No, I haven’t got the swine flu. Not even a slight cough. Anniken was out sick for a couple of days last week and I was so sure I’d get ill too, I prepared good for it: I hocked up my old Xbox 360 and bought GTA Episodes From Liberty City. After I got my PS3, I tried to sell my Xbox 360 console, but the big consumer electronics store chains sold Xbox 360 systems so cheap, they completely killed off the second hand console market. There is an obvious upside to this, though; I can play games that are exclusive Xbox 360 releases.

But since I’m not sick yet, the game is still in its plastic wrapping. Nothing wrong with playing the game while I’m not ill, of course, but since being home sick can be quite boring, I need something to do if it happens. I do have some excellent PC games I can play, but they are all strategy games that require some level of brain activity and that’s usually not my strong side when the fever kicks in. But where did all those great strategy games come from?

Well, basically it’s all Valve’s fault. You might know them as the creators of The Best Computer Game Ever Made, Half-Life, but they also run a digital game distribution service: Steam. The service was launched back in 2003 and today it provides games from a wide range of developers. The beauty of everything is that most of the games can be downloaded and played as many times as you want, as long as you’re logged on to the Steam service. Games you’ve already downloaded can even be played without logging in. No more having to worry about crap like DRM activation and where you hid the game DVD.

My “problem”, however, is that they have some ridiculous sale offers at times. What about Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: The Complete Edition for only €19.99? Or AI War: Fleet Command for less than half that price? If you have a decent PC, enjoy computer games and great deals, you should get an account right away.

In other, but somewhat related, news I should probably warn you about the movie Zombieland. While the trailer might look sweet - don’t they always - the movie is not really cinema worthy. You’re better off waiting for the DVD.