steam posts

No time to waste; there's a lot of PC game sales to report on today:

• Amazon.com's free casual game today is Burger Shop; you can get the game, normally priced at $6.99, absolutely free today only.
• Direct2Drive has Rift on sale for today only for $29.95. Also Direct2Drive also has a number of Activision-published games on sale for the weekend for 50 percent off.
• Impulse has a number of games on sale this weekend including Spore for just $9.97. Also Impulse has Frontline Fields of Thunder on sale for today only for just $1.99.
• GamersGate has a large number of games on sale this weekend including Tropico 3 for $5.08
• Steam has Sol Survivor on sale for the next week for just $4.99.
• Electronic Arts' online store has a one day sale today with 40 percent off a large selection of games.
• The OnLive streaming game service has Kane and Lynch 2 on sale for $5 for today only.

The weekend, and indeed the end of the month, is fast approaching. We have plans to check out Darkspore. What about you?

• Steam has new automatic updates for Tommy Tronic, Cities in Motion, Team Fortress 2, The Settlers 7 and Sol Survivor.
• The country of Australia is thinking about replacing the R15+ game rating to R18+ but there's a catch.
• IGN has posted up a preview of the Free Comic Book Day edition of The Darkness II comic.
• Do you want a Duke Nukem Papercraft doll? Of course you do.
• Portal + Super Mario = This video.

As promised, developer Firaxis Games has released a massive new patch for 2010's turn-based strategy game Civilization V. The patch is now available for automatic download via Steam and the huge patch list is available to check out on the Steam web site.

There's lots of changes and improvements to many of the game's AI features in this new patch along with lots of gameplay changes as well (for example, the game's Stealth Bombers can now get promotions). There's also a boatload of change to the game's user interface and there's also been some bug fixes for mod support, achievements and more.

Getting something for nothing is always a good thing and we have that in today's PC game sales deals.

• Amazon.com's next free casual game is Cake Mania. You can download the game, nomally priced at $9.99, free of charge for today only.
• Steam has Mount and Blade and Mount and Blade Warband on sale this weekend for 80 percent off each.
• Direct2Drive has Napoleon Total War on sale for today only for $12.49.
• Games For Windows Marketplace has Flatout Ultimate Carnage on sale this next week for $4.99.
• Impulse has Cryostasis on sale for today only for just $3.49.

Would you like a game that looks like a Sim City title but lets players blow stuff up like a Command and Conquer game? Then Detour may be the game you have been waiting for. Indie developer Sandswept Studios announced today that its first game will be released for the PC via Steam on May 17.

The game uses a grid system much like Sim City where you can build structures and roads but you are not a govial mayor in this game; your goal is to also build units to blow up your enemies. The game will have a number of single player challenges, multiplayer and co-op modes for up to four players and a map editor so you can make your own levels and share them with others. Pricing for the game has yet to be revealed.

Two of the team members in charge of making the free first person shooter Nexuiz are close to releasing their first commercial game. Lee Vermeulen and Jesse McGibney of Alientrap have announced that Capsized, their sci-fi theme 2D platformer action game, will be released on Steam this Friday.

In addition to the full game, a demo of Capsized will be released on the same day, allowing folks to try out the gameplay features of the platformer, which has a space traveller exploring a planet he (or she?) has crashed on. The game also features local deathmatch and co-op modes, among others. The full verison of Capsized will be released for $9.99.

[Via Blue's News]

Things certainly picked right up in terms of PC gaming news today ... and we also heard news about some online issues happening to some console? We are not sure:

• Steam has new automatic updates for Fate of the World, Homefront, and Left 4 Dead 2.
• StarCraft II has a new beta patch that's available in the public test server.
• iBuyPower has announced it will sell custom gaming PCs on Wal-Mart's web site.
• You can now buy a plushie doll that look like Portal's 2 turrets.
• Turbine will take over the operations of the European servers of Lord of the Rings Online starting June 1.

Lots of folks are returning to work after the Easter holiday period. If you feel a bit on the slow side as a result perhaps these sales will perk you up.

• Steam has put ArmA II on sale from now until Thursday for just $7.99. Also all of the game's expansion packs are on sale for 40 percent off.
• Direct2Drive has DC Universe Online on sale for today only for $24.95. Also three casual games (Zombie Shooter, Mall-a-Palooza and Cradle of Rome) are on sale today only for $1.99 each.
• Impulse has The Twomorrow War on sale for today only for just $4.99.
• Amazon.com has Crysis 2 on sale for today only for $39.95.

Today was a tad slow on the news front thanks to the "Easter Monday" holiday celebrated in Europe and even parts of the US (unofficially). Things should be back to normal tomorrow.

• Steam has new automatic updates for Dinner Date, Atom Zombie Smasher and the Steam client itself.
• Film director James Cameron says games will lead the 3D charge into the home.
• Is Valve done with making single player only games after Portal 2's release?
• Marvel Comics will be revealing the first concrete info on its Marvel Universe MMO on Thursday, including the name of the game's writer.

It's not exactly a shock but Valve's puzzle-shooter sequel Portal 2 finds itself on top of Steam's top 10 best selling PC games list for the past week. A bundle containing both Portal 1 and 2 was in second place this week and the original Portal game reentered the top 10 list in the number eight position.

The full top 10 list is as follows:
1. Portal 2 - Valve
2. Portal Bundle -Valve
3. Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete Edition - Rockstar North/Rockstar Games
4. Metro 2033 - 4A Games/THQ
5. Crysis 2 - Crytek/EA
6. Total War: Shogun 2 - The Creative Assembly/Sega
7. Operation Flashpoint: Red River -Codemasters
8. Portal - Valve
9. Fable III - Lionhead/Microsoft
10. Call of Duty: Black Ops First Strike - Treyarch/Activision