***Steam Christmas Sale 2012 (20th Dec to 4th Jan)***

Antar Bolaeisk

Breaking with tradition Steam are going to have a large sales during the Christmas period.

Prepare wallets for ramming speed!

Dates confirmed by a Tamas Bako, CEO at Artery Studios, though probably subject to change, mileage may vary and products may contain nuts.

This might be the first Christmas sale I don't buy anything, my backlog is just too huge at this stage (only getting around to playing Planescape: Torment now for instance ).

Anything you're particularly holding out for or just looking forward to all the random, cheap games you'll probably never play and wonder where they came from two years down the line?

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

it's what.. 3 weeks since the last one ended?

Twilightning

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

it's what.. 3 weeks since the last one ended?

I know, those 21 days were bloody horrid.

Aside from the annual Christmas wallet raping, keep your eye on the likes of GOG, Gamersgate, Savvy Gamer and other sites for more great bargains.

Washington Irving

This and the Summer Sale are the highlights of the gaming year for me. Haven't bought any games since then (bar Fifa) so have a lot of backlog piling to do!

Manach

I've only just finish one of the games, XCOM from the previous sale - Noooo.

ShadowHearth

i have to say the steam sales lost an impact on me thx to all the CD key sites like green man gaming, gameholds, simplygames etc.

just in a last few weeks i picked up all i wanted: dark souls, xcom, spec ops the line etc. I dont really think there is something i really want or dont have anymore. i am being spoiled

Gunmonkey

Was thinking this was gonna happen, last Wednesday before Xmas.

*breaks "In Case of Steam Sale, Break Glass" case open*

*throws wallet into fire*

Sorted......

Nody

Well I currently only have two games on my wish list (and one of them always gets 75% sale anyway so I'd expect better to go for it) so I think this may be a relatively easy sales period for me honestly.

Lordhogo

Having gotten a gaming PC just last week I'm getting hyped to expand my library beyond Free to Plays (though to be fair Planetside 2 is AWESOME). So any recommendations on PC games that are a must have as I literally have two games in my library at the moment.

Frisbee

Was wondering when the date for this was going to be confirmed, knew it was usually around the 19th/20th.

Don't have anything i'm hugely after. Although if Borderlands 2 gets another 50% off it will definitely be purchased.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

Lordhogo wrote: »

Having gotten a gaming PC just last week I'm getting hyped to expand my library beyond Free to Plays (though to be fair Planetside 2 is AWESOME). So any recommendations on PC games that are a must have as I literally have two games in my library at the moment.

stalker: shadow of chernobyl
stalker: call of pripyat
tropico 3
metro 2033 (free at the moment on facebook I think) --edit https://www.facebook.com/MetroVideoGame?sk=app_395840630491782
company of heroes
world in conflict (not actually on steam I think, but **** all money on amazon)
Max Payne 3

Completionist

Lordhogo wrote: »

Having gotten a gaming PC just last week I'm getting hyped to expand my library beyond Free to Plays (though to be fair Planetside 2 is AWESOME). So any recommendations on PC games that are a must have as I literally have two games in my library at the moment.

You are going to have so much fun once the sale starts:D

Not The Real Scarecrow

Been a fair few good deal on lately between green man gaming and get games and weekly steam deals.Think I've got close to 30 games in the last week or so.Feckin dreading the steam sale , hopefully they'll have a load of ****e on it or I'll be getting handed divorce papers in the new year when the wife sees the credit card bill.
Hope The Secret World pops up for sale...gonna end up getting it either way as 30 euro for a game like it is very good, but would be so much sweeter to get it for a tenner.

Outkast_IRE

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

stalker: shadow of chernobyl
stalker: call of pripyat
tropico 3
metro 2033 (free at the moment on facebook I think) --edit https://www.facebook.com/MetroVideoGame?sk=app_395840630491782
company of heroes
world in conflict (not actually on steam I think, but **** all money on amazon)
Max Payne 3

Have you Tropico 4 ?? I own both and i must say Tropico 4 is the game tropico 3 should of been.............. alot of faults fixed, and the missons although they do get more difficult they are fair and not just constantly making them a slog.

ancapailldorcha

Oh brilliant, I can top up my todo pile with more crap my laptop won't be able to run. Marvellous.

cherryghost

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

stalker: shadow of chernobyl
stalker: call of pripyat
tropico 3
metro 2033 (free at the moment on facebook I think) --edit https://www.facebook.com/MetroVideoGame?sk=app_395840630491782
company of heroes
world in conflict (not actually on steam I think, but **** all money on amazon)
Max Payne 3

WIC is indeed on Steam, was a fiver with the Soviet Assault expansion last Christmas. Bargain.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Have you Tropico 4 ?? I own both and i must say Tropico 4 is the game tropico 3 should of been.............. alot of faults fixed, and the missons although they do get more difficult they are fair and not just constantly making them a slog.

yeah i just included 3 because 4 and 3 are so similar and 3 is always way way cheaper, plus the soundtrack and juanito edge 3 ahead of 4 imo

much as I do like 4, I still havent bothered finishing it. it has under 70 hours of play time compared to around 130 hours for 3

Varik

Trying to think of something I actually want.

Natural selection 2 ( newish and not that expensive to being with)
Counter strike go
FTL
maybe some DLC to go with the THQ humble bundle, might get the last 40k expansion.
maybe the newer sins of the solar empire.

titan18

Dark Souls or Anno 2070 going on sale would be nice

Twilightning

There's still a day left for the IndieGala bundle, you get some great games in it for less than €5. NecroVision and its expansion are awesome games, shooter set in WWI where you kill demonic monsters and creatures as well as the undead in the trenches with weaponry from the era. Men of War and one of its expansions are micro-heavy RTS games leaning towards satisfying the more hardcore gamer, and Cryostasis is a survival horror set on a Russian icebreaker in the Arctic, although it does have numerous optimization issues. Not played the others.

All Steam keys.

Overheal

well ****, looks like Im working Overtime and buying more games.

CrazyRabbit

Lordhogo wrote: »

Having gotten a gaming PC just last week I'm getting hyped to expand my library beyond Free to Plays (though to be fair Planetside 2 is AWESOME). So any recommendations on PC games that are a must have as I literally have two games in my library at the moment.

Borderlands 1 & 2
Dungeon Defenders
Torchlight 2
Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl
Stalker: Call of Pripyat
Deus Ex : Human Evolution
Divinity 2
Dragon Age 2
Far Cry 2
Red Faction: Guerrilla
Space Pirates and Zombies (crap name, but excellent game)
Terraria (deceptively simple and highly addictive)
X3: Terran Conflict (extremely steep learning curve, but very good)

Skerries

just follow this thread

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054885783

pablomakaveli

Wont be buying much this time around. Only planning to buy some total war dlc though might be tempted if a very good deal pops up.

hooradiation

CrazyRabbit wrote: »

Space Pirates and Zombies (crap name, but excellent game)

This game is beyond terrible, so even if it's on sale for a pittance double check by grabbing the demo first.
Even when priced at less than a pint, some things aren't worth it.


And now for some things that are:

Bastion
Portal 1&2

And some things you might want to demo first:

Alpha Protocol - rpg with broken in your favour combat which doesn't matter, as it's got some great choice & consequence stuff. Also, you're a colossal asshole, throat punching super-spy.

Bulletstorm - FPS with a healthy lack of taking itself too seriously. Also, the skillshot system keeps things interesting and encourages you to use more inventive ways to use the weapons and environment.

Just cause 2 - sandbox game where blowing up everything is pretty much required. Also, a physics defying grappling hook that can be used to hijack military helicopters in mid air.

Quantum Conundrum - the lady behind portal made her own company, and they made this. A first person puzzle/platform game where the gimmick is you can change dimensions to make things lighter, heavier, slow time or invert gravity. Also, it's a game where John De Lancie mocks your failures and belittles your achievements. This is how Picard must have felt.

Sephiroth_dude

Endless space would be top of my list

degrassinoel

hooradiation wrote: »

This game is beyond terrible, so even if it's on sale for a pittance double check by grabbing the demo first.
Even when priced at less than a pint, some things aren't worth it.

I disagree, despite it being narrated by a clueless twit aka totalbiscuit, it's gameplay was/is topnotch, for it's price S.P.A.Z is worth it. There are a bunch of big budget games this year that have far less entertainment in them than this.

Doodee

Ahh lord. This won't be good
What always happens is I hold off on one particular deal during a sale and then f and blind at myself as I see the price go up and not come back down. Roll on next sale and I make the purchase.

For me its going to be:

The Walking Dead
Borderlands 2
Dishonoured
X-Com

For gifts:
Hotline Miami
Overlord pack
FTL
Frozen Synapse


Deary me

CastorTroy

I know some games have them but are all games getting season passes now? Like can you get Season Passes for Sleeping Dogs and Dishonored? Pretty good chance I would take advantage of those being on sale if they did.

hooradiation

degrassinoel wrote: »

I disagree, despite it being narrated by a clueless twit aka totalbiscuit, it's gameplay was/is topnotch, for it's price S.P.A.Z is worth it. .

The randomly generated universe (which for a team of two guys makes sense) really shows up how repetitive and dull the game is.
Being hassled by bounty hunters every third or so system, because you'd the audacity to actually take missions being offered by the game really makes it a goddamn chore.


Also (minor spoilers)

The tech system is really poorly thought out - having the crew tech being functionally useless, as you really don't have access to a ship with a large enough crew compliment to make it viable, means that when they bring in the titular zombies in the last third of the game, who love nothing more than to board your ship and steal it, you have no real chance of counteracting that unless you knew in advance or go and grind for tech which is the opposite of fun.
Or you could respec, and then be effectively worse off as you can't progress until you pay off the respec debt.

And the less said about how the ships control, the better.

At least everyone can agree on Totalbiscuit needing to take a long walk off a short pier.

degrassinoel

The bounty hunters are a recent addition to the game, didn't think much of them myself.

I liked the control system for the ships, and the fact that if you got bored of grinding for xp or currency to buy parts/weapons you could just attack the station that was selling it and take it by force.

Once you've a decent ship, with some points in shields and hull you can tank anything to death in most of the upper tier ships.

For a small game, made by two guys in a basement somewhere in deepest Canada it is definitely worth the price of a pint.

Lord Khan

to be honest, they will put plenty (more so than the other sales each year) at 50%+. However anything which has been released in last month or so won't be there and anything which is popular and released in the last 3-6 months won't either.

I do love their sales. got over 100 games from them and that doesn't count FPS games. the only one I don't have is carrier command, I want to see it drop to euro 5. It's a crap game comparded to the original. lots of great indie games though.

My CC doesn't like the steams, it feels like a hooker.

degrassinoel

Well, Borderlands 2 was 50% off in the last sale and it's no more than 4 months old. It wouldnt surprise me if they had some really decent deals. Personally speaking, if they have the BL2 dlc's up for cheap i'll grab them, secretly hoping for farcry3 to make an appearance though.

NTMK

I dont know whether im happy or sad my bank account is empty right now :pac:

Headshot

Id love to see the new Hitman game in the sale

ShaneU

Headshot wrote: »

Id love to see the new Hitman game in the sale

buy it off amazon, won't be this cheap in the steam sale http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=82276371&postcount=5704

Headshot

ShaneU wrote: »

buy it off amazon, won't be this cheap in the steam sale http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=82276371&postcount=5704

wow now that is cheap, thanks shane

edit

I had to create a fake usa address, so I think im sorted now

zodac

Yay, now I can buy more games I won't have time to play!

Seriously though... I have games from the summer sale I've yet to start.

Andy!!

I'm hoping for Dishonoured and Dark Souls for 75% off

Nody

degrassinoel wrote: »

Well, Borderlands 2 was 50% off in the last sale and it's no more than 4 months old. It wouldnt surprise me if they had some really decent deals. Personally speaking, if they have the BL2 dlc's up for cheap i'll grab them, secretly hoping for farcry3 to make an appearance though.

I think one of the main reason BL2 is sold cheap is the fact their main source of income is the after sale (season pass, DLC, keys etc.) which means you want to increase the user base.

Creamy Goodness

want dishonoured (75% off ) and far cry 3 (would buy at 25-33% off)

Andy!!

OOh yes and a bit of Far Cry 3 please 50% ain't gonna happen; might wait for easter there.

Banjo

Shouldn't you be required to score 70+ on "percentage played" over on the Steam Analysis Project before you can spend a penny in the sales?
Hoping for Walking Dead, Max Payne 3, Arkham City, LA Noire, Sleeping dogs, Dishonoured, Dark Souls, Deadlight, Hotline Miami, Retro City Rampage, Universe Sandbox, Alpha Protocol, UT3, The Witcher 2, Mass Effect 3... Lots of stuff that I'll never get around to playing but I'll feel better knowing the option is there.

I've missed out on the last 2 years or so of PC Gaming. What have I missed that isn't a Dragon Age game or the last Deus Ex?

danthefan

Bought essentially nothing in the last sale, a crazy deal on Far Cry 3 would tempt me but don't want a whole lot else.

CastorTroy

Banjo wrote: »

Shouldn't you be required to score 70+ on "percentage played" over on the Steam Analysis Project before you can spend a penny in the sales?

Heh, could imagine that. Go to purchase a game only to get "Sorry, you've too many unplayed games in your backlog to purchase another one. You'll thank us later"

horgan_p

Assasins Creed bundle would do it for me.....
Cheap Civ V DLc would be good also

Nody

CastorTroy wrote: »

Heh, could imagine that. Go to purchase a game only to get "Sorry, you've too many unplayed games in your backlog to purchase another one. You'll thank us later"

Should be the other way around; you get a higher discount the more unplayed games you got instead showing you're into the spirit of things :pac:.

ionapaul

zodac wrote: »

Yay, now I can buy more games I won't have time to play!

Seriously though... I have games from the summer sale I've yet to start.

Ha, I'm pretty certain I've games bought in Valve sales in 2010 that I haven't installed or played yet, forget about 2011 and 2012!

Twilightning

Spec Ops: The Line for a fiver.

FlyingIrishMan

Highly recommend The Walking Dead game for anyone who is yet to pick it up. Will probably go to 15euro minimum, probably more now that the first season is finished.

steve_r

FlyingIrishMan wrote: »

Highly recommend The Walking Dead game for anyone who is yet to pick it up. Will probably go to 15euro minimum, probably more now that the first season is finished.

I assume you mean the point and click one, all episodes?

I've played the first episode on iOS, really enjoyed it but maybe it's cheaper for me to get it on laptop.