Christ. I just bought a dozen games via GOG’s summer sale, and now the Steam sale is going to be starting up? Shoot me.
I just got that, mainly because it said something about an eldritch abomination. Plus free. 
Speaking of, those Steam trading cards are one of the most cynically brilliant things I’ve ever seen a company do. They’re basically free to produce, Steam takes a pretty big cut (what, 10% or more?) of every card sale, and they’ve got a pretty good idea that people will buy them because the easiest target market for a game on your computer has got to be computer gamers. And when they give me a card, I sell it on the market to put money in my Steam Wallet, which sits there in Steam’s bank account earning Steam interest until I spend it on a Steam product, when it just becomes Steam’s profits. It’s freaking brilliant.
I still don’t understand what cards are good for or why anyone would want to go to the bother of trading them much less exchange currency over them.
Can anyone help?
Yeah, I’d like to know too actually.
When you collect a set of cards, you can combine them for a badge. You also get an increase in your Steam level. Higher levels give little perks like a greater chance of a random “booster pack” drop (more cards), more showcase slots in your profile page, etc. Also, when you combine the cards for a badge, you get a random background image for your profile page and a random emoticon thingie for Steam chat/discussion pages.
I’ll be the first to admit that none of this sounds enticing enough to buy cards but I guess for some people having the biggest Steam level or whatever is a game in itself. A few of the emoticons and backgrounds sell for a decent amount but that’s like three or four out of the hundreds out there.
For the rest of us, it’s just selling .jpgs to people foolish enough to buy .jpgs.
For anyone who’s blocked from the Steam site (like me right now), or if you just want a handy list, here’s a sortable list of what’s on sale right now (it’s the “Steam Database” for any who are wary of blind clicking).
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Exactly. It’s like a license to print money.
Due to start in about five minutes.
Witcher 2 for $3.99
I’m (well, was) drooling over that Far Cry 3 for 8 bucks.
Steam Summer Self-Inflicted DoS attack is preventing me from making big bucks on my summer sale trading cards, oh woe is me! Bought Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon though, that should be amusing enough for 4 euros.
I’m slogging through Witcher 2 right now. It’s a pretty game, but the setting is so bleak and the dialog is translated so poorly that I’m having a hard time.
So what is Far Cry 3 like?
I know what I’m doing when I get home! 
I liked it. Plot isn’t great – first half is better than second half – but it’s serviceable for what kind of game it is. First person, largely open world*, shooter with (usually optional) stealth elements. Pretty to look at; nice that it’s a FPS on a tropical island rather than another “grey, brown & muzzle flash” urban shooter. Keeps most of what was good about Far Cry 2 and ditches the worst elements.
*You’re free to roam around and liberate camps, hunt wildlife, search for collectibles, harass enemy patrols, etc but there isn’t much in the way of side quests like a Bethesda open world game.
I’m picking up the original Rocksmith and the Importer tool for 40% off. $24 for access to all those extra songs is totally worth it to me.
I’m going to keep an eye on Thief to see if gets better than 33% off (I almost picked it up last weekend for 50% off but decided to wait to see what would happen with the summer sale).
Far Cry 3 was a lot of fun to me (unused to open-world shooters like it). Coop is great too, and lots of people still play. Far Cry 4 is coming out soon, though.
Also, unless a game is a Daily Deal, Flash Sale, or Community Choice, there’s still a chance it can become one of those, so you can wait until the last day of the sale (June 30th) to see if it gets any cheaper. And if a game is not on sale, you can add it to your wishlist and Steam will email you if they go on sale.
That’s why I’m not going to bother installing any game I buy until after the sale. It already takes halfway to forever on a good day.
They got me for Mirror’s Edge, Witcher 2 and Gone Home, all for under $5 each.
I’m eyeing Devil May Cry. I passed on Splinter Cell: Blacklist earlier this week and like I feared, it’s on sale, but it was a much better deal before.