The best things in life may be free, but when great games become free, that's definitely something better. Word is that Portal: First Slice is being given away to all gamers who have NVIDIA graphics cards on their machines, and there's no financial "Catch 22." Yep, Portal: First Slice is being offered for free, though for a limited time only and with one special - almost insignificant - condition.

Those wishing to avail of this offer will have to have the Steam client installed. It's not such a big issue if you have broadband, since the service is absolutely free. But over slower, erratic connections, Steam may not be your slice of pie - or Portal, in this case.

We can confirm that connecting to Steam is easy-peasy with dial-up connections (we do know there's a great majority out there who can't get decent broadband services yet). But updating and downloading purchased and free games at those speeds is a horror movie waiting to happen.

You may want to brave the impossible, however, because Portal: First Slice isn't the only freebie offered. In fact, three other games are tagging along with Steam's promo:

• Half Life 2: Deathmatch
• Half Life 2: Lost Coast
• Peggle Extreme