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Steam Holiday Sale day 15: Thief series, Civilization V, Bastion
What are you doing to help pack the coffers at Valve? Seriously, you guys, it's up to each and every one of us to cough up dough for reduced-price games during Steam's annual ludicrous sales. If not you, then who?Today's Steam Holiday Sale deals run the gamut from meticulous murder simulators to football management simulators called Football Manager. The Thief series is 75% off, allowing you to grab all three entries for $6.74 – if you're into piecemeal, they're $2.49 each. Civilization V and its two predecessors (plus corresponding expansions) are also 75% off each, while Football Manager 2013 is marked down to $19.99 and Bastion is a paltry $3.74.For the full list of deals, head on over to Steam – oh, yeah, you're already over there. Okay then.
The Soapbox: The trouble with Kickstarter
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. It was right around the time that the Shadowrun Online Kickstarter went live that I started to wonder whether Kickstarter was doing some nasty things to the development practices of MMOs. This isn't a commentary on Shadowrun Online itself, exactly. The game asked for players to put up $500,000 to fund development, and while that's an awful lot of money to ask from the pockets of fans, it still doesn't qualify as being high-budget by the standards of the industry. But in some ways, it's the apotheosis of something that started with several other games being funded on Kickstarter -- this sense that Kickstarter is the path of the future, that it's the ultimate litmus test of whether or not your MMO is worth developing and a great way to draw in venture capitalists for more funding. I'm not convinced that this is a good thing for the health of MMO development. You can look at it as a way for strange niche titles to get their funding without convincing outside sources that it's worth the effort, but as we're ramping up to seeing the fruits of these projects (or lack thereof), I'm wondering whether it just allows ideas to get further along before they self-destruct.
GOG.com nabs Thief: Deadly Shadows, Splinter Cell and Anomaly: Warzone Earth
GOG.com, purveyor of fine vintage software (and, recently, more modern fare), has added a trio of games to its DRM-free service, including Thief: Deadly Shadows.Developed by Ion Storm Inc., the third installment in the celebrated stealth series sees master thief Garrett embroiled in a terrible prophecy. The only means of escape lies in unrestrained pickpocketing, merciless guard-clubbing and at least one jaunt through a place so scary, you'll Alt-Tab out of the game and look for reprieve on Reddit.Oh, and two more: You may now possess Ubisoft's, Tom Clancy's, Clint Hocking's Splinter Cell; and Anomaly: Warzone Earth, the reverse tower defense game that was most recently ported to Xbox Live Arcade.All three games are available for $9.99 each.
Deus Ex: Game of the Year just 99 cents today on Games For Windows
It seems the Games for Windows Marketplace is trying its darndest to establish itself as the premiere source of awesome games that cost less than a 20 oz. bottle of soda. For example, today, you can pick up Warren Spector's epic FPSRPG Deus Ex: Game of the Year Edition for just 99 American cents.
Get both Deus Ex games for $5 on Steam
Deus Ex: Human Revolution may be a long ways off, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy the first two games in the series right now. In fact, if you've never dabbled in the series before, now is the perfect time, as Steam has both Deus Ex: Game of the Year Edition and its sequel Deus Ex: Invisible War on sale. Normally $9.99 each, both games have been lowered to a ridiculously low $2.50. According to Joystiq sister site Big Download, the sale is on until Thursday, so get your cheap cyber-action while it's hot.
