Spore Creature Creator Refund - a con?

[Munch]

If like me you bought the Full Spore Creature Creator for £5, you probably spent money on a demo because you saw this http://eu.spore.com/extra/?id=9420 where it says "Claim back the price of the Spore Creature Creator when you purchase the main Spore game!"

Does anyone know whether you can claim this from anywhere other than the official EA download store? If you can only claim back the £5 from spore.com then you are still spending more money than if you forget the refund and just by from, say, Play.com - which actually gets you a physical copy of the game!

Is it a con?

[Neverwonagame3]

I agree- it is.

[GoodGame]

I notice that EA.com isn't making that offer anymore, though Direct2Drive is still.
I was pretty skeptical of that deal at first because usually a corporate store front charges higher retail than even brick and mortar stores, no doubt to keep brick and mortar stores happy. But figure the mail order/online discounters still charge you shipping usually, so it all evens out, I'd say.

EA is now offering another deal for pre-ordering Spore through them (under 'more info' at their store):

$10 of next purchase from Zazzle
Offer ends September 6, 2008. Good only for new purchases of Spore product from the EA STORE made between June 17, 2008 and September 6, 2008. Free shipping offer good for STANDARD shipping service of SPORE to U.S. only. Zazzle promo codes will be emailed to customers by September 12, 2008. Zazzle promo codes will provide $10 off of any purchase of $25 or more at www.zazzle.com and will expire on October 31, 2008. Offer may not be substituted, exchanged, sold or redeemed for cash or other goods or services. Valid only in U.S. and CANADA. May not be combined with any other offer, gift card, rebate or discount coupon. Product subject to availability. Retailers, distributors and employees of Electronic Arts Inc. and their agencies/affiliates are not eligible. Void where prohibited, taxed or restricted by law. Limit one offer per person.

I don't know if that applies to you. Basically it's a service to get mugs, figurines, etc. cut of your creatures. It's pretty questionable to offer someone a coupon for a future purchase for making another future purchase over just offering a flat rebate.