Steam Summer Sale Sadness

July 12th 2012 was a day feared by all PC gamers, a day in which our wallets began to weep. Yes, July 12th was the official start of the Steam Summer sale: 10 days of ridiculous discounts, guaranteed to make even the most frugal of gamer bust their monthly budget wide open with a variety of deals too good to be true.

Daily deals are bad enough. Do I really want Crusader Kings 2? I don't know; it looks good and I do like a grand strategy game, but will I really find time to play it? Oh hell, it's £7.49 at 75% off, I might as well, it's not like I'll ever find it cheaper elsewhere. But what's that across the page? Saints Row 3 on a flash deal for £7.49? Well, I'll probably never get around to it what with Crusader Kings 2 but for that price can I really turn it down?

Those flash deals are a nightmare, cycling through every couple of hours with a new game popping up and and old deal disappearing. Well I quite fancy getting my hands on ARMA 2 so maybe I'll pop back in a few hours when the next couple tick over.

No ARMA 2? Shame. Hang on, Just Cause 2 £3.49. No way I can say no to that! Oh well, there will be a couple more deals in a few hours, I'll check back for ARMA 2 then.

Still no ARMA 2? But Fallout: New Vegas for £3.74. I already have New Vegas on PS3 but I could do with getting it on PC I suppose and £3.74 is a steal. But hang on..... I can get the Ultimate Edition with all the DLC for £7.49. Well, I have a bit of a backlog of games but suppose I'll get round to it. But there are some more flash sales coming up so I'll see if ARMA turns up then.

Since then I've been checking the store for the flash deals four or five times per day. One night I woke up at 2am. My nose was bleeding. That hasn't happened in years, I put it down to the stress of the Steam sales. So what was I doing at 2am whilst sitting in the bathroom holding a handkerchief to my face? I was browsing the Steam store on my mobile. I did the same thing at 6:30am when my alarm went off.

Over the next few days I've also bought the STALKER 3 triple game bundle for £5.19, The Witcher for £1.74, Risen for £3.74 and Vampire: Bloodlines, also £3.74. Finally, on the final day of the sale ARMA 2 got a discount and I picked it up for £14.99.

All in all I've spent just over £55.00 so far on buying ten games and I just know that I will probably never play them all, certainly not to completion anyway. It's not a huge amount maybe, but it's around £55.00 more than I intended to spend on games this month. However, I'm not the only one.

This problem was everywhere. My friends have been talking about it. My colleagues have been talking about it. I heard strangers on the train talking about it the other day. They were doing the same as me, checking the store on their phones for the latest flash deals. Many of these people have spent substantially more than me. I hadn't intended to buy any games this month.

The sales were definitely bad for my wallet. Still, it's over now.... although I can't wait for the Christmas sales!!