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In among all the other games launched recently, EA have quietly released their latest in the Command & Conquer universe - the eagerly-anticipated Red Alert 3. But alas, all has not run smooth in the land of the Soviets, the Rising Sun and the Allies. It seems that the publishers may need to invest in a new printer.

We're hearing reports that a "significant quantity" of Red Alert 3 manuals have been released to customers missing a digit from the 20 character code required to start the game.

The official solution from the guys behind the scenes - try guessing the last character, "[y]ou should eventually get the right combination."

While we thought initially that it could have only affected a few manuals, the problem is widespread enough that a help ticket has been opened - although at the time of writing, only 395 of 2320 found it helpful:

QUESTION
What can I do if my Command and Conquer Red Alert 3 install code is 19 characters instead of 20?

ANSWER
If you are trying to install Command and Conquer Red Alert 3 and the code is only 19 characters long, then it is missing the last letter or number. This was due to a misprint on a small number of manuals and we apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.

In order to get a replacement code, please click the "Contact Us" link on the left side of the page to send an e-mail to our team.

If you would like you can also contact us by phone using the number found on page 28 of your manual.

Of course, you could combine the two - and try to guess the remaining digit while on hold with EA support. It's only 36 characters (0-9 and A-Z), you should be able to get it with no problems eventually, right?