AMD Bundling SimCity with its A8 and A10 APUs

[RedundantInk]

Starting next week, AMD will be bundling in a free copy of Sim City with its desktop APUs.

AMD Bundling SimCity with its A8 and A10 APUs : Read more

 

[vmem]

LOL, must've gotten a MASSIVE discount in negotiations after all the simcity issues during launch.

Gotta say though, I tried the game, it's entertaining, and the online component's not bad, fun to play with friends. now it's not worth $60. maybe $20 or so. bundled with one of these APUs? definately worth it for someone needing an HTPC or entry level gaming box

 

[thor220]

I'm impressed by AMD's initiative as of late. They are offer good games with their cards and at good prices. Nvidia needs to step it up or they might end up with no console deals and reduced desktop card sales. I just wonder how AMD can keep going like this with it's small size, but then again AMD has been the underdog for some time.

 

[vmem]

[citation][nom]thor220[/nom]I'm impressed by AMD's initiative as of late. They are offer good games with their cards and at good prices. Nvidia needs to step it up or they might end up with no console deals and reduced desktop card sales. I just wonder how AMD can keep going like this with it's small size, but then again AMD has been the underdog for some time.[/citation]

Well, let's keep in mind that this is AMD's unofficial last stand. steamroller aside (who knows if it'll succeed or not), AMD has two decently successful product lines, their GPUs, and their APUs. AMD has been bleeding money since the bulldozer failure and then the series of yield issues and top executive change last year. while both their GPUs and APUs are good, they continue to lose market share on both fronts and they're almost out of case. And here they are throwing TONs of case into marketing for these bundles. This is their last chance to reclaim marketshare from Nvidia, Intel, and try to grab a foothold in the mobile market. Nvidia will not step it up unless they have to because they're in a very different position. all they need to do is defend. if they successfully defend their market expansion for a year or two, AMD will bleed dry. so c'mon all, buy an APU, you know it's good for you lol

 

[de5_Roy]

nice. more incentive to buy an amd apu. this should help clear the stock before richland and gcn 2.0 cards come out and avoid a llano.

otoh, amd must have a hard time selling their apus and gfx cards if they have to bundle this many freebies with them.

edit: a llano: amd making profit from selling llano apus and later losing more than that from overstock of unsold apus which partly caused trinity's delay.

 

[garrick]

If they would bundle free games with the newer FX chips I would upgrade but I see no real reason to upgrade from my Phenom 955.
Hopefully they can bring power consumption way down and when they do I will upgrade.

 

[A Bad Day]

[citation][nom]vmem[/nom]Well, let's keep in mind that this is AMD's unofficial last stand. steamroller aside (who knows if it'll succeed or not), AMD has two decently successful product lines, their GPUs, and their APUs. AMD has been bleeding money since the bulldozer failure and then the series of yield issues and top executive change last year. while both their GPUs and APUs are good, they continue to lose market share on both fronts and they're almost out of case. And here they are throwing TONs of case into marketing for these bundles. This is their last chance to reclaim marketshare from Nvidia, Intel, and try to grab a foothold in the mobile market. Nvidia will not step it up unless they have to because they're in a very different position. all they need to do is defend. if they successfully defend their market expansion for a year or two, AMD will bleed dry. so c'mon all, buy an APU, you know it's good for you lol[/citation]

AMD also has to get rid of surplus Trinity APUs before Richland shows up. Otherwise, if Richland is launched, nobody would buy Trinity APUs unless if they're at bargain prices.

Intel? They're the king of the hill. If Haswell has to be delayed for a month or two because their inventory of IBs and SBs still haven't cleared out yet, then so be it. Price drops? Freebies? What are you smoking?

 

[mchawk]

Can it run it?

 

[tobalaz]

[citation][nom]mchawk[/nom]Can it run it?[/citation]
I'm sure its capable, but the question is will you be able to log on to Sim City and play it?

 

[10hellfire01]

[citation][nom]tobalaz[/nom]I'm sure its capable, but the question is will you be able to log on to Sim City and play it?[/citation]
That's what I found odd. Of all games to give away, give the one that is currently the most controversial. I haven't played it so I can't say anything about it, but I'm surprised they didn't nab Bioshock Infinite.

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

I can remember all the concern about all the firings at the PR positions, the oh no, there goes AMD
Rory Read has got something going here, and even if some OEMs dont play ball, this will get AMD product into average Joes hands

 

[tomfreak]

cut the chip price down another $10-$30 is better than bundle with that simcity crap.

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

Thats good, selling for less will get them.......
The mindset is gaming solutions on the cheap, later APU/AMD.
First market, then brand

 

[ojas]

Lol i read building instead of bundling!

 

[shikamaru31789]

[citation][nom]10hellfire01[/nom]That's what I found odd. Of all games to give away, give the one that is currently the most controversial. I haven't played it so I can't say anything about it, but I'm surprised they didn't nab Bioshock Infinite.[/citation]
They're already giving away Bioshock Infinite with their GPU's. Guess they didn't want to make people mad that were getting both an APU and a discrete graphics card by giving them 2 copies of Bioshock. So they got SimCity, which despite the controversy, has sold fairly well so far. Also, they probably wanted a game that could play well on an APU, SimCity's system requirements are low enough to play on decent settings, but alot of other recent AAA games would have only played on low at 720p on an APU.

 

[tomfreak]

[citation][nom]garrick[/nom]If they would bundle free games with the newer FX chips I would upgrade but I see no real reason to upgrade from my Phenom 955. Hopefully they can bring power consumption way down and when they do I will upgrade.[/citation]What AMD need is to stop giving money to useless developer like EA, pricing its CPU cheaper is better than bundle game keys with them. Not all AMD cpu buyer are gamers, but they definitely will appreciate a lower price CPU than bundle with games

 

[abbadon_34]

SimCity should be giving away an AMD product when you purchase their game, not the other way around.

But then again, what is the cost of generating a serial number ...

 

[yannigr]

ThePirateBay is "selling" more games than anyone, so I guess it is not difficult to persuade a software house to do to you a huge discount. Also not to forget that an APU needs also a motherboard. So by selling a cpu, AMD is selling two products to the customer. A cpu AND a mobo. Even if the customer has a mobo, he will sell the older APU to someone else who will go out and buy a motherboard. AMD is going a good job to take back market share. The question is, do they have the time and money to continue doing it?

 

[slomo4sho]

Why did it have to be a game from EA? To top it off, it also requires Origin!

 

[tomfreak]

[citation][nom]abbadon_34[/nom]SimCity should be giving away an AMD product when you purchase their game, not the other way around.But then again, what is the cost of generating a serial number ...[/citation]which is why I suggest AMD to drop the price rather than paying EA for simcity keys. There are 6 people here think Bundle simcity is a good thing.

 

[aggroboy]

Not being sarcastic here, they should bundle a better stock cooler instead.

It's a great APU but this baby runs way too hot.

 

[FinneousPJ]

Nice move by AMD. The APU buying crowd is exactly the ones that play casual games like Sim City, I believe.

 

[DryCreamer]

While I like the idea... its a shame that AMD has to hawk its products like that :/

 

[A Bad Day]

[citation][nom]yannigr[/nom]ThePirateBay is "selling" more games than anyone, so I guess it is not difficult to persuade a software house to do to you a huge discount. Also not to forget that an APU needs also a motherboard. So by selling a cpu, AMD is selling two products to the customer. A cpu AND a mobo. Even if the customer has a mobo, he will sell the older APU to someone else who will go out and buy a motherboard. AMD is going a good job to take back market share. The question is, do they have the time and money to continue doing it?[/citation]

But by buying stuff legally, you don't have to worry about the FBI kicking down your door and taking all of your computers for an unspecified amount of time.

Or receiving a warning from your ISP...

 

[FinneousPJ]

[citation][nom]yannigr[/nom]ThePirateBay is "selling" more games than anyone, so I guess it is not difficult to persuade a software house to do to you a huge discount. Also not to forget that an APU needs also a motherboard. So by selling a cpu, AMD is selling two products to the customer. A cpu AND a mobo. Even if the customer has a mobo, he will sell the older APU to someone else who will go out and buy a motherboard. AMD is going a good job to take back market share. The question is, do they have the time and money to continue doing it?[/citation]

But by buying stuff legally, you don't have to worry about the FBI kicking down your door and taking all of your computers for an unspecified amount of time.

Or receiving a warning from your ISP...

That first thing happens only in south park