It's so weird how people on Steam want to add to their "collection"

[WCP]

I've been in a number of threads with people talking about the various Steam sales. The Holiday Steam sale, and the Summer Steam sale. They talk about how last Holiday they spent $250 buying various games on Steam. They have hundreds of games on Steam, yet have only actually played a baker's dozen.

Yet... They are compelled to buy more. We're talking about digital downloads, that can never be resold, and are tied to one specific Steam account, yet it actually seems that some people seem to "collect" Steam games. It's the strangest thing...

I think it's just primarily a psychological thing. Some people get satisfaction from finding a good deal, and buying the good deal, even if it's for an item that they aren't even going to use for many months, if ever. I used to collect Super Nintendo carts (and still do on occasion), but collecting something that is nothing more than a lease with Steam, seems a bit questionable. There is no guarantee that Steam will exist forever. So, it's really like when we are buying games on Steam, we are leasing them for the amount of time that Steam exists, which isn't guaranteed by any measure.

I've been caught up in the madness as well. I have so many games floating on my backlog, yet when I find a screaming deal for $5, I feel like I have to buy it, even if I know deep down inside that I probably won't play it for 8 months or more. It's a strange thing really. Doing it with SNES carts is one thing, because they can always be sold to somebody else.

It's a weird phenomenon.

[skaar]

My cat's breath smells like cat food.

[kupomogli]

My cat's breath smells like cat food.

Did it just eat?

[skaar]

Did it just eat?

I think it might have. I hope so.

[Gameguy]

People used to buy pet rocks. People will buy just about anything.

[skaar]

I just gave Steam $10 for games I may never play.

[kupomogli]

I think it might have. I hope so.

You should not feed it for a couple days, see if its breath smells the same. Just apologize to it. Say you're testing something out.

[Leo_A]

Their eyes are bigger than their stomachs.

I'm sure the vast majority of purchases are made with the intention of playing through it eventually, so they take advantage of the deal while it last despite already having a backlog of games. That's why, for instance, the gamers here (Not the collectors) have such backlogs. I've got hundreds of games yet to be played, but each and everyone of them was purchased with the intention of eventually giving it at least some attention. I'm not building a collection and just purchase games that I actually do want to play, but you can still build up a large amount of unplayed games that way.

I don't think there is much concern about Steam going away anytime soon. Valve is a healthy company and Steam has been a successful distribution program that is just going to become more common and accepted down the road. So some unplayed games sitting on your Steam list isn't a huge concern

Plus, for many people, including myself, PC gaming is somehow more disposable. I don't keep a PC from 1990, 1995, 2000, and such around to play games from those eras. And trying to do something like play a MSDOS game from 1995 isn't really convenient with a modern PC. PC gaming, with few exceptions (Half-Life, for instance, is a game I'll revisit every few years), is something I experience at the moment with no intentions of revisiting it years down the road. So not actually owning a game is easier to put up with than on a handheld or console (Although I still don't like it).

[wingzrow]

I have exactly one game on steam, team fortress 2? You know why? Because it was free.

[cynicalhat]

There is a collector for everything. Just watch the show "american pickers". Just cause I don't care to download a song/movie/game off a service and like to have a physical copy doesn't mean someone else wont. I guess you could sell your steam account to someone (pain in the arse). Nothing beats a collection that someone has that you can check out and feel and touch what they have. I love the physical interaction with something old. My friend has a 77 pontiac lemans and it just smells like a car from that era. Much cooler than just seeing a picture of it.

[Cryomancer]

I get stuff when it's cheap on steam, so it'll be in my account for when i have a computer that will actually run it well, or if i'm like staying at someone else's for a week and want to have some games to download and play, etc.

It's not the most sound reasoning ever, but at least I can semi justify it. I don't mind not playing them now, they'll be there when I can run it well. I've never been big into cutting edge of PC hardware anyway, I always just wait a few years then play the stuff I missed.

[calthaer]

I'm sure that, for someone who is primarily a collector, buying Steam games doesn't make a lot of sense.

For someone whose goal is to play the games they buy, however, it makes a lot of sense to buy a Steam game on the cheap, even if they play it for only an hour.

Consider a game that costs $2.50 on Steam - this is not uncommon; I've even bought a pack of something like 6-7 indie games for $10. How long does one need to play a game like that before it's "worth it?" Going to the movies costs at least $11 these days for a two-hour flick (if it's even two hours). That's just to see the movie - not to have it and be able to revisit it later. A game that costs $2.50 is, by comparison, a deal, as long as I get at least an hour's worth of play time out of it. Getting an hour's worth of play time is not hard to do.

There are games on Steam that I've bought for prices in that range with the intention of only playing for about that long. Blueberry Garden is an example of that. It's weird, experimental - I'm not sure it really fascinates me like some other games. But it's kind of fun to tool around in. I think I've played about 40 minutes and could easily do another 20 or more. I've gotten my money's worth from it; it was worth the try.

And, when it comes down to it, if you're talking about people who hoard with no actual plan of playing the game at all...what's the real, substantive difference between a digital pack-rat and one who buys shelves and a bigger house to keep all their stuff in? You could argue that the digital pack-rat is being a bit more practical about their hoarding compulsions. Unless you go down the path of saying that collecting hard-copies of games has "resale value," which is in a lot of cases can be a somewhat dubious justification / differentiation, because there are a lot of hard-copy games (maybe even the majority of them) that will never be worth their original sticker price when re-sold.

[Berserker]

I've only ever had a small handful of indie titles on Steam. Despite that, yesterday I picked up a number of games and will likely grab some more as this Summer Sale is happening. I got Just Cause 2 for $5, and all the DLC was a quarter or two a pop. It's hard to grouse too much about nickel-and-diming when it literally consists of nickels and dimes. Most of the other games I picked up were $2.50 each.

This is why the takeover of digital distribution at all levels and on all platforms seems like an inevitability - the pure economics of it are simply too tempting to pass up, even for gamers who are well aware of its negative implications.

[old_skoolin_jim]

There is a collector for everything. Just watch the show "american pickers".

Don't forget the show "Hoarders" while you're at it! Digital hoarding is a very real thing. I saw a story about someone who had downloaded millions of Karaoke tracks even though they'll never use 99% of them... it's a pretty seriously compulsive thing.

[Dobie]

I have exactly one game on steam, team fortress 2? You know why? Because it was free.

That's exactly why I got a steam account, they had Portal for free. But then they suckered me into buying Torchlight and Civ IV Complete during a sale, both of which I still have yet to play. I have vowed never to repeat that mistake agai---Knights of the Old Republic is $2.49!? BRB.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Not this goddamn thread again.

[NayusDante]

I just bought the X Superbox for $20, even though my PC backlog is too big already without counting my Steam account. I've been waiting to pick up Terran Conflict for cheap, and I could have gotten it for $10, but $20 for the whole series is the right price for me. A lot of my Steam games were gotten this way, in sales when one game I wanted was available in a cheap pack. Dark Forces makes me nauseous and I'll never play it, my Jedi Academy discs were too scratched and it was $5 for the whole series on New Years Eve. The Humble Indie Bundles are a big contributor too.

You can star/favorite your Steam games so you don't see the massive list. I have 53 games on my Steam account, but I only ever look at my Installed list, which is 14 right now. Those are the games I care about playing, and I don't see the games I got as bonuses or don't need to play again (Half-Life 2 Lost Coast?).

Now I'm going to go play X3 Terran Conflict, and maybe X3 Reunion, and I'll at least check out the early games, but half of them won't be on my Installed list in a week, and I'm OK with that.

Some of my friends, however, live on their Steam accounts from the looks of it. Whoa, one guy I know has 218 games...

[skaar]

Not this goddamn thread again.

Pretty much. Cat food?

[Kitsune Sniper]

Pretty much. Cat food?

*sighs*

Pass the damn bag... *munch*

[portnoyd]

I bought four games already:

SW Battlefront II: About to play momentarily, the first one was a fucking blast.
SW: Empire at War: Been wanting to try this for a while.
Oblivion: Could not play it on 360 with controller, need KB & mouse.
Borderlands: Love the game, want to play through it again with KB & mouse.

While it may seem people are padding their libraries, it's not absolutely true.

[kupomogli]

With deals like the Square Enix pack. 30 games plus all DLC for $80. Or the 2K pack, which is unfortunately missing the GTA titles. For $80 it includes a lot of great games like most of the Civilization series, Borderlands GotY, and it even includes Duke Nukem Forever which just came out. Being a PC gamer is dirt cheap without ever having to leave your home.

[Kitsune Sniper]

While it may seem people are padding their libraries, it's not absolutely true.

This.

You want to know how many games I've bought from GOG.com this past week? Eight. All for $3 a pop. Why? Because I'm a digital packrat? Not really, because these are games I've wanted to buy for ages but can't because hard copies are not as cheap. I'm still missing a few I want to buy: MDK 1 and 2, Messiah, and Giants. I already have some of these on physical form, but I'd rather just get the digital ones and sell or trade my physical ones. Most of the time, it's easier to get the digital ones up and running.

Out of this current Steam sale I've only bought one game. I already own most of the stuff that's been on sale these past few days, or I'm just not interested in it in any way. At least it's not like the past two sales where they had game packs with several games for $10. That's how I got a lot of random indie games.

The only game I'm hoping will go on sale is Last Remnant. The game hasn't had a decent discount in almost two years.

[NayusDante]

Messiah is a gem.

The Last Remnant, I've had for a few years and haven't really been able to push myself to play it. It's alright. Have fun getting the game to run properly without slowdown or vsync issues.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Messiah is a gem.

The Last Remnant, I've had for a few years and haven't really been able to push myself to play it. It's alright. Have fun getting the game to run properly without slowdown or vsync issues.

... I can't run it. Unreal Engine hates my video card. :D

But I'd rather pay $10 for it than $40, and I don't own a 360. Yes, I'm one of those people that buys games for the future. >_>

[NayusDante]

http://www.amazon.com/Last-Remnant-Pc/dp/B001QA2TYS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1309636793&sr=8-2

Retail version for $20 on Amazon. It's Steam-linked anyway.

[Icarus Moonsight]

This is why the takeover of digital distribution at all levels and on all platforms seems like an inevitability - the pure economics of it are simply too tempting to pass up, even for gamers who are well aware of its negative implications.

If cloud computing infrastructure takes a majority use hold, that will only accelerate the changeover date. I won't miss physical at all, or all the middlemen, if the price scales much in the way Steam has vs retail shelf prices. I do think console producers are going to fight the change more than embrace it for fear of reduced margins of profit (not the total yield, just the margin, which is sad), but we'll see how it all unfolds.

[Kitsune Sniper]

http://www.amazon.com/Last-Remnant-Pc/dp/B001QA2TYS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1309636793&sr=8-2

Retail version for $20 on Amazon. It's Steam-linked anyway.

Check the "Bargain Buyers Software" listing: Published in the U.K for worldwide use.

I don't take chances when it comes to stuff like this. Steam games are often region locked, so... yeah. Thanks for looking this up, if Squeenix doesn't put it on sale then I'll just buy it there or ask a friend from the UK to buy it for five pounds and send me the code. :)

[WCP]

On another forum, I was reading a thread and people were disucssing the more recent Steam sales. The winter sale last year, and the summer sale last year. Several of them spent over $230 on games during those sales. One guy was talking about how he has about 219 games, but only plays about 10 of them.


I know how tempting it can get. Plus, it's just human nature to see a good deal, and feel like you can't pass it up, even if it's something you don't need. People see a game, like Just Cause 2 for $5, and they know that Just Cause 2 is a huge, big time game, and the fact that it's being sold for a mere 5 bucks.... it's just so hard to pass up.

I wonder if the ENTIRE video game industry couldn't learn something from Steam. If you price your games low enough, seems people actually end up spending even more money on a per month basis, just being split up among many different games.


UPDATE: Just went to steam store a second ago, and there are some really nice deals jumping off. Darksiders for $5. I recently bought a retail copy of Darksiders for $8, I guess I should have waited and saved an extra 3 bucks... oh well. A great deal for anybody else! Battlefield Bad Company 2 is only 5 bucks. That's very tempting, even though it isn't really my style of game. AVP for 5 bucks, Half-Life 2 Episode 2 is $1.99. My problem is, I don't have Half-Life 2, or Half-Life 2 Episode 1. I really wish they would have Orange Box for like 8 bucks.

[Vectorman0]

It's not Steam, but I think I have around 150 XBLA game and haven't touched a third of them. I've bought many on sale for half price at $5 or so (and most of the Microsoft points I buy are 20% off in the first place).

The problem is that I end up acquiring games that I want to play faster than I can play through them. It's the same problem I believe most of us have with physical games on our shelves.

[NayusDante]

Backloggery has separate console listings for download titles, if you want to use them. The only thing is, I use Backloggery to figure out which games to sell. When I get tired of seeing a game on my list, it goes to my Amazon pile. It doesn't really work that way for download games...

[kupomogli]

if Squeenix doesn't put it on sale then I'll just buy it there or ask a friend from the UK to buy it for five pounds and send me the code. :)

That one Square Enix sale is for 30 games plus all DLC for $80. One of the games is Infinite Undiscovery. If you're interested in the other games, or atleast half of the other games, then it might be worth it for you. It really only has two Square Enix games, the rest are Eidos.

[Kitsune Sniper]

That one Square Enix sale is for 30 games plus all DLC for $80. One of the games is Infinite Undiscovery. If you're interested in the other games, or atleast half of the other games, then it might be worth it for you. It really only has two Square Enix games, the rest are Eidos.

I don't have $80. :P And I already own a ton of the games on that pack. "Infinite Undiscovery" is not in the pack anyway, that's not a PC game.

I'm trying to ration my purchases. I'm still getting some last minute stuff from GOG, since their sale ends tomorrow.

[dgdgagdae]

I just bought a game and some DLC for Defense Grid, even though I might not play all of them today. Is that cool, or was I supposed to clear that with someone here first?

No, not Kane & Lynch, that WOULD be embarrassing.

[kupomogli]

"Infinite Undiscovery" is not in the pack anyway, that's not a PC game.

I meant Last Remnant since that was the game you were asking about and it's on there. Didn't mean Infinite Undiscovery. But since you have most of the games on there, then nevermind.

[Kitsune Sniper]

I just bought a game and some DLC for Defense Grid, even though I might not play all of them today. Is that cool, or was I supposed to clear that with someone here first?

No, not Kane & Lynch, that WOULD be embarrassing.

Wait, you paid for the Defense Grid DLC?

You could've gotten it for free with the contest, all you had to do was do three non-game things and boom, free pack. Ah well. :|

[dgdgagdae]

Wait, you paid for the Defense Grid DLC?

You could've gotten it for free with the contest, all you had to do was do three non-game things and boom, free pack. Ah well. :|

Oh, I saw it as one of the ticket prize things, but the only non-game related activity I saw was signing up for the club. That's ok, the DLC is on sale for 24 cents per pack. All 4 packs cost me 96 cents.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Oh, I saw it as one of the ticket prize things, but the only non-game related activity I saw was signing up for the club. That's ok, the DLC is on sale for 24 cents per pack. All 4 packs cost me 96 cents.

The first one was the Steam group, the second was linking your Facebook, and today's is writing a mini review for a game you own. There's a lot of days left so who knows what else you can do without having to play a game. I've managed to get 10 tickets (seven from games) so I'm definitely getting all the goodies for the few games I play.

[Gentlegamer]

I have exactly one game on steam, team fortress 2? You know why? Because it was free.My f2p brother!

Though I'm premium now because I bought some item for 50 cents so I can trade. :)

[JSoup]

Because I don't like the idea of paying Steam for the ability to basically rent a game, I've only ever bought two things from it/them. A digital book about Portal 2 for my partner and a fancy solitaire game, and that was mostly so I wasn't using my credit card for a sum under $5 (personal rule). Everything else I have on Steam was either already free or a gift.

On a different note and referencing a few posts back, MDK 1 and 2 are worth money? I got a copy of each five years ago from a storage unit sale, they've been chilling in storage since. 0_o

[dgdgagdae]

...a fancy solitaire game...

Faerie Solitaire? I got hooked on that for awhile.

[JSoup]

Faerie Solitaire? I got hooked on that for awhile.

Yeah, it's great fun. Apparently, SubSoap Games has decided the giant update they were making for this game is just going to be Faerie Solitaire 2.

[Kitsune Sniper]

On a different note and referencing a few posts back, MDK 1 and 2 are worth money? I got a copy of each five years ago from a storage unit sale, they've been chilling in storage since. 0_o... I dunno, GOG.com has been selling them both for $6 each since 2008. I got them for $3 on Sunday during their Staycation sale. :P

They're kinda glitchy though. :(

As for this Steam sale, I didn't buy anything yesterday. I'm buying the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games today. I already own the other games (Deus EX series, Monkey Island, MNC, Beat Hazard) on sale or they just don't seem interesting to me (everything else).

[Rickstilwell1]

I can see a reason to collect roms on your own computer but it's kind of hard to want to collect something that is stored online. I collect mp3s by artists I like but thats different because they are actually on my hard drives. Maybe what people like more about Steam is the quality of the emulators.

[WCP]

I wasn't out to totally condemn anybody from "collecting" steam games. I can understand the allure. You have all your games nice and tidy in one single place. They are tied to one specific account, and no matter which PC you want to play on, if you're the guy signed in, you can access your steam games (of course have to download them to that PC and the PC has to have the necessary GPU/CPU to run the game, etc, etc).

Basically, Steam is like a system like the Xbox 360 or PS3. It's something people are comfortable with.


I'm just having an inner battle with myself in regards to buying games that I know that I just don't have any damn time to play, yet at the same time, some of the deals are just so hard to pass up.

[zemmix]

So I'm guessing this is the DP Steam Summer Sale thread?

It's been a so-so summer sale for me so far. A lot of the stuff I'm interested in I had already bought during the winter sale. Other stuff the price was too high. Civ V was $25 but on some other site recently it was a lot cheaper than the steam sale. I'll wait and see what it drops to during the next winter sale.

Did finally pickup Dragon Age ultimate for $10. Also got Beat Hazard, Ai War, Tropico 3 and Battlefield Vietnam.

[dgdgagdae]

So I'm guessing this is the DP Steam Summer Sale thread?

It's been a so-so summer sale for me so far. A lot of the stuff I'm interested in I had already bought during the winter sale. Other stuff the price was too high. Civ V was $25 but on some other site recently it was a lot cheaper than the steam sale. I'll wait and see what it drops to during the next winter sale.

Did finally pickup Dragon Age ultimate for $10. Also got Beat Hazard, Ai War, Tropico 3 and Battlefield Vietnam.

Other than Assassin's Creed II and some DLC for Defense Grid, nothing so far has interested me that I don't already have.

[WCP]

if the price scales much in the way Steam has vs retail shelf prices.

That's just it... nobody else has done this but Steam. Steam has learned that if they lower the price enough, they will get so many more people buying games that wouldn't have even considered buying them. Steam gets HUNDREDS of dollars from their customers per year, just with their two big yearly sales. Then all the daily deals and special packs, etc, etc. Some crazy folk even buy the brand new games for $49.99 that aren't on sale at all, lol.



I do think console producers are going to fight the change more than embrace it for fear of reduced margins of profit (not the total yield, just the margin, which is sad), but we'll see how it all unfolds.


Exactly. Anybody that thinks that Nintendo, Microsoft or Sony is going to sell a huge AAA game for $5 is kidding themselves. Steam does it. GamersGate does it sometimes... Amazon downloads does it sometimes, but I just can't see Sony or Microsoft ever selling one of the big-time main releases for a mere $5. Sure, they will sell older XBLA or PSN games for $5, maybe... maybe.... But you aren't ever going to see them sell Battlefield Bad Company 2 for $5. Or Just Cause 2 for $5, or Borderlands for $5, or any of the other big games that Steam has sold for $5 at one time or another.

[Slate]

On the main subject, It does seem ridiculous to collect games on Steam but at least it doesn't take up space in one's apartment or house. I have that problem now that I don't really want my game collection - I don't want it but I also don't want someone to buy it only to stick it in their leaky basement.

Austin

[NayusDante]

Hey Kitsune, Last Remnant is $10 today. (http://store.steampowered.com/app/23310/?snr=1_4_4_)

[Kitsune Sniper]

Hey Kitsune, Last Remnant is $10 today. (http://store.steampowered.com/app/23310/?snr=1_4_4_)FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUCK YOU SQUEENIX THIS SHOULD'VE BEEN $5 TOPS

Agh. :(

[fahlim003]

My f2p brother!

Though I'm premium now because I bought some item for 50 cents so I can trade. :)
Exactly. I heard there was a summer sale and decided to see how cheaply I could make TF2 premium. Seems $0.49 does the trick although with the $5 min. Steam Wallet addition. No worries, I scooped Garry's Mod for $2.49 despite being satisfied with the free gmod9. Prior to that I bought during the summer sale Jamestown at 33% off although the other day it was 50% at $4.99 - oh well. That makes for a grand total of... 4 games bought for Steam (Counter Strike Source, Red Orchestra, Jamestown, & Garry's Mod + TF2 item).

If you desire to go apeshit buying a bunch of games you're never going to play in physical form, why does it matter when you can spend the money and not hinder physical space. Why, you'd absolutely be mad not to consider the possibilities!

[WCP]

Finally, a deal I can get with .. Fallout 3:GOTY edition for $10.19. I was hoping it would be 8 bucks, but beggars can't be choosers, so I'm cool with it. This version works with mods, while the Direct2Drive version that was 20 cents cheaper needs workarounds to work with mods.

[Kitsune Sniper]

In case anyone's wondering, the sale ends tomorrow at 10 AM Pacific. They brought back a lot of sale prices for the encore:


Assassin's Creed Collection - 27.19€ / 27.19$ / 16.99£
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 pack - 9.99€ / 9.99$ / 9.99£
Borderlands GOTY - 12.50€ / 7.50$ / 7.50£
DoW 2: Retribution - 14.99€ / 14.99$ / 14.99£
Fable 3 - 19.99€ / 24.99$ / 14.99£
Fallout: New Vegas - 14.99€ / 14.99$ / 8.99£
GTA IV: Complete Edition - 8.74€ / 9.99$ / 6.24£
Just Cause - 3.24€ / 3.74$ / 1.99£
Just Cause 2 - 4.99€ / 4.99$ / 3.49£
Magicka - 3.39€ / 3.39$ / 2.71£
Portal 2 - 18.99€ / 24.99$ / 14.99£
Sanctum - 3.75€ / 3.75$ / 2.49£
Shogun: Total War 2 - 23.99€ / 29.99$ / 17.99£
Terraria - 4.99€ / 4.99$ / 2.99£
Two Worlds 2 - 13.60€ / 17$ / 8.50£
Witcher 2 - 33.49€ / 33.49$ / 23.44£

You know, in case you're interested.

My final haul was:

June 30: Bit.Trip Runner
July 3: Defense Grid, Torchlight
July 5: Stalker Call of Pripyat, Stalker Clear Sky
July 9: Terraria, The Last Remnant

I also got several prizes from the ticket contest, including Alien Breed 2.

[JSoup]

I finally broke down and got Beat Hazard and The Polynomial, along with Alien Breed 2 for free.

[WCP]

The GTA pack for $9.99 is actually a really good deal. Problem is, I just don't have time for that game right now. Got so many other games on my backlist. I've resigned to keep my primary backlog at 10 games or less. For me to buy any other game above $5, I need to knock a game off my backlog first.

Hope I have the willpower to stick with this plan...

[zemmix]

Don't sweat it if you can't get GTA this sale. That one seems to come around every seasonal sale so I'm sure if you wait you'll be able to get it for $5 during the X-mas sale.

[kupomogli]

Can you run GTA4 mods on the Steam version?

[NayusDante]

There was one point last night where Terraria was only $2.50, and a four-pack was $7.50. It wasn't that way for long...

I wish I had held off on the X collection, it was $10 yesterday.

[Kitsune Sniper]

The GTA pack for $9.99 is actually a really good deal. Problem is, I just don't have time for that game right now. Got so many other games on my backlist. I've resigned to keep my primary backlog at 10 games or less. For me to buy any other game above $5, I need to knock a game off my backlog first.

Hope I have the willpower to stick with this plan...


Don't sweat it if you can't get GTA this sale. That one seems to come around every seasonal sale so I'm sure if you wait you'll be able to get it for $5 during the X-mas sale.

... I've actually seen it sold for a bit less. It goes on sale every so often so listen to this man.


There was one point last night where Terraria was only $2.50, and a four-pack was $7.50. It wasn't that way for long...

Yeah, apparently the Terraria dev intended the game to go on sale for $5 - but Steam messed up and made it $2.50. Those of us who got it at that price (or less, I got in a four pack!) lucked out.

[zemmix]

There was one point last night where Terraria was only $2.50, and a four-pack was $7.50. It wasn't that way for long...

Yeah I missed out on the Terraria for $2.50 deal. I usually make my purchases at the end of the day before the change to give me time to think about which ones I really want so by that time it was too late.

I didn't miss out on the Dawn of War II: Retribution for 75%/$7.50 mistake though. That one they changed back to the correct 50%/$14.99 pretty quick. Everyone on gaf knew that was a mistake the moment it hit.

Last day today. Going through all the non-daily sales to see which ones I want. Think I'll get Medieval II Gold. Debating the Valve pack at $50 since I actually don't own any... Still regret missing out on the valve pack at $25 before they changed it to $50 during the x-mas sale. Though now it includes Portal 2 so in a way if I think about it I'm still getting the pack for $25 and Portal 2 for $25. Hmmm decisions decisions for games I may never play...

[zemmix]

Sale over! Ended up skipping the Valve pack. I have enough to do until the next winter sale anyway.

What I ended up with from the Summer sale:

Medieval II: Total War Gold
Dead Space Pack - Summer Sale 2011
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - Retribution
Universe Sandbox
Beat Hazard Complete
AI War Bundle
Tropico 3 Gold
Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition
Battlefield Bad Company 2 Vietnam

[Kitsune Sniper]

... The sale is not over yet. The publisher packs are still around.

[heybtbm]

Picked up Plants vs. Zombies and Jamestown. Everything else I was interested in I'd already played and beaten on the 360 or have owned on disc for years (Id and Valve catalogs).

[The 1 2 P]

I don't game on my pc so theres no Steam purchases from me but I can completely understand the mentality behind it. I have picked up several XBLA games during their various sales and theres still a few I haven't even played yet. But I honestly can't complain about buying cheap arcade games when they are only $2-4 each. Those kinds of deals are pretty hard to pass up, even though all we are essentially buying is a temporary license to play them on a specific system.

[WCP]

. I have picked up several XBLA games during their various sales and theres still a few I haven't even played yet. But I honestly can't complain about buying cheap arcade games when they are only $2-4 each.

You got arcade games from Xbox Live Marketplace for $2 to $4 ? I thought the lowest they went was $5

I wish XBLA and PSN did huge sales like Steam, but the big companies like Microsoft and Sony, they are too scared to have super, super low prices. Steam obviously isn't afraid of it, but Sony and Microsoft certainly appear to be. I honestly don't see Sony and Microsoft having big games being sold for 75 percent below their normal price. Sure, every blue moon they will have a certain XBLA or PSN game on sale for a really cheap price, but they don't exactly do the kind of sales that Steam does. Not even close.

[Jorpho]

I dabbled in the ticketing thing, and it made me quite sad to realize that utter crap like Galcon Fusion and Turba has wound up in my Steam library. It's enough to make me more hesitant about these things in the future.

[Gapporin]

I dabbled in the ticketing thing, and it made me quite sad to realize that utter crap like Galcon Fusion and Turba has wound up in my Steam library. It's enough to make me more hesitant about these things in the future.

Hahaha, so true. And I was quite excited for Turba, to be honest...until I played it.

[Kitsune Sniper]

I dabbled in the ticketing thing, and it made me quite sad to realize that utter crap like Galcon Fusion and Turba has wound up in my Steam library. It's enough to make me more hesitant about these things in the future.

Oh, come on. Galcon Fusion isn't that bad. I look at it like a very simplified game of Risk.

[The 1 2 P]

You got arcade games from Xbox Live Marketplace for $2 to $4 ? I thought the lowest they went was $5

They have cheap games on sale nearly every week but the holidays and Spring is when they have their biggest sales. The last two I got were X-Men Arcade for 200 MP(75% off normal 800 MP) and Unbound Saga for 160 MP(80% off normal 800 MP).


I wish XBLA and PSN did huge sales like Steam, but the big companies like Microsoft and Sony, they are too scared to have super, super low prices. Steam obviously isn't afraid of it, but Sony and Microsoft certainly appear to be. I honestly don't see Sony and Microsoft having big games being sold for 75 percent below their normal price. Sure, every blue moon they will have a certain XBLA or PSN game on sale for a really cheap price, but they don't exactly do the kind of sales that Steam does. Not even close.

I can't speak for Sony since I have yet to buy a game on my PS3(and I don't think the free download of Dead Nation counts) but Microsoft definitely gets some pretty good deals on XBL and many are below $5. The key is to just not get them when they first come out and wait a little while. The only thing I ever got on release day was Perfect Dark and had I waited until their holiday sale I could have gotten it for 50% off. So while they may not have the crazy $1 game sales(with the exception of Indie games) that Steam does, XBLA does indeed have really cheap deals($2-$5 each) year round.

[WCP]

I can't speak for Sony since I have yet to buy a game on my PS3(and I don't think the free download of Dead Nation counts) but Microsoft definitely gets some pretty good deals on XBL and many are below $5. The key is to just not get them when they first come out and wait a little while. The only thing I ever got on release day was Perfect Dark and had I waited until their holiday sale I could have gotten it for 50% off. So while they may not have the crazy $1 game sales(with the exception of Indie games) that Steam does, XBLA does indeed have really cheap deals($2-$5 each) year round.

Yeah, I know what you're talking about but it's nowhere near the way Steam and GamersGate (on occasion) and Direct2Drive (on occasion) operate. Take a game like Darksiders or Just Cause 2 or Battlefield Bad Company 2 or any of the other mainstream triple A games that they were selling for $5. These are games that at one point in time were primetime, tentpole releases at the full $59.99 price. I just don't think that Sony or Microsoft or Nintendo would ever consider selling one of those games for a mere 5 bucks. It's just not in their DNA to do that.

Now, maybe if a game is 4 or 5 years old, like Oblivion or Crackdown (first one) or the first GRAW, then maybe... just maybe... they could mark it all the way down to 5 bucks, but thats about the extent of their generosity.

[Jorpho]

Oh, come on. Galcon Fusion isn't that bad. I look at it like a very simplified game of Risk.I utterly despise Risk, and this oversimplification does not help it at all.

Doc Clock is rather severely disappointing as well, but at least it seemed like a pretty interesting concept.

[Kitsune Sniper]

I utterly despise Risk, and this oversimplification does not help it at all.Ha, well, then you have good reason to hate the game. :)

[Gamevet]

I buy most of my PC games from Half-Price Books. I get a physical copy, for about the same price as most of the Steam deals. I picked up Baldur's Gate II for $5 and Bioshock for $2. I can't imagine paying for a digital distributed title, when I have the better option with HPB.