Posts tagged The Beatles: Rock Band
The Backlog: Killer Bs edition
Feb 19th
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 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.
The Backlog: Rocktober Begins edition
Oct 16th
Let there be rock.
Oh, snap.
Another week, another flood of good games — some of the biggest, most anticipated titles of the fall have hit store shelves, and the Silicon Sasquatch crew are digging in. Brütal Legend, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Champions Online, and more are taking over our attention this week, and though it might seem overwhelming, it’s not necessarily a “bad” overwhelming.
The Backlog: In the Eye of the Storm
Oct 9th
How’s everybody? Are we all still here?
There’s no way around it: We’re all a little light in the pocketbooks, and October’s only just arrived. None of us were prepared for some of the year’s biggest hits to hit us in a deluge throughout August and September, but with games like Batman: Arkham Asylum, The Beatles: Rock Band and Halo 3: ODST hitting shelves before the fourth quarter of the year, it’s hard to hold fast with one’s spending — even with surefire hits like Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Brütal Legend arriving just next week.
To prepare for the next volley of big-name releases, the Silicon Sasquatch team has been busy wrapping up some recent blockbusters.
The Backlog: Scribbling Sporty Beatles edition
Sep 18th
This, metaphorically, is what the release calendar looks like for the next few months
It’s been a busy week for all of us here at Silicon Sasquatch. Doug’s been camping in the cold-yet-wait-it’s-hot-again Oregon weather, and enjoying the rebirth of his broken Xbox 360; Nick’s been playing through five or so games at once while writing, writing and more writing; I’ve been composing an extremely long review of Batman: Arkham Asylum in addition to enjoying a social life and trying to forge videogame industry public relations contacts.
Oh, and that feeling creeping down the back of your spine and into your pocket to make your wallet tingle with fear? Well, that’s the start of the Great Game Goldrush of 2009 — this previous week had quite the prodigious release schedule. Among the horde of games were NHL 10, NHL2k10, WET, Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story, Scribblenauts, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 and Need for Speed Shift.
Next week, Halo 3: ODST releases. You can discuss (your praise for or condemnation of) that fact in our comments section.
See what we’ve been up to, game-wise, after the break. 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.
The Backlog: Pre-PAX lovefest
Sep 4th
The funk of 40,000 nerds awaits Nick at this year's Penny Arcade Expo. Expect the show floor to look much like this, a scene from the exhibit hall at the 2008 Penny Arcade Expo.
Here we are. The beginning of a three-day holiday weekend, the first day of the Penny Arcade Expo up in Seattle, and time for another week’s worth of gaming recounted in our Backlog. It’s been the calm ahead of the storm here, with Nick preparing for a feast of gaming at PAX, Aaron enjoying some comfort gaming, and Doug preparing to dig into some modern classics.
E3 2009: Day 1 Reflections
Jun 1st
Day 1 of E3 2009 — full of press conferences from Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, and the big press event from Microsoft earlier this morning. Having spent the day taking in what each of these groups had to offer, we’ve got a little bit of judgment to pass now. Sure, it’s early, but here are some thoughts coming out of the first day…
Based purely on what’s been shown today, and assuming things go to plan:
The Sure-fire Big Winner: Xbox Live
Direct download capability for 1080p movies and Xbox 360 games; an expanded Netflix lineup; Facebook, Last.fm and Twitter tie-ins to come in the fall; and a whole host of exclusive downloads and DLC content for games coming this year. That $50 a year spent on an Xbox Live gold account keeps looking better and better, and regardless how the games turn out, what you’ll be able to do with the system grows and grows.
Most Important Announcement: Microsoft’s Project Natal
It's waggle, Jim, but not how we're used to: Microsoft's Project Natal could well be the biggest announcement at E3 2009.
We knew it was coming. It may even have been shown a year ago, before Microsoft acquired the company responsible for the technology. But actually seeing Project Natal — Microsoft’s code name for its controller-less motion control device — was very stunning. Sure, some of the tech demos displayed (a ball kicking/punching/heading game, motion to control the Xbox dashboard) were a bit hokey…but they showed a level of motion-recognition that was very tight and reactive. The big deal was Lionhead Studios (publishers of Fable 2, Black and White and many other games) and the tech demo they created where players could interact with a schoolboy named Milo. To say it encroached on the uncanny valley is an understatement; if it’s what the video demonstration billed it to be, it’s less a game and more interacting with a legitimate AI character. Absolutely stunning.
To say that Microsoft could capitalize on the market the Nintendo Wii has pioneered while also pushing the boundaries of what’s possible as an interactive activity with Project Natal is an understatement. The potential is there; whether it comes to fruition in the final form will be interesting to see.
Daily Recap: May 5, 2009
May 5th
The millions of Rock Band fans worldwide helped make Harmonix's game the top money earner for Electronic Arts last year, the publishing giant announced today in its financial earnings statement.
We here at the Sasquatch (well, specifically myself and Nick) are very big fans of Harmonix’s Rock Band series. There are a myriad of reasons why, but it boils down to being quite a bit of fun, especially when like-minded individuals coalesce into a full band to rock out.
Well, it turns out we’re not alone in our affections–far from it. Electronic Arts announced its 4th quarter and fiscal year 2009 financial results, and included in the information-rich release is how Rock Band 2 was Electronic Arts’ biggest money-maker for the fiscal year. In fact, Rock Band 1 and 2 were two of 31 properties to sell over a million units last year; FIFA 09, Madden NFL 09, and Need for Speed Underground each sold more than 5 million units worldwide. Even Spore sold 2 million and saw more than 100 million creatures created.
Daily Recap: April 22, 2009
Apr 22nd
Because my snark is running low as of this writing, let me take this introductory opportunity to tell you what’s dropping on our site for the remainder of the week.
Coming tomorrow is our hands-on overview of the new Nintendo DSi system. To be clear, the purpose of an overview is to be less like a review–instead of making recommendations on the overall value of the product, we’re simply providing our readership with an introduction to it. We’ll still offer our crystal-clear opinions backed-up with facts, but the final purchasing decision is up to you, as always. Also on the way tomorrow is a review of Xbox Live Arcade title Galaga Legions.
Friday we’ll be reviewing the new Left 4 Dead DLC pack with its hectic and horrific Survival Mode. Can we last more than two minutes? Doubtful.
Next Tuesday’s big post is a “cooperative” review of Resident Evil 5 between Nick and me. This review has been a long time coming, and we look forward to adding our special co-op-centric commentary into the structure of our usual, trusty reviews.
Now, onto the news…and some awesome poster art.