June 28th, 2014

Well, it’s that special time of the year, folks. That magical time when every  game that you have ever wanted comes out of the woodwork to be purchased by that salivating masses at incredibly low prices. That’s right, good people...it can only be the Steam Summer Sale that unifies the PC Master Race (and folks on PSN) for an all out, wallet-murdering event that lasts a total of 11 days (June 19th through the 30th). In all honesty, this is one of the most beautiful times of the year for me, as well as ALL gamers that use their PCs as a platform for their video game experiences. It’s a time that truly brings me back to a time when video games brought me and my siblings together, specifically my brother. Since Steam’s increase in popularity in the last few years (it wasn’t always this popular...See this GIF) It has allowed me to enjoy gaming time with him and many other friends who use Steam.

I had fallen out of gaming for a while after high school. I had never upgraded to Playstation 3 or Xbox 360...I just kinda fell out of it. I had other things that I was focusing on (music school, relationships, making damn good chili) and I think that an extended hiatus was JUST what I needed to rekindle my love for video games. Before this hiatus, I was totally into gaming. Fighting games, specifically ‘Marvel Versus Capcom 2’, racing games, hack-n-slash adventures, RPG’s (more my brother’s taste)...I loved it all! I specifically remember playing a lot of Mario games with my brother as a kid. Who can forget ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time’, a game that I loved for it’s music more than I loved it for it’s incredibly fun gameplay (Check this medley out!) Now THAT was a game that my brother and I stomped through on a regular basis.As you can tell by my reminiscent and nostalgic tone, this truly is the time of year that reminds me and countless members of the PC Master Race that video games are a dominant art form/experience of the millennial generation. Think about it...they have only been around for what...fifty years? The technology is always taking off. It’s an incredible time to be alive, actually!So, let’s do a brief overview of what has been seen/purchased so far during this year’s Steam Summer Sale. There are the typical inexpensive, indie games that you’ll see for $2.00 or less. Games like ‘Castle Crashers’ and ‘Risk of Rain’ are GREAT multiplayer games that don’t rely on graphics to provide gamers with a more nostalgic experience. I picked up ‘Risk of Rain’ for $2.00...and it’s an incredible game. I highly recommend picking it up. Essentially, you pick one of many characters, each with their own traits, attacks, and special features, and you try to survive as long as you can. You only get ONE life. It’s an awesome concept and it really is a game that demands you to get better, or die. Another game that I purchased for the low price of $6.50 was ‘Metro: Last Night’. This game is dark. Were talking like...as dark, if not more, than the Bioshock series. If you love Bioshock as much as I do, you are going to love this game! The premise: It’s a dystopian future and crazy shit goes down in the abandoned railway tunnels of a city in Eastern Europe. That’s all I know about it so far, as I get distracted by all of these other games. ‘Street Fighter IV’ was on sale for $15...I didn’t get it and am currently kicking myself. Even brand new releases like ‘Wolfenstein: The New Order’ and ‘COD: Ghosts’ drop in prices during this historically awesome sale. If you don’t see something that you like, they have new offers every day. If you missed something, previous items stay on sale for an additional 24 hours (or something like that). In fact, the new releases for the day will be unveiled in 10 minutes (from the time I am writing this article, so YAY!)To sum the Steam Summer Sale up into two words…”It’s magical.” Honestly, all the jokes about people’s wallets being sacrificed to the Great and Omnipotent Lord GabeN are all in good fun, as people know damn well that they are saving loads of money in the process of purchasing all these games. Joke videos like this one and even this gem show just how exciting and fun this time of year is. The Steam Summer Sale promotes wellness and I feel like this year, Valve is really doing the gaming public a favor by adding elements of participation and election in the process of creating the next sale batches. If you are just getting into gaming, or if you are returning from a hiatus, I highly recommend hitting up the Steam Summer Sale to boost your collection. Happy playing and GAME ON!!!

Have a look at their store!: store.steampowered.com/

Chuck Salamone