August 27 – August 31

Section: 

Let’s start with Madden — hey, there’s a new Madden game out this week. It has football in it.

Now that we’ve gotten through that, we can move on to greener pastures. For me, this week is all about Guild Wars 2. This is a game some of you have been anticipating for years, and one of the most frequent e-mails we get on the podcast is “Hey, why don’t you guys talk more about Guild Wars 2?” The thing is, it’s only been recently where I’ve started to give it the attention it deserves.

I am gun-shy about proclaiming the greatness of any kind of MMO launch, more so now considering how much I liked The Old Republic at first, and how quickly that infatuation faded. Though, I am currently no less smitten by the charms of ArenaNet’s game, and in fact I think it is doing some amazing things that could potentially advance the entire genre. I will, however, demonstrate reserve in heaping too much praise too soon.

The thing is, it’s easier to recommend a game like Guild Wars 2 because it does not have the monthly fee. You can naturally look at the game in terms more like those you would use with Skyrim or Mass Effect. Sure, it invites you to spend hundreds of hours over a time frame measured in seasons, but if you “only” get 60 or 80 hours out of the game, then that can be its own success. You don’t end up having spent hundreds on a year-long subscription for a game you don’t play anymore.

And 60-80 hours of GW2 time is for me a certainty. I say that confidently, knowing I’ve already made a substantial dent into that commitment, and technically the game hasn’t even launched yet. Let me just put it this way: If you like MMOs at all, get Guild Wars 2.

PC
- Guild Wars 2
- Damage Inc. Pacific Squadron WWII (download)
- Mutant Mudds (download)
- Starvoid (download)
- The Basement Collection (download)
- They Bleed Pixels (download)

Xbox 360
- Damage Inc. Pacific Squadron WWII
- Madden NFL 13
- Rock Band Blitz (XBLA - $15)

PS3
- Damage Inc. Pacific Squadron WWII
- God of War Saga
- inFamous Collection
- Journey Collector's Edition
- Madden NFL 13
- Ratchet & Clank Collection
- Lights, Camera, Party! (PSN - $30)
- Psychonauts (PS2 Classic)
- Rock Band Blitz (PSN - $15)
- Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD (PSN - $15)

Wii
- Madden NFL 13

Vita
- Madden NFL 13

Comments

momgamer wrote:

That shame doesn't have to last.... I'm just sayin' ;)

To be fair, the new content doesn't really make much sense. But it's still less dense than TWEWY was. Bowser's Inside Story would've been another great substitute, if only it had been released 4 months earlier.

Octo Gear will crush all competition.

All hail Octo Gear! [size=7]Now with trident![/size]

fangblackbone wrote:

Octo Gear will crush all competition.

All hail Octo Gear! [size=7]Now with trident![/size]

Octo Gear < Octodad.

wordsmythe wrote:
fangblackbone wrote:

Octo Gear will crush all competition.

All hail Octo Gear! [size=7]Now with trident![/size]

Octo Gear < Octodad.

... in his living room.

Wow, they did a Madden 13 for the Wii.

Well the Wii U still isn't out yet, and there's no guarantee any Wii user will upgrade. Might as well sell a few copies while you still can.

Stele wrote:

Well the Wii U still isn't out yet, and there's no guarantee any Wii user will upgrade. Might as well sell a few copies while you still can.

Yeah, and they've been putting one out for years now so the overhead probably isn't huge.
M13 is still coming out on the WiiU, but I was surprised to see, well, anything on the Wii.

I apologize in advance for being "cynical bob" but Guild Wars 2 is a huge disappointment to me.

It actually makes me want to go back to SWTOR or buy TSW, or just wait for the Elder Scrolls Online to come out. The thing is SWTOR and TSW have much better story and better pve content as far as I see it..

I have only reached level 16 so far and while the graphics are nice and all, the questing/leveling/dynamic events/story quests are doing nothing for me.

The exploration doesn't feel fluid or organic to me at all and the prospect of instanced pvp only doesn't have me enticed either.

I think Guild Wars 2 sadly is not the game for me. I thought it might have been though!

Oh well.