I hate to say ill about any company willing to give away a free game in exchange for a pre-order, but there's one very serious problem with the Fallout 4 pre-order deal making the rounds on Xbox One. It's a great idea overall, but there's one small problem of logic that, in this case, prevents it from being much use.

For those not already familiar with the deal, essentially, those who pre-order Fallout 4 as a download through the Xbox Store will get a code within seven to 10 days for a free download of Fallout 3 for Xbox 360. It will be playable immediately on Xbox 360, and from there will likely be backward compatible with Xbox One, though no one's sure as yet just when that particular move will happen.

But those who want to pre-order it elsewhere will be accommodated too. A retail pre-order will net a similar download code, but will be provided when the buyer picks up the physical copy of Fallout 4 on November 10 when it releases. There's a limited time on the offer, though, so those interested are likely going to want to act quickly.

That's where the big problem with this comes in. Not so much in the timing; clearly they want you to pre-order on Xbox One, and with good reason. That's where the promotion seems to be running, after all, and there are certain advantages involved like being able to do the downloading ahead of schedule such that you can get into the action faster. Sounds good to me, and indeed, other games with sequels could take a cue from this rather easily. Why not offer up a copy of an earlier game in the series with purchase of the latest game? Well, there's one critical reason, and that's the big problem I have with this idea.

See, funny thing; most people who are interested in Fallout 4 already have Fallout 3. They also likely also have Fallout: New Vegas, and have since about the time they came out. That's not to say that there won't be some newcomers getting into the action for the first time, and having that background in Fallout 3 will likely be valuable. After all, the Institute is rumored to be a big part of this affair, and being able to play the quest that basically introduced us to the Institute back in Fallout 3 will likely be helpful. But really, this can only go so far; there can't be that many people eager for Fallout 4 to hit that weren't already in play for Fallout 3 or Fallout: New Vegas.

Still, I love the idea of free games for the newcomers; it's just a shame that this brilliant, stupid idea can really only have so much impact. The Venn diagram for "people who don't own Fallout 3 already" and "people who are looking forward to Fallout 4" has got to be a pretty slim intersection. But for those who fall into that tiny sliver of two interlocking circles, it's about to be a great few months.