I think AMD have said that they are reintroducing Never Settle for the R9 series. Regardless, this is good from NVIDIA, though despite the quality of the games, it's a get-what-you're-given deal, like AMD's used to be.
Can't complain too much about free stuff though. :)
ROFL...Yeah, game companies just give games away to Nvidia because they like them a lot...
For a look at how free games affect margins check AMD's profits since this crap started...ROFL.
For so many people asking for lower prices and free games it seems MILLIONS of gamers have no idea AMD has lost 6Billion in the last 10yrs. Even the meager profit they eeked out this Quarter (31 or 48mil depending on which numbers you look at) will be eaten along with next quarters earnings by the Global Foundry 200million payment owed Dec31. So essentially they again make NOTHING this Q or next Q and probably end with a loss for both as i don't expect them to make more than 150mil next Q...LOL. So while they show a profit today, it's really gone next Q and likely a loss for both when added together. But hey, at least AMD got to claim a temporary profit for the first time in 5 quarters. :( FREE GAMES cost both companies which is why NEITHER should do it and both should NOT drop prices. We need both companies to make more money. NV hasn't made it back to 2007 profits yet (that's 6 years making less money), but people (the DUMB ONES) still whine about them gouging people. Apparently NONE of those "NV GOUGED ME" people read balance sheets or quarterly reports. If they were gouging you they should be making MORE than 2007. They haven't in 6 years and don't look like they have a shot at that for another year. AMD meanwhile, clearly needs to start "GOUGING" all of us and quit giving out games. Maybe they wouldn't have driver problems all year then huh?
Consoles only sell 10mil each per year so won't make AMD more than 200mil if lucky (20mil x $10 per $100 chip) and that's all gone next month with 200mil payment to GF. So console profits for the next year are already shot. Translation: They need to make more on GPUS or CPUS right? You can't make money on GPU's while giving away your profits in free games (that are NOT FREE to AMD or NV).
You can thank your cheap prices and free games for your next year of crappy drivers (albeit with a great piece of hardware no doubt) from AMD. Throw a thanks in to consoles development also, as they are what created the crappy drivers this year and what caused them to give the cpu race up to Intel in the last few years (console dev surely started 3+yrs ago when R&D on cpus tanked and Intel left AMD in the dust every year since).
I'm guessing AAA games are $10 at least a pop. Mantle cost AMD 8mil to get into BF4. It will cost them every time a company optimizes for it because it isn't needed and only for a niche amount of users. Unlike NV's tech which gamers will really want as it changes what we see all day and no coding needed to see some improvement as shown with tombraider. It's easier to pitch something we want, as opposed to something you'd like us to have but most couldn't care less about supporting (just costs them more, but won't improve profits). There will likely be a premium on Gsync tech so companies WANT to push it for a at least a few years (and it pushes new monitor purchases for some, more cards etc - not to mention allows game dev freedom in the future to add stuff) until it is in everything bringing cost down. For Mantle to succeed MS/Sony needed to embrace it, but to them it is the enemy making things run better OFF of consoles. They will never support it so it's dead even discounting the fact that it's for a small subset of a AMD's small subset of discrete cards. Wasted R&D. Consoles won't support a tech that makes them NOT needed in the long run. I don't see MS putting this in directx either. Why make it easier to port a windows game to android or linux etc?
I think it's fair for people to say that they find graphics cards too expensive, even if the companies making them aren't necessarily rolling in money. There can be many causes for any company to be in trouble, such as mismanagement, over-staffing, bad investment choices, etc. What matters is, can be the product be purchased at a reasonable price by the majority of the intended audience? This valuation is completely subjective to the average income and spending power of that market segment. If the answer is no, then maybe it should be considered that the high-end PC GPU business (in its current form) is actually not a sustainable business. If it's yes, and the companies are still losing money, then maybe they are simply not up to the task of keeping themselves afloat in this market, and they should leave it for someone else to pursue.
they cant do that. They probably pay 5 bucks tops for the games because they get them in such massive quantities, and the game companies know not everyone is going to activate the code either.
Why would they care whether people activated the code or not? The thing is, once they have a code they ain't gonna be buying the game now, are they? So whether activated or not, it would make no difference to the publishers.
yeah, I guess because I already bought a card when the never settle bundle first came out I don't see thing anything new in the bundle that's worth it. I have a bunch of pc's so I could grab another card, but the nvidia bundle is much better atm. AMD needs to add BF4 to their bundle and something like titan fall.
This bums me out a little. My 760 isn't that old. However, I'm glad that I got Batman. I'd be okay with Splinter Cell, but my AC excitement died out significantly with Brotherhood. I'm still kind of loathe to continue playing Revelations right now.
Had I bought a 770 or better, I'd be even more sad.
Why doesn't the article explain the "Free-to-play" bundle instead of only mentioning it in a chart? What can it be used for? Is it for that Shield? Is it for PC games?
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silverblue - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
I think AMD have said that they are reintroducing Never Settle for the R9 series. Regardless, this is good from NVIDIA, though despite the quality of the games, it's a get-what-you're-given deal, like AMD's used to be.Can't complain too much about free stuff though. :)
hughlle - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
I'd rather just a discount off the cards price :(Acquilae - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
Selling the codes for Never Settle games is already very popular on forums and you won't have a problem getting at least $100 from these games :)Hrel - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
Except the games don't cost Nvidia anything. So margins aren't affected. Reducing the price would hurt margins.TheJian - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
ROFL...Yeah, game companies just give games away to Nvidia because they like them a lot...For a look at how free games affect margins check AMD's profits since this crap started...ROFL.
For so many people asking for lower prices and free games it seems MILLIONS of gamers have no idea AMD has lost 6Billion in the last 10yrs. Even the meager profit they eeked out this Quarter (31 or 48mil depending on which numbers you look at) will be eaten along with next quarters earnings by the Global Foundry 200million payment owed Dec31. So essentially they again make NOTHING this Q or next Q and probably end with a loss for both as i don't expect them to make more than 150mil next Q...LOL. So while they show a profit today, it's really gone next Q and likely a loss for both when added together. But hey, at least AMD got to claim a temporary profit for the first time in 5 quarters. :( FREE GAMES cost both companies which is why NEITHER should do it and both should NOT drop prices. We need both companies to make more money. NV hasn't made it back to 2007 profits yet (that's 6 years making less money), but people (the DUMB ONES) still whine about them gouging people. Apparently NONE of those "NV GOUGED ME" people read balance sheets or quarterly reports. If they were gouging you they should be making MORE than 2007. They haven't in 6 years and don't look like they have a shot at that for another year. AMD meanwhile, clearly needs to start "GOUGING" all of us and quit giving out games. Maybe they wouldn't have driver problems all year then huh?
Consoles only sell 10mil each per year so won't make AMD more than 200mil if lucky (20mil x $10 per $100 chip) and that's all gone next month with 200mil payment to GF. So console profits for the next year are already shot. Translation: They need to make more on GPUS or CPUS right? You can't make money on GPU's while giving away your profits in free games (that are NOT FREE to AMD or NV).
You can thank your cheap prices and free games for your next year of crappy drivers (albeit with a great piece of hardware no doubt) from AMD. Throw a thanks in to consoles development also, as they are what created the crappy drivers this year and what caused them to give the cpu race up to Intel in the last few years (console dev surely started 3+yrs ago when R&D on cpus tanked and Intel left AMD in the dust every year since).
I'm guessing AAA games are $10 at least a pop. Mantle cost AMD 8mil to get into BF4. It will cost them every time a company optimizes for it because it isn't needed and only for a niche amount of users. Unlike NV's tech which gamers will really want as it changes what we see all day and no coding needed to see some improvement as shown with tombraider. It's easier to pitch something we want, as opposed to something you'd like us to have but most couldn't care less about supporting (just costs them more, but won't improve profits). There will likely be a premium on Gsync tech so companies WANT to push it for a at least a few years (and it pushes new monitor purchases for some, more cards etc - not to mention allows game dev freedom in the future to add stuff) until it is in everything bringing cost down. For Mantle to succeed MS/Sony needed to embrace it, but to them it is the enemy making things run better OFF of consoles. They will never support it so it's dead even discounting the fact that it's for a small subset of a AMD's small subset of discrete cards. Wasted R&D. Consoles won't support a tech that makes them NOT needed in the long run. I don't see MS putting this in directx either. Why make it easier to port a windows game to android or linux etc?
szimm - Sunday, October 20, 2013 - link
I think it's fair for people to say that they find graphics cards too expensive, even if the companies making them aren't necessarily rolling in money. There can be many causes for any company to be in trouble, such as mismanagement, over-staffing, bad investment choices, etc. What matters is, can be the product be purchased at a reasonable price by the majority of the intended audience? This valuation is completely subjective to the average income and spending power of that market segment. If the answer is no, then maybe it should be considered that the high-end PC GPU business (in its current form) is actually not a sustainable business. If it's yes, and the companies are still losing money, then maybe they are simply not up to the task of keeping themselves afloat in this market, and they should leave it for someone else to pursue.thesavvymage - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
they cant do that. They probably pay 5 bucks tops for the games because they get them in such massive quantities, and the game companies know not everyone is going to activate the code either.sidesw1pe - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - link
Why would they care whether people activated the code or not? The thing is, once they have a code they ain't gonna be buying the game now, are they? So whether activated or not, it would make no difference to the publishers.conorvansmack - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
I bought a GTX770 at the end of August. It came with SC: Blacklist, but I'm seriously bitter.Drumsticks - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
To be fair, by the time this starts August will have been two months ago.But I do sympathize with you, that honestly sucks :(
Conduit - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
Not bad. This is what Nvidia should have done a long time ago though.Da W - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
I fail to see a game i would want on AMD bundle besides FarCry3. Yet i want those 3 on Nvidia bundle.andrewaggb - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
yeah, I guess because I already bought a card when the never settle bundle first came out I don't see thing anything new in the bundle that's worth it. I have a bunch of pc's so I could grab another card, but the nvidia bundle is much better atm. AMD needs to add BF4 to their bundle and something like titan fall.TheAggie - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
Sign it and spread the word!https://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/nvidia-incl...
SniperWulf - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - link
Ugh...I bought a GTX 780 about 4-5 weeks ago. :-(
sweenish - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - link
This bums me out a little. My 760 isn't that old. However, I'm glad that I got Batman. I'd be okay with Splinter Cell, but my AC excitement died out significantly with Brotherhood. I'm still kind of loathe to continue playing Revelations right now.Had I bought a 770 or better, I'd be even more sad.
MrWizzy2002 - Monday, October 28, 2013 - link
Does anyone know if they just give you a DRM free game or some kind of Origin or Steam code?jdon - Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - link
Almost exclusively download codes. I'd assume BF4 is an Origin code.jdon - Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - link
Ignore previous BF4 thing; crosslinked to wrong topic's comment thread. But, yeah, usually download codes in DRM environments.Craig234 - Tuesday, November 19, 2013 - link
Why doesn't the article explain the "Free-to-play" bundle instead of only mentioning it in a chart? What can it be used for? Is it for that Shield? Is it for PC games?