Guild Wars 2 hasn’t had a beta of this magnitude since the inception of the project — in fact, this is the first massive beta that didn’t largely involve the press. Thousands (if not tens or hundreds of thousands) of gamers are going to flood ArenaNet’s servers with sugary beta-testing goodness, and there is absolutely no NDA involved, meaning anyone and everyone can screencap and dump video to their heart’s content.

While I did encounter some technical issues with the beta thus far, I was able to capture some video of the event to show off some of the game’s content – new videos will be added as they are recorded. Without further ado, here are a bunch of videos of Guild Wars 2‘s beta event.

Character selection

Charr Blood Legion Intro

Norn Wolf Intro

Human Noble Intro

Roaming around the world

How World Encounters work

Charr Mesmer showcase

Charr Elementalist showcase

Norn Engineer showcase

Norn Thief showcase

Norn Necromancer Showcase

Human Warrior showcase

Human Guardian Showcase

Human Ranger Showcase

“The Stilt Police, they live inside of my head. The Stilt Police, they come to me in my bed.” Well, not really, but they are in the brand new trailer for Arkane Studios’ Dishonored. While this trailer is all CG (no gameplay), Dishonored still looks promising.

Dishonored puts you in the role of an assassin in a dystopian, Dickensian, steampunk style world. To me it looks like its got flavors of BioShock, Assassin’s Creed, and Thief. And of course now I’m going to be singing that damned song all day… “The Stilt Police, they’re coming to arrest me, oh, no.”

This is the post where all live streams will live during the month of September. Of course, you can always catch the live stream at my Twitch.tv channel. Also, I have failed to properly save some of the past broadcasts so some were lost. I will be sure to fix this in the future.

The next Gamer Limit Live won’t be until Thursday night. Thursday I will be doing a 20-man raid in Rift and will then be doing some Madden 12 MUT trading with the Madden 12 forum community. Enjoy and don’t forget to follow the channel!

Tuesday September 13th, 2011 – Madden 12 MUT trading

Went ahead and did some more Madden 12 MUT trading with the Madden community. After some trades I took on one of the viewers and was able to pull out a win.

Monday September 12th, 2011 – Madden 12 MUT trading

So over the weekend I was working some on the new collections in Madden 12‘s Madden Ultimate Team mode. I have been frequenting the official MUT forums to do some trading but it was way too much work. So, I went ahead and started a MUT trading live stream and it went quite well. Decided that this is something I am going to do daily for about an hour each night.

Sunday September 11th, 2011 – Rift 20-man raid

Wasn’t able to make Saturday’s raid unfortunately. So since the three foci and Warmaster were killed, we went ahead and did Plutonus and many attempts at progression on Herald. We got the hang of it towards the end so hopefully we get him down next week.

Friday September 9th, 2011 – Rift 10-man raid

Cleared both Gilded Prophecy and Drowned halls were both cleared. Pretty happy we were able to do full clear of both of these since we have had trouble doing so in the past. No reason we shouldn’t be able to though as both are easy.

Saturday September 3rd, 2011 – Rift 20-man raid

A very successful raid night! Cleared all of Greenscale in less than two hours and got our first kill on Plutonus. Tomorrow, Herald goes down!

Friday September 3rd, 2011 – Rift 10-man raid

Completed Drowned Halls and about half of Gilded Prophecy. Overall a pretty good night but we really need to start clearing both of these instances faster. Hopefully next week.

Thursday, September 1st, 2011 – Rift 20-man raid

Only had about 15 people showed up to the raid unfortunately.  Going through some recruiting so hopefully we can always be running a 20-man roster soon. Nonetheless, despite this disadvantage, we cleared the three foci and Warmaster in River of Souls. Also got some pretty good attempts in on Plutonus. He should be going down this weekend.

For those of you that haven’t yet indulged in an EA Sports Ultimate Team mode — be it in FIFA, NHL, or Madden — it is basically a way for you to build up your own dream team. Play games with your team, earn some currency, buy packs for cards, buy cards from the auction house, or, new to Madden, trade your cards on the trade block. All of this goes towards the end goal of building that perfect team and playing games online against others.

Since its inception as free DLC in Madden NFL 10, Madden Ultimate Team (aka MUT) quickly became my mode of choice. I was that person in World of Warcraft that would reset the market on the auction house. That person you despised who bought low and made a ridiculous profit by reshaping and owning a piece of the market. This, for me, was like a mini-game that brought instant gratification and reward.

As you can imagine, this was a large part of the appeal for me in MUT. The mode in Madden NFL 10 and Madden NFL 11 provided a rewarding and challenging experience. While it was never perfect in the past, it still allowed for a somewhat healthy market and an experience that drove you to perfection. The future of MUT last year was bright and I looked forward to what Tiburon had in store for the mode.

There is a balance in MUT that needs to be struck. An extremely important balance. One that, in all honesty, can make or break the mode. Currently, MUT is broken. While I want to give the benefit of the doubt to Tiburon and why this is, it feels very much as if this mode is nothing more than a way to drive players towards microtransactions.

Keep in mind that I am more than able to take a step back and understand where Tiburon is coming from. This balance needs to allow for a challenging and rewarding experience for the hardcore, allow for the same thing for the casual without being frustrating, and also still make microtransactions appealing to the masses. But as many games before this have shown, that balance is something you slowly work towards.

The latest update released on Friday has proven that MUT is headed down a path that not only completely ignores this balance, but does nothing more than turn the mode into one that loses its appeal and forces the player down a path where the only way to progress is to spend their hard earned money. I completely understand that the underlying goal of this mode is for EA to make money. I am perfectly fine with that. But this is not the way you go about it. Gameplay should never take a back seat to microtransactions. This is a slap in the face to every Madden player out there. And it will be a serious disappointment to many if this mode isn’t turned around quickly.

As can be seen in the video below, Madden Ultimate Team released an update that completely worsened an already bad situation. The primary issue that existed even prior to the update is the fact that all cards rated 75 and above have the same value. That means that a 75 rated player is apparently worth the same as a 99 rated player. Logically, this doesn’t make any sense.

Prior to Friday’s update, each card also came with a tiered cost of posting to the auction house. For example, a 99 rated player cost roughly 10,000 coins just to post to the auction house while a 85 rated player cost 1,000 coins. But this wasn’t really a big issue. Yes it cost a bit too much to post, but by tying a price like this to high rated players, you allow for the economy to be filtered and make certain cards somewhat rare to see on the auction house. That is a very important part about any economy. The market has to be brought into a state of many different worthy, appealing purchases.

Instead of just lowering and scaling the cost of posting auctions, Tiburon took a different direction. All auctions can now be posted for 50 coins — regardless of card rating. Many seemed happy at first but what they didn’t realize was the consequences that this comes with. As you can imagine, the market is now completely oversaturated because there is absolutely no risk of posting a card to the auction house. And now, what you see in the auction house is every single card 75+ at a cost of 10,000 coins. In turn, cards roughly 75-89 are now rendered completely impossible to sell and have become absolutely worthless.

Add all of this to the fact that gold cards are extremely easy to obtain in packs and you are left with a majority of players with teams rated 90+. This no longer makes MUT rewarding in any sense. The appeal is almost lost entirely because it takes only a couple of hours to build your team up to 90+.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxNdd_xoA-g

Now that your team is 90+ rating, you still might want to build it up even more. But what options do you have? How about the trade block? Well, this highly requested feature has also been rendered completely worthless due to the above issues. Why post a trade to the trade block when you can post a 90+ rated card to the auction house for next to no cost to you, obtain 10,000 coins from it and turn around and purchase the exact card or perhaps better from the auction house?

Since trade block is out of the question, you are left with two options without spending real money. One is to just play some games, build up your bank, and buy the cards you want off of the auction house. But as I noted earlier, cards rated 90+ are extremely easy to obtain from packs. So the majority of players will simply play a couple of games, purchase a gold premium pack, take the one or two cards that might improve their team and sell the rest on the auction house or simply vendor them for an average cost of roughly 50% of the cost of the pack itself.

After this is done a couple of times you more than likely have a team rated around 95 without any legendary cards. Legendary cards are now the only way to improve your team in any way. So, what options are you left with now to improve your team without spending real money? Well, how about the auction house? Nope, not the auction house. The cost of legendaries is at the least 100,000 coins. That is the cost of 10 90+ rated cards. So odds are this is out of the question.

If not the auction house, how about the trade block? Well, legendaries can only be traded for other legendaries. So that is out of the question as well. Awesome, our options our thinning by the second.

You are now left with one last option before being forced to spend real money as there are a few collections that reward a legendary. There are currently only 11 collections in MUT. Three of these collections — none of which are hard to complete — reward a legendary. But conveniently enough, each one of these three collections rewards a halfback. Which means you can fill only one position before being forced to spend real money on a legendary pack. A pack in which just saw an update on Friday that almost guarantees you to get a legendary.

So, congratulations on your easily acquired 90-95 rated team. You can now either spend that hard earned money or play games with your team against every other 90+ rated team out there. Either way, you are now left with a mode that is no longer challenging, rewarding, or fun.

Tiburon has a long road ahead of them with MUT. There are a lot of things that could bring this mode back into the state it was in years prior. Be sure to check back as the suggestions I have as to how to fix this mode will be coming next week. Until then, hit up the comments and let us know what you think about MUT thus far.

So I decided that it would make more sense if I notified readers of Gamer Limit Live in one monthly post since I don’t want to overrun the front page with my live streams. I’m sure that will be appreciated by all.

I will be moving each excerpt into its own section within this post and provide updates after each night so people that missed it know what the video encompasses. So be sure to hit the break to watch any of the live streams during the month of August. Enjoy and be sure to follow my Twitch.tv channel!

There was no Gamer Limit Live on Wednesday and Thursday since I spent my time playing Madden NFL 12 for review. But, embargo is up on Madden today so after a Rift 10-man or two I’ll be live streaming Madden NFL 12! I expect the Rift 10-mans to run from 7:30 to 10:30PM EST and Madden around 11PM EST. Enjoy!

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011 – Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Played some Deus Ex: Human Revolution for about 3 hours. Really enjoying the gameplay so far but getting used to the Xbox 360 controls has really been difficult for me. I don’t know if it is lag within my setup, the game itself, or me being away from console shooters for a while. Nonetheless, I will power through it and most likely adapt. The game will be reviewed by myself for both the Xbox 360 and PC.

Monday, August 22nd, 2011 – Terraria

Ended up doing a 10-man in Rift but the video got corrupt somehow. So, I ended up trying out Terraria for the first time. I lasted about 20 minutes but I definitely plan on revisiting it. That is, once I figure out what the hell I’m doing.

Sunday, August 21st, 2011 – Rift 20-man raid

Pretty good raid night. Ended up one shotting Prince Hylas and Greenscale and moved onto progression in River of Souls. Ended up wiping quite a bit on Plutonus but we should definitely have him down next week!

Saturday, August 20th, 2011 – Rift 20-man raid

For Saturday, August 20th I will be doing yet another Rift raid. At the moment my Rift raiding schedule is Thursday – Sunday so expect Rift and other games on those days. Also, I plan on playing some Xenoblade Chronicles after Rift around 11pm for those that are interested.

Update: Guild went ahead and 15-manned 2 bosses in Greenscale and one boss in River of Souls. Seem to be having some attendance issues but at least we can still get the content we need to do done. Tomorrow night’s raid should have better attendance. Anyhow, enjoy the raid above.

Friday, August 19th, 2011 – Rift 10-man raid

Another night of Rift tonight. The plan for tonight is some 10-man raids and maybe some PvP if I feel like it. I also plan on streaming some Bastion later as well since I really need to beat that fantastic game already.

Enjoy and be sure to go to my Twitch.tv channel if you want to chat it up while I play. Distractions are always welcome.

Update: Went ahead and cleared Drowned Halls 10-man raid. Ran into a couple of issues with a zoning bug but cleared the instance. Enjoy parts one and two above.

Thursday, August 18th, 2011 – Rift 20-man raid

After a bit of a break from live streaming I have spent the past couple of weeks getting my setup ready for a comeback. After overclocking my PC, purchasing an XSplit license, and figuring out a schedule it is time to start!

Recently I have been preparing for a couple of articles that revisit Rift since I reviewed it. And because of that, I must raid. So tonight, enjoy some Rift raids. Depending on how many people show up tonight it could be Greenscale, River of Souls, or rifts.

Update: Only had 15 people show up so ended up doing the first boss of Greenscale and the 3 foci in River of Souls. If you missed it, feel free to check out the raid above.

Gala Networks Europe and Noria unveiled their latest MMORPG to the world Wednesday, SEVENCORE. Among other claims, the unveiling focused on the fact that it will uniquely blend typical fantasy tropes with sci-fi action. So, as Gala Networks Europe pre-production manager Matt Poujade explains, “you get to carry a really big sword the size of a tree and ride flying motorbikes with plasma guns on the side.”

Who’s up for some duel gun wielding, troll slashing, futuristic-yet-not action?

The announcement also assures hardcore MMORPG fans they will get the in-depth character customizations and race variations they have come to expect from other fantasy based titles. A solid storyline developed through quests and NPCs is also promised. At the same time, SEVENCORE is to deliver loads of mount-based combat, giving players a chance to ride various beasts and machines as they do battle. They’re calling this amalgam of new and tried-and-true gameplay fusion-fantasy.

“We are excited to partner with Noria on SEVENCORE,” said Nicolas Pajot, COO of Gala Networks Europe. “SEVENCORE is one of the most promising projects we have ever worked on and we are certain it will be a huge amount of fun for players when it launches.”

Here’s a gameplay trailer. What do you think? What would you think if we told you the game will be free-to-play?

Diving head first into the Comic-Con craze, Capcom has been on a tear of revelations. They’ve announced everything from games like Ultimate Marvel v. Capcom 3 to a fresh new look for mythical creatures. The publisher shows no signs of stopping with the release of a new gameplay trailer for Asura’s Wrath.

Well, this footage has been around for some days now. The difference is that this Thursday was marked by the release of the gameplay trailer without the dull, lethargic commentary of one of the product managers. No offense, Capcom, but with this dynamic, high action footage, it was just a strange juxtaposition.

Before you click on to see said trailer sans unenthused commentary, let’s get some legal out of the way: by clicking to read more you acknowledge that you are over 18 years old. Now, enjoy.

The first trailer for the upcoming Fallout: New Vegas DLC Old World Blues is upon us, and it looks…interesting. The trailer itself features a skin stripping procedure, robo-scorpions, a mad scientist that sounds like Hubert J. Farnsworth, and an epic quest to “GET YOUR BRAIN BACK!”

It’s already been confirmed that you aren’t stripped of all your gear at the start of the DLC, so even if you aren’t a fan of the grindhouse-esque trailer, that’s easily a good thing. We’ll let you know how the finished product is pretty close to release, so stay tuned.

Today EA Sports presented fans with a look at NCAA Football 12 during a one hour live stream which can be seen above. This year presentation is the biggest focus as team entrances are enhanced, dynamic exposure lighting is added, game tracks are provided which recap highlights of specific players, and much more. For those simulation gamers like myself, you can rest easy as both Road to Glory mode and Dynasty mode have seen some intriguing additions as well. All in all, NCAA Football 12 is looking to be a strong step in the right direction for the franchise.

Be sure to check out the demo on June 28th for the PS3 and Xbox 360 where you can engage in two matchups between Oregon @ Texas and Alabama @ Florida State. If that isn’t enough, sharing the demo with friends will unlock Nike Pro Combat uniforms in the full retail version of NCAA Football 12. And after seeing Virginia Tech’s Nike Pro Combat uniforms last year, you’d be crazy not to share the demo with friends.

This week brought the release of the sequel to Sucker Punch’s critically acclaimed title InFamous. While fans of the first most likely, without hesitation, have purchased InFamous 2, those who have their concerns should check out this limited look. Should you be one of the few that have yet to check out InFamous, be sure to take advantage of Sony’s Welcome Back program as it is easily one of the better deals in the short list of options you have there. Enjoy this limited look at InFamous 2 and expect the written and video review on Sunday or Monday.

With the solid addition of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, the future of the Tiger Woods series was looking bright. The addition of focus was an innovative change that felt extremely refreshing and greatly changed the way players approached each and every shot. This year, we see the addition of the caddie and the Masters as its “selling point”.

That iconic green jacket is a dream for every PGA golfer out there and it is now your turn to walk this very road. But is the Masters event enough to take you away from Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11? Is the caddie system as innovative as focus was last year? Well, these questions only raise more questions so follow that annoying, yet necessary break.

Road to the Masters is the core of this year’s Tiger Woods. While it is essentially the create a player mode with a new theme, it is a much more fleshed out and rewarding experience. If it isn’t already obvious, the idea of this mode is to take your created player from amateur to the PGA and make your way up the ranks in various events leading up to the Masters.

This year, there are two core leveling components that make up this mode. One, obviously, is the leveling of your created character through the experience gained when playing as your golfer. This aspect of the game is unchanged and rightfully so as it works quite well. The next core leveling component is through sponsors.

There are a total of six different sponsors which are unlocked over the course of your career. Each of these sponsors has four different levels where each level within that sponsor unlocks gear at the Pro Shop. In order to gain levels with a given sponsor, you are given various objectives to complete. I felt this was a welcome change to this mode as it provided me with extra goals to strive for and structured the unlocking of content in a very simple, streamlined fashion.

But, as with every single other EA Sports game available, there is a ton of content that needs to be purchased through micro-transactions – in both the Pro Shop as well as the events. With a total of 25 events available – again, some of which have to be purchased – there is about the same amount of career content that was available in last year’s Tiger Woods PGA Tour title. While this might seem like a disappointment at first, I promise you that there is easily 30+ hours worth of content in this mode alone.

Ultimately though, this mode feels like nothing more than what players could do in previous years but now with the Masters added on. Nonetheless, this streamlined experience is one that never gets old and will be the bulk of one’s gameplay. And, thankfully enough, the improved menu system and helpful videos will make it accessible for anyone.

Additionally, tied into the Road to the Masters is something called Masters Moments. Masters Moments is a mode where you are given the chance to recreate nine of the most memorable moments in Masters history. While this is enjoyable the first time through, it won’t be something you’ll revisit more than once. The experiences are a bit dull and extremely anticlimactic. Because of this, I found myself playing this mode strictly to satisfy a requirement to play in the Masters.

Thus far nothing too new, agreed? Anyhow, year after year, accessibility continues to drive this series forward – for better or worse. The question to ask yourself – as with last year’s installment – is whether you are a casual or hardcore sim golf gamer. Last year, hardcore sim gamers saw the addition of True Aim which added another layer of challenge on top of an already challenging golf experience. However, this year, it is all about accessibility for the casual player. Simply put hardcore sim players, if the Masters or the addition of seven new golfers and six new courses isn’t enough for you to warrant the upgrade, then stick to Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 for another year.

The addressing of accessibility this year is the caddie system. Say hello to the man behind the golfer. The man that cleans your balls, gives you clubs, and apparently does 99% of the thinking for you. Despite the fact that that isn’t realistic in the slightest, the caddie in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 is a way to assist players and speed up each hole you play.

When approaching a shot in previous Tiger Woods games you were faced with the question of which club to use, how much power you wanted to put behind the ball, whether you wanted to fade it, give it some spin, etc. These are situations golfers deal with every time they set their feet on a course. Well, instead of having to worry about that now, the caddie will provide you with a handful of suggestions as to how to approach a shot. Based on his experience with the course, his suggestions will range from confident to questionable to complete conjecture (color coded green, yellow, and red).

This is where the third leveling component of the game comes in. Each course will have something called course mastery tied to it. A level of course mastery has a set of objectives tied to it. When a level of course mastery is completed for a given course, your caddie will now provide you with much more accurate and dependable suggestions.

Essentially, the caddie system is a way to ease new or amateur players into the game of Tiger Woods golf. While this isn’t a bad thing, its usefulness tails off when playing above amateur difficulty. To put it simply, when I play a game for a long period of time, my desire for a challenge increases. However, in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12, when you play for a long period of time – and in turn gain high levels of course mastery for a majority of the courses – the game becomes easier and turns into mindless gameplay.

While this is a welcome feature when I wish to get a quick course in, it really didn’t feel like a feature that was aimed towards me – being as I am a seasoned veteran of the franchise. So again, you have to ask yourself whether you are a casual or hardcore sim golf gamer in order to truly understand whether this game is for you. And to be honest, I hate having to justify a purchase in such a manner, as the qualities that make up these types of gamers is never easy to quantify. But, once again, EA Sports has managed to alienate a section of its audience in favor of accessibility.

Don’t get me wrong though, I feel there is a good idea behind this caddie system. But the way in which it was implemented does not cater to everyone. A great way to improve this system would be to tie the caddie system into the focus meter. For those amateur difficulty players, give unlimited use of the caddie. For above amateur difficulty players, give limited use of the caddie based on how much of the focus meter the player has available. Giving the player the control over this feature and how much it can be used is the best way to go about this. Hope you’re listening EA.

Another area of opportunity lost is in online multiplayer. Once again, online remains unchanged. This is one aspect of the game that EA needs to innovate upon in order to increase interest in future installments.

Overall, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 is a solid title. While I don’t think this is a must purchase, it is an enjoyable experience even if you purchased last year’s title. Nonetheless, despite the fact that the features this year aren’t for everyone, if you haven’t visited the franchise in more than two years, do yourself a favor and pick up either Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 or 12. The fact is, if you’re a golf fan, either of the two are a must in your gaming library.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1xPaj9ftvE

The demo opens up with Drake in truly Sam Fisher fashion as he stealths his way through a cruise ship. Everything from the environment, to the weather effects, to the sea looks absolutely fantastic. Naughty Dog continues to push the PlayStation 3 in each installment of this Uncharted trilogy.

As Drake makes his way through the cruiser we are shown some impressive stealth kills. Despite the lack of action in the beginning it is hard not to feel immediately drawn into what is going on. But, of course, the action picks up quickly as Drake draws his gun, makes use of a grenade, and blows a hole in the cruiser. The moment the water comes rushing in is the very moment I found my jaw dropping. But my words just can’t do this demo justice. Watch it for yourself after the break and enjoy a bit of special news for an opportunity to get your hands on the full Uncharted 3 multiplayer experience before the title’s release on November 1st.

Following the demo, it was announced that Naughty Dog is partnering with Subway in a promotion to get access to the entire multiplayer experience. While a limited multiplayer beta will be available to the public on June 28th, others can enjoy a five dollar footlong and access to multiplayer for one of the hottest titles of the year. Sounds like a great deal to me.

Anyhow, what are your thoughts?

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJi8RW-zIPI