Posts tagged Forza 3
Backlog: For What It’s Worth edition
Apr 6th
Former Chairman of the Fed Alan Greenspan knows what things are worth. And he doesn't think this Backlog is worth much, apparently.
Dig into our writing and you’ll find the editors of Silicon Sasquatch are a value-oriented breed. As we’ve explained many times before, we buy the games we review and only rarely are we sent review copies from the developers and publishers themselves. Which is O.K. — we know our clout hasn’t developed enough to afford the more lavish side of videogame journalism and blogging: free crap.
But we’ve made do with what we have, and each time a game is dissected and discussed there’s always an element of the worth of that product. That value assessment is approached in a multitude of ways; we might be looking at the cost of a DLC pack one day and judging the necessity of a sequel the next. Worthiness is a hard concept to grasp because it means so many things to people, especially when it comes to videogames.
So read this week’s Backlog as us making statements on three things: downloadable content, pay walls and sequels. These are important, modern issues in today’s software marketplace, and topics I’d like us to revisit in length down the road. However, we’ll make do with skimming the surface for now.
The Backlog: Spring is Sprung Edition
Mar 28th
Spring officially began earlier this week. Hooray! In theory, there should be less rain in the perennially rainy northwest soon, it should start to warm up a bit, and it’s staying light out past 7 pm at night. These are all awesome things. Not awesome? Living north of a place that refers to itself as “the grass seed capital of the world.” Anecdotally, many people who come from less-allergy-tastic places to our University of Oregon or Oregon State for college often wind up getting ridiculous hay fever because all that grass seed makes the Willamette Valley one of the worst places in the U.S. for allergies.
Guess who has two thumbs and allergies? THIS GUY! Ah well. That’s what medicine is for. Well, medicine and games. BACKLOG!
Backlog: The Final Countdown Edition
Dec 17th
It was either this or a picture of a Sasquatch-ified Gob Bluth. It's worth noting that, for once, ol' Sasquatch has the least implausible hair out of the bunch.
Our missives have been delivered without detection, each reaching the intended recipient under the strictest of discretionary measures. Exactly 24 hours from now, we’ll all convene at the predetermined meeting spot to do our dark work in secrecy.
Yeah, you guessed it. It’s that time of year where a bunch of dorks get together to drink beer and argue for a few hours about what the ten best games of the year were.
We’ll be continuing the tradition we established in 2009 by running a series of articles on our top ten games of 2010, along with a series of honorable mentions. This time we’re expanding things by bringing Matt into the fold, while longtime contributors Tyler and Spencer will be stepping up once again to weigh in.
Those articles will run starting on Monday, December 27th, and will culminate with our #1 Game of the Year on Friday, New Year’s Eve.
How did we spend our last week preparing for the debate? As it turns out, we didn’t really play a whole lot of games. You could call it unprofessional, but I prefer to think that we’re just on top of things this time around. Considering how many hours I sank into this year’s big releases throughout November (way too many, before you go and count), I think we’re probably more than ready to hash things out tomorrow.
Anyway, here’s what we’ve been up to.
The Backlog: Silicon Sasquatch’s Finest Hour edition
Jul 23rd
Scott's a rocker. He rocks out.
So this book called Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour came out this week. You might not have read the series yet, but you’ve probably heard about the comics, or the upcoming game, or the movie starring Michael Cera. The reason it bears mentioning is that it’s a spot-on representation of the minds and memories of all of us children of the ’80s who grew up on Nintendo and Sega. If that sounds like something you can relate to, you’re probably going to love the comics.
It really has been a good week for us, too. This is our fifth post in seven days, which is almost a record for us. It’s even more impressive when you recall that we’re only running at two-thirds of our normal capacity because Aaron’s working a summer job in the wilds of Oregon. But while he’s no doubt been perfecting his mountain-man beard and learning to forage for roots or something, Doug and I have been holding down the fort by playing our fair share of games. Check out what we’ve been up to after the jump, and if you’re feeling generous, why not let us know what you’ve been playing in the comments section? Consider it your one charitable act of the day.
Backlog: Summer Vacation Edition
Jul 17th
It's summertime in the Northwest, which means it's time to come out from under cover and enjoy the scenery, like Crater Lake (photo by D. Bonham).
Much like a bad sunburn, we’re back after a little mid-summer hibernation. Aaron is still out in the Oregon woods getting his camp counselor act on, but Nick and Doug have been snug in civilization and playing games. Doug, now properly equipped with a TV from the 21st century, has been building cities and breaking tackles, while Nick has been matching three, hitting apexes and staring down a worthy opponent. All very thrilling.
But enough of that, let’s get on to the gaming.
The Backlog: Red Dead Way of Life edition
May 22nd
Some might deride it as simply GTA: Old West, some are praising it as one of the best games of the year (Metacritic has its issues but just look at that aggregate score right now), but however you structure it, Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption is out and is the hot topic of the week. Aaron and Nick have started to sink their teeth into Rockstar San Diego’s western tale, while Doug is still struggling with the wild grizzly bear that is graduate school.
Enough about that nonsense, though. Let’s get on with the show.
The Backlog: Sandbox of Chaos edition
Apr 5th
I kinda got carried away with Photoshop this week. You see, Rico Rodriguez, the protagonist from the Just Cause games, is chaotically belly-flopping into a child’s sandbox, which serves a visual metaphor for the open-world adventures he stars in. Hence the headline.
With that out of the way, I can tell you this edition of our beloved (by some — maybe our mothers) Backlog pertains to Nick’s first aural experiencing of Axis: Bold as Love, Doug’s dusting off of the old Xbox after his adventures in Asia and my unbelieving satisfaction from playing a ton of Just Cause 2.
The Backlog: We’ve Reached the Border; What a Nice-Looking Land edition
Oct 24th
Mmm, Backlog-y
What legends of game-playing intrigue do we, the stewards of Silicon Sasquatch, bring you this week?
There’s more of the same (Titan Quest) with a nice lime twist of newness (Borderlands); there’s the late-to-the-party-but-enjoying-it-anyway epic (Brütal Legend); and then there’s the dreaded blackness of managing grad school responsibilities (Portland State University — rated “M” for mature). Read the rest of this entry »
The Backlog: Within You Without You edition
Sep 11th
Let’s all breathe easy for a moment. After all, things are about to get crazy this fall: Scribblenauts hits North American shelves next week, soon to be followed by big names like Brütal Legend, Uncharted, Assassin’s Creed and Modern Warfare.
And if you just dropped a hundo on a big ol’ replica Gretsch Duo Jet guitar — like I may or may not have just done — well, you’re already in full-tilt panic mode.
Guard your wallet carefully this holiday season, dear reader! We’re in for a doozy.