GOW launch event at a Hollywood graveyard

The marketing blitz for Gears of War is finally building up steam, as another GOW event is planned for this month (you gonna be at GameStop this Saturday?). The event, scheduled for October 26th at 12:01 AM, will be held in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in beautiful Los Angeles. The event -- part of "Match Made in Hell" month (sheesh) -- promises to mix up the likes of CliffyB and the GOW team, developers, game industry big shots, and even (gasp) celebrities. If you'd like to win a chance to attend, check out the "Match Made in Hell" website (as of this posting, registration has not opened for this event). It seems like Epic and Microsoft are really pushing the horror angle of Gears of War. Maybe we're just seasoned by marathon sessions of Silent Hill games, but GOW doesn't look all that scary to us. Hopefully, we'll hear a little more about it before the game ships.

Full press release:

"Gears of War" Invades Tinseltown for a Horrific Event

"Match Made in Hell" month continues, as Microsoft Game Studios and "Gears of War" developer Epic Games wake the dead with a celebrity launch event at the famed Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles

To celebrate the upcoming Emergence Day, several lucky gamers will win the chance to play the highly-anticipated Xbox 360 title, "Gears of War," prior to launch and party with celebrities living and dead at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles on Thursday, Oct. 26 at 12:01 a.m.

Thrown by Microsoft Game Studios in advance of the title's Nov. 12 release, this exclusive event will be hosted by members of the "Gears of War" development team, including Lead Designer Cliff Bleszinski. In keeping with the bone-chilling theme, developers, industry luminaries and Tinseltown's hottest young talent will be mixing and mingling in a real mausoleum, at the famous Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles.

This one-of-a-kind venue is a working cemetery that's the final resting place of some of Hollywood's greatest stars, making it the perfect locale to welcome this horrific game to the Xbox 360.

Anxious gamers who register for a chance to attend the exclusive party as well as other "Match Made in Hell" events at www.xbox.com/matchmadeinhell will receive a special opportunity from GameStop to pre-order the game and receive one month of Xbox Live Gold service for free.

Epic Games' "Gears of War" thrusts gamers into humankind's epic battle for survival against the Locust Horde, a nightmarish race of creatures that surface from the bowels of the planet. Blending the best of tactical action games with the best of survival horror titles, "Gears of War" features cinematic, beautifully rendered interactive environments with high-definition visuals. "Gears of War" will launch on Nov. 12, 2006.

In honor of Emergence Day 2006, Xbox 360 will honor the launch of its next generation defining title "Gears of War" with the single biggest day of gaming on Xbox Live. Gamers will not want to miss a series of special events planned on Xbox Live on November 12 including a 24-hour leader board tournament, hourly Play & Win events and several Game with Fame sessions. Additionally, "Gears of Wars" fans will be able to get tips and tricks from lead designer CliffyB of Epic Games, Inc. as well as download limited edition gamer pics, themes and other great interactive entertainment sure to get games blood flowing as they challenge the Locust Horde.

About Epic Games

Epic Games Inc., based in Raleigh, NC and established in 1991, is a developer of cutting-edge computer and video games. The company is best known as the creator of hit PC 3D action games Unreal and Unreal Tournament, both award-winning blockbuster hits having each sold more than one million copies. Epic is also responsible for the Unreal Engine, which is the underlying technology for a wide range of games including, 2002 Console Game of the Year winner, "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell ™" by Ubi Soft; PC Gamer's 2000 Game of the Year, "Deus Ex" from Ion Storm/Eidos; "America's Army: Special Forces," by the United States Army, and "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" (PC) by Electronic Arts. Additional information can be obtained through Epic's Web site at http://www.epicgames.com/

About Microsoft Game Studios

Microsoft Game Studios is a leading worldwide publisher and developer of games for the Xbox® and Xbox 360™ video game systems, the Windows® operating system and online platforms. Comprising a network of top developers, Microsoft Game Studios is committed to creating innovative and diverse games for Windows ( http://www.microsoft.com/games), including such franchises as "Age of Empires®," "Flight Simulator" and "Zoo Tycoon®;" Xbox and Xbox 360 ( http://www.xbox.com), including such games as the upcoming "Gears of War" and franchises such as "Halo®," "Fable®," "Project Gotham Racing®" and "Forza Motorsport™"; and MSN® Games ( http://www.games.msn.com), the official games channel for the MSN network and home to such hits as "Bejeweled" and "Hexic®."