Free Command and Conquer (and other games)

[melancholy]

Check it out, EA is giving away the original Command and Conquer for free. Just go to this link and download the ISO files.

Also, apparently Ubisoft has also released a bunch of their games for free through FilePlanet:

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
Far Cry
Rayman Raving Rabbids

They say they are ad-supported, which may be good or bad depending on how persistant the ads are. I'm currently in queue to download Far Cry so once I try it out I'll report back on if the ads are too annoying or not. The Command and Conquer is totally free though, so enjoy!

[TyBO]

Wow... very nice. I'm surprised Rayman Raving Rabbids is on there. It's relatively new.

Do tell what an ad-supported game is like. If the ads aren't too obtrusive, I'll definitely get Far Cry.

[Ex-Cyber]

They say they are ad-supported, which may be good or bad depending on how persistant the ads are.

To me the bigger issue is whether it's "adware" or just ads. It's one thing to stick some ads in the download itself and be done with it; it's quite another to have some kind of obnoxious launcher always phoning home to get new ads to display and reporting your playing habits.

[DaMadFiddler]

Damn; not only are they free games, they're all AAA titles! And not ancient ones, either. I have a Mac, so I can't try these myself, but I have both PoP and Rayman for consoles anyway.

Good find!

[Veggita2099]

I am interested in hearing what the ads are about before I download them.

[melancholy]

Well, I attempted to download Far Cry, but the damn server was so packed that even after waiting 50 minutes in the queue, it still downloaded at around 40kbps. I'm going to let it download overnight and see if I get anywhere.

[JuddWack]

I downloaded FarCry. So far I have only seen McDonald ads and they only appear on screen during load times. Prepare to wait in the queue for several hours.

[melancholy]

Well, that was a waste of time. I tried out Far Cry to see how persistent the ads are. The first ad appears after the Ubisoft logo. A short 15 second movie clip for McDonalds. After that, I was put into the main menu where a small banner sat at the bottom. Again, no big deal. I set options, start up a game, watch the intro movie, and then hit the loading screen. Another short commercial appeared, the same 15 second McDonalds clip. Still, not really annoying.

However, the annoying part comes in when you die. For you see, the clip plays whenever you hit the loading screen. When you die, the game loads for 2 seconds...or it would only take two seconds if it wasn't for the 15 second commercial. And it never changes. You watch the same McDonalds commercial every time you die. Dying in the game is actually punishing in real life. After about an hour of play, I was totally fed up with it.

[Ex-Cyber]

That sounds pretty annoying, but still preferable to traditional "adware". If they put in something to make it so that it was only shown, say, once every 15 minutes, then it might even be worth it...

[melancholy]

That sounds pretty annoying, but still preferable to traditional "adware". If they put in something to make it so that it was only shown, say, once every 15 minutes, then it might even be worth it...

Hell, I wouldn't probably be as annoyed if the commercial was even different. But it's the same commercial over and over.

[DaMadFiddler]

I'm not sure whether that's better or worse than in-game advertising. I'm still trying to picture KFC flyers and Harry Potter billboards in Prince of Persia...

[Ex-Cyber]

I'm not sure whether that's better or worse than in-game advertising. I'm still trying to picture KFC flyers and Harry Potter billboards in Prince of Persia...

That would at least be amusing. Value add!

[RMD]

I was hoping it was in game adds. I actually think they're kinda cool and really not annoying at all. Like instead of finding a health pack you find a coke. Cloths you are wearing could be name brand stuff too. In game adds are much less annoying than real adds in games.

[butters]

In a few days someone will hack out the in game ads and put a patch out for everyone to use.

[RMD]

In a few days someone will hack out the in game ads and put a patch out for everyone to use.

See I count doing that as just as wrong as downloading the games illegally. I mean why not just bootleg the older retail version. What would be the difference? This is why product placement should be in the in game graphics and not just adds.

[DaMadFiddler]

In a few days someone will hack out the in game ads and put a patch out for everyone to use.

See I count doing that as just as wrong as downloading the games illegally. I mean why not just bootleg the older retail version. What would be the difference? This is why product placement should be in the in game graphics and not just adds.

The problem with that is that it takes more work to implement (and thus makes the "free releases" more expensive--and thus less appealing--for the company to put together), and that it doesn't really fit all games. See above

[butters]

In a few days someone will hack out the in game ads and put a patch out for everyone to use.

See I count doing that as just as wrong as downloading the games illegally. I mean why not just bootleg the older retail version. What would be the difference? This is why product placement should be in the in game graphics and not just adds.

I'm not advocating using said patches, I'm just stating the obvious.

[Specially Cork]

In a few days someone will hack out the in game ads and put a patch out for everyone to use.

See I count doing that as just as wrong as downloading the games illegally.

So skipping TV ads when you record programs and installing pop-up blockers for your web browser are wrong too? They're all forcefully removing advertising so it has no chance of reaching you.

[mankrip]

So skipping TV ads when you record programs and installing pop-up blockers for your web browser are wrong too? They're all forcefully removing advertising so it has no chance of reaching you.

Pop-ups aren't exclusive to advertising. The main reason to block pop-ups is to avoid prank sites and malware. And anyway, there are a billion ways to advertise on the net without resorting to pop-ups.

And I'm quite sure that the advertising contracts used by TV companies only covers the broadcasting of the shows, not what the audience will do with it. Otherwise it would be a crime to go to the bathroom during commercials.

[Specially Cork]

And I'm quite sure that the advertising contracts used by TV companies only covers the broadcasting of the shows, not what the audience will do with it. Otherwise it would be a crime to go to the bathroom during commercials.

I know that. I was making a point that avoid advertising isn't the same as warez with a rhetorical question, you didn't have to answer it