Games will activate on steam if they use steamworks, which is steam’s integrated system for matchmaking/achievements/leaderboards/communication/etc. If a game uses steam achievements, it’s steamworks, although there may be some games that are steamworks but have no achievements. Usually a quick googling will tell you.
Edit: A few games will have steam and non-steam versions too. Not sure what the activation situaton is there.
Amazon will generally warn you if it needs Steam or not. I say “warn” because that’s how they phrase it (“Note: this game REQUIRES Steamworks…”). I guess for every person who demands Steam activation, someone else is furious that now they need to open a Steam account – I don’t judge.
Reading the product description is usually your best bet since Amazon even carries multiple versions of some games (Civ IV, Bioshock, etc), one using Steam and one not. The usual place for the information on Amazon’s site is right under the tech. requirements chart. If it doesn’t activate on Steam, Amazon will have you download a small executable which will act as the installer and can be deleted afterward. If the game requires anything else from the publisher (Games for Windows Live or Origin account), you’ll still have to set up that account but that’s a requirement of the game itself, nothing to do with Amazon.
WOOT! I finally got Gratuitous Space Battles! Bummer that I can’t play Tanks on my Mac, but I’m pretty sure I can keep myself amused in space just fine.
Please note that any non-Steam DLC won’t work with the Steam version of the main game, and vice versa. (In fact, I don’t think Steam will allow you to buy DLC if you don’t have the main game activated on Steam.)
Boom, baby! The entire point of me creating this thread was to get this game for $5 and I just got it.
I’ve been playing New Vegas(got it free a long time ago) the past few weeks. I’ll play Fallout 3 most likely around Christmas or next summer. It’s no big deal if I wait until later to download it, right? I finalized the purchase and can just open up Steam and download and install the game any time I like, right? Even a year later?
Yes, steam games are in your catalog permanently.
Btw the flash deal L4D is a franchise sale, so L4D2 for $5 also. Not that anyone doesn’t have it by now.
Out of curiosity, what are the differences between vanilla and RTR? I mean, is it a matter of the units being more realistic? Or is the game objectively better with the mod: more fun, better balance, etc? Cause at this point I’m interested in a fun game, even if I sacrifice some historical accuracy.
Here’s a list of some of the major changes: wikipedia.
I found it a lot more fun. It seemed less gamey. There was better balance, battles lasted longer, etc.
I’d never heard of Nexuiz but I bought it as a $2.50 whim and it’s actually pretty good. It’s a UT style arena shooter if you like that sort of thing. It’s designed to be played 4v4, TDM, CTF, etc. It has a cool mutator system where the mutator changes every few minutes rather than per server or per map, so it keeps the gameplay fresh.
The main problem is that it was ported to PC with no dedi servers so no one got it, but they added servers and at $2.50 it’s worth a try if you like that sort of game.
There’s also a 4 pack for $7.50. Not sure if it’s worth the effort or organizing paybacks for that amount, but you could buy it for friends.
This thread is costing me money. 
I am downloading Arma II now, all because of the addon Senorbeef had vids on, looks… great. I also got FNV and all addons, the pack that comes with the Tropicos. Only downloading Arma II tho then the mod, the rest can wait, zombies must die.
I’m still hoping against hope that ARMA II will get a deeper discount, but if not I’ll pick it up last day of the sale and start killing zombies next week. Kinda ticks me off every time I see a game go from a daily deal to a community pick to a flash deal and yet ARMA gets no love! Damn thing is selling too well at 20% off, and even at full price.
I was waiting too, but I got way to much Diablo 3 money in Paypal. I just decided it was earned by a game, might as well spend it on some 
Here I go again as a Steam newbie.
Can the games be installed on multiple computers without uninstalling? Can a LAN game be simply bought once, and installed on multiple computers in a house. Do we get a few licenses per purchase?
Arma II was on sale for 33% off at Amazon and they sold out of keys within a day. When they contacted the publisher, they were told the publisher wouldn’t give Amazon more keys for discounting, just full price.
I doubt Steam is going to discount Arma II any more than it is. The publishers know they have a good thing going with this Day Z craze and plan to cash in.
The game can be installed on multiple computers, yes. However, you cannot log into the same Steam account on multiple computers simultaneously, which is necessary to run most games. Some can be played in Offline Mode, but like the name says, network connectivity is not included in that.
I’m having a surprising amount of fun with Nexuiz, so I’m going to organize an SDMB game tomorrow at 5pm pacific. If you’ve got the game, add me to your steam friends list to join us.
As an aside, today’s background art really makes me think the sale was unintentionally delayed from it’s past-years’ time around Independence Day.
I decided to take the plunge and install RTR but like an idiot I forgot to backup the vanilla game before installing. Well, I hadn’t even finished the tutorial campaign yet, so I’m pretty lost as to what to do. Oh well, delete, reinstall, learn lesson.
With the source engine games (i.e. Half Life 2, Left 4 Dead, Portal 2), you can do LAN multiplayer with only one copy, but it requires the use of console commands, and the transition between maps doesn’t work quite right. I believe this is more or less similar with the few other steam games that still support LAN games.
Also, I just bought the Sniper Elite pack featuring the Kill Hitler DLC, and I’d just like to say, “now they’ll never save your brain!”
Darksiders is $4.99 on GMG. Use voucher code COSYO-UDIDN-TGET1 for another 20% off and bring it down to $3.99
Activates on Steam.
Edit: Same deal with Metro 2033. Also, Deus Ex: Human Revolution for $5.99 after voucher code.