Electronics & Gadgets

Steam Holiday Sale 2011

The Gift of Cheap Games

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Valve's Steam digital download service offers an annual holiday sale in which more than 1,000 games are available at significantly reduced prices. For 2011, the holiday sale runs from December 19, 2011 through January 1, 2012. The savings are not just limited to individual titles, either.

Steam includes over 20 collections that give buyers additional discounts when purchasing multiple titles from a specific publisher or as part of a themed grouping. The highlight of the Steam holiday sales are the daily deals, which further reduce sale prices on individual games or entire franchises for 24 hours.

New for 2011 is the ability to earn coupons or even games by completing various in-game achievements from a select group of titles, most of which are featured on the daily deals page. Coupons can be saved, traded, or given to friends as gifts, although they won't become active until January 2, 2012. Those who don't earn gifts will still earn "coal" that can be used as entries in a contest where one lucky participant will win the entire Steam library of games.

1. Steam Holiday Sale Daily Deals: Day 1

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Just Cause Franchise -75% $.24 to $4.99
Portal Franchise -75% $2.49 to $8.74
Max Payne Franchise -75% $2.49
Sam & Max Franchise -75% $7.49 to $12.49
Pendulo Studios Adventure Pack (4 games)-75% $12.49
Bunch of Heroes -75% $2.49
Rift -75% $7.49
Singularity -75% $7.49
Amnesia: The Dark Descent -75% $4.99
Orcs Must Die! -75% $3.74
Fable III -75% $12.49
Metro 2033 -75% $4.99

Notes: The holiday sale opened with a bang, as every featured title was an enticing 75% off. Portal 2 was the most popular daily deal, reaching the top spot at $7.49. Orcs Must Die! finished second, which meant those who missed out on its $3.74 price during the autumn sale had a second chance to scoop it up.

While Fable III was half price in the autumn sale, the extra 25% off was enough for the game to crack the top five on Steam's top-sellers list. Metro 2033, Just Cause 2, and Amnesia were also popular daily deals, and Bunch of Heroes at $2.49 reached the eighth spot on the list.

2. Steam Holiday Sale Daily Deals: Day 2

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The Witcher Franchise -40-75% $2.49 to $23.99
Sacred Franchise -50% $4.99 to $9.99
Half-Life Franchise -75% $1.24 to $9.99
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 -50% $14.99
LEGO Batman-75% $4.99
Tropico 4 -66% $13.59
Theatre of War Franchise -75% $2.49 to $4.99
Costume Quest -75% $3.74
Dungeons of Dredmore -75% $1.24
Chantelise & Recettear -75% $2.49 to $4.99
Red Orchestra 2 -50% $19.99
Duke Nukem Forever -75% $4.99

Notes: The top draw for today's daily deal was the city-building game Tropico 4, followed by The Witcher 2. Both titles were released in 2011 and received positive reviews. Half-Life Complete finished a strong third, even though the Half-Life games have been on sale many times before.

The biggest surprise was the appearance of Modern Warfare 2 in the fourth spot on the top-sellers list, since 1) the game has since been eclipsed by Black Ops and Modern Warfare 3, and 2) the price isn't that cheap given the title's age. The rest of the deals to make the top-ten were Duke Nukem, Red Orchestra, The Witcher, and the charming Recettear (read my review here).

3. Steam Holiday Sale Daily Deals: Day 3

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Payday: The Heist -50% $9.99
Monday Night Combat -75% $2.49
Jurassic Park: The Game -50% $14.99
Swords & Soldiers -75% $2.49
Batman: Arkham City -50% $24.99
Neverwinter Nights 2 Platinum -75% $4.99
Defense Grid: The Awakening -75% $2.49
Mount & Blade Franchise -75% $3.74 to $12.49
Grotesque Tactics Franchise -75% $2.49 to $6.24
F1 2011 -50% $24.99
Stalker Franchise -75% $2.49 to $8.74
Sherlock Holmes Franchise -75% $2.49 to $8.74

Notes: The critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham City, just released on 11/22, is 50% off? No surprise why it was the day’s biggest selling deal. The rest of today’s games proved popular as well, with Payday: The Heist, Neverwinter Nights, The Stalker Collection, Defense Grid, Mount & Blade Complete, Sherlock Holmes, Jurassic Park, and F1 2011 all appearing in the top ten. There was something for everyone today, from adventure to strategy to racing to shooting to role-playing.

4. Steam Holiday Sale Daily Deals: Day 4

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SkyDrift -50% $4.99
Limbo -75% $2.49
Silent Hill Homecoming -75% $9.99
Alien Breed Trilogy -75% $5.74
Brink -75% $4.99
Torchlight -75% $3.74
Mass Effect Franchise -75% $4.99 each
Blur -75% $4.99
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine -50% $24.99
Operation Flashpoint Franchise -80% $2.99 to $10.99
Avadon: The Black Fortress -75% $2.49
Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga -75% $9.99

Notes: Like Batman: Arkham City on day three of the holiday sale, the recently released Space Marine's 50% discount shot it to the top of the top-sellers list. The critically acclaimed sci-fi RPGs Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 were individual priced at $4.99 and followed Space Marine as the day’s biggest hits.

The overlooked racing game Blur was able to finally attract an audience thanks to its 75% off price, and both Limbo and Torchlight were too attractively priced to pass up, even though Torchlight has been featured so many times in previous sales that every Steam user should own it by now. Divinity II also proved popular enough to make it the fourth RPG in the daily deal to reach the top-sellers list.

5. Steam Holiday Sale Daily Deals: Day 5

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From Dust -50% $7.49
Aliens vs. Predator -80% $3.99
Saints Row: The Third -33% $33.49
Audiosurf -75% $2.49
DiRT 3 -66% $16.99
RailWorks 3: Train Simulator 2012 -90% $3.49
Frozen Synapse -75% $3.74
E.Y.E. Divine Cybermancy -75% $2.49
Rage -50% $14.99
Cave Story -50% $4.99
Back to the Future: The Game -60% $9.99
Cities XL 2012 -50% $19.99

Notes: Saints Row: The Third came out on PC in November, so the 33% discount on the wildly over-the-top action game was much appreciated by Steam users, evidenced by its first spot on the top sellers list. Rage, which debuted in October, was discounted 50% to $14.99, good enough to make it to the second spot on the top-sellers list. The rest of the top-ten list included E.Y.E. Divine Cybermancy, From Dust (review), Cities XL 2012, Aliens vs. Predator, and Audiosurf.

6. Steam Holiday Sale Daily Deals: Day 6

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Tom Clancy Franchise -75% $2.49 to $44.99
Company of Heroes Franchise -80% $1.99 to $9.98
Plants vs. Zombies -66% $3.39
Hard Reset -75% $4.99
Wings of Prey -75% $4.99
Borderlands -75% $4.99 to $7.49
Risen -50% $14.99
Prototype -75% $7.49
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim -33% $40.19
Blood Bowl: Legendary Edition -80% $7.99
Renegade Ops -66% $5.09
Jamestown: Legend of the Lost Colony -75% $2.49

Notes: No surprise at the top draw for this daily deal: Betheda’s The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim recently became Steam’s biggest selling game since the digital download service began, and that was before its nearly $20 price drop. Other games that caught the fancy of Steam owners included the sandbox game Protoype, the cyberpunk shooter Hard Reset, the RPG-shooter hybrid Borderlands, real-time strategy Company of Heroes Complete, and flight combat sim Wings of Prey.

7. Steam Holiday Sale Daily Deals: Day 7

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Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition -75% $7.49
Overlord Franchise -75% $1.24 to $4.99
Dungeons Franchise -66% $10.19 each
Batman Arkham Asylum -75% $4.99
X Franchise -75% $1.24 to $9.99
Football Manager 2012 -33 $26.79
Atom Zombie Smasher -75% $2.49
IL-2 Sturmovik Franchise -75% $3.39 to $16.99
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 -25% $44.99
Nuclear Dawn -75% $4.99
Killing Floor -75% $4.99
Alice: The Madness Returns -75% $7.49

Notes: Modern Warfare 3 leads today’s daily deal despite a relatively modest 25% discount, which is somewhat surprising since there are better deals to be found elsewhere (since the game is a Steamworks title, no matter where you buy the game, it needs to be registered on Steam to play).

Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition makes the third spot on the top-sellers list, followed by Alice, Batman, X Superbox, Nuclear Dawn, Killing Floor, Football Manager 2012, and Killing Floor Complete. Shockingly, Atom Zombie Smasher didn’t even make the top-20 despite positive reviews, a gift-earning achievement, and a price under three bucks.