Well, Valve has finally done it. Enacting the last phase of Gabe Newell's diabolical plan to take over the world, Valve has implemented the Steam Community Market, where one may finally trade TF2 items for real-life money. The caveat? The money you trade for stays in your Steam wallet, forcing you to buy more things you don't need but desperately want on Steam. Seeing as TF2 item trading has been happening since forever, the switching of the substitutes (such as gift game trading etc.) for real-life money is not that much of a difference in real terms. Note: the purchases carry with them a 5% anti-fraud protection tax and a 10% TF2 tax, collected by Steam. Valve also hints at eventually expanding the market to "include additional items from TF2 as well as items from other games."

Personally, I still am trying to figure out if Gabe Newell and his team at Valve are all Evil Geniuses plotting to take over the world, or if they already have and we just don't know it yet. Regardless, it is inevitable that the Steam Community Market generate a huge amount of trade, no doubt piling Valve's fortunes even higher than before. Now, excuse me, I need to go see if I can get keys on the cheap...