Posted by Ben Huber on Jan 6, 2013 in
Videogames 
Valve and their slow, secretive process towards creating a TV box has been a big focus of the gaming community. Gabe Newell declared Windows 8 a “catastrophe” and proceeded to initiate work on Steam for Linux, which is now in beta. Now, Valve engineer Ben Krasnow has said that the box will indeed run Linux, and they plan to show off more about it this year, possibly at GDC or E3, and release it later this year. Given Valve’s penchant for delays, I won’t hold my breath for a 2013 launch, but hearing all about this does get me excited. Read more…
Tags: Steam, Valve
Posted by Ben Huber on Dec 21, 2012 in
Videogames 
It’s one of the best times of the year! Your family comes close, you share gifts with each other, maybe a cup of hot cocoa, and you hover your browser on the Steam web page mashing the F5 button to see new daily deals. Valve has started up the latest Steam Sale, and there’s some great deals going around. Scribblenauts, Hitman, Borderlands, and more are on sale for 50% to 75% off, and that’s only the first day. Flash deals are also still a feature, although Valve seems to have thankfully extended the time limit on many of them. The sale runs until January 5th, so keep checking back for more deals. Also, don’t forget to also watch Amazon for some competing sales as well!
Tags: Steam, Valve
Posted by Ben Huber on Dec 16, 2012 in
Videogames 
Ever had a virtual gun you wanted to sell? Perhaps a virtual hat you no longer need? Well Valve is taking the first steps into establishing a legit digital market within Steam, starting with Team Fortress 2, their eternal guinea pig, and Dota 2. Currently, you’re now able to sell and buy “Tool” items for real money, and eventually Valve plans to add weapons and cosmetic items into the mix as well. While this sort of market has existed for a while, it required third-party websites or middlemen to make the transaction happen (because you better not be PayPal-ing money to random people for virtual hats by yourself – that’s scam city). Now, with a solid trading system backing it, Valve will be able to monitor and foster their virtual economy even more. It’s pretty fascinating stuff! Read more…
Tags: Dota 2, Steam, Team Fortress, Valve
Posted by Ben Huber on Nov 25, 2012 in
Videogames 
I love me some Humble Indie Bundles and Steam Sales. So whenever one pops up, it’s my duty to bring the news to you. The latest one is Steam’s Autumn Sale, and as the brown and red leaves fall around your desolate computer tower, surely the one thing you must be wanting this holiday season is games. Because not enough of those come out in November. Anyway, fill you backlog up easily with the constant Flash Sales (short sales that only go on for a few hours) or the Daily Deals. At time of writing, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is $4.99! How can you not get it at that price. See all the latest deals and sales here.
Tags: Steam, Valve
Posted by Bob Muir on Oct 9, 2012 in
Videogames 
There are lots of indie games out there making either conscious or subconscious references to games of yore. Part of that is because of the solid, pure design some of these iconic games featured, and part of that is because of affectionate nostalgia. But it’s not often that a retro-inspired game has been in development for so long that it could practically qualify for an “retro” game itself, and not just because it looks like an NES game on steroids. Read more…
Tags: Playstation Vita, PS3, Steam, Wii, Xbox 360
Posted by Ben Huber on Sep 2, 2012 in
Videogames 
For a while, several indie developers have complained that it’s been difficult to get their games on Valve’s Steam service. Given that it’s the most popular online games store, that can be a bit of a problem. Steam is now addressing this with Steam Greenlight, a new section in which indie developers can submit their games and the community can vote up what looks good. You game doesn’t have to be finished – you can use Greenlight to gauge interest in your concept as well. I hope this works out for people who want to get their stuff on Steam!
Tags: Steam, Valve
Posted by Ben Huber on Jul 13, 2012 in
Videogames 
It seems gamers everywhere were chomping at the bit for Valve to initiate their Summer Sale this year – more so than usual! It’s honestly no surprise as Valve always does a great job setting up excellent prices for everything. It runs from now until July 22nd, so remember to watch the daily deals, as prices will only go down. However, why would they run it during SDCC? That’s a pretty big conflict, in some ways! Oh well, when you can own every Valve game ever for $50, that’s what I call a sale.
Tags: Steam, Valve
Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 4, 2012 in
Videogames 
Good news for PC gamers: you can now get games that have already been out for a while! Ok, joking aside, PixelJunk Eden and Mortal Kombat Kollection are now on Steam at great prices ($7.99 and $8.49 respectively). Both are great games, but I understand Mortal Kombat features Games For Windows Live DRM on it, which may be a dealbreaker for some. Eden has a few new features added as well, and the Steam page claims “completely re-imagined controls for the mouse.” Sounds great!
Tags: Mortal Kombat, PixelJunk, Steam
