The end of selling game codes you get from buying a new GPU on the Members Market.

dowie · 3 Feb 2017 at 15:02

Ace Modder said:
If you are considering a new GPU and similar performing models are available from AMD and Nvidia, but AMD has a game and Nvidia doesn't it can sway people to AMD.

absolutely, though some people can have irrational loyalty towards brands

for me I'd still be sticking with Nvidia at the moment because it would be useful to take advantage of the GPU support in some libraries that use CUDA

Ace Modder · 3 Feb 2017 at 15:05

I personally prefer Nvidia, but only because they offer the better top performing cards.
If AMD bring out a card to smash the 1080 I would look at switching.

Diddums · 3 Feb 2017 at 15:07

This is a fairly large incentive for people looking to buy tbh, the ability to sell the code reduced the outlay by x amount. This will almost certainly affect sales I reckon.

MooMoo444 · 3 Feb 2017 at 15:10

Getting 30-60 quids worth of games is one of the major factors of me purchasing new. Nvidia get no money when I buy second hand and now I'm more inclined to do that. Seems odd to me.

Diddums · 3 Feb 2017 at 15:11

Yeah, they're firmly aiming for their feet with this move.

MikeTheNative · 3 Feb 2017 at 15:18

It's a bonus but I would never think of free games as a factor when choosing what hardware to buy.

Uther · 3 Feb 2017 at 15:26

Avenged7Fold said:
The GPU section was often full of spec me threads and people justify spending the next tier of card with 'I know its over budget but if you include xxx and yyy, you can go up to a AMD/Nvidia ZZZ'

People will often look for excuses just to free themselves of a bit of buying guilt.

This for me. I've sold a few game codes in the MM after card purchases.
And if they do stop including game codes with the cards, I highly doubt the price of the cards will go down.

Bazzards · 3 Feb 2017 at 15:26

It's a bonus but I would never think of free games as a factor when choosing what hardware to buy.

Likewise, I have never felt the need to sell the game code on, always made use of them.

a66as · 3 Feb 2017 at 15:47

Imo the best way to tackle this is to sell it as part of the gpu, and if the game keys get used then make the gpu non returnable or deduct £40. I wouldn't want crappy geforce experience on my system just to verify a game download

nicktay2605 · 3 Feb 2017 at 16:35

This must be the game publishers pushing this rather than Nvidia, I don't see why Nvidia would care either way. I guess the publishers are potentially losing out on quite a bit of money for each person who buys a bundled game code rather than buying from a vendor.

edit: the ability to sell on bundled games has definitely been a factor for me when buying new hardware. I can work out how much I will get for the old bit of hardware that I'm replacing and then add on the money I'll get from selling the bundled games. Every little helps after all.

Avenged7Fold · 3 Feb 2017 at 16:59

Ace Modder said:
I personally prefer Nvidia, but only because they offer the better top performing cards.
If AMD bring out a card to smash the 1080 I would look at switching.

I prefer AMD because of the price-point i buy at. I like the performance of a top end card but don't what to pay the huge premium to pay to have the title of the fastest card. For example, just 5 months after the 290x came out it could be had for £239 from some places!

CREATIVE!11 · 3 Feb 2017 at 19:53

Ace Modder said:
I personally prefer Nvidia, but only because they offer the better top performing cards.
If AMD bring out a card to smash the 1080 I would look at switching.

Yeah I happen to think AMD hold the edge a little now, I get my free pc game and better performa...... oh wait

Just trying to start nvidia vs amd war

D.P. · 3 Feb 2017 at 20:31

Five.Stars said:
And it also has to be pointed out, it has ALWAYS been against the T&C's to sell these games.

This

DaleTheWhale · 3 Feb 2017 at 21:30

Can't wait to install SLI cards and redeem the game twice....

easyrider · 3 Feb 2017 at 23:27

MooMoo444 said:
Getting 30-60 quids worth of games is one of the major factors of me purchasing new. Nvidia get no money when I buy second hand and now I'm more inclined to do that. Seems odd to me.

Really?

Buying new is more about warranty etc...

I doubt people really care about a free game when Buying a 600 quid GFX card.

A free game is nice but selling the code on to get 25 quid off is not the incentive for most.

Having said that I bought a GTX 1080 one week with no promos on it....A week later Nvidia brought out the Gears of War free game promo IIRC

I got onto the e-tailor via chat explained and they sent me £25 voucher code...

Fishbait · 4 Feb 2017 at 15:17

MoRT489 said:
If you upgrade your system and need to reinstall the game, would you need the same gfx card too or would it be a one time registration?

I don't think this will help AIB partners, as which games are bundled might actually affect a person's brand choice of gfx card (I doubt it has previously as they could be sold on) - e.g. a person who prefers Asus might have to go with another brand as they already have the free games that are bundled with the Asus card so it doesn't make sense to "waste" the extra £60 or so that they could "save" by buying a Zotac with free games they don't have.

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/02/nvidia-game-codes-gfe-hardware/

"Update: Nvidia has confirmed that while GFE checks to ensure a user has installed a qualifying graphics card like a GTX 1070 or GTX 1080, the game itself is not permanently linked to the hardware. GFE's hardware check is based only on the wider product range, and not on a specific serial number."

Whilst I don't go "Ooh, nth game is included with nth hardware, I'll buy that instead" it does sometimes help in the decision when items are a close call for which I want to buy.
When choosing headsets a couple years ago, two were so similar I wasn't sure which to buy, but one came with a "free" game so I thought sod it & bought that headset. Bloody good headset, but the game key was on a card with a "use this by nth date" which was long since gone. Didn't mind so much as headset was worth it, but slightly miffed as it was something I was supposed to be getting for free & was sort of ripped off. There was nothing on site or headset box stating there were limitations.
Had similar when bought a gfx card from here too ages ago. Free game was time restricted & was long since over.

Surely same goes for nvidia cards too. Something should state that there are limitations, like when laws state you have to have EULA/T&C etc on outside of box, instead of inside when it's already too late because you've opened the sodding thing ;p

Defiant306 · 5 Feb 2017 at 14:10

These free games a flipping pain as well, I had a AMD card with a free game (BF4).
I used the game thinking all is great. Then I started having issues with card and had to send it back. I was charged £45 for the 'free' game, it wasn't even worth that much and I never played it again as I wouldn't normally buy the game to start with.

I wish they would sell the cards without the games, as others have said the free games are not free. I also agree that this locking down of games is stupid, the publishers are not loosing sales. They got paid for a copy each time, only one person uses the game code. It doesn't matter if its punter A or punter B, its still on one person using it!!!

Sigh.

OCUK, any chance you can relay your customers feelings back to your Nvidia contacts???

AHarvey · 6 Feb 2017 at 02:27

Defiant306 said:
They got paid for a copy each time, only one person uses the game code. It doesn't matter if its punter A or punter B, its still on one person using it!!!

Technically not true, if punter A buys a card and gets a game they get paid once.

If punter B buys from punter A they have just lost out on a second sale.

Do graphics cards have a unique identifier such as a MAC address for network cards? If so they may be looking at linking games to the ID of the card.

SteveOBHave · 6 Feb 2017 at 05:35

I personally think that it's as pessimistic and greedy as the rest of the media industry are with BluRay, games resales and the like. They don't seem to realise that if you treat a customer reasonably and charge reasonable amounts then they get their money (i.e. Netflix).

olivier renault · 6 Feb 2017 at 08:02

Do you remember a time when the games you bought / were gifted were your property to resale on the second-hand market?