I consider myself to be as hard core gamer as anyone with a wife and fulltime job can be, but when it comes to paying $50 for a game, I'm not as devoted to the hobby as one might expect. Since my discovery of Steam, I've been browsing the store for good games that might not have been great games. This has led me to a couple of gems at the fair price of $19.99. Last night I downloaded and played the original Bioshock demo. I loved it, so I paid $19.99 for the game and I'm looking forward to playing it.

This is a good and a bad plan. I did the same thing with the original Mass Effect. i played ME1 when it was $19.99, and I loved it. The good part is that I saved a whole bunch of money (that could be spent on my wife). The bad part is that I was hooked and then went out and bought ME2 for full retail price. From the looks of Bioshock, I'll probably finish that and go out and buy Bioshock 2. Hopefully, I'll be able to resist for long enough that it comes down in price.

As for other $19.99 games on my radar (on Steam), I'm looking at Left 4 Dead (sort of), Torchlight (kinda. Okay, I'm really waiting for the Last Remnant to come down and Risen.

The only problem with having an abundance of discounted games available is trying to find time to play them. I wonder if I can find a way to play them while I'm at work...