Get Battlefield 3 (PC) for free

Origin's latest giveaway takes you to the front lines for awesome first-person combat. Plus: three bonus deals!

Regular readers know my advice when it comes to videogames: wait, wait, wait. The longer you hold out, the cheaper the game will be. In fact, if you wait long enough, it might just be free.
Case in point: For the next few days, Origin is offering Battlefield 3 (PC) for $0. The game normally sells for $19.99. Woot!
Of course, nothing is really free, right? There must be some catch. Actually, there are two: You need to create an Origin account (unless you already have one), and you need to install the Origin client on your PC (unless you already have it).
Yep, I was joshin' you: those hardly qualify as catches. It's fair to trade a few bits of personal info for a game like this, and understandable that you'd need a download manager to install it. Steam works the same way.
This is, quite simply, an awesome giveaway, and kind of a surprise given that Origin's last one (Plants Vs. Zombies) was supposed to run through the end of May. (It's not only still available, but has been extended till June 16.) Keep 'em coming, Origin!
Battlefield 3 was among the most celebrated titles of late 2011, offering "thrills that few games can match," according to GameSpot's review. Although I disagree with the assessment of its "stale" single-player campaign, it definitely does rank as one of the most exciting online-multiplayer games to date.
And, hey, if you don't like it, it's not like it cost you anything. Uninstall and move on. But I suspect you'll enjoy many hours of run-and-gun fun.
Bonus deal: Speaking of free games, here's a great one for the iOS crowd: For a limited time, Infinity Blade II is free. Regular price: $7.99. Impossibly gorgeous graphics and tons of hack-and-slash action combine to make this a true flagship game for iOS.

Beats

Bonus deal No. 2: I honestly don't get the slobbering adoration of the Beats brand, nor do I understand why Apple wants to pay $3 billion for it. Guess it's a status-symbol thing. Of course, if the product is really good, I'll take it -- provided there's a deal to be had. Today, there is: DailySteals has the refurbished Beats PowerBeats running headphones for $49 shipped, with your choice of three colors. List price: $149.95.
Bonus deal No. 3: You know I can't let a good Roku deal go by, even if it's a rerun of sorts. While supplies last, DealFisher has the refurbished Roku 1 streaming media box for $34.99 shipped. That's $15 off the price of a new one, and it comes with the same 90-day warranty. Now all you need is a cheap HDMI cable to go with it.