Steam Summer Sale begins with a bang

This year's Steam Summer Sale starts with no less than titanic games such as Portal 2, Call of Duty MW3, and pack collections from Bethesda and the masses of creators behind the Star Wars gaming franchise. This Valve-run sale requires that you have a Steam gaming account and that you not hold your wallet closed too tightly – deals are to be had at every turn! Grab the legendary Indie Bundle (version I) for $9.99 instead of $40, get Total War: Shogun 2 for $7.49 instead of $30, and get a collection of games from RockStar for $49.99 instead of a massive $120! Click your mouse as fast as you can and stock up for the year!

This sale is a now-yearly beast of a set of deals in which a massive amount of games are put on sale for digital download for astounding amounts off their original price. There's a collection of games in the "Pack Deals" section from the development group known as THQ, for example, that is an unbelievable 84% off its original price. Where if you'd have purchased all of the games in this set before today individually you'd have payed $399.85, you're now paying $49.99. That's a deal and a half by anyone's standards.

At the very least, your one must-buy if you do not already own is Portal 2, a game that's so much fun your head will explode. It normally costs a completely fair $19.99 and will today cost you $4.99, less than a mixed drink at your favorite club you never go to. And you'll never leave the house again if Steam has anything to say about it!

There's also a portal through which you'll be voting on games that will or will not go on sale. Do you want Batman: Arkham City to be on sale for 60% off, or do you want some other game that's a little bit less well known to go on sale? I think you know the answer to that one!

This is the first day of the giant multi-day sale in which prices change constantly, so get out there to Steam's online shop and make it happen immediately!