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EA's Latest Free On the House Game Now Available

Grab another free game from Origin.

99 Comments

EA has rotated in a new game to Origin's free On the House promotion, and it's another isometric game from the early '90s: Ultima VIII: Pagan.

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Specifically, you'll be getting the Gold Edition of Ultima VIII, which usually sells for $5, for free. It was originally released back in 1994 by Origin Systems, the now-defunct developer co-founded by Richard Garriott and best known for its work on the Ultima and Wing Commander series. Ultima VIII is the second-to-last game in the main Ultima series.

As with previous On the House games like Syndicate (now back to costing $5), Theme Hospital, and Dragon Age: Origins, this is the full version of Ultima VIII, and you'll be able to keep it forever. You can download it now through Origin.

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Avatar image for jenovaschilld
jenovaschilld

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Great game during its time, I literally got burn in on my crt monitor. Even though it is free, I would avoid ORigin at all cost, it is pretty much Malware, and trying to remove it - even harder. I would buy it here: << LINK REMOVED >> or search around for a free download. ORIGIN, EAs client, is not worth the free game.

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DrunkenPunk800

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I really don't care about this game, but I'll get it anyway. Free is free.

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Orga777

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Ultima VIII is also second worst Ultima game. Only taken over by the last game in the series.

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pedram007

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Thats BS, is it not better than Ultima 2 or even 3? I personally would say the best was 7, then 9 then 8.

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emerin76

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I didn't play any Ultima games. I was big on the SSI AD&D rpgs for my rpg fix.

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lrdfancypants

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I need my cloth map!

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donutking7

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meh, but i did get bf3 for free, so whatever, waiting on bf4 or ME

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hishamramzan

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another shitty mini game, can't they give a proper game?

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lrdfancypants

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Mini game? 0.o

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Daedalus87m

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@hishamramzan: It's not a shitty mini game. It's one of the best games ever made

I doubt more than 5% of current "gamers" would manage to finish this game without some sort of help.

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ChronoCrossDan

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@Daedalus87m@hishamramzan: Ultima 8 was not a good game

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neowarrior793

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@hishamramzan: wow dude, its a FREE game, you aren't paying for it so you don't get an opinion about it. stop being so entitled (and a whiny b!tch). i bet you wouldn't be happy if you give some money to a homeless person and he beats the hell out of you because you didn't give him enough.

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Prometheus

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I hear they're giving away Space Invaders next.

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Holobalobalo

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It's actually quite fascinating watching the marketing gurus at EA string the common folk along with this stuff, they've clearly studied up on B.F. Skinner's operant conditioning methods.

This is textbook use of a variable-ratio schedule, the same method casinos use to keep people addicted to gambling: Throw a tasty bone every once in a while (in this case, a successful prequel as promotion for an upcoming sequel to increase future sales and minimize overall loss) just for a day or so (we want most people to miss it, but know about it). Do this at random intervals a couple times then just sit back, line up some cheap abandonware titles (sentimental value counters any negative feedback) and watch as people keep coming back over and over, "just in case".


It's a grand Skinner-style experiment, really. It'll be interesting to see how long they can keep it healthy, assuming they don't already have an end date planned.

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drumjod

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@Holobalobalo: I'm glad if it's a viable business strategy for EA because it means free games for me. I downloaded Sim City 2000 and Ultima 8 for free and won't spend any money on Origin unless it's on a game I want for a price I like.

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Ultramarinus

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As much as I don't like Origin, they're giving away some of the best old games so very much appreciated.

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Mojira7

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One of the first RPG games I ever played. The first one I think that gave me a total open world to explore RPG experience. Really enjoyed it at the time. Learnt much later it was among one of the less loved games in the Ultima series. Back then I guess I wasn't too fussy over stuff like difficult controls. Probably wouldn't play it again but still..nice to see it again here lol

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Dr_Josh

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@Mojira7: Exactly the same for me except I did play it again recently and IMO still holds up.

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hystavito

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@dr_josh@Mojira7: I am one of the people who put it in the less-loved category, but I actually still played it quite a bit just because it was fun to mess around with. Seeing what I could get away with, where I could climb to, playing with exploding flasks in shops :), etc. I never put a serious effort into it but every now and then I fire it up again and mess around.

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blackbetty1974

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I can't get it to open. I hate Origin.

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neowarrior793

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@blackbetty1974: needs a blood ritual XD

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deactivated-5a7a9f13c46dd

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These old games are better than most garbage today.

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drumjod

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@Gordaton: Playing with garbage is often quite messy and can make you sick. I'll take old games over garbage any day.

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jenovaschilld

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Nice and all, but through Origins... yeah I don't think so.

Not as good but at least you can avoid Origin malware/spyware, by trying this one << LINK REMOVED >>


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Avatar image for deactivated-5a7a9f13c46dd
deactivated-5a7a9f13c46dd

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@jenovaschilld: Origin is no more malware/spyware then Steam is.

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DanielL5583

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@Gordaton@jenovaschilld: Thank you, rational internet person.

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odolwa99

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Hm, that's cool and all but...what's a paladin?

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sortajan

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@odolwa99: i feel like that's a joke that i should be in on

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so_hai

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What's interesting is that I"m in Australia and the 'On the House' game for me is the critically acclaimed and cult classic Amazing Adventures The Carribbean Secret.


I would post a screenshot here to prove it but I don't know how (or maybe you can't).

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lina_baby_doll

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Thank you, EA... I guess

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so_hai

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@lina_baby_doll: Current 93 avatar? Wow.

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lina_baby_doll

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@so_hai: Yes. Big fan of David Tibet.

You are the first one that have noticed it since early 2009. Not bad.

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Seymour47

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Ultima VIII was/is an amazing game. Unfortunately, if you need Origin to play it, it's not what I would call free. Plenty of strings attached.

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DanielL5583

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@Seymour47: These are the following requirements to play this game on Origin:

- A computer with internet access that can play this game
- An Origin account, with the client on the computer

......That's it. No credit/debit cards, no payment later down the line, nothing. You're getting this game completely free. Gratis. No strings attached.

Oh, and before you mention Origin is bad, Steam isn't any better. They're basically the same kind of thing. The EA branding doesn't necessarily mean it's bad.

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Jaxith

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@Seymour47: Name one string.

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sortajan

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@Seymour47: How do you attach strings to something that's completely and totally free?

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ECH71

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@Seymour47: How so? Is it because it's not on GOG?

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Marky360

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Hey guys I have a Dell Venue Pro 11 tablet with a Core I5 processor and 4gigs of ram as well as an integrated intel HD 4200 graphics chip. You guys think I'd be able to at least run this game at 720p/30FPS?

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lina_baby_doll

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@Marky360: I can play this even on my watch

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Damnation_6

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@lina_baby_doll@Marky360: I'm playing it on my toaster.

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godfather830

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@Marky360: I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic, but yes it will run it easily. In fact, your tablet is overkill for this game! It's really old. Don't expect 720p, though, because the game was made way before HD was ever available.

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Megawizard

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"More like explode like ****ing Looney Toons!"

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deactivated-63c59d815a69b

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anyone notice that the ea humble bundle and ea's free games on the house are pretty much the same

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Daveof89

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@guitargladiator: Ummm, no. One was a humble bundle, the others are just freebies.

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etremelegendary

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11 minutes ago

Respect EA's effort to give a more direct connection with their gaming experience, like Blizzard, a lot more than I do Steam and Valve's making money off everyone's games.

The natural flow of gaming is to the PC's OS, like Apple, you don't see a third party collection APP on their OS. But the developer of their own games making a nice experience for their games is cool, like Ubisoft's Uplay, or Square Enix's upcoming Shinra.

All Steam is doing is sitting on Microsoft taking it's games and gamers before it breaks off to it's own OS.

Are they afraid they don't have that good of a chance so they try to take as much from Microsoft before they go?

Savvy strategy getting people to buy thousands of games with their big sales, they'll pretty much have to leave Microsoft. I mean PC.
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santinegrete

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But everyones got that from humblebundle! oh well, it was worth it: MOHAA games were the decisive ones for me.

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jedicommand7

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They keep giving us free games, and yet the only one I've played so far has been Peggle.

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