Nvidia to bundle Far Cry 2

[JPB]

Inq Link

We've learned that a few Nvidia partners will ship Far Cry 2 bundled with some of their more expensive cards. This should look similar to the Crysis bundle that a few partners made last year but we also learned that this time, Far Cry 2 won't cost partners that much.

Nvidia is kind of desperate to boost the sales and has to use all the tricks it has in its sleeve. Nvidia's chips are inferior to ATI's and therefore they have to either drop the price and include the candy in the bundle, if not both. What goes around comes around, and Nvidia has to learn how to survive as a graphics underdog and this is not the position where Nvidia fells comfortable.

Far Cry 2 will look good as a sticker in the box and getting this game together with your card is definitely something that will make some people to deflect to Nvidia just for the sake of the game.

The irony of this situation is that Far Cry 2 will use some DirectX 10.1 features and currently Nvidia doesn't have a single card that can cope with DirectX 10.1. Nvidia will rather wait for DirectX 11 to upgrade.

 

[MarcVenice]

No matter how the INQ spins it, if a HD4870 and GTX260 cost the same, and the GTX260 comes with FC 2, then that's a pretty good deal if you ask me ... Same for other videocards of course ...

 

[thilanliyan]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
No matter how the INQ spins it, if a HD4870 and GTX260 cost the same, and the GTX260 comes with FC 2, then that's a pretty good deal if you ask me ... Same for other videocards of course ...

Very true. I wish more ATI vendors would bundle some good games...Asus does it sometimes.

 

[JPB]

Yep, I agree 100% with you MarcVenice. And trust me, I dont like the Inq at all, just thought it should be posted as more bull from them. But yea, if they would cost the same, but the GTX had FC2, then that would be the card for me.

Honestly, does DX10.1 even have a point yet ?

 

[BenSkywalker]

Nvidia's chips are inferior to ATI's

Hmm, I could see how you could argue their overall design philosophy, but at the chip level? Seems to me nV rather handily stomps ATi there. nV's top chip easily bests ATi's top, and nV's second and third most powerful chip handily best ATi's second best chip which is closer in performance to nV's 4th most powerful chip. Now design considerations impacting board level choices is something else entirely, but at the chip level I think you would be hard pressed to find people who would debate who has the more powerful chips.

Also- what 10.1 features is FC2 using and will this be the time when nV decides to expose its' DX 10.1 features in the drivers?

Nvidia is kind of desperate to boost the sales

Going on the numbers we saw out of AMD and Intel, I don't think that is going to end up being the case when we see the financial numbers. ATi's revenue numbers weren't that strong at all(Intel's numbers were looking very good), although their margins were a HUGE improvement over what they had been.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: JPB
Inq Link

Looks like a Fud link to me.

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
No matter how the INQ spins it, if a HD4870 and GTX260 cost the same, and the GTX260 comes with FC 2, then that's a pretty good deal if you ask me ... Same for other videocards of course ...

It all depends on if the game is good. I have to admit that I've purchased products before because of the bundled game, and while some were good buys, others were a waste (game-wise). For instance, BITD I got SupCom with a Core 2 Duo purchased from ClubIT. I just installed it and started playing it recently (in earnest) and it isn't too bad. Years ago I got some RPG game (Neverwinter Nights?) with a video card, and never bothered installing it.

FarCry2 sounds pretty juicy for a bundled title - though I'd probably never play it.

 

[JPB]

A good while ago, I purchased a 8800GTS 640 because it came with Dark Messiah Might and Magic.

 

[AmberClad]

I really want this game. I also need a mid-range-ish card for a lanbox...say a 9600GT or 9800GT. I have seen the occasional really low end card (~$50-$60) get bundled with a decent game, so you never know. I've also seen some more unusual video card bundles, like Poker sets, clothes/hats (which never fit me, so they're kind of useless), pens, screwdrivers, and that weird HIS Clear Card.

Best bundle I've come across recently is a XFX 9800GT + CoD4 for around $110 AR. The game itself, I'd probably pay $30-$40 for.

 

[apoppin]

They tossed in Prince of Persia, 2 Thrones with my VT X2 .. {and a Secure Rom infection :Q}
- i don't really count the Guild Wars trial with X2 .. but since i mentioned it, i got the 2 weeks WoW trial bundled with my ASUS 1GB 4870 [$269 after $20 MiR]
--My Sapphire 4870/512MM and BFG GTX280 came with the drivers CD

i'd rather get a game than ANY CD drivers

 

[AmberClad]

Originally posted by: apoppin
i'd rather get a game than ANY CD drivers

In general, true......except for those times when you're staring at a 640x480 screen on a fresh Windows install trying to navigate IE to get to the drivers download link, before realizing that your NIC isn't being recognized and you don't remember where the drivers CD for your motherboard is ...

I think Far Cry 2 actually has SecuROM. In theory, you have 5 activations and uninstalling recoups an activation. Guess we'll be hearing if it actually works properly this time.

 

[DefRef]

Is it me or does EVERY Inquirer story sound like this: "nVidia comes over to my house every morning and shoots my dog, drinks my beer and butt s3x0rZ my wife; then at night it comes back and drinks the rest of my beer, eats the dog and nails my wife again while making me watch and say, 'Ooooh, nVidia, you so very very strong you.' while they do it. They suck and they will always be inferior to ATI, gosh darnit!!!" They are such biased babies as to be useless. They are the New York Times of online tech gossip sites.

 

[Dadofamunky]

Agree, the Inq is kinda fun to read sometimes but is not a serious source of news.

 

[thilanliyan]

Originally posted by: AmberClad
In general, true......except for those times when you're staring at a 640x480 screen on a fresh Windows install trying to navigate IE to get to the drivers download link, before realizing that your NIC isn't being recognized and you don't remember where the drivers CD for your motherboard is ...

I can't count how many times that's happened to me...lol, I thought I was the only one.

 

[BFG10K]

Hmm, this is kind of good for me since I'm still hanging out for the 55 nm GT200 and I'm planning on getting Far Cry 2 later.

 

[Bateluer]

Nobody should be buying Far Cry 2 because of its draconian DRM. If you guys keep buying titles with this crap, more publishers will use it and it will get increasingly restrictive.

 

[BFG10K]

Originally posted by: Bateluer

Nobody should be buying Far Cry 2 because of its draconian DRM. If you guys keep buying titles with this crap, more publishers will use it and it will get increasingly restrictive.

That's why it's better to get it free with a video card.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: DefRef
Is it me or does EVERY Inquirer story sound like this: "nVidia comes over to my house every morning and shoots my dog, drinks my beer and butt s3x0rZ my wife; then at night it comes back and drinks the rest of my beer, eats the dog and nails my wife again while making me watch and say, 'Ooooh, nVidia, you so very very strong you.' while they do it. They suck and they will always be inferior to ATI, gosh darnit!!!" They are such biased babies as to be useless. They are the New York Times of online tech gossip sites.

Very funny- I'd plus rep you if I could!

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: Bateluer
Nobody should be buying Far Cry 2 because of its draconian DRM. If you guys keep buying titles with this crap, more publishers will use it and it will get increasingly restrictive.

FYI: Draconians do not exist.

DRM is no biggie. You buy one copy and install it on a computer. You play the game. Done.

 

[AmberClad]

I don't know about you, but I tend to reformat and reinstall Windows every few months to get rid of old cruft or because of major hardware upgrades. I also tend to break out old games from time to time to play them through again.

So ideally, the "activation recoup" feature should work as advertised, because IIRC, there were some issues with that system in BioShock.

 

[manko]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
DRM is no biggie. You buy one copy and install it on a computer. You play the game. Done.

Living in a dream world there. If it was that simple and worked on every system all the time, you'd have a lot less complainers. Fact is, it doesn't. Not in my personal experience. Maybe you've been lucky, but I've been screwed by the brick wall of DRM before. Imagine buying a car, then finding out it has no wheels and no engine, then they spend months fixing it, but it never works and they never give you a refund for it. Trust me, you would not be a happy camper.

 

[Dkcode]

Originally posted by: DefRef
Is it me or does EVERY Inquirer story sound like this: "nVidia comes over to my house every morning and shoots my dog, drinks my beer and butt s3x0rZ my wife; then at night it comes back and drinks the rest of my beer, eats the dog and nails my wife again while making me watch and say, 'Ooooh, nVidia, you so very very strong you.' while they do it. They suck and they will always be inferior to ATI, gosh darnit!!!" They are such biased babies as to be useless. They are the New York Times of online tech gossip sites.

INQ articles are really starting to get on my nerves. They do provide some interesting information, but then it always degrades into a shit fest with nVidia which spoils the flow of reading.

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: AmberClad
I don't know about you, but I tend to reformat and reinstall Windows every few months to get rid of old cruft or because of major hardware upgrades. I also tend to break out old games from time to time to play them through again.

So ideally, the "activation recoup" feature should work as advertised, because IIRC, there were some issues with that system in BioShock.

Yup. Bioshock originally had only 2 activations per copy. So if you reformatted more than once, you had to contact them to deactivate one of the key code entries. They received huge amounts of complaints, and they upped the activation limit, which kind of defeats the purpose of the DRM in the first place. Go Figure.

@ Manko: Yes, my world must be dreamy. Don't wake me up.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: apoppin
They tossed in Prince of Persia, 2 Thrones with my VT X2 .. {and a Secure Rom infection :Q}

:disgust:

Originally posted by: DefRef
Is it me or does EVERY Inquirer story sound like this:

Nope, just the articles written by Chuck.

 

[Tempered81]

here's how a gtx 280 with the newest drivers [180.42] performs against a 4870x2 w/ hotfix in FARCRY 2:

http://www.pcgameshardware.com...Prozent_faster/?page=2

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: Dkcode

Originally posted by: DefRef
Is it me or does EVERY Inquirer story sound like this: "nVidia comes over to my house every morning and shoots my dog, drinks my beer and butt s3x0rZ my wife; then at night it comes back and drinks the rest of my beer, eats the dog and nails my wife again while making me watch and say, 'Ooooh, nVidia, you so very very strong you.' while they do it. They suck and they will always be inferior to ATI, gosh darnit!!!" They are such biased babies as to be useless. They are the New York Times of online tech gossip sites.

INQ articles are really starting to get on my nerves. They do provide some interesting information, but then it always degrades into a shit fest with nVidia which spoils the flow of reading.

3rded. I could care less which brand made the video chip on my video card, so long as it works well and was a good price. Inq's blather has made me permanently ignore everything their site has ever said, or ever will say. I would feel the exact same if they were ceaselessly dumping on ATI.