14 DAY TRIAL // With the holiday season on its way, game publishers and developers have joined hands into bringing you some of the year's biggest sales on renowned game titles such as S.T.A.L.K.E.R, Alpha Protocol, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Tropico 3 and may more.
Whether it's Thanksgiving Day or simply because its the season to be jolly, prices have dropped to such low numbers that buying a game is no longer about having the money, but simply choosing the ones that you've always wanted to play.
I've taken the liberty of doing some research into the matter and I've managed to put together a humble list of all the games that are currently on sale on all the major digital distribution websites.
Starting with Steam, the Daily Deals offer is more than a treat for those of you that keep hunting for the lowest prices on games. Here's what they're offering for now: EVE Online: Tyrannis ($5), Defense Grid: The Awakening ($2.5), Cities XL 2011 ($29.99), DeathSpank ($10.04), Indie Story Pack ($4.99), AudioSurf ($2.5), Batman: Arkham Asylum ($10.2) and Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days ($5).
Direct2Drive doesn't have as many games on sale (Fallout 3 for $19.95 and The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings for $31.95), but instead they've added a 1-in-5 Orders is Free deal, meaning that you could be lucky enough to get an entire order free of charge. Start buying and you might win!
Impulse seems to have a lot more to offer, trimming down prices for both new games as well and old ones such as: Grand Ages Rome Gold Edition ($7.49), S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Bundle Pack ($9.99), Dragon Age Origins - Ultimate Edition ($24.97), Tropico 3 ($7.49), Commander: Conquest of the Americas ($25.99), The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom ($24.99), Dawn of Discovery Gold ($14.99), THQ Ultimate Bundle with titles such as Company of Heroes Gold, Company of Heroes Tales of Valor, Full Spectrum Warrior, Full Spectrum Warrior – Ten Hammers, Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights, Red Faction, Red Faction II, Red Faction Guerrilla, S.T.A.L.K.E.R – Shadow of Chernobyl, Supreme Commander, Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance, Titan Quest, Titan Quest: Immortal Throne, Warhammer 40k: Gold, Warhammer 40k: Dark Crusade, Warhammer 40k: Soulstorm and World of Zoo (all of these for $99.99).
Next on the discount list is Gamers Gate that offers up to 75% off on titles such as Alpha Protocol ($7.49), Deus Ex Collection ($4.99), Imperium Romanum Gold ($4.99), Power Of Defense: Defend Your World! ($2.99), Tropico 3 ($4.99), F.E.A.R. 1 & 2 Bundle ($19.99), Syberia ($3.99), Syberia 2 ($3.99), X3: Reunion ($3.99) and many others.
Even the Xbox Marketplace has a Sales and Specials category now, from where you can get games such as TMNT: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled (80% off), Splosion Man (80% off), Trials HD (67% off), Greed Corp (80% off), Rock Band 3 (75% off), Halo: Combat Evolved (67% off), Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (67% off), Serious Sam HD (50% off), Zombie Apocalypse (50% off), Portal (67% off), Magic: The Gathering (50% off) and Madden NFL Arcade (50% off).
On GOG.com I only found a single sale (available this week alone) on the Age of Wonders series (Age of Wonders, Age of Wonders 2: The Wizard's Throne and Age of Wonders: Shadow magic) for 50% if you get the entire bundle pack ($12.97) and 30% for each game alone. Not bad, considering that you get to save about $13 on the entire bundle pack.
On Get Games Online I could only find a couple of games on sale such as Alien Breed 3: Descent ($8.99), Ashes Cricket 2009 ($6.00), Sid Meier's Civilization V ($45.99) and Beyond Good and Evil ($4.00). I know there are only a handful of games, but if you're interested in any of them at least you can get them on sale.
PlayStation Store has a couple of offers of it's own, on games such as Cho Aniki Zero PSP ($14.99), Destruction Derby PS3 ($2.99), Monopoly PS3 ($2.49), Dante's Inferno PSP ($19.99), Dissidia Final Fantasy PSP ($9.99), DeathSpank PS3 ($7.49), Tom Clancy's EndWar PS3 ($9.99), Prince of Persia Rival Swords PSP ($9.99), Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines PSP ($19.99) and many more offers will soon be released.
Some price drops (although the currency is in UK pounds) were more than appealing on Gamesplanet, some only a couple of pounds and others up to half the original price. Far Cry 2 - Fortune's Edition (£9.99), Fuel (£9.99), Flallout Trilogy (£9.99) and many others that I'll leave you to search for.
GameTap has joined the discount freenzy as well, offering games such as The Sims 3 ($29.96), Mass Effect 2 ($17.99), Cities XL ($9.97), Cities XL 2011 ($29.99), Battlefield - Bad Company 2 ($15.99), Egypt 3 ($11.21), War and Peace ($11.21), The Sims 2 Double Deluxe ($9.97), Return to Mysterious Island 2 ($14.96) and others.
Of course, these are just a couple of websites that I've went through and there are many more out there with holiday deals that will surely fit anyone's budget. The trick is to keep searching and always be on a lookout for one day deals and even weekend sales.
If you really want to surprise your kids and not burning a hole through your pockets, I think it's time that you start browsing for games on sale so that both you and your offspring can enjoy the holidays peacefully.