Wow, already? Never thought we’d make it this far.

We just want to stop, take a moment, and recognize that Monday, December 20th marked the second birthday of Silicon Sasquatch.

What started two years ago as a way for Nick and Aaron to stay on top of their writing skills (and keep from being bored) has evolved into a gaming collective of sorts, with Nick, Aaron and Doug providing content on a weekly basis and friends of the site like Tyler, Spencer and Matt contributing articles from time to time. It takes just one glance through our recently-published book to see that we have improved by leaps and bounds.

So far this year, we’ve published 98 articles — and we’ll finish the year off strong with our 2010 Game of the Year feature next week. Until then, enjoy the holiday season with those you love…and the games you love. Thank you for reading the site, supporting us, buying our book, and giving us a reason to keep writing. We’re grateful for all of you.

That’s why we’re trying something new with our reviews. Over the next month (or less, depending on however many nights I deprive myself of sleep) Silicon Sasquatch will run a series of weekly articles I’m penning on New Vegas to investigate and dissect its noteworthy aspects in set blocks of hours, a section-by-section travelogue if you will. To attempt to review New Vegas after rushing through its campaign would only serve to dilute the experience of the game itself. Traditional reviews may work that way, but we have the opportunity to pace ourselves for this website.

Expect my first entry in the “New Vegas Travel Guide” this Friday, October 22. The initial post will highlight New Vegas’ beginning five hours, and will focus on whatever I see or do that strikes me in a good — or bad — way. Some reviews are painting New Vegas as a near-carbon copy of Fallout 3 but with more noticeable technical issues (at least in the Xbox 360 version, which I will be buying today). Glitches or not, my underlying aim with these articles is to break the game into chronological segments and fairly determine whether or not Obsidian’s efforts overcome any similarities to Bethesda’s work to make a distinct, legitimate product by the time the credits roll.

I’d like to let our readers know that I’m taking open submissions for questions, concerns or hopes you may have regarding Fallout: New Vegas; things that I should keep in mind for subsequent articles. Simply leave your cogitations in the comments section.

BFFs

I just learned something about myself, not more than 15 minutes ago: It’s apparently easy to break down my willpower when there’s a lonely and Xbox-shaped dusty void in my entertainment cabinet. I just placed an order on Amazon.com for a new Xbox 360 Arcade to replace my red-ringed console. I’d been waiting for a potential price drop, and with additional rumors swirling about a “slim” Xbox I was even more hesitant toward the idea of purchasing a replacement system. Microsoft’s advertising slogan asked me to “jump in,” but I had cold feet. That is until today, when Amazon began a fantastic promotional deal for the entry and upper-level Xbox models.

Now, we’re not being paid by Amazon to mention this. Wish it were so, but it’s not the truth. Yet despite the lack of shady corporate handshakes, in which rolled up $100 bills are exchanged, we at Silicon Sasquatch feel it’s only right to let our fellow gamers who are in search of a new Xbox 360 know about this deal. It’s great.

From today until this Saturday, March 27th, Amazon is offering two tiers of gift cards when you purchase a particular Xbox console (sorry: refurbished consoles and the Final Fantasy XIII and Splinter Cell Conviction bundles are exempt). The Arcade will net you a $25 digital card to the online superstore, while the extra-beefy Elite (coming in Winter and Spring varieties) will come with a $50 code. The link for the offer is right here, but the deal specifics need to be repeated for clarity’s sake: You, of your own volition, must add the appropriate gift card to your shopping cart in addition to your preferred console. Amazon won’t give you a code if you just order the console by itself. Don’t worry: the $25 or $50 is discounted at checkout.

Hopefully this is of use to gamers out there who are replacing a broken console like I am, or those of you who have yet to purchase an Xbox console at all.

Now if we can get Amazon to do this kind of deal for the PlayStation 3 and Wii, I’ll be a happy camper — and not of the online multiplayer first-person shooter variety; no one likes them.

Our seasonal/anniversary gift to you: a very tacky card.

It hardly feels like a year has passed since Nick and I made the audacious decision to produce our very own videogame blog. The seedling concept that would eventually become Silicon Sasquatch gestated for a long time over many nights of World of Warcraft (and post-college pity parties), to no immediate avail. But in December of last year we finally put our talents to the test, and gave it go. So here we are now: I’m extremely happy to report that the past year has been quite successful for our corner of the Internet.

The year that was 2009 saw Silicon Sasquatch reach numerous important milestones. From upgrading to a .com URL to creating a presence on Steam, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, we’ve been quite busy. I’m also proud of our numerous experiments with content; be it writing about demos, disseminating news, pondering in retrospectives or tackling cooperative reviews, we certainly tried to be diverse. We even began our own podcast in July, which might be our most significant achievement this year. (New episodes soon, we promise!)

I’d like to note how grateful we have been for the fantastic variety of comments coming from our ever-increasing readership. As egotistical as it might sound, writers sometimes need to know they’re actually engaging their audience. The same can be said about being noticed by the industry itself: Meowcenaries developer Mediatonic and The Path developer Tale of Tales each picked up on our work, and we also received a review copy of an Electronic Arts title. These events were simply radical, and became quite the morale boosters for us.

Silicon Sasquatch may still be very tiny in the grand scheme of things, but we know we have potential. I’m definitely excited for the future, and I thank every single one of you who still reads our work and tells your friends about us. So, please do us a favor by continuing to read and comment. Love us, hate us or “meh” us, any feedback is welcomed and encouraged. We will reward you with e-cupcakes, as soon as we figure out the progamming languages necessary to make that happen.

Looking forward, 2010 will see us push out a better-looking website and more original articles. Don’t quote me on this, but you might also see video content. You know, those moving picture things? And, as always, you can expect more well-written reviews and opinion pieces — Google Analytics tells us you like those.

I’d also like to thank the rest of the Sasquatch team: Doug, Tyler and Spencer. Doug has been with us from the start, and he’s been a fantastic (and continuous) source of opinion, support, criticism, debate and original content. He’s our senior contributor for a very good reason. Tyler and Spencer have been the best podcast guests we could have hoped for, and it’s been a pleasure to work with them. They make sure to tell us like it is, and we need people to keep us on our toes from time to time — Nick and I just need to get them to write more. Thank you again chaps: We wouldn’t have made it this far without your numerous efforts and dedication.

Now go have a fantastic holiday. But don’t forget to look for our “Top 10 Games of 2009″ series — along with the crew’s individual “Honorable Mentions” pieces — starting next Monday!

The headline says it all, friends. Steam is running one of its beloved Weekend Deals on Torchlight, a game we at Silicon Sasquatch hold very dear to our hearts — even though we’ve only played the demo (a lot). But now everyone can have the clever action RPG from Runic Games for just $9.99 (normally $19.99) until Monday! It’s a steal, so go grab it right now. Don’t have Steam? Get it. Don’t have a PC? Buy one — or at least put Windows on your Mac. Linux…sorry?

And did I mention that you can have a dog or cat companion cart your loot back to town for you? I’ll let Penny Arcade explain.

Read after the break for more details.

Critically, Torchlight has been given its fair share of praise. Called “the best Diablo clone in years,” it’s no shock considering the developers’ pedigree. Runic employs some key staff who worked on the Diablo series. But Torchlight is still its own unique and refreshing experience, despite its strong resemblance to Blizzard’s franchise.

If you miss this weekend’s sale, there’s a chance that Torchlight will be going for $9.99 again on Direct 2 Drive during their “24 Days of Christmas” extravaganza. Check out this Cheap Ass Gamer thread for potential evidence (scroll to “List of possible upcoming deals” and click the “show spoiler” button).

I’ll stop writing now, and let the official Torchlight website detail the rest:

The adventure is set in the mining settlement of Torchlight, a boomtown founded on the discovery of rich veins of Ember – a rare and mysterious ore with the power to enchant or corrupt all that it contacts. This corruptive power may have dire consequences however, and players set out into the nearby mountains and depths below to discover the full extent of Ember’s influence on the civilizations that have come before.

Players will choose from among three character classes, and venture from the safety of the town of Torchlight into randomly generated dungeon levels, with a huge variety of creepy monsters, endless variations of loot to find, and quests to complete. The endless randomization ensures a long-lived gameplay experience.

KEY FEATURES

• Randomization – Our level layouts are randomly created, so each adventure is unique. Monsters, treasures, puzzles, and items are also different each time you embark on an adventure.
• Easy, approachable interface – Torchlight is designed to be easy to play right from the beginning. The intuitive interface gives players easy access to a rich and varied world.
• Retirement System – Once characters are sufficiently leveled up, they can “retire” and bestow specific benefits and perks to new characters.
• Pets – Players will choose a pet to accompany them. Pets can level up along with the player, and will help in battle, carry items, and perform a variety of helpful services.
• Character Classes – Players will create and customize a character and choose an animal companion. Through cosmetic choices, skill path decisions, and the treasures they acquire, each character will be custom-tailored and different.
• Fishing – Players can take a break from the high-energy pace of adventuring to visit one of the fishing holes and relax and see what they can catch. Fish have interesting benefits for the player and pet, and other rewards can also be discovered
• Editor – Runic Games is embracing our modding community by providing an editor so our players can create and design their own content.

Note: We aren’t being paid for this at all. We just really like Torchlight.

Most obvious is our change in a layout theme. As much as we enjoyed the old look and its simplicity, I think we can all agree that too much white space only quickens corneal cancer — a problem our new theme certainly doesn’t have. I’m no doctor though, so please don’t quote me on that. Our pretend lawyer would be upset I insinuated anything we do might have caused cancer.

In the next few weeks our design team (consisting of Nick and I) will be working together to introduce a much-needed banner image for the top of the site, and what can only be called a “sweet” background pattern. We’ll also work on developing a trademark color scheme to differentiate us from the millions of other gaming blogs out there. So while that’s going on, I sincerely apologize for any hiccups and delays this process will likely cause. Look for larger article images, too.

I also need to mention our latest page, which we’ve named “Squatchcast.” It might not be obvious from the word we made up, but this is where we’ll compile our podcasts. Please enjoy them, and marvel at my potentially trademark-infringing header image.

Lastly, thank you for all of your support and patience. We’re almost upon our first anniversary of this blogging venture, and we have a lot more ground to cover to be exactly where we want. We thank you for sticking with us this far, and into the uncertain future.

Check back over the next couple weeks for our latest podcast, reviews of Modern Warfare 2 and Beatles: Rock Band, and don’t miss Doug’s freshly minted review of Forza 3!

We’re pleased to announce that the Silicon Sasquatch podcast (irksomely referred to around these parts as the SquatchCast) is now available for your downloading and subscribing pleasure through the iTunes Music Store. For a one-time price of nothing, every podcast we produce will download straight to your computer and mp3 player of choice.

In other podcast news: We’re set to record episode 2 tonight, and with any luck it’ll be posted sometime on Wednesday.

Please give it a listen and let us know what you think. We’d love to hear from some of you; for all we know, nobody else besides us ever reads the site, so even just a “hello” would work wonders for our self-esteem.

I want to apologize. It’s been weeks since we’ve written anything, and you’re probably in the dark as to why.

Well, the short version is we’re all in pretty time-consuming situations of our own:

• Doug just started graduate school,
• Nick’s working full-time and trying his hardest to get into the gaming industry,
• and Aaron’s on the cusp of moving to Portland to begin his job search anew

Those are the excuses we’ve got, anyway. And while they really do account for a significant part of the site’s stagnation, there’s more to it than that.

We’ve lost sight of our purpose in blogging here. We set out to do something different from every other gaming blog we knew and loved (or acknowledged and hated, occasionally) and instead we ended up resorting to the same routine — churning out lengthy, comprehensive (and sometimes terribly boring) reviews of games and almost-daily news regurgitations that fell short of the high standards of informed opinion, polish and sharp analysis we’d hoped to deliver. Basically, we were overwhelmed by the workload and the mundane nature of the process, and we knew we needed to evolve the site or we’d all burn out.

So we’ve been taking a little time to do our own things, and I’ve been thinking about how to reboot the whole thing.

We’re not there quite yet, but I hope that if you’ve stuck with us this far, you’re not about to give up yet.

In the meantime, please subscribe to our RSS feed so you’ll be informed the second we get our act together.

And one last thing: We really want to know what you think of the work we’ve done so far. Anything you love or hate, things you’d like to see more or less of, suggestions, anything — please drop us a line. You can comment on this post, send us a direct message on Twitter, or email any of us — our addresses are just our first name at siliconsasquatch dot com.

Thanks again! We hope to be back and doing what we love to do soon.

Cheers,

Nick

Somehow, even after three DLC releases, Vault 77 still isn't in the game

This weekend we’ll be running a three-part Fallout 3 DLC review feature in honor of the newly released Broken Steel, the third and supposedly final exclusive pack for the Xbox 360 and PC.

All three reviews will be self-contained and cover a specific add-on, but we’ll also determine whether or not Broken Steel’s increased level cap of 30 impacts the relevance of the other two expansions’ content.

Look for our first two reviews to hit this Saturday and Sunday, with the final one dropping on Monday.

And yes, what Ron Perlman says about war never changing applies to our dates as well.

• Saturday, May 9th: Operation: Anchorage — Are the FPS-leanings and winterized weaponry worth the rather short playtime? Take a break from your hangover woes this Saturday to read our answer.

• Sunday, May 10th: The Pitt — A vicious ax that’s part chainsaw, all murder? Check. One pointless collect-a-thon for an achievement? Check. Some bang for your Microsoft space buck? Visit the site on Sunday to find out.

• Monday, May 11th: Broken Steel — Liberty Prime, everyone’s favorite Commie-hating robot, is back for an appearance, and Dogmeat can’t really die anymore. This is supposed to be the biggest and best Fallout 3 add-on yet, but that’s our job to decide come Monday.