June 19th to the 30th!
Normally I’d be out of games to pick up on these sales, owning so many already, but there are a few indies and early access projects that I’d like to try out on the cheap.
Still I think the winter sale is going to be where I pick up the most games - lots of new releases should be available by that time.
On one hand, I’m pretty well set for games right now. On the other, I have about $90 in credit with Steam between gift cards and trading card sales so I might be more likely to grab something than otherwise.
At least it’s not in mid-late July again.
Well, it’s not like I NEED to eat every day. And since it’s summer I won’t need heat.
Any idea what games may be included? What are you most looking forward to?
I find I have been collecting games more than I play them. This is going to get ugly.
I want Kerbal Space Program.
That’s probably it. How do I get that as cheaply as possible?
Yeah, just off the top of my head I have Tropico 4 that I bought in the Winter 2012 sale that I never got around to playing, and Total War Rome 2 from last Winter where I played the tutorial once, lost horribly, and never got around to trying again. Probably several more as well, sometimes hard to remember which uninstalled games are from seasonal sales, and which were “extra” things from Humble Bundles.
Nevertheless, I’ll be watching for Age of Wonders 3 and maybe Space Engineers.
At work we refer to our “Steam Accounts of Shame”.
Sweeeet! I’ve got a new computer coming early next week that I bought specifically to play games on.
This is the best case scenario really. You can probably build a respectable game library on the cheap with a single sale. They usually have entire publisher catalogs for under $80.
Absolutely. I’ve got quite a few games on my wishlist that I could be very tempted to say fuck it and just buy them at full price because “I want it NOW!” Fortunately, most of those games won’t even run on my current system (it’s not even close), which is actually why I’m buying the new system in the first place. So this works out perfect (assuming of course the games I’m looking at go on sale).
Steam Sale 101 is that a lot of games will have a discount throughout the sale but not to buy anything that isn’t a Daily Deal, Flash Sale or Community Choice sale until the last day. Those represent the best discount the game will have.
For example, on the first day you might notice that Kerbal Space Program is 25% off though it’s not a Daily Deal. But you say “Yay, it’s on sale!” and buy it. Two days later, it’s a daily deal at 66% off. Oops. On the other hand, if it never becomes a Daily Deal (or other ‘major’ sale) then you can still buy it for the 25% discount on the last sale day.
Before, Daily Deals represented the absolute low for sale prices but the last sale or two, the Flash Sales and Community Choice sales matched the Daily Deals. I have a feeling that will be the case again this year.
Dilemma: a game I want, Splinter Cell Blacklist, is the Daily Deal today ($10.19, normally $29.99, 66% off). That’s a pretty good deal, but if I buy it today I’m sure it will be on sale again during the Summer Sale, at a bigger discount.
Then again, if I don’t buy it now, of course it’s not going to be part of the Summer Sale.
What to do?!
I am of absolutely no help, as I’m in the midst of that same dilemma.
Well, I suppose I feel a bit better knowing I’m not the only one. 
I’m kind of leaning towards waiting. If the Summer Sale were not just a few days away, just buying it is a no-brainer, but I’m thinking even if it’s not included in The Sale at a better price, it’s a good game and part of a massively popular series, so it will inevitably go on sale again at some other point, and in the meantime, I’m sure there will be a ton of other games I want included in The Sale to keep me busy until then.
GOG is also having a Steam-style Summer Sale with Daily Deals and Flash Deals until the 30[sup]th[/sup].
I must be a rarity. I only have three games on my account (Oblivion, Skyrim, and Witcher 1) and I have/am played/ing all of them. I’m hoping Witcher 2 goes on sale this time so I can play that before the third one comes out next year.
The thing about Kerbal Space Program is that you should just buy it at full price. I’d feel guilty if I’d bought it at a discount.
Beautiful people - check out the Steam Enhanced browser addon. There’s a version for Firefox, Chrome & Opera. It adds data to the steam web page that tells things like sale price history and also compares the prices to current prices at other stores like Gog and Green Man. It will also tell you how much money you’ve spent on Steam games overall, which is maybe sobering information to have right before a big summer sale. Anyway, check it out.
Magrunner: Dark Pulse is a really good puzzle game, kind of like Portal. It is absolutely free over at GOG for the next 24 hours. Get it!
Here, watch some footage. It’s really like Portal, only with magnetism.