So now that I've established how much I'm in love with Steam, how about that mega game sale that just ended? In all honesty I let the Summer 2010 sale get a bit out of control and haven't really taken advantage of the items I purchased. Read on to see how I fared in 2011.
Summer 2011:
Before I get into the game list (hey, stop skipping down to the table!) I tried to go into each day with a level head and not let the excitement of the sale push me to purchase games I really didn't need to. (i know, that's the exact reason for these sales and Valve's "campy" marketing) I basically would look at each title and give it an honest review regardless of price. I also would ask myself if it was something I would actually play within the next 3-4 months. If not then it was skipped and there were quite a few of those. I can always wait until the Winter 2011 sale and pick them up then.
Ok, so here's the list:
| Game | Sale | Retail |
|---|---|---|
| Bit.Trip Runner | $2.50 | $9.99 |
| Plants Vs Zombies GOTY | $3.39 | $9.99 |
| Toki Tori | $1.24 | $4.99 |
| Defense Grid: The Awakening | $2.49 | $9.99 |
| Defenese Grid DLC | $0.00 | $3.96 |
| S.T.A.L.K.E.R Clear Sky | $2.49 | $9.99 |
| Killing Floor | $4.99 | $19.99 |
| Killing Floor DLC | $1.96 | $7.96 |
| Killing Floor SteamPunk DLC | $0.00 | $1.99 |
| Portal 2 | $24.99 | $49.99 |
| The Final Hours of Portal 2 | $0.99 | $1.99 |
| Portal 2 Snorkles | $0.00 | ? |
| Total: | $45.04 | $130.83 |
Not too shabby right? I came away with some pretty nice games (especially Portal 2 - W00T!) for a retail savings of $85.79 or about 66% off. I didn't have to go to freakin' Best Buy with their inflated prices and I have a ton of gaming content for less than $50.
Compare with Previous Sales:
If you're still reading I won't go into full detail of the sale and game lists, so here's a quick approximate summary:
| Games | Price | ||
| Summer 2011 | 7 | $45.04 | |
| Winter 2010 | 15 | $21.54 | Includes the Humble Bundle #2 which duplicated a few that I had. |
| Summer 2010 | 15 | $70.97 |
Overall that's not too bad and from looking at my gaming spreadsheet it appears that I've spent a total of $104.83 in 2011. This is composed of both Steam and Wii (retail+digital).
Conclusion:
In general I try to be frugal, search for sales and watch/wait for good deals. For example I had been looking at 007 Goldeneye for Wii and waited to jump on it when it hit $29 on Amazon back in April. Overall I feel pretty good about my purchases and think they will provide some quality gaming for the money. I also liked the idea of the Steam prize/drawing system this year. There was nothing amazing on there, but hey, getting some free DLC or something else for a game you own or want to own is a nice perk from time to time even if it's more or less monetarily insignificant. I think their use of "tickets" to force you to interact with steam, your gaming friends and possibly purchase new games was also a smart marketing technique. Plus it also narrowed down the pool of "top 10 wishlist" winners to people that were actually active.
Did you participate in the Steam sale and what games did you pick up? If you're new to steam what did you think of the sale prices, daily deals and "prize ticket" techniques? If you're not on steam (that means you CoffeeWithGames.com), what are you waiting for???
Conclusion:
In general I try to be frugal, search for sales and watch/wait for good deals. For example I had been looking at 007 Goldeneye for Wii and waited to jump on it when it hit $29 on Amazon back in April. Overall I feel pretty good about my purchases and think they will provide some quality gaming for the money. I also liked the idea of the Steam prize/drawing system this year. There was nothing amazing on there, but hey, getting some free DLC or something else for a game you own or want to own is a nice perk from time to time even if it's more or less monetarily insignificant. I think their use of "tickets" to force you to interact with steam, your gaming friends and possibly purchase new games was also a smart marketing technique. Plus it also narrowed down the pool of "top 10 wishlist" winners to people that were actually active.
Did you participate in the Steam sale and what games did you pick up? If you're new to steam what did you think of the sale prices, daily deals and "prize ticket" techniques? If you're not on steam (that means you CoffeeWithGames.com), what are you waiting for???
