So we’ve had a full weekend of the Steam sales so far and it’s been an interesting one.
I haven’t gone on a massive splurge just yet, although there have been a few discounts that were a little too good to pass up. Most people have pulled the trigger on Shadow of Mordor, although Hyper Light Drifter and Hollow Knight are at great prices too.
For me, I picked up the very good Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun. It’s basically a spin on Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines but set in the Edo period, rather than members of the Dirty Dozen blowing up dams and shooting Nazis in World War 2.
[referenced url=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/2016/12/shadow-tactics-is-a-stealth-renaissance/” thumb=”https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_ku-large/g6nfpb2orrdrskccwrod.jpg” title=”Shadow Tactics Is A Stealth Renaissance” excerpt=”Commandos was a very good video game. It’s also a kind of game that we haven’t seen much of since, so it’s nice to see Shadow Tactics step in and deliver us a similar kind of experience. Well, as similar as swapping World War Two for Japan’s Edo period can get, anyway.”]
I’ve been thoroughly enjoying Nex Machina, and it was nice to get King’s Bounty for under $2. But besides Shadow of Mordor, there haven’t been any particularly flashy discounts on blockbuster games. That’s obviously publisher driven, but maybe Warner Bros’ move will encourage others to follow suit.
How have you found the latest Steam sales? Have you bought anything, and if so, what did you get?
Comments
9 responses to “Community Review: The Summer Steam Sales”
Picked up Neir Automata, thoroughly enjoying it.
Was looking at some other Musou type games that have been lingering on my wishlist for awhile and this is definitely scratching that urge.
Other sales item mostly meh, im more looking forward to some new releases such as the new Shadow of Mordor game / new farcry.
Might have another look before the sale ends but with the new format as far as I am aware there is no point checking every day as the prices all stay the same.
Also the sticker gimmick this year is meh, clunky interface.
It’s a complete bust for me.
Nothing on my wishlist of 100+ games is any cheaper than in any number of sales earlier this year. And I am eager to spend money too before the GST kicks in on 1 July.
I did pull the trigger on a couple of small expansion packs that I will probably never play, mostly out of habit and to complete collections.
Seriously, though, barely worth calling it a sale any more.
As for Shadow of Mordor, this has been available for pennies at Bundle Stars for months now. Why anyone genuinely interested in the game hasn’t already pulled the trigger for the same price, months before, will be an eternal mystery to me. I guess it’s for the mob who never look further afield than Steam for their game keys?
On your past paragraph, they don’t do sales to give customers games they’ve always wanted at discounted prices, they do sales to increase exposure for games people might not otherwise have been interested in. They’re a marketing exercise. People who already knew about Shadow of Mordor and knew it was on Bundle Stars (I didn’t even know that) and knew they were interested would have already picked it up, sure, but people who browse the Steam sales and say “oh hey, I forgot about that game, isn’t there a new one coming out soon? $4 is a bargain, no harm giving it a shot” will pick it up and if they like it, that’s another likely sale for the sequel.
I petty picky about my games so the last few haven’t had anything for me. It has gotten to the point where I pretty much have the games I would like and should sit down and work my through them.
On top of that though, I tend to wait out releases until publishers come to their senses and remove the unneeded DRM on top of Steam or get the game when it appears on GoG.com.
I ended up buying Wolfenstein: New Order from EB games for PS4 for $15. Then Trials Fusion from the PSN for $8. Then I bought The Swapper for $3 from Steam. I think the Steam sales gave me the motivation to search for deals elsewhere.
Got a few games lined up to get but haven’t pushed the button yet.
Stardew valley, lego jurassic park, The Sexy Brutale and a few little puzzle games
Sales just aren’t as ridiculous as they used to be, the days of 75%+ flash sales for a couple hours are long long gone. Sure I see some reasonable cuts but as others have mentioned nothing I haven’t seen on steam in recent months already.
The best steam prices continue to be from (legit) third parter websites.
Finished my Broken Sword collection by selling trading cards. Other than that, I haven’t purchased any. I really need to start working on my backlog.
I picked up Typing of the Dead: Overkill for like 5ish dollarydoos, so I’m happy ^_^
I have so many games kicking around that I haven’t played yet that I’m reluctant to add to the pile unless I really, really want to. I did get Shadow of Mordor, because I’ve been kinda interested in giving it a go since it came out but never got around to it. $4USD seemed worth it, even if I don’t get a chance to play it for another three years.
Jumped in thinking I’d grab the new content for Hallow Knight only to find out that it’s FREE anyway!!! Love these local Adelaide game developers.
Bayonetta