It was inevitable, I suppose. Not even Valve’s digital distribution service Steam -- one of the few remaining bastions of "proper" PC gaming -- could remain safe from the terrible horrors of casual gaming. 2012 has clearly come early.

… Ok, so that’s probably blowing things out of proportion a bit, especially since Peggle has been available on the service since forever. All that’s really going on is that a new “Family Gaming” section has been added to the Steam Store. This section will feature games from publishers like ValuSoft, Sandlot Games, MumboJumbo, Her Interactive, and PopCap.

Granted, some of the games look to be of … questionable quality -- Super Granny, Miss Popularity, Dr. Daisy Pet Vet, etc -- but there’s plenty of good stuff in the section as well; World of Goo (not to be confused with World of Zoo), Crayon Physics Deluxe, and Sam & Max all make appearances. I guess there’s around a 50/50 chance that browsing parents will pick out a fun game for their kids.

To help promote some quick sales, Valve has placed several titles in the Family Section on sale. Although most of the games in the sale look like they fall into the aforementioned “questionable quality” segment, it’s a good opportunity to pick up Plants vs. Zombies for $2.50 off the normal price.

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