Steam Hits 5 Million Players Online

After another cracking Holiday Sale, Steam has broken their peak player record and hit over 5 million players gaming it up at the same time over the holiday break. The previous record of 4 million players was set only a few months earlier in September.

It’s no surprise that the record was smashed in the last few days of the Steam Holiday Sale. The combination of huge discounts on awesome games and millions of gamers with nothing to do but play Skyrim for 14 hours straight every day is the perfect gaming storm.

The top 5 games when the record was broken were:

1. 1. Skyrim
2. 2. Counter Strike
3. 3. Football Manager 2012
4. 4. Modern Warfare 3
5. 5. Counter Strike Source

Is it just me or does anyone else find it amusing that MW3 was beaten by the original Counter Strike and Football Manager 2012?

Steam Holiday Sale Continues

Hopefully you haven’t already spent all your money on presents for your family or something stupid like that, because there’s another day of awesome Steam Holiday Sales to spend money on.

Today’s deals are:

• Swords and Soldiers HD for $2.49 (75% off)
• Defense Grid: The Awakening for $2.49 (75% off)
• Monday Night Combat for $4.99 (50% off)
• Neverwinter Nights 2: Platinum for $4.99 (75% off)
• Grotesque Tactics for $6.24 (75% off)
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Bundle for $6.24 (75% off)
• The Sherlock Holmes Collection for $8.74 (75% off)
• PAYDAY The Heist for $9.99 (50% off)
• Mount & Blade Franchise for $12.49 (75% off)
• Jurassic Park: The Game for $14.99 (50% off)
• F1 2011 for $24.99 (50% off)
• Batman: Arkham City for $49.97 (50% off)

I highly recommend the Mount & Blade Franchise for some awesome medieval FPS combat. It’s easily the best medieval FPS RPG to come out of Turkey, and not just because it’s the only medieval FPS RPG to come out of Turkey.

Think of it like a ghetto combination of Skyrim and the Total War series. Raise your own army and lead them into battle, laying seige to castles and conquering the world. Best $12.49 you’ll ever spend.

Steam Holiday Sale Day 2: Sale Harder

The deals keep coming in Steam’s Holiday Sale. Pick up some sweet games and complete the daily objectives to go into the draw to win every single game on Steam.

Todays deals include:

• Dungeons of Dredmor for $1.24 (75% off)
• Chantelise – A Tale of Two Sisters for $2.49 (75% off)
• Costume Quest for $3.74 (75% off)
• LEGO Batman for $4.99 (75% off)
• Half Life Franchise for $9.99 (75% off)
• Sacred 2 for $9.99 (50% off)
• Theatre of War Collection for $11.24 (75% off)
• Duke Nukem Forever for $12.49 (75% off)
• Tropico 4 for 13.59 (66% off)
• Red Orchestra 2 for $19.99 (50% off)
• The Witcher 2 for $32.99 (40% off)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for $44.99 (50% off)

Steam’s Holiday Sale Kicks Off Today

The Steam Holiday Sale kicks off today and runs until January 1st with new deals each day. Besides the usual thing of getting sweet games for less than you’d spend on a burger, this year’s sale also includes The Great Gift Pile.

Each day there’ll be a set of objectives to complete in various games (such as “Complete the Hallway using only the Arrow Wall trap, weapons and spells” in Orcs Must Die) that will reward you with either a gift box or a lump of coal. The gifts can contain free games or coupons to use, while seven lumps of coal can be combined into a gift box.

The Daily Deals for today include:

• Bunch of Heroes for $2.49 (75% off)
• Portal 2 for $2.49 (75% off)
• Max Payne 2 for $2.49 (75% off)
• Orcs Must Die! for $3.74 (75% off)
• Metro 2033 for $4.99 (75% off)
• Just Cause 2 for $4.99 (75% off)
• Rift for $7.49 (75% off)
• Amnesia: The Dark Descent for $4.99 (75% off)
• Pendulo Adventure Pack for $12.49 (75% off)
• Sam & Max Complete Pack for $12.49 (75% off)
• Fable Franchise for $19.99 (75% off)

Oh, and there’s a draw at the end of the sale based on how much coal you have left in your Steam inventory. First prize winner gets every single game on Steam! Amazing. Think of how many Railworks DLC packs you’ll own!

Trine 2 Out On PC Tomorrow

Exactly 10 hours from now, Trine 2 will be released on Steam which is great news. Unfortunately that will happen in the wee hours of the morning and I have to go to work tomorrow, which is not great news.

Luckily the game can be pre-purchased on Steam now for $14.99 and includes access to the multiplayer co-op beta featuring support for 3 players to blitz through two levels. What about Xbox and PS3, I hear you ask? Well unfortunately console owners can expect their versions to arrive on the 20th of December. Condolences.

Other than some incredibly slick graphics and quality action/RPG game play, the main feature of the new game that all Trine players are looking forward to is the online co-op mode. Each level has multiple ways it can be completed depending on whether you have 1, 2 or all 3 characters present and looks like it’ll offer some really rewarding and actioned-packed gaming.

Check out the video below to see Trine 2 in action and then give Steam your money.

Final Day For Steam’s Autumn Sale

The final day of Steam’s Autumn Sale is upon us.

• Dead Space 2 for $17.49 (75% 0ff)
• Demolition Inc. for $2.49 (75% off)
• Greed Corp for $2.49 (75% off)
• Section 8: Prejudice for $3.74 (75% off)
• Thief: Deadly Shadows for $4.99 (75% off)
• Europa Universalis 3 Complete for $3.74 (75% off)
• Divinity 2: The Dragon Knight Saga for $9.99 (75% off)
• Red Faction: Armageddonfor for $16.99 (66% off)
• Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 for $3.99 (60% off)
• Fable 3 for $24.99 (50% off)
• Driver: San Francisco for $24.99 (50% off)
• Modern Warfare 2 for $44.99 (50% off)

I feel a great disturbance on the Internet, as if millions of credit cards suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly used to buy cheap video games.

Steam’s Autumn Sale – Day 2

Day 2. I promised myself I wouldn’t buy any more games from Steam’s Autumn Sale, but I was thinking about it all wrong.

I’m not wasting $5 buying the Monkey Island bundle. I’m saving $10 buying the Monkey Island bundle instead of buying it when it’s not on sale like some sort of sucker. Damn you, Steam.

Today’s deals are:

• Sniper: Ghost Warrior for $5.99 (80% off)
• Fallout: New Vegas for $9.99 (75% off)
• Total War Mega Pack for $14.99 (75% off)
• Rift for $7.49 (75% off)
• Operation Flashpoint Franchise for $13.74 (75% off)
• VVVVVV for $1.24 (75% off)
• Zeno Clash for $3.74 (75% off)
• Monkey Island: Special Edition Bundle for $5.09 (66% off)
• Roller Coaster Tycoon 3: Platinum for $10.19 (66% off)
• Two Worlds 2 for $13.59 (66% off)
• Red Orchestra 2 for $19.99 (50% 0ff)
• L.A. Noire: The Complete Edition for $44.99 (50% off)

Steam’s Autumn Sale Is On

‘Tis the season to buy a whole bunch of great games from Steam for less than you’d spend on lunch. From November 23-27 you’ll find a new set of deals each day on Steam along with the usual massive publisher deals running across the whole sale period.

Today’s deals include:

• Orcs Must Die! for $3.74 (75% off)
• Mass Effect 2 for $4.99 (75% off)
• Duke Nukem Forever for $16.99 (66% off)
• Test Drive Unlimited 2 for $4.99 (75% off)
• Sam & Max Complete Pack for $12.49 (75% off)
• Men of War: Vietnam for $8.74 (75% off)
• Oddworld: The Oddbox for $3.74 (75% off)
• Portal 2 for $10.19 (66% off)
• Call of Duty: Black Ops for $44.99 (50% off)
• Renegade Ops for $9.99 (50% off)
• Dejobaan Collection for $9.99 (50% off)

I highly recommend picking up Orcs Must Die! for under 4 bucks. It’s a great little single player action RPG/tower defense hybrid and is packed with a lot more than $4 worth of fun. Check out the interactive Youtube trailer in my previous Orcs Must Die! article to see the game in action.

Dead Island’s First DLC Available Now

The first DLC pack for Dead Island, Bloodbath Arena, is available now and brings four new challenges to the game.

Bloodbath Arena allows you and up to 3 mates to fight off wave after wave of zombies across four different arenas, similar to the Gears of War Horde mode. The experience points and items you pick up in Bloodbath Arena can be brought back into the campaign mode, so it’s a great way to improve your character.

It’s also a great way to mess around with the game without having to worry about following the orders of some jerk quest-giver. Sometimes a guy just wants to bash zombies with his mates, y’know? Maybe he doesn’t want to collect five bottles of whiskey, 3 car batteries and whatever else the survivors of Dead Island need.

Bloodbath Arena is available on Steam now for $9.99 US (although a lot of people will get it free from various pre-order deals).

3FL’s Dota 2 Beta Key Contest

It seems begging in the ticker at the top of our website has finally paid off. Yeah, that’s right. 3FL has Dota 2 beta keys to give away. How did we swing that, you ask? Valve and 3FL go way back, son. We’ve been Steam mirror buddies for years now.

All you have to do is send an email to contests@3fl.net.au from your iiNet, Westnet or Netspace email address and explain (in 25 words or less) who your favourite Dota hero is and why. Entries close Wednesday 3PM WST 23/11/2011. Limit of 1 entry per account.

The 3 most creative entries will win, so don’t just say “I love Sniper because I love to snipe!” That’s boring. Use your imagination and write a poem or a freestyle rap. Submit an image of your entry carved into a stone tablet. Blow our minds with your creativity and you’ll be pushing mid before the week is out.

The best part is each beta key comes with two additional copies of the Dota 2 beta which can be gifted to your mates through Steam!