The Backlog: Resignation edition
Feb 6th
Mass Effect 3.
My Fellow Earthicans:
Good evening.
This is the 68th time I have spoken to you from this laptop, where so many decisions have been made that shaped the history of this Blog. Each time I have done so to discuss with you some matter that I believe affected the blogosphere’s interest.
In all the decisions I have made in my public life, I have always tried to do what was best for the Blog. Throughout the long and difficult period of struggling through Mass Effect 2, I have felt it was my duty to persevere, to overlook BioWare’s overzealous streamlining, to stop viewing the game as a RPG, and to make every possible effort to complete the sequel to the game I loved so much.
In the past few days, however, it has become evident to me that Mass Effect 2 is, in fact, the brilliant, evolutionary sequel everyone has been raving about. And with that in mind, I come before you to admit that I made a grievous and inexcusable error in judgment.
Therefore, I shall resign to having been “completely, totally, 100% dead wrong” about Mass Effect 2 effective at noon tomorrow. Vice President Thayer will be sworn in as “Guy Who Was Totally Right All Along Even Though Nick Won’t Admit It” at that hour in this office.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go flirt with Miranda some more. Don’t judge.
The Backlog: Mass Effect 2log
Jan 29th
So, yeah.
Some little game you might have heard of called Mass Effect 2 dropped in stores on Tuesday, and…yeah. We’ve all been putting some time into that — some of us at the detriment of schoolwork (*ahem*) — and yelling at anyone daring to spoil any aspect of the game (but that may just be me). We also have divided opinions on the game, too, so read on and see where the contention lies (spoiler free, naturally).
We’ve also been able to play some other games — Forza 3 and some iPhone games included — and it’s time to dig into the details in this week’s Backlog.
The Backlog: Missing Staff and The-Game-That-Never-Ends edition
Jan 22nd
Intrigue! Wonder! SCIENCE! There is no time for pre-break paraphrasing of the vast and riddle-laden mysteries nestled within this week’s backlog. They are too great. Too fragile, perhaps. Inadequate minds would be at a loss if I just threw out the summarized refuse of what might possibly be our worst best backlog ever. I, a humble scribe of purely narratorial (new word) intentions, can barely contain myself during this soon-to-be historical moment; all of this feverish typing is done so with the tight, icy hand of anticipation musing its bony little fingernails into my literary jugular. It commands more words, and bigger and longer and shorter verbs; it shrieks, “More! And faster, and BETTER punctuation, FEWER dashes, that is a GERUND, now use that exclamation point here, stop with the italics because no one likes those! ADVERB!” This entire paragraph is simply devoid of any merit, but I’m still writing!
The tension is building, dear reader. Do you dare click the “Read the rest of this entry” link? Do you? Horrors never seen, never smelled or touched, wait beneath the artificially tranquil whiteness of the CRT monitor in front of you — a beacon of glory with its Bauhaus collage of cat hair, flakes of skin and Taco Bell Fire Sauce fingerprints. You’re expecting something now, something major — possibly even satisfactory or mildly amusing. Do not. Don’t. Placing trust in our ability to “journal” is foolish, and the oily gremlins of disappointment will suck you through that humming, buzzing radiation box to a world of malcontent and pointlessness. But, I ask again, are you nevertheless prepared?
No? You’re not going to click it? After I birthed all of that fluffed up prose — 13 minutes of my life to be clear — above? Wow. Thanks. Really cool of you, man. I’ll be over here kicking rocks with my hands in my pockets, and hanging my head in disappointment.
Anyway…I lied. Here’s the summary: Doug’s M.I.S. (missing in school), Nick’s manifesto has been uncovered by baffled authorities, and I spew some less ridiculous bull and talk about what I played. Hooray! We’re a bit strange this time around.
The Backlog: Winter Blues edition
Jan 15th
Is it the holidays again yet? And we thought last week was a struggle; if last week was like wiping sleep from your eye, this week is how you feel before you’re fully awake in the morning. Hand me my coffee and the newspaper, please, I’m still groggy from the holiday break. As Doug and Nick see their free time chopped away by returning to the grind (but still get some gaming in!), Aaron provides some detailed impressions after finally digging into one of the holiday season’s biggest releases.
Without further ado, onto the Backlog…
Sasquatch Soapbox: Unleashing the Banhammer? Xbox Live, cheaters, and bans
Jan 12th
Ducking bullets and returning fire in Modern Warfare 2 has become big business online — but with tons of online players, bugs inevitably crop up.
For all the positives that your yearly Xbox Live gold subscription buys, it comes with one major downfall: the generic Xbox Live asshole. This is not a new phenomenon — Penny Arcade codified the “G.I.F.T.” system more than five years ago — but on two recent major Xbox 360 titles, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Forza Motorsport 3, it appears that the Live team is finally taking a strong stance on cheaters.
But is what’s happening in these titles really cheating, and is the tough-guy stance really the appropriate response?
The Backlog: Back to the grind edition
Jan 8th
Well, it was fun while it lasted.
With December and its myriad holidays out of the way, everybody’s got something to keep them busy. Doug’s back to work on his master’s program, Aaron has transformed into a job-applying machine, and I’ve thankfully found a job once again. Unfortunately, that means we all have a whole lot less time to be playing games, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to turn a blind eye to our sacred obligation to Silicon Sasquatch. Don’t worry! We’ve got a couple great articles that are almost ready for publication, and we’re anticipating a full run of content next week.
In the meantime, here’s what we’ve been keeping ourselves busy with.
Silicon Sasquatch’s Honorable Mentions of 2009: Nick’s picks
Dec 31st
While our Top 10 Games of 2009 deserve attention for their overall excellence, we can’t neglect this year’s other fantastic games — titles that just missed the final cut. Be it their charm or presentation, our Honorable Mentions were simply hard to forget. We’re arrive at the final installment in our five-part series with Nick’s list of honorable mentions.
2009 Silicon Sasquatch Game of the Year Awards: #1
Dec 31st
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We now present to you, as determined by unanimous vote, the best game of 2009.
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Silicon Sasquatch’s Honorable Mentions of 2009: Aaron’s picks
Dec 30th
While our Top 10 Games of 2009 deserve attention for their overall excellence, we can’t neglect this year’s other fantastic games — titles that just missed the final cut. Be it their charm or presentation, our Honorable Mentions were simply hard to forget. We now present a five-part series of articles, one from each member of the Silicon Sasquatch staff. Today, Aaron brings us our penultimate installment in this series with his list of honorable mentions.
2009 Silicon Sasquatch Game of the Year Awards: #4-2
Dec 30th
We’re proud to present you with our first-ever Game of the Year awards! Our list of the top ten games of 2009 was derived after hours of debate between all the blog’s contributors. It wasn’t an easy process, but we are confident that the list we arrived at is the most comprehensive and fair one we could produce.
Today we’ll cover numbers 4, 3 and 2, and on Thursday we’ll finally unveil our unanimous choice for the best game of 2009.