worked great with no problems.

Can't imagine the lid the OP would flip if he ever encountered an actual problem if this is how he acts with a small inconvenience (with a FREE game no less)

 

[Nebor]

No kidding. The worst I ever had to do was insert the key that came in the box into a website with my email address, and then I'd get keys sent to my email for use in Steam, Uplay, whatever it was. Worked great with no problems.

Can't imagine the lid the OP would flip if he ever encountered an actual problem if this is how he acts with a small inconvenience (with a FREE game no less)

That's what I saw on the Nvidia page for some of my free games. I gave up at that point. Give me Steam or give me nothing at all.

 

[Bateluer]

If you're getting your free games on PC through that method, you're doing it wrong.

Not really, thats an apt description of getting a uPlay title from a Never Settle Bundle activated. Major pain.

No kidding. The worst I ever had to do was insert the key that came in the box into a website with my email address, and then I'd get keys sent to my email for use in Steam, Uplay, whatever it was. Worked great with no problems.

Thats not how uPlay activation works.

 

[Wyndru]

Not really, thats an apt description of getting a uPlay title from a Never Settle Bundle activated. Major pain.

Yup, I was a little annoyed with redeeming a game from that promotion too.

They did have decent support though, the card basically disintegrated when I used a coin to uncover the key, but they were able to look it up and emailed me with the small section of the key that I was missing.

 

[PingSpike]

All I ever get is Dirt[n] when I buy a video card. I don't like racing games.

 

[shortylickens]

All I ever get is Dirt[n] when I buy a video card. I don't like racing games.

the included game is usually one that shows off the hardware, not necessarily something everyone wants to play.

Although I did get Morrowind with a card once. Problem is I already had it.

:awe:

 

[Northern Lawn]

I don't any physical media for games or music anymore. I don't want to go back either. I actually threw out most of my books as well. Used to have almost 500 of them, now under a hundred. Between steam, kindle and torrents it's a new age.

 

[DominionSeraph]

Steam is even easier than the disc.
And thanks to broadband, its also faster.

You have 120Mb/s internet?

 

[gorcorps]

Not really, thats an apt description of getting a uPlay title from a Never Settle Bundle activated. Major pain.



Thats not how uPlay activation works.

Maybe I'm not remembering right then. I'm pretty sure I've had a uplay code before and don't remember having issues with it. Otherwise I would have bitched about the same thing.