Okay, fine: So maybe we didn’t put our thinking caps on this morning to figure out what ties all three of our Backlog entries together. It’s possible that we didn’t get enough sleep because some jerk woodpecker just had to poke the hell out of a dying fir tree about five feet from a certain editor’s bed for roughly three hours. Maybe that same editor grew frustrated in hunting down a hilarious .jpg and drew a crude comic to vent his frustration instead.

Who knows? It is a mystery. So why don’t we just file it away for now and move on to more pressing matters?

Lovely.

Here’s the skinny: Nick is up to his old tricks, Doug is off the friggin’ deep end of football-induced insanity, and Aaron just really, really hates free stuff.

Nick:

We have to go deeper.

In case you ever decide to plagiarize our wildly successful business model, you might want to take note of a few key details about technique and approach. For example, the first thing I do before writing my Backlog contribution is make a list of every game I’ve played over the past week. This allows me both to prioritize my article’s structure and, in a rare instance of introspection, determine how much relaxation I’ve afforded myself in recent days.

That last part is a lot more important than I’ve allowed myself to realize recently. With so much pressure on my shoulders to find a new job and move back into the city – pressure that is primarily self-imposed – I haven’t had much time to play games, read books, play music, visit with friends, or just be a pleasant, mellow human being.

That’s going to change. I don’t think it’s foolish to suggest that someone can still have fun even while looking for work.

So here’s my pledge to you: Next week’s Backlog will mention at least one new game, and it will be a minimum of 147% more interesting to read. (Don’t you worry about the math — that’s my forte.)

But because you’re already here and it’d be rude of me to shove you back out into the cold, let me get you up to speed. I’ve begun work on my most ambitious project yet in Minecraft: the construction of an underwater city. And no, it’s not that underwater city; someone’s already recreated it anyway. I love how Minecraft makes it remarkably simple to take a concept and make it real in a shared online experience.

Speaking of Rapture, I’ve wrapped up Minerva’s Den, the self-contained narrative add-on to BioShock 2. It’s an interesting piece of content both within the BioShock universe and in terms of what a ten-dollar downloadable add-on can do for a game, and I’m hoping to get a review posted next week.

Beyond that, I’m trying to get back up to speed on pro drums in Rock Band 3 and enjoying some good, old-fashioned masochistic fun with Demon’s Souls on PlayStation 3 and 100 Rogues on iPhone. Something about a high-stakes, brutal, remorseless roleplaying game is just so damn compelling to me. I just need a good safe word.

Doug:

Yes, Doug is still playing this game. No, we don't know when that will ever stop.

Ah, video games. Just last night I put the wraps on my second playthrough of Mass Effect 2, saving the universe in quite the heroic way — and not losing a single crew member on the so-called suicide mission. I’ve still got a little content left to experience in the game, but I could go back through all I’ve already played for a third time quite easily.

Put a little more time into Super Street Fighter IV as well. Nick and I decided that if there’s ever a Silicon Sasquatch office, we’ll definitely have a dedicated SSFIV setup. I’ve loved fighting games for a while, but SSFIV is just about the pinnacle of balance, playability, and fun. I’m really, really terrible at executing combos on the standard 360 pad, though.

But neither of those games are the one I poured time into. Nope. That would go to the ever-present black hole, my addiction, Pro Evo Soccer 2010. If you’ll excuse me for a moment…

(Editor’s note: At this point, Doug has stood up and hastily pulled on his Arsenal soccer shirt. He is speaking in tongues. I’m calling the police.)

Seriously, it’s the time of year I start caring a lot more about European soccer. I’m always following along, but now that college football is done and the NBA playoff race hasn’t heated up, it’s time for soccer. Plus, Arsenal’s still in all four competitions, should win the Carling Cup (first silverware for five years, yay), and could still win the League for the first time in forever, so it’s time to pay attention.

I don’t know how much time I’ve dumped into my main Master League save, but I reckon I’ve played as major Italian club AS Roma for almost 60 hours. Now on my fourth season with the giallorossi, I’ve made some big-money purchases, developed players, and have quite the attacking team. I was using Roma’s stock 4-4-1-1 for a long time, and while it’s a fun way to play, it felt a bit too reliant on whoever is playing AMF (which, to begin with, is Francesco Totti). I loved how Roma’s attackers would switch positions and move fluidly, but I needed a new formation. Getting spanked by Real Madrid in the Champions League final precipitated change, so now I’m playing a more fluid 4-3-3 with a stock back four, DMF and two CMFs, and two SS and a CF up top.

The brilliant thing is that, by buying players who fit into multiple roles, I’ve created a midfield and attack setup where I can play total football until my black little heart explodes. My midfielders rotate responsibilities, my forwards swap positions on the field, and it allows me to do revel in why I love PES 2010: play going forward is much, much more organic and creative than FIFA’s recent games have been. With FIFA, it’s always felt like the best way to play is to put a ball through, spring the offside trap, and go one-on-one with the keeper. With PES, sure, that’s a way to do it, but you can send crosses into the middle of the box, to the far post, in early, and — crucially — you can attack and build in numbers, chipping away around the 18-yard-box until you find a way through.

It’s far from a perfect game — if my other favorite Konami soccer game, Winning Eleven 9, is too quick on the whistle, than PES 2010 is far too stingy awarding fouls, and free kicks are impossible to score on. However, it’s interesting enough to keep me going until the 2011-2012 season games are out this fall.

Aaron

Aaron's pretty sure this isn't a screenshot from the CSI demo he tried, but at this point he doesn't care. He also doesn't think anyone could tell the difference if asked.

Demos are a good and bad thing. They let you give games a preliminary test run before you put down a lot of money. At their best, demos preserve your wallet from waste; at their worst, well, demos let your girlfriend spend an hour playing a god-awful CSI: Criminal Some Bullshit or Whatever game on Xbox.

My girlfriend and I were spending a nice morning off from work together, hanging out and browsing the Xbox marketplace to kill time. I had just finished Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (which, in short, pissed me off a great deal due to idiotic puzzles that truly deserve their own classification in the realm of “fuck this shit”) and made her sit through the entirety of the Dead Space 2 demo. Now, my girlfriend wasn’t upset or put out by my gaming choices the other day; in fact, she enjoyed watching the Prince defy gravity and an unassuming space engineer rip apart demon babies.

However, when I gave her the controller and asked her to pick the next game to play, she went straight to the demo section and downloaded that shovelware CSI demo. It was shit. Horrible, poorly designed shit. The worst part is, I found out that Telltale Games puts these things out! We both did our best to solve the mystery of a car wash cocaine murder, but after nearly an hour of lifeless voice acting and mind-numbing puzzles, we threw in the towel. Now we’ll never know “whodunnit,” and if Gil Grissom caught wind of our performance, he’d be upset yet passively bitchy. That’s the beauty of Grissom.

As I’ve demonstrated here in a very brief bit of writing, videogame demos are a beautiful thing when used right. In the wrong hands, though, they can be a nightmare. Overall, the CSI demo was a learning experience, one that told me how easy it would be to make a decent crime scene adventure game if given to the right team.

After the demo extravaganza, we finished out the day playing Kingdom Hearts. Since I’ve never even touched the series before yesterday, it was fun to sit down and see what the fuss was all about. I’m starting to be excited for the next installment on PS3, no less. It’s nice to play a Square-Enix game from a time before they started to suck at making RPGs (Final Fantasy XIII says hello).

Truly, April may be the cruelest month, but January is getting damn close. After a respite granted by the holidays, the real world stings like the fog on a frosty January morning. Aaron’s got the working man’s blues, living for the weekend (whenever that may actually fall for him — it’s like a shell game, you see), while Doug and Nick have the non-working man’s blues. It’s enough to drive a person crazy.

Plus the days are still crazy short around here. At least we have video games to keep us company! Time for the Backlog!

Aaron

Aaron wonders whether Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game was unfairly hard or if he just lacks the intestinal fortitude to crush Gideon. I'm guessing it's somewhere in the middle.

I never thought I’d get around to beating Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game, but I did. In the end it took about two hours of focused dedication to defeat the Katayanagis, NegaScott and the many evil forms of Gideon. Looking back after a couple of days since then, the game really wasn’t that difficult…I’m just bad at beat’em ups.

It’s been another solid week of LittleBigPlanet 2 action at my house, and my appreciation of the game continues to grow. The charm of the series has never been lost on me, but I’ve connected with the sequel in a way that wasn’t possible with the first. Maybe that’s because I own my own personal copy of number two and, in a way, I feel a legitimate connection to my Sackboy and his experiences — the clothes he wears and the items he collects. Sharing the brilliant level design and quirky British charm with my girlfriend has also made LBP2 my favorite game of 2011, which isn’t really a big honor because I haven’t tried Dead Space 2 yet.

Nick

Nick calls Solipskier a cross between SkiFree and blazing guitars. I'm just glad he finds the gameplay fun.

Call me crazy, but I just haven’t been in the mood for videogames this week. I’m pushing hard to find a job and figure out how I’m gonna move out on my own once again — am I sounding like a broken record yet? — but aside from that, I’ve mostly just been sleeping.

I plunged back into BioShock 2 with Minerva’s Den, a self-contained story add-on. Look for some more on that once I wrap it up in the next few days.

I’ve barely scratched the surface of LittleBigPlanet 2 since the day I got it, and I think I know why: playing it alone just isn’t much fun. I had the good fortune of having a friend around when my copy arrived and we blazed through the first world, having a great time of it. But since then I can only get through a level or two before I get frustrated or bored and shelve it again. Much like the first LittleBigPlanet, the real value of the game is in its creation tools and not its level design; unfortunately, the only way to get the tools for level building is by playing through the single-player mode.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. I picked up Solipskier yesterday, an awesome little game that’s well-suited to a touchscreen platform. It’s available on iOS and Android, and there’s also a web-based version on the developer’s site. It’s a simple concept: draw a path for a skier to follow with your finger, building up speed and hitting gates while avoiding pitfalls. I’ll admit I didn’t get the appeal when I saw it on a friend’s phone, but that’s probably because the sound was off. Solipskier features some great music, with its ridiculous guitar-shredding gameplay song that clashes beautifully with the quiet Chopin piano composition that accompanies the game-over screen. It’s currently down to $.99 on the App Store; highly recommended.

Doug

Super Street Fighter IV, or: Nick kicks Doug's ass, repeatedly.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. When the times are lean, then, the gamer gets creative. Over the past few years I’ve noticed myself spending a lot of time gaming forward, consuming a bit of a game then buying another new one the next month. I can’t do that right now, so it’s time to burn through my backlog of games. Otherwise, I’m liable to go insane either by overdosing on Pro Evo Soccer or job applications, and neither is a great idea.

How this turned into a ringing endorsement for Super Street Fighter IV, then, is anybody’s guess, but god damn have I forgotten how good that game is. Nick can still kick the ever-loving crap out of me at it — in ten online matches earlier this week, I won once, maybe — but I’m struggling to think of a good reason why I ever shuffled the game out of my regular rotation. It really is an amazing fighting game, matching a deep fighting engine with fast action and a great graphic style. I’ve noticed a few extra graphic flourishes of late, too, like the look of horror on your opponent’s face during the windup animation for an Ultra. I’m still really bad at the game, but improving through sheer determination and practice.

Like Aaron, I’ve also spent more time on Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Now that I know the best process for leveling up a character, I can avoid the frustration of being at a high level but without upgraded stats. The sprites, songs and beat-em-up gameplay are still fulfilling, and the DLC pack at least adds Knives as a playable character. So it’s got that going for it.

Normally I’m the guy who’s elbows-deep in sports game career modes, all worried about the dynamics going on within my soccer, football or basketball season. I enjoy story-based games, but I’ve always been really bad about justifying taking the time to complete missions. Right now, though, I’m in a real patch of single player goodness — I’m almost done with Assassin’s Creed II and my second playthrough of Mass Effect 2.

AC2 has continued to impress me in almost every way possible. The game uses so many of the same basic ideas as its predecessor, but it paces and meters them in a much, much better way. I love the storyline, finding out The Truth, exploring renaissance Italy, and all the wonderful Italian cursing.

And what can be said about ME2 that we haven’t already covered in detail? Still a great game. I think I’m going to find time next week to dive through the game’s final mission. Can’t wait for ME3.

There’s not much to say this week. Doug and Aaron are both on trips of varying intensity and length, and I’m once again at the helm. But I’m not jealous! There’s a quiet dignity to be found in staying at home, you know. And it saves money. Really, it’s the only reasonable way to live in these uncertain times.

Yep.

I mean, what kind of person would really want to go on a whirlwind tour of Asia for a whole month? Doug. Doug’s the guy. And, wow, big deal — the first weekend with amazing weather in the Pacific Northwest. “Hey everybody, we need to go party at the coast now!” That’s definitely what Aaron said when he left to go party at the coast with his totally awesome and probably quite attractive friends.

But no. I’m fine. I’m fine! Just, you know, read this thing and leave me to my unbridled joy.

Aaron

Gross!

What a week! In the span of seven days I’ve managed to acquire three new games, one of which I finished last night and loved – in opposition to my formerly hesitant feelings toward it. That game was BioShock 2.

My final contribution to this week’s backlog is about this Eurogamer article comparing the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Final Fantasy XIII. While the technical and detail-rich write up hasn’t told me anything that I didn’t already expect from a three-DVD port of a Blu-ray title, it still frustrates me to think that Square Enix half-assed a version of their game for a console with a larger install base in the U.S (based on summer of 2009 sales numbers for both consoles). In Japan, the PlayStation 3 matters for RPGs — I get that. But here, the latest game in the series has the potential to sell extremely well on the Xbox given the popularity of the RPGs (though Western they may be, i.e. Mass Effect) already available for it. For all I know, the sales numbers for both of Final Fantasy XIII’s platforms could be very close. Oh well, I suppose. I’m still buying it for my 360, only because I don’t have a PS3, and I’m still not going to rectify that anytime soon.

Doug

Doug shot this photo of Neon Genesis Evangelion and Ultraman-themed merchandise, which has been adopted as the unofficial national currency of Japan.

Editor’s Note: Doug was too busy having the time of his life traveling throughout Asia to contribute this week. In the meantime, enjoy this photo he shot.

Nick

Spider-Man ain't got nothin' on Rico Rodriguez.

I’ve got a soft spot for any game that has ambitions of enabling the player to pull off ridiculous stunts in open-world settings. I loved Saints Row 2′s unabashed emphasis on comedy and excess instead of story and realism. Mercenaries 2 won me over with its B-movie appeal. And Red Faction: Guerrilla? After two playthroughs, I’m still craving more  of its trademark destruction and hammer-swingin’ goodness.

So it’s no wonder that I’m currently having the time of my life with Just Cause. You remember Just Cause, right? It was a port of a sixth-generation open-world game that garnered mixed reviews when it came out nearly four years ago. It’s certainly far from perfect — imprecise controls, uneven design, abysmal acting and animation — but the game has a soul.

The grappling hook isn’t exactly a new concept to games — Bionic Commando is probably remembered as the first mainstream example of swinging based action — but when paired with a parachute, the possibilities explode. Instead of being a mere diversion, BASE jumping is the most reasonable way to travel. Why drive a car when you can hook onto one and parasail the highways of a war-torn Central American country?

But even for all the fun I’ve had with it, Just Cause 2 looks like it’s going to blow it away. The action is tighter, the music is better, and the landscapes are absolutely stunning from the air. And most importantly, the grapple/parachute combo has been reinvented. Grappling now works on any surface, meaning Rico can build up momentum and deploy his chute anywhere. And in a clever twist, the grappling gun can now be used to attach any two objects to each other — such as gas tanks and bad dudes.

Just Cause 2 looks to refine and update what made the original so fun while also cutting out the things that held it back from being a uniformly great game. The demo’s live on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, and I’d highly recommend you go check it out.

Finally, I also completed BioShock 2 and Heavy Rain. But after playing so many games about water, dads and crazy people, I think I need some time to decompress before I revisit those experiences.

Time for a mea culpa, guys. I was hoping to broadcast this backlog at its regularly scheduled time (“whenever on Friday, I guess”) but unfortunately ran into a snag where I was unable to use my computer. Something to do with driving through planned communities in Wilsonville in the middle of the night; I don’t know, let’s not dredge that episode up. Anyway, the short version is I invented a time-traveling DeLorean and traveled to the past to get the backlog posted on time.

Everything was going just fine — I survived an adventure in the wild west and I made Biff look like a total dweeb — but unfortunately, I ended up getting totally distracted by the same exact scenario and wound up just where I’d started. Except it was now Sunday.

Oh well. I guess I should be grateful; for a while there, I was kinda worried I’d end up creating a time paradox.

There's an inexplicable, potent comfort to be found in always having Plants vs. Zombies within arm's reach.

Doug

I hate to be The Guy Who Brings In Real Life all the time…but this week has been finals week, and all I’ve really had time to do is play a little bit of stress-relief NCAA Football 10 at night once, and then burning my iPhone battery a bit continuing on with Plants vs. Zombies.

I know that it’s always a discussion amongst certain core gamers, but seriously: PopCap makes some great games, period. Not great casual games; not great iPhone games, or baby games, or whatever other pejorative you want to tack on. PvZ, Peggle, and Bejeweled are all some of the best examples of quick-fix gaming available; the steady stream of hits that PopCap has managed makes them one of the developers and publishers with the best track record out there right now, too. It’s rather amazing when you stand back and think about it.

The other part of real life I wanted to throw out there is more related to the site: I’m going to be traveling with my graduate program in Japan, South Korea and China for the next month. If you have any ideas or topics you want me to cover, please send comments or e-mails and I’ll take them under suggestion. I’m going to have a whole week to myself in Tokyo to do some exploring, and I definitely plan on hitting up nerd mecca at least once.

If you're capable of playing a game with this much happening on-screen, I think I owe you a dollar.

Aaron

I’m going to drop some knowledge on you, dear reader. I lost five hours of my day to a haze of space-faring political machinations and plasma-cannon combat.

That’s right: I ordered a used copy of an Xbox 360 launch title that I previously had zero interest in (and zero knowledge of). Why? Well, I was linked to a video from Giant Bomb. This nearly hour-long look at Amped 3′s numerous cutscenes has shown me the brilliance of the game’s insane humor, especially after the 20 minute mark. The video’s claim of Tim and Eric-like influence was at the back of my mind before it was even said. And that, friends, is why I’m excited for Amped 3. I smell a Retrospective in the air.

Broken Sword is clever, intuitive and gorgeous. So naturally, it's the perfect complement to any iPhone.

Nick

I began playing Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars Director’s Cut on my iPhone earlier this week. Without a doubt, it’s the most accessible traditional adventure game I’ve tried for my phone. While The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition and Beneath a Steel Sky were both good games, their interfaces left a lot to be desired. Broken Sword is built upon the same adaptations that were in Beneath a Steel Sky, but the control scheme is a lot more polished and intuitive this time around. The sound quality, voice acting and visuals are all top-notch, and the experience has been very engrossing. It’s currently available for five bucks on the App Store — why don’t you give it a shot?

Being the fiscally irresponsible person I apparently have become, I picked up Heavy Rain this Tuesday. I have some serious reservations about the game and its creators (other than Guitar Hero 3, I really can’t think of a more disappointing game in recent years than Fahrenheit) but after about four hours immersed in the experience, I’m utterly amazed at what Heavy Rain shaped up to be. I’ve long been a proponent of interactive fiction — involved, intricate stories that mold to your actions — which is a fledgling genre if ever there was one. Most people who go out to buy a game probably expect the gameplay to be the main attraction with the story functioning as window dressing. Heavy Rain delivers just the opposite. It’s a compelling experience with a surprisingly elaborate amount of nuance and variation based on your actions, and while the controls are sometimes frustrating, they’re more than adequate to suck the player in to the experience. If you’re at all interested in how interactive storytelling works, Heavy Rain is perhaps the boldest experiment yet.

And of course, I’m still tromping through BioShock 2 in my Big Daddy suit. (No, not that suit.) What began as a modest successor to a groundbreaking commentary on games has taken form over the past few hours into something much more substantial: a brilliant game in its own right, and a significant improvement over its forebear. And despite the widespread criticism surrounding the multiplayer component, I’ve been getting my kicks blasting splicers apart for the last couple weeks. I think it’s a pretty inspired take on class-based multiplayer, and it’s sure a lot more interesting than Modern Warfare 2′s modest (at best) improvements over Call of Duty 4′s fiendishly addictive online scene.

Lots of good things start with the letter “b”; Many games right now, for instance (Battlefield and Bayonetta being two of them). Other things start with that letter — like business school, bad tests, The Beatles…and also brains.

Wait, brains? It will make more sense in a moment! So, without further ado, here’s the log.

The Beatles' "Here Comes The Sun" seems apt for a week where the sun shone through the usual February doldrums in the Northwest.

Aaron

What a boring week for me. I didn’t play that much of anything during the past seven days, aside from more Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and a little bit of Bayonetta. Isn’t it bad when you can’t remember what you did for one-quarter of the month?

So, I apologize for my lackluster contribution to this edi…oh, wait, I remembered: I did some drumming. I rocked out in the virtual sense with Beatles: Rock Band, but I also played music outside of the game when I took my non-plastic drum kit to a friend’s house to spend an entire day in a focused jam session. It felt good to do what I used to do — it’s been nearly three years since I had my full kit set up. I laid down some sick beats, bro.

Next week will be seven days of the letter B (I think I just turned into a Sesame Street character), with a mixture of more Bayonetta and Bad Company 2, and the arrival of my brand new, $8.99 copy of Bionic Commando from Amazon. Sure, that tiny bit of money could have gone to BioShock 2, Darksiders or covering the cost of Bad Company 2 now that Barnes & Noble cancelled their $20 mistake, but I like to live in a state of stupidity sometimes.

Netflix Instant Watch has been all that's kept Nick connected to his Xbox 360 this week.

Nick

Bayonetta. Darksiders. Forza Motorsport 3. Mass Effect 2. DJ Hero. BioShock 2. They’re all sitting right in front of me, but I haven’t touched any of them in days.

I wish I could say I’ve been getting lots of quality time in with a few of my current favorites, but this week has been so draining that I’ve only had the energy to come home and boot up my Netflix Instant Queue before my eyes glaze over and my jaw falls slack.

Also, this weekend I’m looking forward to taking the GRE. But that’s not a game (It is, in fact, the most dangerous game of them all – Ed).

Now that PopCap has released Plants vs. Zombies for the iPhone platform, you can use the dark horticultural arts to protect your house on the go.

Doug

Add me to Nick in the “too busy to play games” category this week, sadly. Finals are next week, and between school and real life my AS Roma team have had to wait patiently on the PES 2010 sidelines, my Forza 3 cars have had to sit in the garage, and the Normandy has just had to cruise in a holding pattern for my second Shepard in Mass Effect 2.

However, one bright, shining, wonderful gaming thing has come into my life this week: Plants vs. Zombies has been released on the iPhone platform. That sound you hear is my free time being sucked right up by yet another Popcap game for iPhone. I didn’t buy PvZ last year when it first came out, but played and saw a decent amount of it — certainly enough to know that the new handheld version is an almost-perfect port. And, yes, the touch controls work brilliantly.

Plus it’s $2.99. What are you waiting for?

Why am I so conflicted over BioShock 2? The original was great, brilliant even. And if 2K Marin’s sequel is half as good as the first, that would still make it better than all of the dust-collecting shovelware currently sitting on store shelves.

Nick doesn’t seem as wracked with indecision this week as yours truly, and I fully believe it when he predicts BioShock 2 will soon find a spot in his vast library of interactive software. However, Nick doesn’t know that upon purchasing the game he will be obligated to review it. Sorry, friend.

Doug takes this edition’s opportunity to educate us on the intricate differences between Pro Evo Soccer 2010 and FIFA 10, and it’s an extremely informative primer about a segment of gaming I’ve all but forgotten. I actually want to give soccer sims another shot after reading it. Truly, I do.

And for me, well, I’m in love with Bayonetta — the game, mind you. Though with her strength-based sex appeal and quotes such as: “Do I look like I’m a child person? Making children, on the other hand,” it’s easy to swoon over the ridiculous charm of the character and to even feel all right about it; hopefully without coming off as a chauvinist.

Also, apologies for the article headline. An Otis Redding track pack is coming to Rock Band next week, and I thought the titular pun was appropriately humorous. I was likely wrong.

Cut from Heavy Rain was a special DLC skin for Radiohead's Thom Yorke

Nick:

When you’ve been playing games for 20 years, you tend to appreciate the major advances that have been made in game design. But at the same time, it’s nice when an ages-old strategy remains as relevant as ever. And in the case of Mass Effect 2, it turns out that maintaining multiple save files is still a really, really good idea.

I managed to save the universe last Sunday, but not without paying a heavy price: My crew was decimated by a couple of terrible decisions that I made. While I appreciate the real weight of the consequences your actions have in the game’s suicide mission finale, I wasn’t about to let my game end on anything but my own terms. I re-evaluated what went wrong the first time around, and managed to complete the mission a second time last night without a single mistake. That felt good.

I held off on picking up BioShock 2 this week, a decision that gnaws at me every day. I’ll probably cave and purchase it soon. What can I say? I’m a sucker for art deco, big band music and Objectivism.

And in a few moments, I’m going to boot up the PlayStation Network demo of Heavy Rain, a game I’m both anticipating and dreading. Back in 2005, I was captivated by Indigo Prophecy’s demo and its revolutionary, open-ended adventure game design. I wish I’d known at the time just how disastrous the rest of the game was — frankly, it was the absolute worst game I finished in the last decade — but from what I’ve heard, Quantic Dream learned from its mistakes when it set about designing its latest game. Indigo Prophecy was proof that Quantic Dream was a team filled with brilliant ideas. I just hope they managed to fully develop them this time around!

Doug told me this is from a fictional version of the World Cup. The Konami Cup? How clever, you crafty developers.

Doug:

Along with finishing Mass Effect 2 — which was an incredibly satisfying and very well done game from start to finish — I’ve hopped back into one of my classic addictions: Konami’s Winning Eleven soccer series. In lieu of sitting down and working on a review that very few of our readers would likely find useful, I will instead take some time here and justify how I can absolutely love Pro Evo Soccer 2010 but also want to give it a mediocre review score.

This game does lots of things right. It provides a deep, customizable single-player mode in the form of a refined Master League (with added UEFA Champions League licensing!), an improved animation and physics engine for the gameplay, and even more expansive customization possibilities. As somebody who’s put probably 200 hours into PlayStation 2-era PES titles, the latest game is what I’ve wanted for the last two years: a good next-gen console PES.

The problem is the learning curve. Not only do you have to have a real interest in soccer — not a given here in the U.S. — but you have to be willing to put a lot of time into PES 2010. The controls are an evolved mish-mash carried over from the PS2 era; there’s little doubt that some parts of the control could be better. Intimidating for newcomers, yes, but for somebody who already knows what to do it’s an adequate improvement over the previous incarnations. The same goes for off-the-field mechanics too: Konami has never secured as many licenses as EA Sports’ FIFA titles, but that’s fine because you can edit the non-licensed teams to within an inch of realism. Buyers of the PS3 version of PES 2010 can do a little heavy lifting by importing game files that will fill the lackluster licensing holes; problem is, it’s much more difficult on the 360, and even renaming teams can be an intimidating process — never mind renaming all the players on any given team.

So why do I put up with this crap instead of just buying FIFA 10? Because of PES 2010′s on-field gameplay and presentation. FIFA’s graphics are very good, but they have always looked “off” to me; PES looks more like how soccer has been broadcast on TV for years. It’s an aesthetic preference. FIFA’s gameplay is fine as well — the last few years have improved both the passing system and the A.I., making the series more robust — but it still feels a touch hollow and boring. Few PES games are boring, especially in all the ways one can move the ball upfield and put it in the back of the net; FIFA over the last few years can feel like foosball at times.

For example: my current Master League save is with Italian club AS Roma, which has a very good attacking left fullback (John Arne Riise) who can bomb up the wing and put crosses in from deep with pinpoint accuracy. I’ve scored a couple of headers this way, and trying to work an opening to make use of this particular player’s strength is engaging and fun. Making use of other players and their talents is also a challenge — playing tappy-tap football with my favorite team, Arsenal, is a very different game from building Liverpool’s attack around Steven Gerrard’s surges forward and Torres’ brilliance and speed. They’re all rewarding, true to real life, and once you’ve built a team that plays how you want to play, it’s utterly brilliant.

If you understood any of that above paragraph, PES 2010 is probably for you — it’s not for everybody. Otherwise, stick to FIFA and enjoy the ride.

One word: Redonkulous.

Aaron:

I’m not even close to finishing Bayonetta, which arrived in the mail last Saturday. Each day I chip away a little more of the game, constantly pausing between chapters to evaluate such things as: my foolish blocking mistakes, which combos work best, how many halos I need to save up for a cool attack, and so on and so forth. The fact that I’m taking my time and being meticulous about my decisions tells me that I actually care about the entire experience. I don’t want to ruin it.

When I plow through big games like Borderlands, Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2, it’s because I find the experience addicting;  I’m flushed with the desire to keep amassing experience, loot or whatever other incentives are there. That’s just my style, and it’s why I’ve been a diehard RPG fan for as long as I can remember. But sometimes, it sucks to play games like that — no matter how many moments etch themselves into my brain, I get the sense that I’m missing something by forcing myself to perform a blitzkrieg of playtime. In that sense I highly appreciate Hideki Kamiya’s work in the action genre. Bayonetta has forced me to use gaming muscles I’ve lost since the PlayStation 2 days.

Back then I played Devil May Cry to death, dominated God of War (and also yelled at it in anger) and absolutely loved the Viewtiful Joe titles on GameCube. Ever since the latest generation of consoles started I’ve forgotten how to play certain games, and I’m quickly remembering that it’s very important to diversify your gamer’s resume to effectively expand your digital horizons. I’ve missed relying on my twitch reflexes and an intimate knowledge of combo systems to achieve battlefield domination.

Bayonetta has brought that level of fun back to me. It’s witty, intelligent, hilarious and has the greatest videogame heroine I’ve had the privilege of playing as (aside from Beyond Good and Evil’s Jade, perhaps). I’ve never seen an action game that takes itself seriously while simultaneously laughing at its own lineage since, well, Kamiya’s other games.

I’ve also put around 16 hours into the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 demo.

I’m buying the full game, no question. And don’t forget to highlight March 2nd, 2010: Look forward to it as the day I will absolutely destroy you with my Bad Company 2 sniping abilities. I rarely boast, but this time I’m telling the truth.

The heroes from just a few of the major releases coming in the next few months: Sam Fisher (Splinter Cell: Conviction), Lightning (Final Fantasy XIII) and Shepard (Mass Effect 2).

After building this list from a shorter one we borrowed unceremoniously from Kotaku, we weighed the evidence presented to us so far and drew up our own shortlists of essential titles, as well as a handful of potentially great purchases.

You’ll find our own lists, along with our justifications, after the break. And if we ignored a great game or missed one completely, please let us know. Thanks!

Nick’s Picks:

Mass Effect 2 on Xbox 360: This one’s a no-brainer; I loved the first game (like most people here) and replayed it multiple times. And while Dragon Age was excellent on PC, the original Mass Effect felt better tuned to me on a console. I can’t wait to see how the story evolves.

Final Fantasy XIII on PlayStation 3: It’s a great thing that Final Fantasy is available on multiple platforms, but there’s no doubt that I’m going with the PS3 version. Not that I have anything against the 360′s RPG prowess — after all, Lost Odyssey proved the machine does a perfectly acceptable job of handling JRPGs — but the PlayStation controller is so familiar to me in a lengthy, story-driven game that it’ll hopefully help fuel the fond memories I have of the series when I pick up the newest iteration. And also, I’ll admit I’m looking forward to playing a game without disc-swapping.

…and some possible additions:

Army of Two: The 40th Day on Xbox 360: Call me a fool or a hopeless bromantic, but I’ve always felt that Army of Two was a great game that suffered from its marketing image and brain-dead protagonists. Underneath all that was a pretty smart and thoroughly enjoyable co-operative game with some clever new ideas and intelligent things to say about the state of warfare in a world where private military companies command lucrative contracts, expensive hardware and operate just shy of any established moral compass. The sequel seems largely on-track to add credence and weight to the philosophy of the first game; let’s hope they deliver. I’ve been starved for a great co-op shooter since Gears of War 2 amounted to such a disappointing sequel.

Bioshock 2 on Xbox 360 or PS3: I’m still struggling to understand why a sequel to Bioshock is worth making (potential for profit aside). I felt the original was one of the best games I’d ever played thanks to an incredibly distinctive setting and poignant commentary on the role of players in games. I’d be happy to fall under Rapture’s spell once again, but I want to be absolutely certain that this return visit is being given the same top-notch attention to detail and purpose that the first game was hailed for.

Splinter Cell: Conviction on Xbox 360: What an inconsistent series Splinter Cell has been. From its excellent debut on the original Xbox to a shoddy sequel, followed by an absolutely astounding third entry with Chaos Theory, Splinter Cell has seen its ups and downs. The only iteration released on this console generation, Double Agent, was unfortunately another step back for the series. With Ubisoft Montreal back at the reins (and several years to be refined to perfection) I’m hopeful that this latest entry in Sam Fisher’s story could be the greatest yet. Clever art design, refined combat and interesting mission structure all seem to be the game’s best assets. Here’s hoping the game shapes up in time for its February release.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 on PC (or maybe Xbox 360): If any modern multiplatform game series sticks in my mind as a PC franchise, it’s Battlefield. Sure, the games have been inconsistent in quality on PC, but I’ll never forget the sheer scope and brilliance of Battlefield 2, with its robust squad system, addictive unlockables and massive online battles. No other Battlefield game has come close to capturing the sheer scale of BF2, but Bad Company sure came close in terms of bringing the Battlefield multiplayer formula to consoles. Bad Company 2 looks to be a return to what made BF2 on PC such a riot; unfortunately, the PlayStation 3 beta hasn’t offered much to judge the game with.

Aaron’s Picks:

Mass Effect 2 on Xbox 360: BioWare becomes a more impressive developer with each game it releases. Mass Effect was a fantastically original RPG, and proved our northern neighbors can craft an epic story without the involvement of an established franchise (Dungeons & Dragons/ Star Wars). I expect the second Mass Effect will mend the first’s technical issues, as well as offer a logical replacement for the old combat system. I think it’s safe to say that after playing the original game to completion six times (and starting my seventh run through this week), I will absolutely buy whatever BioWare packs on the disc. But please, more Garrus!

Mafia II on PC (unconfirmed release date): I said in our last “Games of” feature that the original Mafia exceeded in creating a realistic open world before Grand Theft Auto could. While times have changed and the charms of a classic mobster world have worn a bit thin, 2K Czech is still a talented studio that won’t compromise its vision. Based on trailers and previews, Mafia II is going to be told exactly how the developers want it to be, from the tiniest plot thread to the biggest twist. I’m looking forward to a gripping story filled with murder, intrigue, politicking and every mobster archetype imaginable.

Splinter Cell: Conviction on Xbox 360: Splinter Cell is my favorite stealth action series. Forget Metal Gear. I’ve found the less-insane stylings of Sam Fisher and Third Echelon to be a lot more tolerable than plodding through “Who Betrayed Snake This Time: The Squeakquel.” That said, Splinter Cell: Double Agent was awfully boring, poorly paced and extremely frustrating. Conviction is finally coming out, and the new hand-to-hand combat system’s intensity raised these thick eyebrows more than once during my first glimpse of the game in motion. The text-on-the-wall objectives are stylish and reminiscent of J.J. Abrams’ work, but I hope the effect isn’t done ad nauseam. Splinter Cell is, to me, an Xbox franchise. I made the mistake of buying Pandora Tomorrow and Chaos Theory on the PC, and both just never felt the same without a controller in my hands. So I look forward to revisiting an old standby franchise on my Xbox this February.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 on an undetermined platform: If I think Splinter Cell is an Xbox franchise, then DICE’s Battlefield series is the PC counterpart. And while I do believe my aforementioned statement, I truly had a great time with Battlefield: Bad Company on the Xbox 360. So I’m rather perplexed as to which version of its sequel I should buy. Without knowing all of the details right now, I can’t decide. If the PC version has even a few more features than its console counterpart, I’m placing my bets on the PC. It seems, from forum buzz and scant media previews, Bad Company 2 is extracting the essence of 2005′s Battlefield 2 more and more, which I hope is true. DICE needs to release Battlefield 3 soon, but BC2 might suffice for the time being.

Final Fantasy XIII on Xbox 360: I really don’t have anything to say here. I only have an Xbox, and I’m the guy who buys every numbered, non-MMO Final Fantasy console title (aside from FFX-2). I’m obligated to get it, and I’m neither thrilled nor disappointed. It’s like renewing your driver’s license: you’ll do it, without thinking, out of necessity. It doesn’t matter if you’re unenthusiastic about it, you’ll still spend money on what’s technically the same exact license you’ve always had, but this time it has a fancy new color scheme. And anime hair.

Well, would you look at that — another podcast! And this one’s blessedly much shorter than the previous, meaning you get plenty of on-topic discussion and analysis without having to meander through dozens of games and several months of backlogged news to cover.

This podcast picks up where the last one left off, with the gang discussing the myriad top-tier releases of the first quarter of 2010. A near-complete list of titles is available after the jump for your perusal.

As always, thanks for listening, and let us know what you think!

(P.S. Wanna receive our latest podcasts automatically? Subscribe with iTunes here!)

JANUARY
Bayonetta (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3) — Jan. 5th
Darksiders (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3) — Jan. 5th
Army of Two: The 40th Day (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3) — Jan. 12th
Dark Void (Xbox 360, PS3, PC?) — Jan. 12th
Mass Effect 2 (Xbox 360, PC) — Jan. 26th
MAG (PS3) — Jan. 26th
No More Heroes 2 (Wii) — Jan. 28th

FEBRUARY
Star Trek: Online (PC) — Feb. 2nd
BioShock 2 (Xbox 360, PS3) — Feb. 9th
Dante’s Inferno (Xbox 360, PS3) — Feb. 9th
Red Steel 2 (Wii) — Feb. 16th
Lost Planet 2 (Xbox 360, PS3) — Feb. 23rd
Splinter Cell: Conviction (Xbox 360, PS3, PC?) — Feb. 23rd

MARCH
God of War III (PS3) — Mar. ??
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC) — Mar. 2nd
Final Fantasy XIII (Xbox 360 – 57 DVDs, PS3 – 1 BD-DVD) — Mar. 9th
Command & Conquer 4 (PC) — Mar. 16th
Just Cause 2 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC) — Mar. 23rd

APRIL
Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 360, PS3) — Apr. 27

MAY
Mafia II (Xbox 360, PS3, PC) — May ??

UNDETERMINED
Alan Wake
Dead Rising 2
Heavy Rain
Gran Turismo 5
Max Payne 3
Fable 3
Metroid: Other M
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
Crackdown 2
Alpha Protocol
Fallout: New Vegas
Crysis 2
Epic Mickey
Super Mario Galaxy 2

Unless this is the greatest prank Hideo Kojima has pulled in his life, it looks like the konami.jp teaser site that's been counting down for over a week is working toward a Metal Gear announcement next week at E3.

The big pieces of news have come from Kojima Productions and Rockstar, respectively. Starting with the Japanese developer, its teaser site – which has seen multiple countdown clocks on top of ever-changing imagery, all the while focused on a field during a thunderstorm – has now left little question as to what Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima will be working on next. Today, the image of a young Big Boss – replete with eye patch – joined the flashing numbers and letters that have been on the site for well over a week, seeming to imply that a new Metal Gear game of some sort is due to be announced soon.

The other piece of news related to the teaser site and Kojima’s next project comes from scans of a leaked copy of the newest issue of Japan’s Famitsu Magazine, the TIME of Japanese gaming. There’s a feature story with lots of self-editing by Kojima, and accompanied by another image from the countdown that hasn’t been seen yet: Raiden, circa MGS4. It’s good news for Metal Gear fans and, with a bit of elementary math, it looks like the timer will run to zero early next week.

Oh my. The logo for the next piece of GTA IV DLC, "The Ballad of Gay Tony," looks appropriately fabulous.

A week ahead of E3, Rockstar made the other big news of the day by announcing the first details for the second piece of DLC for last year’s Grand Theft Auto IV. “The Ballad of Gay Tony” will release this fall both on Xbox Live and in a disc-based compilation along with “The Lost and Damned,” and puts players in the shoes of Luiz Lopez, who works under Liberty City night-club owner Tony Prince.

After Rockstar has cast players as both Baltic badasses and leaders of a motorcycle gang, it’ll be interesting to see what sorts of situations the club owner’s assistant gets into. It’s likely that more details will be revealed next week at E3, possibly as soon as Monday at Microsoft’s keynote press conference, so stay tuned.

Bioshock 2, the anticipated shooter set in Ayn Rand’s (very) wet dream land, has received a release date – and count it as a win for the old country. In a change from the usual conventions, Bioshock 2 will debut first in Europe. The game will be released on Friday, October 30 in Europe; it will hit stores in the United States on the following Tuesday, November 3. Curiously, publisher Take Two still lists the game as “to be determined” regarding which platforms the sequel will appear on; the original arrived on the Xbox 360, PC, and PlayStation 3. Perhaps that situation will be cleared up by next week.

Some more news briefs to close the day’s recap:

• 1up editor James Mielke has an interview with former members of Team Ninja, including Ninja Gaiden creator Tomonobu Itagaki, marking the first time they’ve really broken radio silence since splitting off from Tecmo last July.
• Two more pieces of Sony-specific PS3 news: Joystiq reports that signs suggest there may be a new “value-added” bundle of the 80 gig PS3 at Best Buy after E3 (keeping the price the same but adding two Greatest Hits games), and safari photography game Afrika is finally due to be released in the United States on the PS3. Pokemon Snap and Toto fans, rejoice!
• Lastly, and quite possibly most awesome-ly, Tim Schafer will be conducting an E3 interview for Brütal Legend over Twitter next week. Submit questions at 6 p.m. PDT on June 2 to @BrutalLegend, and read at 7 p.m. to see Schafer’s answers — #E3BL tag optional, but helpful.

Mr. Bubbles would be proud

Considering today’s wealth of BioShock 2 information pouring out from every single videogame-related webpage on the internet, The Silicon Sasquatch is officially renaming April 23 “BioShock Press Day.”

I think we can all expect that future sequels of the franchise will continue to be unveiled on April 23, from now until the end of time — or until BioShock: Big Daddy’s Beach Volleyball Blast 3 comes out and we give up gaming forever.

More news after the break.

Holding a gun that way doesn't seem comfortable, at all

For once, PS3 owners don’t get the short end of the exclusivity stick, as Eidos has announced that the Joker is a PS3-exclusive playable character in the upcoming Batman: Arkham Asylum title. Shacknews reports that a PlayStation Home advertisement accidentally broke the surprise a little earlier than expected, and as such Eidos and Warner Bros. had to scramble and confirm the story. Though the Clown Prince of Crime is only usable in the challenge room segment of the game, judging from preview videos released last month, those challenges look quite fun.

I, for one, welcome more PS3-only content, and I don’t even own the system. While I’m glad Microsoft’s hogging of developers’ content provides some excellent gaming opportunities, there’s no reason why Sony can’t extend the same courtesy for its loyal fans. It’s anyone’s guess whether Sony paid Eidos and/or Warner Bros. for the Joker content, or maybe Eidos simply did it because they wanted to. Either way, it’s the Xbots’ turns to be jealous, no?

World of Pegglecaft

Eventually, every game will be playable inside of World of Warcraft. Today PopCap Games released a version of their addictive game Peggle, for free, to play inside the World of Warcraft client. They did this with Bejeweled last September, which was during an age when I still had an active account and played, a lot. I love how PopCap admits to their collective corporate WoW addiction, and instead of just claiming their fandom they do something about it and put effort into neat add-ons like these. Any WoW player can tell you that Bejeweled, and now Peggle, helps to pass the tedium during flight path waits, battleground waits and, well, any period of  downtime where you’re not yelling at the enemy faction for “pwning” you.

By the way, Nick has an active WoW account right now. Bug him!

And for the pièce de résistance: Becoming Spider-Man is, and I’m totally jumping to conclusions, scientifically possible–or at least his webbing is. This has nothing to do with gaming, of course, but it’s nerdy enough to count, right? Though, assuredly, the result of the average Joe/Jane trying to replicate Spidey’s acrobatics would end up with this result.

My apologies to your sensibilities.