Launch Station: Guild Wars 2

Madden NFL 13 and all those PlayStation game collections were not the only games released Tuesday.  Tuesday saw the release of a highly anticipated MMORPG, Guild Wars 2.  Guild Wars 2 is possibly the only MMO that could give Blizzard's MMO giant World of Warcraft a run for it's money.  With huge improvements and no monthly subscription, Guild Wars 2 looks to be the MMORPG experience not to miss this year.

Guild Wars 2 is set 250 years after the original game.  In that time, the world of Tyria has faced massive changes, devastating cataclysms and other huge global events that have caused big changes to Guild Wars 2's environments and play areas.  Humans are no longer the dominant species as the balance has shifted to towards the many other races inhabiting Tyria.  To make things worse, dragons have awoken from their slumber to wreak habit on the world.  You, the player, are tasked with reuniting the disbanded Destiny's Edge guild in order to combat the dragon threat.  At the outset of Guild Wars 2, players are able to create their own character from a combination of five races (humans, charr, asura, norn and sylvari) and eight professions (engineer, necromancer, thief, elementalist, warrior, ranger, mesmer and guardian).  Each race and profession have different attributes that effect which skills the player has access to.  Guild Wars 2 combat system is very skill-based, so players can only use 10 skills in combat.  Each skill slot has predefined roles in order to make each character balanced and have the combat focus more on strategy than just spamming certain skills.  Guild Wars 2 also includes a higher level cap of 80, a more elaborate crafting system and a World PvP that players can jump into at anytime and play anybody in the world.

Not everybody enjoys playing MMOs, but the original Guild Wars and in turn Guild Wars 2 offers a lower barrier of entry thanks to the game having no monthly subscription.  All you have to do to play Guild Wars 2 is just buy the base game in store or online and you are ready to go.  It is very appealing especially for people like yours truly whose biggest reason for not playing many MMOs was due to the monthly subscriptions.  I personally will not be picking up Guild Wars 2 because there is no way my computer could run it, but possibly someday down the road.  Blizzard and World of Warcraft have some serious competition in NCSoft and ArenaNet's Guild Wars 2.  We will have to see who wins out, but I believe it is time for a changing of the guard.

Launch Station: PlayStation Game Collections

Yes, it is Madden day, but I do not enjoy doing sports game previews.  There is not much to talk to about other than the incremental improvements that I honestly do not care about.  If you are a football fan, you have probably already bought Madden NFL 13 and have been playing it for the past 24 hours.  You do not need my preview.  Instead of highlighting the umpteenth edition of Madden NFL, I am going to highlight the four, yes four, game collections that Sony released this Tuesday for the PS3.  These games are going for 30 to 40 dollars and include 3 full games at the least.  If you missed any of these games the first time around, these are the collections that you should definitely pick up no ifs, ands or buts.

This collection brings us all the way back to the PS2 days.  The days where Sony had three mascot platformers all competing for your attention in Jak and Daxter, Sly Cooper and Ratchet and Clank.  While Jak and Sly have gotten their times to shine in the HD Collection high, Sony fans have waited quite a long time to see Insomniac's beloved characters join the party.  The Ratchet and Clank Collection runs 30 dollars and includes the first three Ratchet and Clank games (Ratchet and Clank, Going Commando and Up Your Arsenal), a 10th Anniversary Ratchet and Clank Avatar item and early access to the Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time demo.  Along with the obvious HD upgrade to the graphics, there is trophy support for each game and online multi-player exclusively for Up Your Arsenal.

After Sucker Punch made a name for itself with Sly Cooper, this team moved onto the more mature darker superhero game in the Infamous series.  For being a new IP when it released in 2009, Infamous did very well.  Enough to get a sequel in 2011 and a special Halloween-themed DLC.  For those who missed out on this series when it first released, they should look no further than the Infamous Collection.  The Infamous Collection includes both Infamous 1 and 2, the Festival of Blood DLC and all other extra DLC missions, costumes and weapons all for 40 dollars.

Easily the most bang for your buck, God of War Saga includes the entirety of the God of War series leading up to the release of God of War: Ascension next year.  There are five games packed onto one disc for only 40 dollars.  You get God of War 1, 2, 3, Chains of Olympus and Ghosts of Sparta.  Five high quality incredibly cinematic hack-and-slash action game classics that has spanned the PS2, PSP and PS3.  On top of that the God of War Saga includes exclusive bonus content and a one month trial of PlayStation Plus, which is also included in the Infamous Collection.

thatgamecompany has made a name for themselves by releasing incredibly unique and artistically splendid downloadable games exclusively for the PS3.  Their latest effort Journey made waves in the video game industry when it released earlier this March, which easily made it one of the highest selling PSN game of all-time.  Capturing the hearts of many including yours truly, Journey is one of the video games you have to, and I emphasize have to, experience this year.  There is no way to not to experience now considering Sony and thatgamecompany just released the Journey Collector's Edition for the amazingly affordable price of 30 dollars.  The Journey Collector's Edition does not just include Journey.  You get Flow and Flower, thatgamecompany's previous games, three game prototypes created during thatgamecompany's Game Jam and art galleries, commentaries and soundtracks for Journey, Flower and Flow.  That is not all as this package also includes exclusive PSN avatars and a one month trial for PlayStation Plus.

Launch Station: NCAA Football 13

It is that season again.  Time for all the big sports games to all have their annual release.  First up is NCAA Football 13, which releases tomorrow followed by Madden NFL 13 next month and NHL 13 and FIFA 13 both in September.  Sports fans have a busy couple of months if they are planning to buy each EA Sports release.

Being an annual game, NCAA Football is EA Sports' simulation of the insanely popular sport of college football.  While developed by the same studio as Madden, EA Tiburon, NCAA Football has a few subtle differences that make it play different than EA's football juggernaut.  Much like the subtle differences between college and professional football.  The biggest enhancements to the core game of NCAA Football all surrounds the quarterback position.  EA has added over 420 new animations for the quarterback, 20 new quarterback dropback moves, a new passing system and numerous new sack avoidance moves.  The AI on both sides of the line has been improved.  Wide receivers have better awareness, which comes in the way of a little icon above each receiver that shows the player the level of readiness a receiver has as they look for the ball.  On defence, there are no more blind swats as the blockers will have to see the ball before actually making their move.  NCAA Football 13 also sees improvements to presentation, Dynasty mode and the Road to Glory mode.  EA Tiburon has also added the new Heisman Challenge mode, where players choose a previous Heisman Trophy winner and take part in challenges to match his award-winning performances in order to win the Heisman Trophy again.

I do enjoy sports games from time to time, but I have never been a big enough sports fan, other than wrestling, to pick up the game each and every year.  I do not mind picking past entries of sports game as they are much cheaper and play more or less the same or maybe even better than the current games,  but I am not the target audience for many of these sports games, NCAA Football 13 included.  For the gamers that love buying these games each and every year, NCAA Football 13 will be another solid entry in the NCAA Football series.  It will keep sports gamers tided over until Madden hits store shelves in late August.

E3 2012: EA Press Conference Impressions

E3 2012 had a very bumpy start with a disappointing conference from Microsoft.  As the second conference of the big show, it was Electronic Arts turn to show us their next wave of big games releasing this Fall and early 2013.

Each year EA's Press Conference is one of the most focused out of the bunch.  They get straight to the point and they do not deviate.  This year much like the last two years before, EA showcased 10 games from 10 different developers under the EA banner.  They were all concise and to the point.  It made the conference go by fast and barely drag.  The only thing wrong with EA's conference was that nothing stood out.  No game they showcased really made an impact in my opinion.  It all kind of all blended together.  Dead Space 3 seemed to have an identity crisis as it was more third-person shooter than survival horror.  Madden NFL 13 and FIFA 13 were both a boring list of new features.  Star Wars: The Old Republic had some cool news such as going free-to-play up to level 15.  Medal of Honor: Warfighter was a decent demo of another generic FPS.  Battlefield 3's answer to Call of Duty Elite was revealed in Battlefield 3 Premium, which was less than impressive.  The only things I found really interesting was Need for Speed: Most Wanted demo, which proves why Criterion should only be working on the Need for Speed series and EA's new partnership with UFC (funny how Dana White jumps to the company he said he would never work with when THQ hits hard times).  Also Crysis 3 did have a good little demo to give a satisfying end to the conference.  I believe there were a few missed opportunities such as unveiling the first story-based DLC for Mass Effect 3, giving first gameplay of Overstrike or even unveiling whatever Respawn Entertainment is working on (Riccitiello pointed out both Zampella and West in the crowd, why not reveal something?).

Overall, EA's E3 2012 Press Conference was just okay.  All their games had a good showing and the focus, which Microsoft lacked, was definitely there, but not much that was shown stood out of the humongous crowd of shooters and sports games.

Grade:  C-