When I learned that Gears of War 2 turned 15 this year, I felt pretty damn old. That game - more than any other entry in the original trilogy - was a cornerstone in my adolescent gaming pantheon. It earned its own special place on the shelf, right next to Dead Space 2 and Street Fighter 4. I still have a lot of love in my heart for Gears 2, but I think it should stay firmly in the past.
]]>While graphics keep getting more and more impressive, physics and reactive worlds either seem to be stalling or going back in time.
]]>Xbox Live Gold members will receive four free games in February.
]]>Wal-Mart is offering a free copy of either Gears of War 2 or Gears of War 3 - buyer's choice - with pre-orders for Gears of War: Judgment, according to Gamespot. The bonus comes on top of the free downloadable copy of the original Gears of War which will be bundled with all new copies at launch. Gears of War: Judgment is a prequel co-developed by Epic Games and People Can Fly and is due in the US on March 19, exclusively for Xbox 360.
]]>The Gears of War series has pushed through 19 million in sales, which is an additional one million since it the figure of 18 million was announced in July. The math comes from Microsoft via Joystiq, and while the firm would not disclose sales figures for Gears of War 3, its first week at retail saw the title move 3 million, while Gears 1 and Gears 2 were noted to have sold 12 million combined as of June 2012.
]]>Epic Games has announced the hiring of Laura Fryer as general manager of its new Seattle studio. This particular branch is currently working on the company's Unreal Engine 4 technology. Fryer arrives having enjoyed more than 17 years of industry experience.
]]>A Xbox 360 10th Anniversary Bundle has been spotted on Amazon France.
]]>Major Nelson has provided an update on what to expects between now and September 5 on the Xbox Live Marketplace.
]]>Thursday, Thursday, it's Thursday! Go celebrate it's Thursday by reading these shorts and punching a man in the face. Don't do that. Well, read the shorts, but don't punch a man in the face. Punching a man in the face is wrong, m'kay?
]]>Not to be outdone by Red Dead Redemption's big XP boost weekend, Epic Games has more than one-upped the competition.
]]>Rod Fergusson, executive producer for Gears of War 3, has detailed the objectives from previous Gears games which will net you rewards in the upcoming release.
]]>Microsoft has said in a statement that the Gears of War Triple Pack is a US-only offer.
]]>Proper Gears noob? Want to prove you're not? This weekend's going to be a blast for you, then.
]]>Is money no issue for you? Are you insocial? Want it in an instant? Then you'll have no excuses now.
]]>Epic's announced Gears of War 2 will be making its way to Games on Demand on Xbox Live on October 12.
]]>Epic said overnight that Karen Traviss's next Gears of War novel will be Anvil Gate, to release next week.
]]>You read the title right - next week Epic Games is handing out six-times the XP in Gears of war 2 multiplayer all next week.
Oh yeah, and the firm has also announced that hip-hop musician Drake is lending his voice to Jace Stratton in Gears 3.
]]>Epic has announced that Title Update 6 goes live for Gears of War 2 today, which includes a social matchmaking update along with a price drop for the All Fronts Collection.
There's also a Triple XP Weekend kicking off in the game as well.
]]>Cliff Bleszinski has said that Title Update 6 for Gears of War 2 would not have been possible without continued community support and suggestions.
]]>Gears 2 executive producer Rod Fergusson has listed the patch notes for the game's sixth title update over on the official forums.
]]>Epic Games will host a Valentine Event of sorts in Gears of War 2, giving players bonus XP for showing how much they love their fellow man by handing out healthy doses of death and killin'.
Hell yeah.
]]>Capcom's announced it's bringing over Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago from Gears of War to Lost Planet 2.
]]>Epic Games co-founder Mark Rein has said that the company has "no regrets" over the exclusivity deal it has with Microsoft over the Gears of War series.
]]>Update: Epic has confirmed to us the release date for the Gears 2 GoTY Edition. Press release added past the break. We have mailed Microsoft UK for confirmation of the UK release.
Original Story: A Gears of War 2: Game of the Year Edition is coming to retail.
According to reports, the disc will contain the full game with the All Fronts pack which includes Flashback, Combustible, Dark Corners and the Snowblind map packs along with the Road to Ruins campaign.
GameStop has it listed for $40 and Amazon for $37 and both have it listed for a September 1 release.
Sounds good to us.
Via Joystiq.
]]>After the break you can see two intro videos of the deleted scenes that come with the new Gears of War 2 Dark Corners DLC that Cliff Blezsinsky detailed on Major's podcast yesterday.
It shows Marcus and Dom sneaking around wearing full Locust attire complete with some rather tight, red helmets.
Get ready to rumble on July 28.
]]>Gaming will have a larger impact than ever before at this year's SIGGRAPH conference, with Will Wright giving a keynote and game graphics being discussed in a special session.
The annual meeting of digital artists conference has a special gaming session titled "Big, Fast, and Cool: Making the Art for Fight Night Round 4 & Gears of War 2", which will focus on real-time graphics and visuals for both games.
"So much of what makes today's videogames so great are the responsive graphics and the stories that unfold during game play," said SIGGRAPH chairmain Evan Hirsch in a press release.
“This year’s sessions will offer a rare perspective into how animation and graphics can really enhance and impact game development and the user experience and investigate the future of gaming.”
Full thing through the break, courtesy of Joystiq.
]]>Australian site OXCGN has details on a rather spiffing-sounding 360 Gears of War bundle set for release down under on June 4.
The limited edition Gears of War bundle will include an Xbox 360 Pro console, both Gears of War 1 & 2 and a shiny red box all for just $449 Australian (€250).
No idea whether EU or US will get it. We'll check tomorrow.
Press release after the break.
]]>New videos for Gears of War 2's latest bit of DLC, All Fronts, popped up this afternoon.
The Memorial map is the focus of both videos, with the first one giving you an idea of the layout while the second one shows off the versus and Horde multiplayer modes.
Each one is posted after the break, courtesy of GameTrailers.
The All Fronts Collection lands on July 28.
]]>Halo 3 isn't going anywhere. The past four weeks have proved it.
Differences this week include FIFA 09 taking the seven spot away from Left 4 Dead, and the Bionic Commando demo falling off the chart and being replaced by Fallout 3.
Xbox 360 Top Live Titles
- Halo 3
- Call of Duty: WaW
- Call of Duty 4
- Gears of War 2
- UFC 2009 Undisputed Demo
- GTA IV
- FIFA 09
- Left 4 Dead
- Fallout 3
- Resident Evil 5
Get all the Arcade and Community stuff after the break.
]]>Epic said today that Gears of War 2 has sold over 5 million copies worldwide, and that the Gears franchise has now surpassed the 11 million unit mark.
This announcement came as part of a press release detailing the new retail pack The Gears of War 2: All Fronts Collection, which contains all previous DLC plus seven new multiplayer maps.
You can read more about it through the press release after the break.
]]>Epic will release all Gears of War 2 DLC content into one retail package titled the Gears of War 2: All Fronts Collection on July 28.
It contains previously released DLC Combustible, Flashback, Snowblind as well as Dark Corners, which contains seven new multiplayer map packs along with a deleted campaign called Road to Ruin, which has Dom and Marcus returning to the Locust Hollow and features a stealth mode.
Other contents include an introductory video, a premium theme, poster, and strategy guide.
The Gears of War 2: All Fronts Collection will run you $19.99, and details for the Road to Ruin section are posted from the press release after the break.
Dark Corners will also be made available individually for 1600 MS Points the same day.
]]>Halo 3 tops the Live play charts once again this week. Can't keep a good Spartan down it seems.
Both Call of Duty games are still there, though, as well as Left 4 Dead.
Xbox 360 Top Live Titles
- Halo 3
- Call of Duty: World at War
- Call of Duty 4
- Gears of War 2
- Left 4 Dead
- GTA IV
- UFC 2009 Undisputed Demo
- RESIDENT EVIL 5
- FIFA 09
- Halo Wars
Get all the Arcade and Community stuff after the break.
]]>Details of the Achievements to arrive with Gears of War 2's upcoming Snowblind map pack have been revealed. Get them after the break.
The DLC, shipping March 24, will also include the new, much-toted experience-based ranking system.
Don't look if you want to stay pure. Thanks Joystiq.
]]>Microsoft's confirmed that Gears of War 2 sold more than 2 million units in its launch weekend.
The firm also said that more than 1.5 million people signed into the game over the weekend, racking up a total 15 million gameplay hours and setting a new record for concurrent Live players.
More than 19 million GoW2 Achievements were unlocked.
It's unclear whether or not the sales figure is US-only.
Update: It's a worldwide figure. Press release after the break.
]]>Microsoft's press released the Gears 2 launch with a reminder that UK retailer Game's releasing a bundle with the title today.
The pack costs £199.99 and comes with the game, a 60Gb 360 and an extra controller. You can't really say fairer than that.
Neil Martin from Game said, “We’ve seen some incredible excitement around the launch of Gears of War 2 for months now and are delighted to finally enable fans to get their hands on the game.
"Last night's midnight launch saw dedicated fans queuing up to get their copies. We're absolutely sure that they won’t be disappointed with what's set to be one of the must-have games this Christmas.”
Full thing after the break. Thanks, Blerk.
]]>IGN's put together a video comparing the Gears of War 2 Flashback maps with their versions in the first game, and the jump in detail's a tad obvious to see. So is the "green filter," so we hope you're up for a bit of colour with your multiplayer.
After the break. Gears of War 2 releases today.
]]>In an interview with Irish radio station, Red FM, Cliff Bleszinski said that his greatest regret was not being able to rip a Locust's arm off and beat him to death with it.
]]>There's always one, isn't there? Gamespot was late with its Gears of war 2 review homework yesterday, so the site can stand in front of the rest of the class and read its effort out loud. The Epic shooter's worth 9/10, apparently. There a video review after the break.
Game's out on Friday. Now sit down, Gamespot. And shut up.
]]>Microsoft's lifted the global embargo on Gears of War 2 reviews. The scores will pop up throughout the day, so we'll just add them as they appear.
The game's out this Friday.
- Eurogamer - 9
- Gametrailers - 9.5 (video review after the break)
- CVG - 9.3
- X3F - No score
- JeuxVideo - 19/20
- IGN - 9.5 (video review after the break)
- 1UP - A
- Gameplayer - 9.5
- HardGame2 - 9
- Videogamer - 10
- Giant Bomb - 5/5
- Gamespy - 5/5
- TeamXbox - 9.8
- GameVideos - Video review after the break
- Gamer.tm - 9
- IGN UK - 9.5
Microsoft's put out a press release claiming that more than 20,000 retailers are going to be opening their doors at midnight next week to herald the launch of Gears of War 2.
The big events in London, LA and New York are:
“Gears of War” comic book artist Liam Sharp and Microsoft Game Studios staff will be on location to participate in the launch activities and give away “Gears of War 2” merchandise.
Xbox LIVE’s Major Nelson will MC the event, which will feature special appearances and autograph signings by Cliff Bleszinski of Epic Games. “Gears of War 2” voice actors including John DiMaggio (Marcus Fenix), Lester “Rasta” Speight (Augustus Cole) and Carlos Ferro (Dominic Santiago) will also be in attendance. Additionally, fans will have the unique opportunity to mug with a real life “Delta Squad” – costumed characters from Nightmare Armor Studios will be patrolling the GameStop, and tons of free “Gears of War 2” merchandise will be given away throughout the evening.
Please note that lineups will not begin before 11 a.m. PST.
Epic Games’ senior producer Rod Fergusson along with Epic Games team members will interact with the crowd and autograph copies of the game in addition to free “Gears of War 2” merchandise.
We are practically shitting ourselves with excitement. We've booked TV space off our wives and everything.
Press release after the link.
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