Steam is offering an incredible deal on 20 of 2K Games' hottest titles in the 2K Huge Games Pack. Featuring well-known titles such as Bioshock and Civilization IV, the package is a steal at $53.99. In fact, that's only a few dollars more than that bunk Bioshock bundle, so if you've got the extra dough laying around and want some new games to play, we suggest you check this deal out.

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Worried that those pesky digital shelves are going to put your local brick-and-mortar out of business in the next few weeks? Worry not, friends, as Valve's Doug Lombardi is here to put all your worries to bed. Talking to GamesIndustry.biz, Lombardi claimed that "free weekend" sales on Steam (among others) actually help to bolster sales at physical retail locations as well as online.

"Recently we've seen data that shows Left 4 Dead free weekends increase the sales of Left 4 Dead on Steam, at retail and on the Xbox 360, which we would never have guessed could have happened, but it's just that word of mouth," says Lombardi. Furthermore, he waves off talk of bad blood between Valve and GameStop over the developer's Steam service, saying, "We spent more money at GameStop in the US promoting Left 4 Dead than we did at any other chain ... we sold more copies of Left 4 Dead at Gamestop than we did at any other chain ... for us, whichever cash register you want to pay at, that's fine." Not that it matters to GameStop anyway, given the lack of a threat posed for at least another five years, right?

You really have no excuse for not owning Fallout 3 at this point. Not only is it a really excellent game, it's packing tons of value with all the different DLC available. And let's not forget the indescribable pleasure of having Danny Kaye songs endlessly stuck in your head.

Now that the game's been slashed to $24.99 for the weekend on Steam, you have less than no excuse. It's like ... negative excuse, which we believe means you're legally obligated to buy a copy, even if you already own one.

If people can clean their hands with a simple name change, then why can't games? Paleo Entertainment recently re-dubbed its bargain-priced shooter, Merchants of Brooklyn, as "Drug Wars." Currently exclusive to Steam, Merchants of Brooklyn suffered an embarrassing release in mid-March when an alpha version was mistakenly sold in place of the final code and apparently failed to recover any credibility. Its Metacritic score of "36" ranks near the bottom of all 2009 games to date. "Drug Wars," on the other hand, ranks decidedly better with a "No Score Yet" rating.

The new name wasn't exactly pulled from thin air (well, at least not this time), as "Drug Wars" was adopted from last month's free, beta-release multiplayer update by the same name. Paleo is clearly shifting focus away from the original single-player campaign -- which has since been "reworked" -- and toward the Drug Wars multiplayer mode. Of course, the fresh start also means building a player base from scratch. Currently, we count three -- and a fourth player who "can't find it to play it." Sounds like this is one of those cold kinda wars, eh?

Keep that fire burning, Mr. Elite Neanderthal Fighter. Keep that fire burning.

Trine is a game with a lot of buzz surrounding it, and for good reason. It's an ambitious title, to say the least, and we're glad to report that the game will be available on Steam today for your downloading pleasure. The game's a bit on the pricier side ($29.99), but provides plenty of bang for those bucks, including three different playable characters, 15 different levels, and co-op for up to three players. Oh, and if you pre-ordered, don't forget about your free copy of Shadowgrounds.

Just do us one favor before you download: Make sure you put on your robe and wizard hat. Thanks.

By now, you're probably familiar with the ambitious, multiplayer puzzle-platformer, Trine. Shacknews is reporting that the upcoming PC version of the game will have an "official" price of $40, with Steam pre-orders available for a discounted $30. (Check out a downloadable demo at BigDownload. Update: We received a clarification from SouthPeak, publisher of the PC game. All versions of the PC game, retail and digital, will cost $30.) Those who want to experience Trine in the most affordable way possible will want to download the PSN version of the game, priced at $20.

Obviously, that's a rather high price point for a downloadable game. However, developer Frozenbyte says the high production values merit the sticker tag. "Trine is far from a game created by a solo hero developer (we have over 20 employees and Trine has contributions from a double amount of people) ... we are very confident that we can deliver a full retail experience with Trine."

Our early impressions of the game suggest Frozenbyte is right. We'd much rather buy this than, say, the equally priced Watchmen: The End is Nigh. While an official PSN date isn't set, the publisher is expecting a July release. An Xbox 360 version of the game, which will support online co-op (a feature not included in the initial PC or PSN releases), is also in the works. [Update 2: Developer Frozenbyte has said that news of online co-op support is "just speculation at this point."]

Usually, whenever we're offered free games as a pre-order bonus, there's some common theme between the reserved title and the aforementioned playable incentive. Perhaps the bonus game is the prequel to the upcoming release, or at least belongs in the same genre as the pre-ordered title. However, a recent deal on Steam seems to go against this convention -- if you pre-order the upcoming fantasy action-platformer Trine on Steam's download service, you get the frantic top-down shooter Shadowgrounds for free.

Okay, so they're both made by indie developer Frozenbyte, but still -- there's a wide chasm between the worlds of Smash TV and ... well, we can't think of a pre-existing game to compare Trine to. Super Ultima-rio Bros?

In what will assuredly be the longest headline for any Xbox Live Deal of the Week post we'll ever run, Microsoft's offering a $5 reduction in price (from 1200 to 800) on Capcom's Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix this week.

That's right, folks -- you're reading this correctly. We're on the second week straight that the Xbox Live Deal of the Week was something worthwhile and not, say, DLC from a three year old game or, erm, DLC from a two year old game. We're not quite sure that the big M and Xbox Live are giving Steam a run for its money with deals quite yet, but we are plopping down our virtual bucks that much more frequently on the service as of late. Here's hoping that we'll keep seeing tasty deals like this rather than some of the ... ahem ... less than savory items we've seen in the past.

Are you a fan of a) downloadable games, b) the Steam service and c) awesomely named action titles? If so, you're in luck -- Novalogic recently added 16 of its high-octane action games to the Steam service, and each one possesses a moniker more radical than the last: Armored Fist 3. Joint Operations: Typhoon Rising. Tachyon: The Fringe. Delta Force - Black Hawk Down: Team Sabre. Delta Force: Xtreme 2.

If you're looking to fill your computer with video games whose names have been injected with steroids, now's the time to do it. For the next week, Steam's slashed the prices of Novalogic's titles by one-tenth. You're getting 100 percent of the radness for 90 percent of the price! How can you pass that up?

Steam users, know that Bethesda has just unloaded three of its top titles onto the service. Starting today, users can download The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Game of the Year edition). Adding further incentive is a 20% discount on these titles, valid this week only.

Odds are you played both Elder Scrolls games already, but if you've yet to try the under-appreciated Call of Cthulhu, then we suggest you pounce on this. The hotel chase scene is an experience we'll never forget.

[Via Shacknews]

Having only been on the market for three months, the PC version of Dark Sector will already be going on sale for half price on Steam. The third-person shooter will stay at the slashed price of $9.99 throughout the week and up until next Monday, June 22.

If you're strictly a PC gamer and looking to dive into Dark Sector, then this appears to be a good time to pick it up. Those with consoles should hit Amazon. The site lists the PS3 version at only $6, and the Xbox 360 version is going for an acceptable $1.49. The PC software of Dark Sector is a direct port of the original console game released last year, so the only difference you'll notice between versions is the price.

Announced today and starting "this summer," Verizon will be offering "more than 1,400" PC games through its broadband service, for $9.99 per month. The service boasts a variety of games, ranging from Bejeweled to Splinter Cell, allowing customers to play the games over an internet connection or download the games directly to their computers -- provided the computer is connected to the internet, that is, presumably for license verification.

For now, the service is only going to be offered in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York, with no word on when other areas will be able to sign up. Between OnLive, Steam, GameTap, and now this, that digital download future we're all expecting seems to be more feasible every day. We've contacted Verizon for more information on the service and will update you accordingly as more news comes in.

Immediately following our demo of Brink, we were able to sit down with Splash Damage creative director Richard 'Rahdo' Ham and grill him some about the game. He came to Splash Damage following work on Fable 2 for this project, and has quite the gaming resume. But, following the demo for Brink, we were left with a lot of questions, and luckily Ham didn't mind answering them. He couldn't give us everything, though, as he failed to answer some of our more serious questions (Coke, or Pepsi?). So, head past the break and check out our chat with Splash Damage's Richard 'Rahdo' Ham!

If you haven't played Chilean-developed first person brawler/shooter Zeno Clash, then you can't sound totally snooty at parties by telling your friends just a few decibels too loudly that you've been playing a Chilean-developed first person brawler/shooter. You might get another chance though as developer ACE Team recently revealed it may bring the game to consoles.

Studio co-founder Carlos Bordeu told Eurogamer that the company is currently in talks to bring the game to Xbox Live Arcade, possibly with some new content, though it still hasn't found a publisher. Seriously, if you get a second shot at the thing, don't pass it up, OK? It's lovely.

Steam is ready to let you sneak up and take a few of Ubisoft's stealth-action titles at very reasonable prices. Until June 5, Assassin's Creed is only $10, while the exploits of Sam Fisher in Splinter Cell and Double Agent are a mere $5.

If those prices are too high, remember that Steam also has Unreal Tournament III to play this weekend for free. So frag away for gratis in multiplayer, or take the quiet killing of single player. The choice is yours.