Steam Summer Sale 2013

Every year, there are two massive sales on Steam, one during the summer and one during the winter. Today is the last day of this year's summer sale, and, as usual, I bought a couple games I absolutely did not need to buy. I've got 370+ games, but my thirst for good values brings me to the virtual checkout line over and over again. Here are the games I bought, why I bought them, and what the likelihood is that I play them anytime soon.

Fallout: New Vegas - Ultimate Edition ($4.99)

I played Fallout 3 for about an hour over at my friend Chip's house several years ago, and I really, really enjoyed it. Which of course means nothing when it comes to how I spend my free time. I have owned Fallout 3's Game of the Year Edition for over a year now, and I haven't even installed the title. And while I'm absolutely looking forward to playing Fallout: NV at some point, I want to play through Fallout 3 first. After hearing people talk about how they spent hundreds of hours on Fallout 3, and knowing that I'm the kind of guy who takes the long way around in Bethesda games, who knows when I'll get to New Vegas.

Likelihood to play in the next year: 5%

Wanderlust: Rebirth 4-Pack ($7.49)

I loved Secret of Mana. Loved it. When I was in middle school, or maybe early high school, a friend of mine brought the game over and we started playing around 7:30, after dinner. When we stopped playing, the sun was coming up. That's what I'm hoping for out of Wanderlust. It's billed as an arcade-action RPG, and while it looks a little more explosive and intense than Secret of Mana, I'm willing to take a gamble on that kind of payoff.

I also got the 4-pack of this game. The game has a four-play cooperative mode, and I've always been a big advocate of cooperative gaming. So with the opportunity to try out a game I'm interested in, on top of the ability to share that gaming experience with my friends, I think that maybe, just maybe, I'll play this game.

Likelihood to play in the next year: 50%

Under the Ocean ($2.49)

Under the Ocean is the only game I purchased during the sale that I had never heard of before the event. I got a text from a friend about the game, saying it was one of the "hidden gems" of the sale. It was never one of the featured sales, but the discount was deep. The game is still in alpha, which means it'll have its share of bugs and problems, but honestly, that's part of the appeal. Getting to see how a game develops is something I don't normally do; I rarely even buy games at all in the first year or more after their retail release. Picking up Under the Ocean gives me a chance to play a game right away, and for $2.49, you can't beat that.

Likelihood to play in the next year: 75%