Games By James Plafke Dec. 20, 2013 5:45 pm
Once upon a time, the PC gaming landscape was bleak and dire. Thanks to Valve and Steam, the PC landscape has more or less been unified under one single banner, and it’s now easier than it has ever been to find out about and purchase new games, as well as find friends to play with. Perhaps even better, Steam frequently has steep sales on popular and lesser-known PC titles, so you can usually afford to grab some entertainment. If a game turns out to be boring, you don’t really miss the five bucks you spent to find out. However, Steam sales have become very frequent — celebrating holidays and seasons — and they begin to lose their luster quite quickly.
It admittedly feels dirty speaking negatively of heavily discounted video games — grabbing*BioShock Infinite for just $10 is a great deal for instance, especially considering the episodic DLC Burial at Sea ventures back to the beloved underwater dystopia of Rapture. Back when PC gaming was on the rise (more than it’s “rising” now, at least), the Steam sales were truly an event. You could purchase a hard drive full of games you missed back when you weren’t paying too much attention to the PC scene. Now, while not as big as console or mobile gaming, PC games are certainly in the gaming public’s eye. At this point, the sales are mostly repeating themselves, and they’ve been around long enough now to where you probably already own it all. How many times do you really need to purchase*Terraria*or Don’t Starve*at a discount?
Furthermore, there are so many different platforms on which to purchase cheap PC games now, like*Humble Bundles,*Humble’s storefront, or GOG — that your chances of owning a game in a Steam sale have greatly increased.
Again, it’s weird to shrug and speak negatively of a benevolent sale –*Fez for just $2.49 and*Monaco for just $2.99 are appealing deals — but they were appealing the first and second and third times they went on sale, and if you didn’t grab them for three bucks then, the only reason why you’d do it now is because you’re bored and don’t know what else to do.*The Steam sales always have deals on newer games that missed the previous sale, but if it’s a game you were excited to play, you likely purchased it upon release.
At this point in PC gaming culture, it seems as though the sales are largely for people new to the scene. However, if you’re the most dedicated PC gamer, there are so many games nowadays that there’s no way you played all of the ones you wanted to get to, and that’s what the sale brings for you.
If you’re feeling less and less excited about each new sale, though, it’s because they’re becoming less exciting. The discounts are superb, and the games are good, but you either have them all, or don’t enjoy the ones you didn’t purchase the first few times around.
Now read:*Steam Machine teardown reveals an easily repaired little PC
More...
It admittedly feels dirty speaking negatively of heavily discounted video games — grabbing*BioShock Infinite for just $10 is a great deal for instance, especially considering the episodic DLC Burial at Sea ventures back to the beloved underwater dystopia of Rapture. Back when PC gaming was on the rise (more than it’s “rising” now, at least), the Steam sales were truly an event. You could purchase a hard drive full of games you missed back when you weren’t paying too much attention to the PC scene. Now, while not as big as console or mobile gaming, PC games are certainly in the gaming public’s eye. At this point, the sales are mostly repeating themselves, and they’ve been around long enough now to where you probably already own it all. How many times do you really need to purchase*Terraria*or Don’t Starve*at a discount?
Furthermore, there are so many different platforms on which to purchase cheap PC games now, like*Humble Bundles,*Humble’s storefront, or GOG — that your chances of owning a game in a Steam sale have greatly increased.
Again, it’s weird to shrug and speak negatively of a benevolent sale –*Fez for just $2.49 and*Monaco for just $2.99 are appealing deals — but they were appealing the first and second and third times they went on sale, and if you didn’t grab them for three bucks then, the only reason why you’d do it now is because you’re bored and don’t know what else to do.*The Steam sales always have deals on newer games that missed the previous sale, but if it’s a game you were excited to play, you likely purchased it upon release.
At this point in PC gaming culture, it seems as though the sales are largely for people new to the scene. However, if you’re the most dedicated PC gamer, there are so many games nowadays that there’s no way you played all of the ones you wanted to get to, and that’s what the sale brings for you.
If you’re feeling less and less excited about each new sale, though, it’s because they’re becoming less exciting. The discounts are superb, and the games are good, but you either have them all, or don’t enjoy the ones you didn’t purchase the first few times around.
Now read:*Steam Machine teardown reveals an easily repaired little PC
More...
