The Steam Summer Sale is rounding the corner, coming to a close. Having started with a $50 budget, there is still $30 left on the account...and the question is this: why is it so hard to pull the trigger on these prices?

For those unaware, the first Steam purchase on my account (that wasn't a free-to-play game like Super Monday Night Combat) was Titan Quest Gold at the beginning of the Steam sale. Yes, I had never played the game. It's been quite enjoyable so far. Yesterday, I picked up Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes, a game I had purchase on XBLA and just never really got around to playing much of. That game is also rather pleasant (to the point that it led me to playing way too long last night and going to bed way too late).

Games like The Binding of Isaac, Torchlight, and many others are sitting there with price tags under $5, and yet every time the mouse hovers over that "Add To Cart" button, it finds a way of going back to the Store button and surfing some more. Part of it could be because it's the end of the Steam Sale and I feel like I've missed out on some good stuff. The other part could be my qualms with Steam as a whole. I'm not a fan of DRM, and if these games were available on GOG, I would pick them up there instead. Torchlight is now on that service, but for $12 more than what it is on Steam. I'm actually having a debate about getting BOTH versions of it.

There's also a part of me that wonders just how much I'll play any of these games. In the past, my hobbies became something where I collected and collected, buying without much care for what I was spending the money on. I HAD to have that 3-disc Criterion Collection copy of Brazil or that hard-to-find copy of Flesh-Eating Mothers on DVD. If you gave me this same $50 in a used CD store when I was a teenager, it would've taken me two hours to walk out with over 30 albums, but the whole $50 would be gone.

Maybe it's just that I've become more fiscally responsible in my age (I turned 30 in May). At the same time, I just spent over $100 on Heroclix last week! Is that what the problem is? I don't want to spend money on something that isn't going to gain any value? I mean, of the Heroclix I bought last week, they are worth more than what I paid for them out of the box.

So I sit here...with a browser window open...staring at these prices and constantly asking myself "why can't I just buy it?" Even with games that I know are good and I've enjoyed immensely (*cough* GRANDTHEFTAUTO3 *cough*), I ask myself "I played it once already, would I play it again?".

It's all impulse buying, and I think I've become immune to it.

Is this a common problem? I listened to @Brad on the latest Bombcast, and he talked about how he can't understand why someone would ask if a game is worth $3. It kind of made me feel not only fickle, but like a bit more of an asshole than I usually am. However, I want to get the most for every penny that I spend. Will I play Binding of Isaac enough to actually warrant having purchased it in the first place? Moreover, I'm working within $50, not whatever crazy amount the crew can throw at Steam.

In a time where people feel the need to throw money around everywhere for whatever they please, I'm trying to stretch those dollars as much as possible. Right now, I just switched over and Dead Island is $10. I've played some of it on Xbox 360, and I know I love it...but is it worth getting on PC? Are the bugs still there? Would I sink significant amounts of time into the game, or would it merely hold my interest for a day or two before I switch to something else? Could I just spend this money on Heroclix pieces, which I play significantly more?

Anyways, #firstworldproblems and all, right?

Until next time, piece...and hope your Steam Summer Sale picks have been fruitful.