This situation, to put it succinctly, sucks, from end users expecting Half Life 2 with retail versions of the 9600XT as PRs from ATI does not make it sound like that it is an optional thing. While it is understandable that the unexpected additional cost of bundling a game may throw a wrench into the plans of manufacturers financially it would be nice to see them try to remedy the situation and be more forthcoming and explicitly state whether or not their particular card includes the bundle. How can this be done? Powercolor has taken a step in the right direction by offering some of their customers the coupon even after they have apparently decided to opt out of the plan. Sapphire does a good job of stating which cards have the bundle and which cards do not, all in one handy Excel file located on their website. Gigabyte needs to pull their press release or issue another one saying that the game is not being included. There are few things worse than being misled as a consumer and it leaves a bad taste in everyone's mouth.

Although there is obviously some miscommunication between ATI and its partners, they should be held somewhat responsible for what their partners include in their cards as Half-Life 2 was heralded with such fanfare during the XT series launch and the inclusion of Half-Life 2 was something that clearly set the 9600XTs above the competing 5700 Ultra. Maybe it would be possible to setup a 1-900 line or some sort of UPC/receipt registration program for those customers who purchased a 9600XT board that did not include Half-Life 2. Charge a nominal fee to cover the cost that they would have passed onto their partners, charge an administration fee for extra work this entails; the bottom line is that something should be done so customers are left out on the lurch.

ATI has changed a lot as a company in the last couple of years. They are leaving behind a legacy of less than stellar drivers and suspect optimizations. No longer are they playing catch up games with the competition but have positioned themselves as a market leader. This is one of the first potentially major PR issues that ATI has had to deal with in recent memory and hopefully they will deal with this in a manner that would be acceptable to both them and the end user like a market leader should. Gamers are a fickle bunch and showing some goodwill can do a lot in championing their products even further towards enthusiasts