"Steam Trading" Live... Now!

Out of the beta, and into the wide open, Steam Trading is now available to everyone. Steam Trading is the program that allows people to trade in-game items with one another. Even though it is live, it is still very limited in that you can only trade in-game items in Team Fortress 2, Portal 2, and Spiral Knights. 

The program also allows you to trade your games which were bought as gifts to be traded for in game items as well. Nifty!

Head over to Joystiq for the full article and more info. 

Trade Hats For Games (And Other Hats) In TF2

Castrum - Looks like the microtransaction gravy-train rumbles onwards:

Does your Team Fortress 2 backpack runneth over? With the newly launched Steam Trading Beta, you can turn your excess in-game TF2 items into other in-game items or, more importantly, a gifted copy of Left 4 Dead.

How does it work? Well, first, Steam users must first opt-in to the Steam Trading Beta. Then, should they have a Team Fortress 2hat, weapon, badge, footwear item or can of Crit-a-Cola that another user may covet, they can trade said virtual item for, say, a gifted copy of some other Steam game. Just look for other players who have opted into the beta via Group Chat or your Steam Friends List to get your trade on.

I will say, however, that this is refreshingly non-corporate-focused in nature. I'm glad to see that Valve is doing something with its customers in mind, rather than its bottom line.

http://kotaku.com/5829334/now-you-can-trade-team-fortress-2-hats-for-actual-video-games