Kotaku
OK, so I lied. The cake remains a lie, but a free copy of Portal doesn't. Effective immediately all NVIDIA gamers can download a free copy of Portal: First Slice, a special version of the game we all know and love, for free direct from Valve.
To get the game you just need to hop onto the Steam site and run a bit of auto-detection software. If it finds NVIDIA hardware it will give you the game free of charge. The link to the freebie will also be included in all NVIDIA drivers moving forward.
"More Steam gamers, including myself, play on NVIDIA hardware than any other GPU," said Doug Lombardi, vice president of marketing at Valve. "That's a testament to the company's long history of innovation and quality. By working together with NVIDIA to expand our development, distribution, and marketing efforts, we're increasing our ability to serve the millions of NVIDIA customers logging onto Steam and help us prepare for our next generation of content."
The First Slice version of portal is just a taste, Lombardi said, the first third or so of the full game.
NVIDIA Steam [Steam Games]
Valve and NVIDIA Offer Portal: First Slice Free to GeForce Users
Leading Developer and Graphics Company Offer Award-Winning Game Via Steam
January 9, 2008 - The most recent Steam® Hardware Survey (http://www.steampowered.com/status/survey.html) shows more Steam gamers play on NVIDIA GeForce hardware than any other graphics platform. In an effort to further support this popular PC gaming configuration - Steam games plus NVIDIA hardware - Valve and NVIDIA have entered into an agreement to collaborate on development, distribution, events, and more.
Effective immediately, all NVIDIA gamers may receive a free copy of PortalTM: First Slice, a special version of the award-winning new game from Valve, by visiting www.steamgames.com/nvidia1 and "Taking the test." Steam will then auto-detect the presence of NVIDIA hardware and make Portal: First Slice available immediately, free of charge. To make it easy for all NVIDIA customers to redeem this offer, a link to the Steam offer will also be included in all NVIDIA drivers.
"More Steam gamers, including myself, play on NVIDIA hardware than any other GPU," said Doug Lombardi, vice president of marketing at Valve. "That's a testament to the company's long history of innovation and quality. By working together with NVIDIA to expand our development, distribution, and marketing efforts, we're increasing our ability to serve the millions of NVIDIA customers logging onto Steam and help us prepare for our next generation of content."
Throughout the coming year, the companies will also be working together to support competitive gaming events for Counter-Strike® and Team Fortress® 2 and will continue to work together to define and support the breakthrough features of tomorrow's games and graphics hardware.
"Valve's endorsement of our technology and tools is yet another example of how the world's leading gaming companies are working with NVIDIA," said Roy Taylor, vice president of content relations at NVIDIA. "Portal is the hottest new, award-winning title from Valve, and we're delighted that Valve will offer First Slice exclusively to GeForce customers."
Portal: First Slice is now available to all NVIDIA customers. For more information about the offer or to take the test, please visit www.steamgames.com/nvidia1
For more information about NVIDIA, please visit www.nvidia.com.
Comments
Holy crap. I'm doing this now, on both my computers.
Nice heads up.
Damn the cake is still a fucking LIE!
Wait, that screen says extended demo. Which is it, free game or longer demo?
Very nice of them.
Makes me sad that I spent $20 on this already. I probably should have opted for the whole Orange Box, but, you know, FPS's...meh.
Portal was great, though. Worth the money.
I'm curious what an "extended demo" of a 2-hour game consists of.
nvidia gamers with steam already have it.
Portal: First Slice, a special version of the game
What does "special version" mean? Is it the full game? Or as the subtitle "First Slice" might lead one to assume, its some sort of demo or something?
so its only a extended demo?Not really all that great but free is free i suppose
oh. my. god.
Great news since I'm still waiting for my orange box to arrive!
Weird, I want to register for it, and it tells me I'm eligible (yay!), but when I try to finalize it all, it says the offer has already been redeemed on another Steam account (boo!).
That makes no sense. Hopefully it's just an error and I haven't lost my chance to get more Portal.
So the cake is not a lie?
@Atrahasis: The main reason I got the Orange Box was for TF2. I loved TFC many years ago. I had already played through Portal on someone else's account, so that was kind of a freebie for me. Other than that, I now have Half-Life 2 ready and willing for whenever I decide to play that. (Hopefully after actually playing the original Half-Life.)
sweeeeeeeeeeeet!
Wow. Cool thing. But ... I wanted cake =( xD
Gonna download it right now on, just remembered that I had a GeForce card =P
I doubt that the dowload is the full game, maybe just an extended demo, like the pic says.
Damn, I didn't read anything but the title, went to steam and you can imagine my dissappointment. I already own Portal, I want some cake.
How big a slice we talking here? The games only 2 hours...is this the first quarter of it? Eighth?
So what exactly is different compared to the original Portal in the OB?
As a Triedent user, all I can say is FUCK THAT!!! >:(
Well, that's a little unfair...
But I have nVidia in every PC I own, so woohoo!
PC gaming rocks. Even though I already have this, I know some people who don't, that want it.
doesnt valve normally team up with ATI for these sorta promotions? odd
WOOOOOOOOO I have a crappy integrated Nvidia card on thsi laptop and I qualify!
Thanks kotaku!
I'm trying to get steam to run for more than 20 seconds before crashing to download this. Oh and the link in the article seems to just point back here which i doubt it is meant to.
Argh not enough bandwidth at university! The file is a monsterous 6.3 gigs...and I can only download 250 MB a week :(
@KaneTaker: What the hell you talk'n bout! Portal is at least a 45 hour experience.
Meh, I'm glad I've already got my full (even if it is a lie) cake.
I would like to hear from anyone who tries out this "extended demo" tell how much content is included.
I'll take the cake.
Only because I don't have a system to play portal on :(
I clicked on the link it said it installed, but how do i play? :P
(feels like a fool)
@Rocky_Winston: That's only 6 1/2 months if you download it in sections! Well worth the effort, imo.
wow...
6gb isindeed quite big for a demo isn't it? stillused to the demos under 2gb..
it'll take some time to download.
The cake remains a lie for me. All my computers have ATI graphics hardware.
@okenny :): I'll be sure and take my time, then! :P
Ouch. What about ATi's legacy of co-branding with Valve games?
Crecente..you liar!! Although, this is a pretty cool deal. Nvidia FTW?
This offer also gives you Half-Life 2 Deathmatch, Peggle Extreme and HL2 Lost Coast, which is useful given HL2-DM's absence from the orange box.
And to think I was about to throw away this GeForce 4 :D
@Fluffy22: Go into your games library and click on Portal. At least that's how it used to be I haven't touched Steam in a while.
@dafunkk12:That was just Halflife 2. Not only that, if you remember there was a big screw up with code being stolen from Valve, so the game was delayed fore a long time. Meanwhile many, many ATI cards were sold with free HL2 coupons. I think it was sour grapes for both companies.
Remember, ATI paid quite a but of money (I think 4.4 million dollars) to partner with Valve on this coupon thing.
@okenny :): err I really hope that was sarcasm... or it speaks quite badly about your problem solving abilities....
The one thing that's better than cake is free cake ^^
This is fantastic news! I've been waiting to play Portal til I get a 360 sometime this year. Didn't feel like paying for it on the PC when I knew I'd end up getting the Orange Box. Download in progress...
My aging (though upgraded) PC is not high-end enough to risk framerate issues.
Pity I've played the game through to completion already, I didn't even bother buying it. Just played it through a friends Steam account.
It also comes bundled with some iteration of Half-Life 2 Deathmatch, Half-Life 2: Lost Coast, and Peggle Extreme.
Yeah, now I am glad I got a Nivida card.
They also owe me atleast this for vreaking my old computer as well.
"long history of innovation and quality"
My GeForce 1 broke down a week after the two year warranty ran out... the replacement card (GeForce 4 MX) died a few days after the one year warranty ended :(
Since then I'm not really an Nvidia fan. But I already own Portal anyway.
Anyway, congrats to the nvidia card owners. Portal is a great game.
That's awesome - I bought TF2 yesterday but not the rest of Orange Box because I'm stingy and I'm not fussed on HalfLife anyway. Portal and Peggle, on the other hand, I'll be downloading with this offer and will be loving it.
Best timing ever. :)
"We like Nvidia users too!"
Okay, i know that ATI (AMD) isn't doing so good in comparison but seriously, TWIMTBP marketing of Nvidia is getting ridiculous. I could understand if it was a perk of buying a new graphics card but just for having one in your machine is just plain mean...
Hmmm not working for me, after I select already have steam installed I get nothing. Guess my 6600 GT has been long forgotten ;\
Holy Shit. Kotaku I love you. I need a game to play and You just saved me 20 bucks.
I downloaded it at about 800-900kb/s and installed it. It's a little bit larger than a gig. So far it seems the same but I haven't gotten very far. I'm willing to bet that it's probably the same as the other demo but I don't know as I haven't played anything portal related.
hm.... i have portal, but i was wondering that if i want this, even though i have an ati card, if i can just go to an nvidia computer, add it to my steam account and it should be there forever
For some reason steam is stuck on updating when I load it. So no portal for me :(
Could someone please explain what "first slice" means? I've already got the "full cake" version...
Well I went got the game and it said it was downloading on steam, but I don't see it. Doesn't it normally sho