CliffyB: Gears of War could hit stores before Nov 12

Speaking to his brother, who blogs for Gearheads of War, CliffyB revealed that Gears of War may be available for purchase before the now-infamous Emergence Day (Nov. 12). According to the retro gaming god, "game shops like EB & Gamestop will have their trucks lined up at Microsoft's warehouse as 12:01AM on November 7th (the date the game actually ships) and will get stock to their stores as quickly as they can."

"They'll be able to sell it the minute they get it so some of those stores will have the game well before the 12th," he said.

Microsoft predicts that all stores will have the game in stock by November 12 -- hence, Emergence Day is the universal date for when Microsoft can advertise the title to all gamers -- hardcore or otherwise. Does this marginalize the importance of Emergence Day even more? Probably, but the marketing and PR hype will become null and void as soon as the game ships. And we wouldn't mind playing the game a few days early ...

CliffyB implied that much of the viral campaign leading up to Nov. 12 announcement was Mark Rein's idea. "we had no prior knowledge of the MFenix stuff so it seemed like a good idea at the time," he said. CliffyB defended its importance however, believing that the release date is "an absolutely huge announcement" for Epic, who rarely commits to release dates.

The variety of weapons, the yet-to-be revealed vehicles, and the importance of story in a game is also tackled in this long dialogue between siblings. Cliff and his brother, "papi bezi," get to a little bit a squabbling towards the end, but it's refreshing and humanizes the interview more than anything.

See Also:
Joystiq interview: Cliffy B

[Thanks, Mike]