AMD to start bundling free games with APUs later this month

[Matthew DeCarlo]

AMD is reportedly prepared to take its "Never Settle" promotion to the next step by extending it to other product lines. According to Hardware Luxx, shoppers who opt for one of the company's APUs will be rewarded with free game codes. It's said that by the second or third week of April, certain A8 and A10 APUs will be bundled with SimCity, though details are still muddy about specifically what chips will be eligible.

Graphics card manufacturers have long attempted to entice your purchase by including free games -- a particularly sweet arrangement if you had planned to buy the promotional title anyway. Granted, some folks will always argue that they'd rather just have cash savings over a "free" game, but the bundle deals tend to be popular among those eyeing a new Radeon or GeForce and could easily sway someone's decision.

As such, AMD ramped up its efforts late last year to couple its latest graphics card series with various big name new releases. The company's "Never Settle" initiative kicked off by giving high-end Radeon buyers 20% off Medal of Honor: Warfighter as well as a free copy of Far Cry 3, Hitman: Absolution and Sleeping Dogs. At minimum, the bundle offered a $60 value and that scaled up to $170 if you bought an HD 79xx card.

It seems the company's initial push was a success as it recently announced a new offer that added Crysis 3, BioShock Infinite and Tomb Raider to the fold. Those who buy two HD 7900 series cards or an HD 7990 get free copies of all three new additions along with the previous three titles, while one card from the HD 7900 range gets you to Crysis 3 and BioShock and one HD 7800 card gets you BioShock and Tomb Raider.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/52151-amd-to-start-bundling-free-games-with-apus-later-this-month.html

 

[Jad Chaar]

They are probably bundling SimCity just because EA offered them money they need... Also it isnt that graphically demanding.

 

[VitalyT]

Or maybe they are so desperate to fill the projected quota, so they don't go bust completely... Their APU-s are already dirt-cheap, any cheaper and we start seeing games sold bundles with AMD APU-s

 

[St1ckM4n]

I picked up a 7970 and cried when I got Crysis instead of Tomb Raider.

 

[Lurker101]

I hope those were tears of joy that you weren't lumbered with a game that so badly wanted to be an oestrogenized Rambo that it's just hilarious.

Still, can we request to have these APUs bundled with something a little less caustic and bug riddled, like Ebola perhaps?

 

[VitalyT]

I picked up a 7970 and cried when I got Crysis instead of Tomb Raider.

I'm with your, dude, it's like buying a smoke bundled with tampons, and you wanted it bundled with an eggnog. It's so unfair!

 

[cliffordcooley]

I picked up a 7970 and cried when I got Crysis instead of Tomb Raider.

I'm with your, dude, it's like buying a smoke bundled with tampons, and you wanted it bundled with an eggnog. It's so unfair!

You guys are killing me!! LMAO

 

[misor]

Wow, nice move by amd.
if only intel's ivy bridge line is also bundled with plants vs zombies.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Intel is so rich already they can care less lol

 

[veLa]

Intel is so rich already they can care less lol

I think you mean they can't care less, because if they can care less than that means they do care at least a little bit.

This is a good move from AMD. While I certainly would be more interested in buying a real graphics card instead of something that's integrated, this could entice some people to buy.

 

[psycros]

Intel is so rich already they can care less lol

I think you mean they can't care less, because if they can care less than that means they do care at least a little bit.

This is a good move from AMD. While I certainly would be more interested in buying a real graphics card instead of something that's integrated, this could entice some people to buy.

Ha! Guess I'm not the only one that's annoyed by the misuse of that phrase! Also agree completely about integrated vs discrete. Also wish they would include actual install media for the game..those of us without broadband *need* this.

 

[oldikes]

Holy crap, other people acknowledge the incorrectness of "...could care less" as opposed to "couldn't care less" in the way its often used! thats fantastic!
honestly, this is pretty awesome...if I needed a really budget PC, I wouldnt hesitate buying an APU that came with games.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Bah! AMD should either reduce the prices of those chips to the value of the game or include a coupon for a game of the buyers choice. Bundling an EA abortion is insulting at best.

 

[TS-56336]

Bundling games with APU's is a terrific idea, makes people realize they can play the bundled game and more using just the APU. They should have thought of it earlier.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Bundling games with APU's is a terrific idea, makes people realize they can play the bundled game and more using just the APU. They should have thought of it earlier.

I agree in part but they should bundle the choice of a few games and have the customer pick one. Having only one game (an EA game at that) that I really doesn't interest me certainly wouldn't incentivise me.

 

[ShadowDeath]

They are probably bundling SimCity just because EA offered them money they need... Also it isnt that graphically demanding.

How else is EA going to push that garbage? Whatever APU AMD bundles SimCity with will be the worst selling APU of all time probably.

 

[Jad Chaar]

How else is EA going to push that garbage? Whatever APU AMD bundles SimCity with will be the worst selling APU of all time probably.

No, this is a selling point. People see it as 60 bucks free. They can sell it online for a few bucks and make a little profit lol. The game is still 60 bucks now. Also APUs are one of AMDs biggest sellers.

 

[St1ckM4n]

I agree in part but they should bundle the choice of a few games and have the customer pick one. Having only one game (an EA game at that) that I really doesn't interest me certainly wouldn't incentivise me.

The problem is that if people choose the most demanding games and then go home to play on their 1066MHz RAM (or whatever the slowest stock speed for AMD is) and APU.. then realise that it runs like garbage... This is bad rep for AMD.

 

[Jad Chaar]

The problem is that if people choose the most demanding games and then go home to play on their 1066MHz RAM (or whatever the slowest stock speed for AMD is) and APU.. then realise that it runs like garbage... This is bad rep for AMD.

Steve@Julio Franco I really wanna see techspot test how Haswell and Richland GPUs perform with 1333MHz memory compared to 1600 MHz.