During the introduction of the 9800XT and the 9600XT, ATI pulled off one of the biggest coups with the announcement that the XT series of cards will include Valve's highly anticipated Half-Life 2. Unfortunately, the delay (and code theft) of Half-Life 2 did not make it possible to include the game so that a coupon was issued instead where the end user would have the option of downloading the game via STEAM or paying a nominal sum to get a physical copy of the CD delivered. Although the delay of Half-Life 2 was a disappointment, gamers rejoiced still; the Half-Life 2 pack in with the 9600 XT was an excellent value as the game would be close to 50$ and the 9600XT at the time of announcement was only 199$.

Unfortunately in recent weeks there has been a snag that has been introduced - many of ATI's partners are pulling out of the 9600XT Half-Life 2 bundle, both unexpectedly and abruptly. Several forums including Neoseeker's, [H]ardOCP's and Newegg's specifically mention that Gigabyte's GV-R96X128D did not include a copy of Half-Life 2 contrary to the picture on the front of the box (which has now been reportedly covered up with a sticker). Not only that, but in this press release (PDF), it explicitly states on the second page that

"Half Life 2, the most highly anticipated upcoming PC game, will be included in the full retail version"

Gigabyte is not the only guilty party. PowerColor also pulled Half Life 2 abruptly but are trying to smooth over the situation by offering customers who purchased a 9600XT during December a chance to redeem a copy through this page.

Powercolor's version of the story is that ATI pulled the Half-Life 2 bundle but it does not seem 100% accurate as reported here by [H]ardOCP.

Quoting ATI from the news post

"Beginning in December board partners had the option of purchasing the bundle from ATI for a small fee with all RADEON 9800 and RADEON 9600 series products except the RADEON 9800 XT which continued to include the bundle without charge. So, there hasn't been any change in the availability to our partners and they all have the option to continue with the bundle or not"

A list of manufacturers and whether or not they include Half-Life 2 with their retail products is listed below (please email me with updates or corrections if this is incomplete or incorrect)

Manufacturer	9600XT HL2 Bundle?
Sapphire	Selected Models
Transcend	No
Connect3D	No
Gigabyte	No
ATI	Yes
Asus	Yes
Powercolor	If purchased before Dec 31
GECUBE	No*
HIS	Platinum Version with Sticker Only
FIC	No
VisionTek	Yes

Last Updated February 02

*Edit (Feb 2) a reader who asked to remain nameless has informed me that suppliers for the GECUBE 9600XT are given HL2 vouchers seperate from the box and vouchers are still coming with cards without a HL2 label. They are supposed to be given to the customer when a GECUBE 9600XT is purchased but a lot of sales people forget. The reader suggests bringing your receipt back to the retail location if you have purchased one recently and explain the situation to them.