Steam 2011 holiday sale rewards one gamer with entire catalog

Steam's annual holiday sale kicked off, and this year's contest to go with it will see someone walk away winning every game on Steam.

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The annual Steam holiday sale kicked off today promising the usual array of specials, game packs, daily deals. The big news, though, is the two-part contest running as part of the sale. When the sale concludes on January 1, one lucky shopper is going to walk away with every single game on Steam. The promotion has kicked Steam's usually rock-solid offline right after the announcement, presumably a result of those eager to get their chances for the grand prize.

Here's how it works. To get a chance at seeing your name announced as the big winner come January 2, you need to play the daily "Great Gift Pile" challenges to accumulate coal. Yep, that stuff for the bad boys and girls could be your ticket to PC gaming nirvana. Each day of the sale, six new challenges will be available. For every one you complete you receive either a "winning" gift of a full game or coupon or the consolation prize of a lump of coal.

That coal is valuable, though. Each lump counts as an entry for the grand prize. So the more you accumulate, the better your shot at it. But, for those looking for a little more sure-thing, seven lumps of coal can be crafted together for a pick from the Great Gift Pile, with the promise of not getting a lump of coal in return. And, for the truly enterprising, both the coal and gifts can be traded on Steam, opening up a whole other avenue of wheeling and dealing.

It's all about the risk-reward equation. Do you want one shot at the epic prize or a deal you know you'll get? Oh, and just to make things a little extra interesting, though most of the coupons are for after the sale, a few special "Golden" coupons will be in there that can be used during the holiday sale to get a bonus savings.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    December 19, 2011 3:15 PM

    Garnett Lee posted a new article, Steam 2011 holiday sale rewards one gamer with entire catalog.

    Steam's annual holiday sale kicked off, and this year's contest to go with it will see someone walk away winning every game on Steam.

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      December 19, 2011 3:39 PM

      Thats some prize
      so far iv got 33% of all Valve games and a copy of Frozen Synapse

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        December 19, 2011 3:48 PM

        i got half off valve games, and portal2 hat

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      December 19, 2011 3:49 PM

      mother of god.. crazy first price gonna need a big hd.. which are pricey now *grr* but why do i have a feeling that if i win, I will get third price (all valve games ... which i own)

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      December 19, 2011 4:21 PM

      how do you figure out what you got? I still haven't seen any gifts pop up on my gift page...

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        December 19, 2011 4:30 PM

        [deleted]

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          December 19, 2011 4:38 PM

          Yeah. I checked my inventory, got the 33% off Valve coupon, unlocked the "check inventory" achievement, but didn't get anything else for completing it... even though it says I won something for completing this task.

          Strange.

          Cool comp though :)

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            December 19, 2011 5:04 PM

            [deleted]

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              December 19, 2011 5:10 PM

              I think their inventory system is just crushed right now; it could take them a while to recover and figure out what everyone should have.

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                December 19, 2011 6:03 PM

                Seems to be the case.

                From the Steam forums:

                "We are currently aware of the issues with your Steam Inventory displaying 0 items when in fact there are items in your inventory.

                We are working quickly to resolve this issue. We appreciate your patience and understanding in this matter.

                Please do not submit support tickets regarding this issue as it will be resolved soon.:

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                  December 19, 2011 8:06 PM

                  I think I got Renegade Ops!

                  I got the "news message" new content is available for your game (Renegade Ops)... still not in my inventory... but I reckon that is my prize!

                  Not bad for a few clicks! :)

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                    December 19, 2011 9:32 PM

                    I don't think so, I got that same message but my gift was another coupon, for Spacechem.

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        December 19, 2011 6:37 PM

        yeah nothing there still.

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      December 19, 2011 4:21 PM

      None of my 20ish friends have ever won anything from these contests and as far as I can find Valve doesn't post a winner's page. Do any of you know anyone who has won a free game?

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      December 19, 2011 4:30 PM

      Oh wow, a whole bunch of half-assed ports and garbage indie games. Not to mention tiny communities for anything actually worth playing, or the absolute mess this would make of your steam library. Nice try Valve, but I guess you'll do whatever you can to keep PC gaming on life support for another year.

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      December 19, 2011 6:35 PM

      [deleted]

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      December 19, 2011 8:21 PM

      Garnett Lee did something for Shacknews? I don't buy it, dude is completely fucking worthless and the most replaceable piece of the podcast, I call shens.

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      December 19, 2011 8:33 PM

      So...I won a game, I guess?

      Holiday Sale 2011 Gift: Blocks That Matter


      Got that + a 25% off any valve game coupon. Too bad I own most of them already. :-/

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      December 19, 2011 8:35 PM

      [deleted]

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      December 19, 2011 8:43 PM

      Anyone know if you have to get the achievements the day they put up or if you can get them later (but still before January)? Going to be traveling and may not have access to a computer one day next week.

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        December 20, 2011 12:36 PM

        They've been adding the special achievements over the last few weeks or so. So you can get them now and get the credit when that particular one comes up on the rotation.

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      December 19, 2011 8:49 PM

      Man I would not take this prize. Steam already takes like 5 minutes to fully load, and I don't have more than 30 games on it.

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        December 19, 2011 9:20 PM

        erm.. your steam is broken?

        I have 125+ games and it only takes ~10 seconds to load and login.

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      December 19, 2011 9:15 PM

      Dungeons of Dredmor worth $2.49?

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        December 20, 2011 1:30 AM

        FUCK YES

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        December 20, 2011 2:05 AM

        Depends if you like that genre of game - If you do, or don't have much experience in them, it's more than worth a go!

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        December 20, 2011 4:57 AM

        Totally; get the dlc as well if it's not included. There's some annoying bugs in the game since the update/dlc release but they should be patched out sometime very soon. (today / tomorrow maybe)

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        December 20, 2011 5:35 AM

        YES YES YES

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        December 20, 2011 6:30 AM

        Yup. Even if you're not sure whether you like rogue-likes, it's worth picking up at that price. It's a pretty, polished, and accessible entree to the genre.

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      December 20, 2011 2:20 AM

      Anyone know how many levels you have to complete in EDGE before you reach the December level??

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        December 20, 2011 2:47 AM

        6 but you have to join the edge steam group to acquire bonus levels... it's not in the main game apparently. (from comments at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfvNEMjHt0M)

        "Thanks, but can you please detail it in your descrip that they have to join the Edge Steam Group to unlock the bonus levels, then they have to go there to get one then go to Extended levels and play up to the 6th one. I wasted time by not figuring this out until I got up to like the 25th level of the main game."

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      December 20, 2011 5:18 AM

      Anyone want to trade gift games won? I got Left 4 Dead as a free gift game but I already own it. I will trade for any game I might not own already, just send me a message with your game you won if interested. Thanks

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      December 20, 2011 6:39 AM

      I bought a couple copies of Ors Must Die for a couple friends of mine. All of a sudden I have two copies of the game in my inventory.....Are these their currently unclaimed copies? Or did I get these two gifts somehow?

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      December 20, 2011 10:22 AM

      Weak with my computer down I think my chances are slim on this one.

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