AnythingGeek's Steam Summer Sale Hauls

So it has been a good couple of weeks since the coveted Steam summer sale, so we have all had time to digest through some of our games we have all bought. Each one of us bought a varied amount and different games through this sale. What you will find in this article is a list of what we have got through the sale, the value of that list and a small write up on our favorite game that we got. Anyways get your scroll bar ready, to start us off here is Colin's tiny haul.

Colin:

Left 4 Dead 2
Dear Esther
___________________________________________________________________
Retail Total $29.98 USD
Sale Total    $7.48 USD
Saved Total $22.50 USD

I was happy to get a couple games that I've been wanting to play for a while for less than $10. I only got 2 titles, but that is mostly because I went on a shopping spree of sorts with some previous sales. Dear Esther was a fair price for the short amount of time you can spend with it but it was completely worth experiencing. Left 4 Dead 2 is one of those games you can pick up and play anytime and I hope to play it soon with the other AnythingGeek writers!

Jake:

Fallout 3 GOTY
Fallout New Vegas GOTY
Sega Hit Collection
- Total War: SHOGUN 2
  - Total War: SHOGUN 2 - Rise of the Samurai Campaign
  - Total War: SHOGUN 2 - Dragon War Battle Pack
- Medieval II: Total War
- Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms
- Rome: Total War Gold Edition
- Rome: Total War - Alexander
- Empire: Total War + DLC
- Aliens vs. Predator
- Napoleon: Total War + DLC
- SEGA Genesis & Mega Drive Classics
- Comix Zone
- Crack Down
- Ecco the Dolphin
- Gain Ground
- Golden Axe
- Shinobi 3
- Space Harrier II
- Vectorman
- Altered Beast
- Shadow Dancer
- Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
- Bonanza Bros
- Columns, Ecco Jr.
- Eternal Champions
- Fatal Labyrinth
- Galaxy Force II
- Kid Chameleon
- Ristar
- Super Thunder Blade
- Alien Storm
- Bio-Hazard Battle
- Columns III
- Decap Attack
- Ecco The Tides of Time
- ESWAT, Flicky
- Golden Axe II
- Sword of Vermillion
- Virtua Fighter 2
- Alien Soldier
- Gunstar Heroes
- Landstalker
- Light Crusader
- Shining Force
- Shining Force 2
- Shining in the Darkness
- Streets of Rage
- Streets of Rage 2
- Wonder Boy III - Monster Lair
- Sonic Generations
- Renegade Ops
- Binary Domain
- Guardians Armor Pack
- Beyond Oasis
- Dynamite Headdy
- Golden Axe 3
- Phantasy Star 2
- Phantasy Star 3
- Phantasy Star 4
- Streets of Rage 3
- The Revenge of Shinobi
- Vectorman 2
- Wonder Boy in Monster World.
___________________________________________________________________
Retail Total $474.55 USD
Sale Total $62.47 USD
Saved Total $412.08 USD

From all of us here I think I've gotten the most bang for my buck with great savings. The SEGA pack covered much of the company's gaming history from the days they were making the games up to them being a publisher. The Fallout series has a great line up here as well, I look forward to playing it and going through them with mods aplenty. Most of my time however will most likely be spent playing Team Fortress 2 or simply gazing at my massive digital collection.

Sean:

Audiosurf
Grand Ages: Rome
Grand Ages: Rome - Reign of Augustus 
Bethesda Collection
- Skyrim
- Hunted Demon's Forge
- Brink
- Fallout New Vegas GOTY
Civilization V: GOTY
  - Civ V Korea/Wonders DLC Combo
Mount and Blade: Warband
  - Warband Napoleonic Wars DLC
Star Ruler
Shogun 2 Collection
- Total War: Shogun 2
  - Blood Pack
  - Dragon War Battle Pack
  - Hattori Clan Pack
  - Ikko Ikki Clan Pack
  - Sengoku Jidai Unit
  - Rise of the Samurai Campaign
- Fall of the Samurai
  - Saga Faction Pack
  - Obama Faction Pack
  - Tsu Faction Pack
  - Sendai Faction Pack
Railworks 3: TS2012 + Horseshoe Curve
  - CN WideNose Pack DLC
  - Canadian National Addon
  - Trains vs Zombies DLC
Star Wars: KOTOR 
SimCity 4 Deluxe 
Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition
Left 4 Dead Bundle
- Left 4 Dead
- Left 4 Dead 2
Galactic Civilizations II
Oblivion Game of the Year Deluxe
___________________________________________________________________
Retail Total $367.63 USD
Sale Total    $111.70 USD
Saved Total $255.93 USD

To pin down which game is my favorite from this sale is hard since I got a lot of great games for dirt cheap, but one really stood out from the rest. I've been a fan of trains since I was a little kid so Railworks was on my wishlist for a long time. I'm quite surprised by the amount of content already in game, and the specific DLC can really give players what they want. Right now I'm looking into the world editor and so far I'm making decent progress on my own route.

Great hauls by everyone here. You can expect many of these games to either be reviewed or featured on the site in the future since we get enjoyment from them all. What did you get, how much did you spend and what game is your favorite from the list? Post your thoughts on the subject below and don't be afraid to correct our math!

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Source 2 Engine Hinted in Source Filmmaker

From our long summer hiatus we have returned! To get things started off in a timely fashion here is the latest story in regards to gaming. The gaming company Valve is synonymous with many great things out there, including their dated Source engine. Over the course of a decade they have constantly updated it so it can stay inline with modern engine technology.

Recently some fine people at Valve Time have dug out some lines of code and files from the Source Filmmaker that seems to point to a whole new project from Valve. Below is some highlights of what they have found out.

Line 1387:
'''Return an str with the current engine version.
If key doesn't doesn't exist, assume 'Source', otherwise invalid -- assume next-gen 'Source 2'.'''

Source 2 tool Icons (above)

• appicon

• terrain_tool_toggle_control_cage

• terrain_tool_select_verts

• terrain_tool_edge_smooth

• paint_tool_icon

• scale_tool_icon

From what is being seen here it seems Valve wants to slowly integrate Source 2 so it will not be such a huge leap but a smooth transition with all the added features. This story is currently developing so we will bring you important updates as they happen.

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Gabe Newell: No Valve Game Announcements at E3

Some sad news in PC gaming today, Gabe Newell said recently in an email with a fan that Valve would not be talking about Half Life 3, Portal 3, Left 4 Dead 3 at E3. They will, as previously known, be showing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, and the 10 foot UI for viewing Steam on your PC.

Click to view full size

It seems at though Valve is being as least secretive as possible, "showing [us][ stuff everyone already knows about". This is disappointing news because everyone has been anticipating some sort of an announcement from Valve, but let's wait until E3 so see if there are any other PC gaming surprises!

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Second Portal 2 DLC Finally Announced

Recently, the first trailer for the new Portal 2 DLC was released and as previously known you will be able to make your own maps more easily now. Another cool thing about this trailer is that if you pause at 1:14 you can see someone working on Meet the Pyro from the TF2 Franchise that is supposed to be realesed later next year. You can pick up this DLC May 8th for PC and Mac. For more info stay tuned to AnythingGeek.net, and make sure to check out the trailer and some more info below!

Quote:

Portal 2 Perpetual Testing Initiative Begins May 8 April 26, 2012 -- Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Half-Life and Counter-Strike) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced the free Portal 2 DLC titled "Perpetual Testing Initiative" will be available for the PC and Mac on May 8th. The "Perpetual Testing Initiative" allows players to easily create, share, and play Portal 2 puzzles. The Initiative comes with a simplified puzzle maker that allows that creation of mind-bending puzzles without ever leaving the game. The puzzle maker can directly publish maps to the Steam Workshop where users can browse, vote on, and select to play them. Selected puzzles will automatically be downloaded and installed inside Portal 2. Portal 2 holds a Metacritic score of 95% and has been awarded numerous Game of Year awards. It features expansive single and cooperative multiplayer game modes. For more information on Portal 2 and its downloadable content, please visit http://www.thinkwithportals.com.

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Valve Working on 'Steam Box' Gaming Console

Rumors are coming out that Valve - the company behind the steam Steam store and many popular games such as Team Fortress 2 and Half-Life - are considering getting into the hardware business with their own home console. Gabe Newell recently said on Penny Arcade:

Well, if we have to sell hardware we will...We think it’s important enough that if that’s what we end up having to do then that’s what we end up having to do.

Newell also continued saying that they would rather work with people who know about making and distributing hardware rather than making it themselves. The rumor is that Valve has been making a hardware spec and the associated software that would make up this "Steam Box". It is said that the specs are to be a Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a Nvidia graphics card. The system will allow for multiple game services to be installed including EA's Origin, and will likely be controlled by a proprietary controller.

Many people are wondering just what OS the box will run. The obvious choice would be Windows for game compatibility, however many are guessing that it will be a version of Linux running Wine. The second option could allow for less resource usages as well as avoiding licensing fees. Many are guessing that the product will be shown off a GDC, but are unsure if Valve will wait until E3 for this announcement.

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Reviews for the Road: Team Fortress 2

Welcome to the first ever installment of Reviews for the Road, a series of  posts were we discuss some of the in and outs of certain games. You can expect to see some killer games featured here, with an overall score for how I rate them. Without futher waiting, today's article covers the Valve Classic, Team Fortress 2.

Team Fortress 2 (TF2) is one of the world's premiere muder-based, hat wearing, fps simulators. All kidding aside, it is one of the games that any self respecting PC gamer should own. Now after TF2's "birthday" it has been out for over 5 years since it's release on October 10th, 2007. During June of this year, it officially went free-to-play where all steam users could play the game for free. This is where as a player, I finally stepped in to see the delights of this game.

There are 9 classes that you can choose from, some are good for offense while some defense. Some like the medic, are just there to support the other classes and make sure they can complete their objectives with little trouble. There are a number of stock game modes that are standard to the game like capture points, attack and defense, capture the flag and payload. There is extensive community support in game modes like dodgeball and player run servers that have many benefits.

There is also a lot of balance to the game, where each class could not win without the others or even do well. Many of the items have both pros and cons so you never get an item that is over-powered. Balance in gameplay is a fickle thing, it requires decent weapon stats, player health levels and the rate at which they drop just to name a few. TF2 strikes a fine line between fun and balance that keeps players craving more. Valve is also a great company where if there are issues, they are quick to respond to the masses.

Overall I would rate this game a solid 94 out of 100. For it's fun gameplay that brings you back for more, it's large item and server selection and lastly for the myriad of classes and levels makes it a game for any player. It loses points for it's load times for first time players that need to download a number of maps each time you play a new level. As one of the best free games on the market right now, I truly recommend it to all types of players on both the hardcore and casual markets. Be sure to play it now if you haven't already!

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