Steambox, Steam Holiday Sale, Recalled Zombies and Other News

The Big Picture will be remembered as being simply the first step towards Valve's inevitable and unstoppable conquest of all media everywhere. 

As many of our readers already know, Valve's previously rumored "Steambox" was confirmed for a Q1 2013  release just last week. Though details still remain few and far between, gamers everywhere are rejoicing and/or groaning at this announcement for various reasons. While we here at GC happen to love Valve and Steam, I at least am both excited for and dreading this release. With almost 300 games in my Steam library I can't wait to see this "console" released; on the other hand, I have 300 games in my Steam library, so I have little money to afford such a release. With the highly anticipated Ouya console coming out in April, the Wii U out currently, and other next gen consoles looming on the horizon, I can tell that my wallet is going to be taking severe and regular beatings through most, in not all, of 2013.

More news after the jump, and even more coming over the weekend!

Much like the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, it may look cute now,
but in about two hours it's going to end your life in a very painful manner. 

Speaking of Steam and my wallet taking a beating, the Steam Holiday Sale 2012 is officially on like a certain trademarked gorilla who enjoys fighting carpenters/Italian plumbers. There are already some great deals and bundles you won't want to miss. If you're a PC gamer now is the time to load up on enough games to get you through most of the next year and beyond. I personally still have games from the last holiday sale I've not gotten around to playing thoroughly (if at all), due to the sheer amount of titles I picked up. As a word of warning keep calm and wait it out if you're looking for a certain title; as the sale goes on, so do new deals. So keep a sharp eye out for killer deals.

In even more Steam related news, independent title War Z has been pulled from the Steam store, and Valve is offering refunds to those who purchased the title. Due to misleading info from the developer, and possibly other issues with the game, War Z, a top-selling game for the short time it was out, has been pulled for sale until issues with the game can be worked out with the developer. While some are crying foul about Valve not being thorough enough with it's Greenlight Games community, many are rightfully looking to the developer to fix the problems, and remaining calm. While the game is not currently for sale the War Z store page is still accessible on Steam, and those who wish to keep the game can still play/access it. Valve is working closely with the studio who designed the game to get the problems and issues ironed out before a rerelease of the title. Hopefully this one instance of less than stellar output from the Greenlight community won't tarnish what could be a potentially amazing source of games from small and/or independent studios. Here's to hoping they get it all worked out soon.

While that's all for today, I promise a lot of non-Steam related news and info will come soon; Steam just dominated this weeks gaming news. You can also look forward to upcoming articles on independent developers, crowdfunding and the future of games, and, get this, new reviews of games and systems.

Until next time, Keep on Gaming.