Last week I was reminded that the Steam summer sale would be kicking off soon, and I inwardly groaned…and got a little jazzed up. The Steam sales are legendary for getting amazing deals on PC games. But, one thing I’ve noticed in recent years, is that the Steam sale seems to inspire other outlets to throw some of their games on sale as well. Case in point: today I saw that there was a Sony flash sale, and I immediately popped onto the PlayStation store to check it out.
(For the record, I was only tempted to buy Mad Max, but then I reminded myself that I don’t love driving in games, so I talked myself out of it.)
As you might expect, I love these sales. I love that they get games into more hands that can enjoy them. I love that a game that might not have been affordable before, can now be enjoyed by someone who probably really wanted to play it but didn’t have the means to.
Games, for me, are all about getting to experience new worlds, and these sales make it a little easier for that to happen. It makes me smile that this weekend a lot of people are playing games they might not have otherwise been.
I wish I could take better advantage of the Steam sales, but my laptop struggles with Firefox at times, so I highly doubt I’d be able to run a game without it chugging to a painful halt. I’m trying to resist the urge to even go over to Steam to look at what’s on offer. Temptation can be awfully strong.
This weekend I will be diving in to the Resident Evil 7: Biohazard demo (finally!), playing as many matches of Overwatch as I can (I bet it’s a lot!), and hopefully starting in on Oxenfree or The Evil Within. The other day I started in on Trials of the Blood Dragon and WOW. I am not good at that game. I think my highest grade on any level was a B and that was only two out of a dozen or so levels. I actually did so poorly on two other levels that I didn’t even finish before the timer ran out! If I didn’t love the aesthetic so much, I’d be tempted to take an indefinite hiatus from it, but I am a sucker for the saturated colors and the over the top premise.
It calls to me. And my inner ’80s child. I remember growing up during that decade and the styles never left me. I have a super rad puffer jacket that looks like it’s straight from that era, and last Christmas when I wore it, my uncle was like, “What IS that?!”
It was pretty great.
So, with that random trip down memory lane, I ask: what do you think of the summer video game sales? Do you partake? Or do you resist temptation? Also, what are you playing this weekend? Are you staying with old favorites, or diving in to something new?
Stay safe out there, friends! Cheers!
Categories: games
Rebekah Lang 
How much was Mad Max on sale for? Sales tempt me very much but for the most part I resist. I’ll still be playing Overwatch and Dishonored.
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I believe it was $16, but don’t quote me on that.
Yeah! More Overwatch! And I’m so excited that you are playing Dishonored. I can’t wait to hear what you think of it as you get further in.
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I don’t think it’s worth 16 dollars it was pretty repetitive. We will definitely have to play and I’ll keep you updated.
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Oh wow, really? Well I’m glad I held out, then.
And nice! More Overwatch!
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I like to pursue the flash sales even if I don’t buy anything. It gives me a chance to see what’s out there that piques my interests.
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I agree. I didn’t buy anything from this one, but I always like looking.
Oh! Wait! I did buy one thing for the Vita. I’d been wanting Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward for a long while and it was on sale for $7.50 so I got it.
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Hey Rebekah. Wow, I know how you feel. For a while I was kind of addicted to Steam sales. And the sales on PSN and Xbox Live often get me in the spending mood too. The result is that I have a huge Steam library that I will never catch up with. But, it is very nice to be able to buy all these games on the cheap, and encourages experimentation with titles I probably wouldn’t otherwise buy. I have gotten some incredibly good finds this way, and its always nice to have a hefty digital library as long as expectations (about game completion) are kept realistic.
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Hi Adam!
Steam sales ARE addictive. And I like what you said about it encouraging you to experiment with games you might not have otherwise. That’s one of the best things, finding a game out of your wheelhouse and loving it.
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I’m digging into some game called Metro Redux. Haven’t played much, but I’ve heard a lot of good things about it, so I’ll see how it goes. Had to put Borderlands 2 aside – these last few levels getting to 50 are SUCH a grind haha
As for Steam sales… I used to get excited, but I haven’t actually purchased anything in quite a long time. It got to the point where I was buying games just because they were cheap, and I ended up with all these games that I never really had plans to play.
Every now and then, something might pop up that I actually want, but they’re few and far between.
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Oh nice. I played Metro: Last Light, and as much as I wanted to love it (it had a lot of promise in the atmosphere department), I ended up a little frustrated at it. Perhaps a better gamer than me (like yourself) will enjoy it more. Let me know!
And as for Steam, that’s why I love the wishlist feature. And I love when they email to let you know a game on your wishlist is on sale. I’ve bought a few I thought my laptop could run that way, but there are SO MANY games I wish I could play on PC. Oh well. Please enjoy them for me!
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I hear you! I’m torn by the sales thing as well. I still have countless games in my Steam library – Bioshock, the original Assassin’s Creed, Empire: Total War, Deux Ex – that I bought literally years ago because they were on sale, but haven’t gotten around to them – because my backlog is full of other games bought on sale!
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But that’s the thing, isn’t it? Even if you have every intention of playing those games, man, it can take so long to catch up. Now, I honestly don’t know if catching up on backlogs is even a doable endeavor for most people. There are just SO MANY games out there. I love it.
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