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Steam Summer Sale, final day: Dishonored, BioShock Infinite, Tomb Raider and more
The final day of this year's Steam Summer Sale is an encore, featuring the "most popular deals" during the festive, pocketbook-burning event. In case you missed these deals, the following games are back on sale for the next day: Dishonored is $10.19, BioShock Infinite is $29.99, Tomb Raider is $12.49, Civilization 5 is $7.49, Torchlight 2 for $4.99, The Walking Dead for $6.24, Skyrim's Legendary Edition for $35.99, Chivalry: Medieval Warfare is $6.24, Kerbal Space Program for $13.79 and Borderlands 2 for $10.19. With that, we close another grueling Steam Summer Sale. Time to start paying off those loans!
Steam Summer Getaway Sale, day 10: Prison Architect, Assassin's Creed 3, Saints Row The Third and more
I knew she was trouble the moment she stepped through my doorway. She said her name was "Steam;" that she had a proposition for me and that I'd do well to listen close. Now, I'm no stranger to mysterious women and their troubles, especially since I started putting "We specialize is mysterious women and their troubles" on the advert for the agency, but something about her told me I needed to be careful. Maybe it was the way she carried herself as she walked to my desk, or the glint off the snubnose revolver tucked beneath her heavy, snow-soaked coat. "For the next 40 or so hours, Prison Architect costs $19.79," she said. "Assassin's Creed 3 has also been discounted, down to $23.99." Before I could say anything, she rattled off more alien names and their associated prices: Worms Revolution for $3.73, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive for $5.09, Omerta: City of Gangsters for $9.99 and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 for $3.39. I didn't know what any of it meant. I was confused as hell, and she just kept going. "Saints Row The Third is just $4.99," she said, her voice now a dead, flat monotone. "Meanwhile, Natural Selection 2 is $6.24, Starforge Alpha is $9.99 and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed costs just $7.49." "Lady," I said, "you're an insane person and I want you to get out of my office." It would be hours before I discovered that all of my money had walked out with her.
Steam Summer Getaway Sale, day 9: Skyrim: Legendary Edition, Monaco, Civ 5 and more
We're here live from Downtown Internet where the ninth round of the Steam Summer Getaway Sale World Series Championship Cup Tournament Series Finals are just about to get started. Stepping into the ring now are reigning discount heavyweight champion Valve Corporation and plucky underdog Our Wallet, who up until now has suffered eight consecutive crushing defeats at the hands of Valve. And there's the bell! Valve opens with a powerful right hook of Skyrim: Legendary Edition for $35.99, but Our Wallet narrowly avoids, having learned its lesson after the Skyrim Flash Sale earlier this week. Valve recovers with a quick succession of rapid-fire blows to the belly: Grid 2 for $29.99, EVE Online for $4.98 and Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition for $4.99. Our Wallet powers through the barrage but its starting to look a little worn out, now is when Valve should– Civilization 5 at $7.49 straight to the jaw! Followed by a one-two combo of Trials Evolution: Gold Edition for $9.99 and $3.39 Awesomenauts to the ribs! Our Wallet is barely on its feet now, one more clean blow from Valve and oh my God a left hook Monaco at $7.44 and Metro: Last Light at $29.99 straight under the chin! Our Wallet is out cold, this fight is over! ... Did Valve just spit a $10.99 Train Simulator 2013 bundle onto Our Wallet, after the bell? How can this be considered a legitimate sport?
Steam Summer Getaway Sale, day 8: Torchlight 2, Far Cry 3, XCOM: Enemy Unknown and more
Here at Joystiq, we like our Steam Summer Getaway Sales like we like our potential rom-com co-stars: willing to provide deep discounts on Euro Truck Simulator 2. We're talkin' $9.99, baby. With a discount like that you know you're gonna get some digits. Specifically, the digits on our credit cards. The rest of today's deals aren't too shabby either, with Torchlight 2 dropped to $4.99, Infestation: Survivor Stories at $3.74, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing for $7.49, SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition lowered to $5.99, XCOM: Enemy Unknown down to $9.99, Magicka and Gary's Mod for just $2.49 a pop, Modern Warfare 3 for $19.99 and Far Cry 3 for $23.99. As always, these "daily" deals will be around for the next 40ish hours, which means you've still got about 20 hours left to get in on yesterday's hotness.
Steam Summer Getaway Sale: GTA4, Deus Ex, Dark Souls, Batman [update: prices]
Valve's calculated assault on your financial willpower continues today, with another batch of discounted goodies in the Steam Summer Getaway Sale. Today's highlights include Grand Theft Auto 4 for $5, Dark Souls and Batman: Arkham City for $7.49 each, Tropico 4 and every DLC for $8, and Deus Ex: Human Revolution for $3, or the entire Deus Ex series plus DLC for $4.49. New flash sales include Gunpoint for $6 and Left 4 Dead 2 for $5. Update: We've added prices and flash sale highlights.
Steam Summer Getaway sale: Football Manager 2013, DmC, System Shock 2
Another day, another round of deals in the Steam summer sale. Today's highlights include Football Manager 2013 for $10, DmC: Devil May Cry for $25, Alan Wake for $3, System Shock 2 for $2.50, Orcs Must Die 2 for $3.74, Sleeping Dogs for $6.24 and Mark of the Ninja for only $3.74. The daily flash deals – which rotate every eight hours – also have some choice discounts, ripe for the plucking. Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Serious Sam 3 are both only $4 apiece, while Scribblenauts Unlimited is $5 and Assassin's Creed 3 has been marked down to $24.
Psychology of the Steam Summer Sale
We all recognize the phenomenon inflicted by the Steam sale, which leaves us with heaps of unplayed games cluttering our libraries. That's just what Steam sales do to people, right? But why? The Psychology of Video Games is run by Jamie Madigan, who holds a Ph.D in psychology and is a lifelong fan of gaming, and he recently outlined The Psychology Behind Steam's Summer Sale. New to the 2013 Summer Sale are Steam Trading Cards, which Madigan says nag at your inherent need to complete things you've started – a progress bar shows how much more you need to spend to get a random card, and this taps into a bias toward completion. Steam adds another layer after that with the Summer Getaway badge, which is crafted by collecting 10 of these cards. Additionally, Steam has perfected the facade of a random reward schedule, something that keeps you coming back at regular intervals, hoping to see a good game in the Daily Deals, or in the eight-hour Flash Sales, or the Community Choice games. People respond to random rewards, such as good games, and even though Valve probably has its sale games strategically planned out ahead of time, they seem random to the audience, Madigan argues. Steam also works the artificial scarcity angle, offering game sales for a limited time and heightening the chances you'll get it now, before the deal is lost, Madigan says. Just as people value diamonds and panda bears because they're relatively rare, you're more likely to spend more, more often, on things that have "limited availability." Madigan offers five psychological tricks that Steam seems to be employing on The Psychology of Video Games.
Steam Summer Getaway Sale: Reus, Dishonored, Terraria
The Steam Summer Getaway Sale sallies on unconcerned with the pummeling it's already put on your wallet. Today's fresh crop of discounts include Reus for $5 (which also has Steam Trading Cards), Max Payne 3 for $10, Terraria for $2.50, Killing Floor for $4, Dishonored for close to $10, Dust: An Elysian Tail for $7.50, Castle Crashers for $3.75 and Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion for $10. The Flash sale, which sees a new group of games discounted every eight hours, is currently featuring BioShock Infinite for $30, Mirror's Edge for $6, Oregon Trail: Director's Cut for $1.24 and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 for $3.39. Finally, all of yesterday's sales are also still available.
Steam Summer Sale snapshot: Fez sells 105K units in two days
Fez launched on Steam on May 1, following one year as an Xbox Live Arcade exclusive. On July 12, Fez joined the Steam Summer Sale, knocking half off of its price – bringing it to $5 – alongside an avalanche of hotly anticipated discounts. In its two days as part of the Steam Summer Getaway Sale, Fez sold 105,000 units, which is more than it sold in its first month on XBLA. In the first discounted day alone, Fez racked up more sales than it had in its previous three months on Steam. On Twitter, Fez creator Phil Fish described the numbers as "BANANERS" and "fuckin' NUTSO," which sounds accurate, especially when looking at the sales graph he included. We asked Fish if he's a fan of Steam sales, considering his game was half-off when it got those mad hits. "Yeah I'm a fan!" he said. "Even I can't find a way to complain about it." That's the most solid endorsement of the Steam Summer Sale we've ever heard – go check it out.
Steam Summer Getaway Sale, day 4: Remember Me, Hitman, Fallout
Steam just broke the fourth wall day of its Summer Getaway Sale, today offering Portal 2 for $5, Hitman: Absolution for $6.25, Fallout: New Vegas for $2.50, Remember Me for $30, The Sims 3 for $15 and Kerbal Space Program for $13.80, with the addition of Steam Trading Cards. That Fallout sale applies to the entire franchise, it turns out, found here. The Flash Sales, live for another seven hours, are Ace Combat: Assault Horizon for $9, Doom 3 BFG Edition for $5, NBA 2K13 for $7.50 and Impire for $5. The Community Choice game is Deadlight, on sale for $3.75. Yesterday's sales, which include The Witcher 2, Tomb Raider and Borderlands 2, are live for another day still. Another day down, everyone. We can do this.
Steam Summer Getaway Sale, day 3: Tomb Raider, Borderlands 2, Witcher 2 and more
Dear Diary, It's day three of the Steam Summer Getaway Sale, and I think senpai might finally have noticed me! I mean, why else would he have discounted Tomb Raider by 75 percent, down to $12.49? I'm sure he's overheard me talking about how much I enjoy raiding tombs during archery club functions. He's also dropped RPG Maker VX Ace down to $23.79, which just has to be his way of telling me that he wants my creative side to flourish. He's also substantially discounted The Witcher 2, Mars: War Logs, Borderlands 2, StarDrive, Resident Evil 6, Might & Magic Heroes 6, Age of Empires 2: HD Edition and Sniper Elite: Nazi Zombie Army, but I haven't figured out what message he's trying to send with those quite yet. Oh senpai, what are you trying to tell me?
Steam Summer Getaway Sale, day 2: Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, FTL, Fez, Walking Dead and more
Another day, another dollar – or in our case, hundreds of dollars removed from our bank accounts and given to the folks at Valve. Yes, day two of the Steam Summer Getaway Sale is upon us, bringing with it discounts as deep as our pockets are apparently willing to be. Today's offerings include 85-percent off Sniper 2: Ghost Warrior, 80-percent off Darksiders 2 and Just Cause 2, 75-percent discounts on Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, FTL: Faster Than Light and The Walking Dead, 66-percent off Surgeon Simulator 2013, and half-off Fez, Anno 2070 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. Each set of "daily" deals last for 48 hours, which means there's still around 24 hours left to snag yesterday's bargains. Meanwhile, Flash Sales running for the next seven or so hours include massive savings on XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Runner 2, FarCry 3 and Legend of Grimrock.
Bit.Trip Fate runs into Steam just in time for Summer Sale
Bit.Trip Fate now available on Steam, arriving just in time to take part in the Steam Summer Getaway Sale. It's 50 percent off, or just $5, through July 22. Bit.Trip Fate launched for Wii in 2010 as the fifth of six games starring everyone's favorite rainbow-running pixel-fest, CommanderVideo. Like the other games in the Bit.Trip series, Fate is hard – deliciously so. Give it a go on PC or Mac for $5 now, or grab it with the ominous, chiptuney soundtrack for a discounted price of $8.
Steam Sales Tracker makes it easier to spend cash in the Summer Sale
The Steam Summer Getaway sale was kicked off this morning, with frugal fun-time seekers already sifting through every bargain available. That's life before the Steam Sales Tracker, which curates all of the Steam deals into one handy list, breaking down each game's regular price versus its sale price. The Steam Sales Tracker also allows you to parse the list in different ways, either by currency, level of discount, current price or even by what type of item it is – an application, DLC or a proper game. As of now, 1,597 items are on sale, so feel free to grab your favorite spending jacket (it's a thing!) and start perusing.
Steam Summer Getaway Sale is live: Hotline Miami, BioShock Infinite
The Steam Summer Getaway Sale is live, running today through July 22. Today's offering of deliciously discounted games includes Left 4 Dead 2 for $5, Don't Starve for $12, Scribblenauts Unlimited for $5, Hotline Miami for $2.50, Endless Space for $10.20 and Toki Tori 2 for $9.90. The featured Daily Deal is BioShock Infinite for $30. The Summer Sale comes with flash discounts that run for eight hours, and the first round has Grid 2 for $30, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive for $5.10, Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate Edition for $9 and Skyrim for $21. Voting is open for the Community Choice sale, which will go live in just under eight hours. A new feature in this year's Steam Summer Sale is the "Cards" banner rolled across the corners of certain game squares: Steam Trading Cards are collectible items that can be traded in for various in-game goods and can be used to earn badges. Happy summer shopping!
Steam Trading Cards launch this week, summer sale seems imminent
Valve's latest bartering sideline, Steam Trading Cards, exits beta and becomes available to all on Wednesday, June 26 at 2PM ET (11AM PT, 7PM Brit-time). Valve incorporated the exchangeable in-game rewards into many more games in addition to the beta launch line-up, but it's unclear just how many games they'll feature in at Wednesday's launch. If you've been reading this and wondering why you can feel your wallet shaking, it's because it's already sensed the likelihood of an imminent Steam summer sale. Valve signed off today's news by saying, "Making trading cards available to all Steam users is a step towards an event we think everyone can be excited about..." Holy tease, Batman! Steam's summer round of price pounding usually begins around late June, early July, so it's certainly about time. We'll be watching the skies for minus signs and weighty percentages.
