free stuff from steam if you're nvidia customer

[russellmz00]

from cheapassgamers

If you have Steam, but dont have the Portal game yet you can get it NOW for FREE if you own a PC that runs Nvidia Hardware.

Go to http://www.steampowered.com/nvidia/

It will detect your computer for Nvidia Hardware. Log into steam and start downloading Portal {extended demo}.
It also gives you Peggle Extreme{10 levels}, Half-Life 2 {deathmatch}, and Half-Life Lost coast for a free download as well.

peggle is surprisingly addictive. it's steam game themed: the main menu has the peggle horse with a headcrab. only 10 levels.

[Stroker Ace]

Fuck, and I paid money for the Orange Box.

Edit: Oh, it's a Portal demo. Why not make that available to non-Nvidia customers?

[mono]

It says 'extended demo', not the full game.

[russellmz00]

Fuck, and I paid money for the Orange Box.

Edit: Oh, it's a Portal demo. Why not make that available to non-Nvidia customers?

i just corrected the guy's post, it's hl2 deathmatch, not the whole game.

[BobJustBob]

WHOO PEGGLE EXTREME!

[Gremlinclr]

Dammit, I've got all that stuff already. Stupid Valve, offering me free things that I already have. *sulk*

[Rorschach]

Nice move by Valve to get more people onto Steam... and they got Nvidia to pay for it.

[NowhereDan]

This isn't a gift to Nvidia users, this is a big screw you to anybody on an ATI card. Who does Nvidia think they're kidding here? As if anyone's going to buy a new $270 GeForce card to play a demo of a $30 game.

[russellmz00]

does anyone know if there's a bot for hl2? or is that just for cs?

[mono]

This isn't a gift to Nvidia users, this is a big screw you to anybody on an ATI card. Who does Nvidia think they're kidding here? As if anyone's going to buy a new $270 GeForce card to play a demo of a $30 game.

How is anyone screwed over? You're getting 2 game demos, a tech demo, and an unpopular deathmatch title. I can't imagine too many ATI customers frothing at the mouth over the injustice. Well, OK, it's the Internet, so maybe, but still, I can't see that angle.

Anyway, given that Nvidia bests ATI at every single speed/price point juncture, ATI users have pretty much screwed themselves already.

[NowhereDan]

How is anyone screwed over?

If Nvidia hadn't stepped in and probably shelled out to Valve, you can bet that Portal demo would be out at the same time and playable by all. In short, Nvidia didn't do something nice for its customers; they did something to screw ATI's customers.

[Morkilus]

Lame.

[Marcus]

Wow dude. Just wow.

No one is getting screwed. Seriously.

Oh yeah and I got a free copy of HL2 when I bought my ATI proc does that mean that all intel users got screwed because they didnt get the same deal?

[Coca Cola Zero]

Yeah, what mono said. People that continue to buy AMD/ATI products deserve whatever bad things happen to them because they obviously have no common sense.

[MyNameIsWill]

Oh yeah and I got a free copy of HL2 when I bought my ATI proc does that mean that all intel users got screwed because they didnt get the same deal?

Yea, I got that deal too. Good times.

[tromik]

Peggle Extreme is so cute. I love the first level with Vortigaunt blasting away at the chipmunk as the li'l guy recoils in terror. LOLs!

[NowhereDan]

Oh yeah and I got a free copy of HL2 when I bought my ATI proc does that mean that all intel users got screwed because they didnt get the same deal?

This is a demo, not a full game. Demos are, by definition, free. Nvidia is withholding it from anyone who hasn't bought their hardware. I see that as kind of a dick move. What if you were the type that doesn't buy games until you play the demo, but you've been excited to play Portal and then, oops, Nvidia says you can't play because you went with their competition (which isn't a wise idea, but that's beside the point).

If Sony paid off NBC so that the next season of The Office would only appear on Sony TVs (let's just pretend that's possible), wouldn't you be a bit pissed off? And Sony might claim that that's their gift to their customers, but in actuality they haven't done something for their customers, they've screwed everyone else out of something that would have otherwise been freely available.

[Bahimiron]

NVidia are nothing less than Nazis goose stepping their way into our computers' inner-workings.

[Marcus]

I'm pissed that having bought a 360 I can't play the ps3 demos on it.

[NowhereDan]

I'm pissed that having bought a 360 I can't play the ps3 demos on it.

Worst analogy ever. Nvidia is not a platform.

[Marcus]

Its not any worse then your analogy of sony only offering a whole season of the office on their TVs.

[Tom McNamara]

I'm surprised that a $20 game would even get a demo, and most people are going to get the full game with the Orange Box anyway.

[NowhereDan]

Yes, it really is. Sony, in this hypothetical case, is not a platform; they make TVs. Nvidia is not a platform; they make graphics cards. The only reason a game or TV show would not run on a competitor's product that supports the same technology is 100% artificial.

Meanwhile, the 360 and PS3 ARE platforms. They are fundamentally different, and software designed to run on one will not run on the other without being heavily reworked.

See the difference?

[caesarbear]

Yeah it really is screwing people, just like Valve screwed all the non-nvidia owners with that ATI only giveaway they had a few months ago.

[NowhereDan]

No, see, again, those giveaways are actual giveaways. As in, they give you something you wouldn't have otherwise had, because they usually charge for it.

This is a demo we're talking about here, not a retail product. Demos have always been free - can you think of a single instance when that hasn't been the case? Nvidia is giving you nothing here, they're just taking away the ability of ATI users to play something Valve was putting out anyway.

[Coca Cola Zero]

This is more like if NBC made a deal with Sony to pack in a DVD with one episode of The Office with the TVs they sold. Which, like this, would be no big deal because it doesn't impact your ability to just watch the series as usual, just like this doesn't impact your ability to buy Portal and play it if you have an ATI card. You aren't entitled to a Portal demo just because demos are *usually* free, especially when this is more than just a demo -- it is also HL2 DM, Peggle Extreme, etc. Of course, you ARE entitled to bitch about it on the Internet and we're entitled to make fun of you for doing so.

[caesarbear]

This is a demo we're talking about here, not a retail product. Demos have always been free - can you think of a single instance when that hasn't been the case?

Yeah, every other piece of crippleware that's been packaged along with various products. This is Portal: First Slice, not an official demo of Portal.

[NowhereDan]

...except that this DOES impact the ability of ATI users to test the game before buying it, which many gamers consider a big factor. And your DVD analogy is flawed, because in that situation the same content that's on that DVD would be airing for all TV owners for free. It would be the same if the show were only available on DVD.

Also, I'm not talking about all the other parts of the package - those actually ARE giveaways, and they happened a while ago. Good for them, for packaging extra value with their cards by including retail products. What was announced *today* was just the Portal: The First Slice demo.

Mostly what's bothering me is the semantics of the thing. If they'd come out and said, "Hey, we've got this demo exclusive for Nvidia users!" that would have been cool. But the way they're presenting it, like they're doing their users a favor... that rubs me the wrong way. They're not doing their users a favor at all, they're taking something away from their competitor's users.

[Kareem]

I see the anger by proxy is in full swing here.

[caesarbear]

Would it be better if they said "Hey, we've got this crippled game exclusive for Nvidia users!, by the way, there is no demo for Portal."