Steam’s Xmas Sale ’12 – Inevitable illogical investments

[Similar]

On the plus side, 33% discounted pre-order! That's really lame. The game exists in Steam, why the hell can it not just be released over here? What a joke.

Well, I just noticed that you get a TF2 hat if you 'pre-purchase'. So that makes it all better.

Maybe I'll buy it when it's 75% off some day...

ETA: There are several reports on the Steam forums that the game actually does work in Europe, despite the message saying it'll first be available in two months. Reports by people who've just bought the EU version on the sale, that is.
That's not good enough, though.

[Tritagonist]

Some interesting deals:

Ignite, an arcade racing game that introduces the fun mechanic of letting you convert score into speed-boosts. Is sacrificing points worth it to get that extra place? For €0,79 it could be fun to give it a try.

Section 8: Prejudice, an nice and interesting online shooter that only seems to get some online activity going in the week after a Steam sale. Worth checking to see some interesting ideas that failed to find an audience. For €3,24.

Nimbus, fun and at times frustrating puzzle platformer that puts you in command of a non-powered aircraft. As you fly around the world, you'll often have to unlock blockades, manouvre other items into place, all the while keeping the momentum up so as not to come to a game-ending halt. For €2,49.

SkyDrift, an air-plane racing game in the style of Mario Kart that I quite enjoyed. Power-ups, rockets, explosions, boosts etc. are all part of the fun. This is a great little game with a nice variety of planes and maps, and even though it's not a massive hit, multiplayer races are usually easy to find. For €2,49.

Cargo! The Quest for Gravity, a game that allows you to create your own vehicles from various parts. Planes, helicopters, submarines, cars, snowploughs, or a combination of all of the above. With these vehicles you solve certain easy puzzles, but more importantly: bring 'fun' - a currency - to the world by reaching high speeds, altitudes and performing goofy stunts. For €2,24.

[vinraith]

Some interesting deals:

SkyDrift, an air-plane racing game in the style of Mario Kart that I quite enjoyed. Power-ups, rockets, explosions, boosts etc. are all part of the fun. This is a great little game with a nice variety of planes and maps, and even though it's not a massive hit, multiplayer races are usually easy to find. For €2,49.

Two questions about that one: Did they ever change the system so that you don't need 8 people to race? Did they ever allow AI racers in multiplayer games?

[KauhuK]

Spec Ops: The Line is 9,99€. I'm thinking about picking it up even though it's not daily or flash.

EDIT: I'll wait for the possible daily or flash sale. Amazon has a bundle that has spec ops: the line, bioshock and bioshock 2 for 10 dollars. Too bad I already have both bioshocks.

[The JG Man]

Spec Ops: The Line is 9,99€. I'm thinking about picking it up even though it's not daily or flash.

Sale rules:
1. Leave it to the last day of the sale to buy something you want unless it is a daily or flash deal. This reduces the chances of you missing out on further savings.

At most you'll be waiting 2 weeks before buying it. Wait it out.

[Sketch]

Especially as it has been cheaper than that, with other games included. Wait for now.

Actually Amazon have Bioshock 1, 2 and Spec Ops for 10 dollars, so 7.50 ish euros here:

http://www.amazon.com/Desert-to-Sea-...t+and+sea+pack

[Tritagonist]

Two questions about that one: Did they ever change the system so that you don't need 8 people to race? Did they ever allow AI racers in multiplayer games?

I don't know, it's been a while since I played it. I seem to recall racing with fewer than eight people, and all of those were human for sure. Perhaps the Steam game hub has more recent info.

[vinraith]

I don't know, it's been a while since I played it. I seem to recall racing with fewer than eight people, and all of those were human for sure. Perhaps the Steam game hub has more recent info.

Thanks. The game hub discussions seem to indicate that you can play MP with fewer than 8 people now, but that there are no bots and that the community is pretty dead. I'll never understand why so many racing games, which already have bots programmed to race with you in SP, won't let you use those same bots to fill out an MP game.

[mnemnoch]

Amazon is attempting to price match some of the deals on their Late-Breaking Deals page.

If Amazon is price matching a game you want, its better to get it there as you will also get a $5 credit for the editors choice this January.

[Kodeen]

Also, for some reason, Red Faction Guerilla is not in the THQ pack, nor is it purchasable separately. Odd.

Ah, the plus side of purchasing backlog fodder.

[Kadayi]

Fable III is one of those games I want to try despite it being quite negatively reviewed. But even with the 50% flash deal it's still €20,-, so I think I'll wait a while longer before getting this.

Been playing Fable 3 a lot recently ..the main sticking point for people is that generally they rush through the story and are ill prepared financially for the second part of the game, and you end up having to be an asshole when you're King/Queen. Essentially you want to have lots of cash on hand (like 10 million gold or some such), so you need to really get into buying and renting property etc, etc, etc.

Not a perfect game, but there's some quirky charm there in terms of the voice acting, quests and actions etc. certainly worth a punt if you're looking for something engaging and light.

[internetonsetadd]

So far Natural Selection is tempting, but I might have to keep to the vinraith principle and not buy something I don't have time for just now. Could I make time? Is it good enough that I should?

Two more weeks of repeatedly asking myself this question.

[gundato]

Just gonna put this out here: I have a spare copy of Natural Selection 2 from my pre-order (well, my pre-order of Overgrowth. But whatever :p) that I'll sell to someone for 5 USD. (Anyone) Send me a PM if you are interested

[Juan Carlo]

Game of Thrones bundle is 75% off.

GOT RPG was probably my second favorite game of the year, behind Mass Effect 3, which probably means I have terrible taste in video games, or something. But it really does have better writing than any RPG I've played in ages, even if it suffers from terribly low production values.

I'm really happy that Winter Voices is 60% off. Will probably get that at some point.

And once again it doesn't look like Kingdoms of Amular will go on sale at all.

[Roufuss]

And once again it doesn't look like Kingdoms of Amular will go on sale at all.

To be fair, who is going to authorize the sale? It was self published on Steam by 38 Studios and well... we all know what happened to them. Steam has to get permission for the games it puts on sale and there is really no one to contact about this. I'm surprised its even still for sale on Steam... I guess Rhode Island just gets all of the profits on the Steam sales?

It goes on sale at Amazon and Origin only because EA published it everywhere else, to my knowledge. You'll most likely never see a Steam sale on the game.

[Ravelle]

Does anyone else know what the deal is with the call of duty games refusing to go cheaper?

[gundato]

Does anyone else know what the deal is with the call of duty games refusing to go cheaper?

Three theories:
1. Activision care so much about their customers that they don't want to have to provide lesser support to a sudden influx of new players
2. Activision are in it for making games, not making money. So they sell games at high prices.
3. Call of Duty is primarily a multiplayer game, so there is less incentive for most players to ever buy one that isn't the newest release. But they also need to keep the price on the older versions high enough so that people just looking for a new game will try the newer ones (so that the MP community stays strong). And they are dicks who realize they can price gouge :p

My vote is on 3 :p

[Flint]

Does anyone else know what the deal is with the call of duty games refusing to go cheaper?

I'd assume it's the same reason why you barely ever see eg. Beatles albums' prices being lowered - you know people are going to buy them all the time regardless, so why bother with lowering the price?

[Fumarole]

So far Natural Selection is tempting, but I might have to keep to the vinraith principle and not buy something I don't have time for just now. Could I make time? Is it good enough that I should?

Two more weeks of repeatedly asking myself this question.

I saved CK2 for just this occasion. Here's hoping it works.

[Ravelle]

Three theories:
1. Activision care so much about their customers that they don't want to have to provide lesser support to a sudden influx of new players
2. Activision are in it for making games, not making money. So they sell games at high prices.
3. Call of Duty is primarily a multiplayer game, so there is less incentive for most players to ever buy one that isn't the newest release. But they also need to keep the price on the older versions high enough so that people just looking for a new game will try the newer ones (so that the MP community stays strong). And they are dicks who realize they can price gouge :p

My vote is on 3 :p

I own Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, the multiplayer in that is almost deserted. ;p

A shame though, I love some online shooting but 59 bucks is just too steep for me.