People, @username is a reply, not a direct message with starts with D username; the difference is that the first is (@) can be seen in your stream so basically anyone can see it and the second (direct message) is only seen by the recipient and you can only send it if he is following you as well.
So, to put this straight once and for all: the '@GOGcom I want a Good Old Game for free http://www.gog.com #GOGgiveaway' will be seen by all those who follow you or check your account (if public). That's the whole point, getting people to know about GOG by making you spread the word.

Everyone can see it, but I'm pretty sure it won't pop up in my followers' Twitter clients unless they're looking at my profile. Meaning you won't spam up peoples' inboxes, only your own profile.
But if I'm wrong I will become very embarrassed soon.

It will pop up in your followers twitter clients just as any of your tweets would.

that's not true. the default twitter setting is that you DO NOT see replies of people you are following in your timeline unless you also follow the person they were replying to.
http://help.twitter.com/forums/23786/entries/14595 says that by default you only "see @replies posted by people you follow to other people that you also follow". of course you can view that person profile to see all the replies, but when you are following you are not getting spammed.

True, but the default setting for all the Twitter clients out there (and most of the user base uses third party apps and not the web interface) is that you see the tweet even if you don't follow the person it is directed to (the @username part). Tweetdeck does this, Twitterific does it, TwitterFox, all the iPhone twitter clients etc.

I wouldn't compare retwitting GOG's news to spam. RTs are common practice in Twitterville and most followers are actually happy to learn about new services, products or content as long as you don't send the same message over and over again.
Game is just a sign of appreciation and a way to say thank you for your support. At least that's how I see it :-)

Hey WeClock! Don't try to follow me on twitter, I don't use the account anymore... I was just too lazy to close it.

I'm in.

Yup, that's why I did it once. I won't be doing it again due to my whole hate of Spam. Besides, GOG already has a direct link on my site, so I'm doing my part.

I tweet too much as it is, but you better believe I'm going to at least post it a few times !

So what is the point of twitter then?

I've got some ointment for that...

Think of it as a mobile version of MySpace. "I'm wiping my arse right this second." "I took a breath right now." Just in case people did not have enough outlets to share themselves with the world, there is Twitter for and from your cell phone.

So it's filling the web with an endless stream of banal minutiae? Okay, always listen to your instincts Alias, they're spot on...

It's filling the web with EVEN MORE banal minutiae ...if such a thing is possible...

What is a twitter?