Rumor: Gears of War PC-bound?

by Ross Miller { Nov 17th 2006 at 9:55PM }

The upcoming issue of PC Gamer has an interesting concept design for a Games for Windows display that clearly shows multiple Gears of War PC boxes (page 28 of their Holiday Issue). Is this a nudge and a wink of what's to come? Given the similarity of design architecture between Xbox 360 and Windows gaming, it's a no-brainer that Microsoft would seek to put its successful gunslinger Gears of War on every platform it has available.

It would be a good moneymaker and (if Halo 2 is any indication) another incentive for gamers to upgrade to Windows Vista. However, IGN has been told by Microsoft that there no plans to announce a Gears of War PC version in the near future.

Tags: pc gamer, PcGamer

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Shadow Hog @ Nov 17th 2006 10:02PM

Near *future*.

icelandman @ Nov 17th 2006 10:12PM

Good call on the grammar #1. As for it being released, is any body surprised? A game published by MS, who is seeking to revitalize the PC platform w/ its "games for Windows" label. Why not use your latest blockbuster to boost sales, a few months after the 360 ripples have faded a little...

I'm all for it (Yay)
All against? (Nay)

~PEACE
-Johann

Brian @ Nov 17th 2006 10:14PM

This just in:

Water is Wet!

To think that Microsoft would have invested as much as they have in marketing this new IP without evetually looking to exhaust every avenue of revenue would be the real story.

Mark @ Nov 17th 2006 10:17PM

Please god, bring us PC gamers more console-exclusive games! I've been waiting for Halo 2 on my PC since it came out on the Xbox two years ago! Gears of War looked awesome, and I was tempted to buy it for my 360, until this post! Thanks Joystiq! Here's to hoping they post Halo 3 over faster than they did 2, heh.

??? @ Nov 17th 2006 10:27PM

Boy, that's a switch! I've been hoping more aw-w-w-some PC sci-fi fps stuff comes to the 360!

Al @ Nov 17th 2006 10:38PM

Anyone not see this coming?

mocax @ Nov 17th 2006 10:39PM

I wants Gears of War action figures, movies, comic books, novels, candy and hamburgers!

Colin @ Nov 17th 2006 10:42PM

Will this run on my $299 Dell?

D'oh...gotta keep the console baby.

Scott @ Nov 17th 2006 11:53PM

Can I run Supreme Commander on my Xbox 360..wait Crysis....umm...Company of Heroes..no.....umm.Quake Wars? Damn, What do the consoles have?

hoohoo @ Nov 18th 2006 12:02AM

gears has been spotted before in gfw marketing pics, like this one from august when they had their gamefest. pgr3 is also visible.

http://www.shacknews.com/extras/2006/081406_gamesforwindows_1.x

http://www.shacknews.com/images/image-o-matic.x?gamesforwindows/windows_retail.jpg

Royale @ Nov 18th 2006 12:07AM

it's the same as with the OG Halo and Halo 2. They are using Gears of War to push X360s the same as Halo was used to push xboxes. I don't have a 360 but after playing Gears for several hours multiplayer vs and co-op it makes me consider one. They didn't release Halo for the PC until a long time after the xbox version was out and pwning and Halo 2 has been out for how long now and it's barely going to be coming out for the PC. If you want to see Gears on the PC expect the wait to be at least a couple of years so they can milk it on the 360.

Now if only I had an HDTV I would be set. Gears looks almost lame on a regular set, and it would be cool to play it on my PC with the high resolution. Luckily my friend has 2 360s 2 copies of GoW and 2 HD sets. It makes for some awesome LAN parties especially when someone brings another set or 2.

obo @ Nov 18th 2006 12:26AM

"and it would be cool to play it on my PC with the high resolution"

VGA adapter:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/906202
http://www.shop.com/op/~7_Foot_Xbox_360_VGA_Cables-prod-31794488-41453045?sourceid=3

diskoboy @ Nov 18th 2006 12:38AM

Obviously. Most likely, in about 2 or 3 years.

Halo did, and Halo 2 is getting the Windows Vista love now that the 1st Xbox is pretty much over and done with, support wise.

Jade Empire was also supposed to be an Xbox exclusive, and now it's getting ported to the PC.

TeddyN @ Nov 18th 2006 12:39AM

Hurray!
I don't know anything about gears of war! But I know the console folks love it! So I'm happy!

Seriously though, there's no other platform for FPS games. The mouse and keyboard is invinsible (although the Wiimote is coming close!) Gears of War could make a good addition to the PC repertoire, although I have a feeling it won't seem like such a good game to PC gamers, since there is so much more FPS competition (Half Life 2 Episodes and Crysis stand out in my mind).

Nevertheless, I got a kick out of the Halo port so bring it on ;)

guises @ Nov 18th 2006 12:41AM

Releasing Gears of War on PC where we get a decent control scheme: great!

Making it Vista only: slap in the fucking face.

Maybe some cracking group will strip out the Vista DRM...

diskoboy @ Nov 18th 2006 12:43AM

And one more thing - if Epic is given the choice to do it soon - say after the 360 version has been out 6 months, I most definitely would.

Imagine the absolute frenzy the modding community would have. Not to mention revitalizing the ultra-stagnant PC game market. And keyboard/mouse controls would be great.

Royale @ Nov 18th 2006 12:55AM

"12. "and it would be cool to play it on my PC with the high resolution"

VGA adapter:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/906202
http://www.shop.com/op/~7_Foot_Xbox_360_VGA_Cables-prod-31794488-41453045?sourceid=3"

with a keyboard and mouse and not some slow unresponsive analog stick.

TeddyN @ Nov 18th 2006 1:00AM

diskoboy- 'ultra-stagnant'?
Do you mean for the consumer or for businesses?

Either way, that's more then a bit extreme.
From the point of view of the consumer, meaning PC gamers, I couldn't be happier right now for games. We don't really need console ports to make PC gaming interesting. Right now, I'm overwhelmed by great PC-exclusive titles: Medieval 2: Total War, Defcon, Battlfield 2142 (I haven't even got tired of battlefield 2 yet), Company of Heroes, and a huge list of still recent but older titles, like Titan Quest, Red Orchestra, Hitman Blood Money, Age of Empires III, Rise of Legends, and Civilization IV.

Next, from the business performance perspective, there is little evidence that the PC market is drying up; in fact, all the evidence points to the contrary, with 'Games for Windows' on the verge of drawing lots of fresh attention to PC gaming, and what I personally see as one of the most promising innovations, online distribution; especially with Steam which allows easy purchases which you'll never loose and which can be automatically updated with new content and patches. Not to mention the fact that it helps prevent piracy, the biggest scourge of the PC market.

Uh_Oh @ Nov 18th 2006 1:12AM

I got it on 360 so it doesnt matter to me. I got other stuff to play on pc like quake wars, crysis, c&c3, spore, hl2 ep 2.

NorCal05 @ Nov 18th 2006 3:47AM

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I only have a PS3! I wish I had a computer to play this on!

mike @ Nov 18th 2006 4:35AM

I'm all for cross platform design, I don't think Microsoft is greedy on this issue, I think they're smart and in the end the gamers are happy. I have a PC and a 360 but my pc is four years old and I've already upgraded the crap out of it...

Pulse @ Nov 18th 2006 6:10AM

Come on, prt H3 over as well, so that you take away my single reasons for buying 360 :) I mean, don't you just love the power of PC?

360 Lover @ Nov 18th 2006 8:38AM

Teddy N

"Next, from the business performance perspective, there is little evidence that the PC market is drying up; in fact"

Google NDP and PC game sales. The PC gaming market has been loosing market share and dropping annual sales every year for the last 7 years. In 2005 it dropped 15%. Console gaming market and annual sales have increased every year for the last 7 years.

Most of the games you list are old....or in the case of BF2142 a MOD you have to pay for....Try POEII it is better and FREE!

360 Lover @ Nov 18th 2006 8:39AM

Some things should be obvious if you keep up with computer/gaming news.

Just a week or two ago there was a quote from the lead programmer of Gears that it was highly likely that it was going to the PC.

Halo took so long to port because the Xbox was new and MS wanted to shine a bright light on it. Moving it to the PC quickly would have made a lot of people on the fence about getting an Xbox wait and never get one if they could just go the PC route.

Can you say “Unified Shaders”, “DX10” and “Vista”. That is how and why Gears will go to the PC. Gears is drop jaw gorgeous no my 360 and my 56inch Samsung DLP. For all of its beauty there is NO LAG on the 360 because this new Unreal engine is coded perfectly for the 360’s unified shader GPU…ala DX10. So when it comes to the PC it will come as a DX10/Vista game…because DX10 uses unified shaders and not fixed pixel and vertex shaders…..which will require a DX10 video card like the new Nividia Geforce 8800. It will also probably support “Live Anywhere” so that PC users with Vista and a DX10 video card can play Gears against 360 users over Xbox Live. All of this has been planned by MS to show that Vista/DX10 is the way to go for PC gaming…..or it will eventually die. The “DX10/Games for PC” move by MS is going to force a lot of new things on PC games…..like new simple packaging (same size as a xbox game package), wide screen support, Live Anyware support, Games showing up in the “games” section of Vista so users can go to one location to start their games, and DX10 coding….all of this is GREAT for PC gaming. They are trying force a uniform approach like consoles have to save the PC gaming industry.

Lastly I will take my 360 controller over a keyboard and mouse any day and look forward to curb stomping PC GOW players over Xbox Live

peeweejd @ Nov 18th 2006 11:28AM

"it's a no-brainer that Microsoft would seek to put its successful gunslinger Gears of War on every platform it has available."

actually its a no brainer to keep it 360 exclusive for a while (like Halo and Halo2) to help sell 360s.

its a no brainer to put it out on PC _eventually_

Anon @ Nov 18th 2006 1:02PM

Ive already seen gears of war running on PC. Shouldnt be a surprise since the unreal engine is being developed on both platforms. No indication of its release any time soon, but most games developed under unreal should be pretty easy ports to PC.

As to the comment about vista, its not surprising either if you know about the dx10 card structure and the similar architecture of the 360 GPU.

B1gC72 @ Nov 18th 2006 2:06PM

this is one of the many reasons i wont buy a 360 or any xbox for that matter. most of their really good games are first party and will eventually be released on the PC as Micro$oft tries to push this new Games for Windows dealy. even if its years down the line when it will come out, no xbox games really get me all excited like "o i gotta buy a xbox for that ___________ game that just came out". now im not hatin on xbox or microsoft, im just saying it doesnt appeal to me. and for the record, Gears of War did intrigue me (especially that song in the commercial lol).

DarkXaero @ Nov 18th 2006 3:07PM

"Google NDP and PC game sales. The PC gaming market has been loosing market share and dropping annual sales every year for the last 7 years. In 2005 it dropped 15%. Console gaming market and annual sales have increased every year for the last 7 years.

Most of the games you list are old....or in the case of BF2142 a MOD you have to pay for....Try POEII it is better and FREE!"

PC games sales have decreased over the past few years at stores but at the same time, they have significantly increased online. As time passes by, more & more people buy their games online. With digital distribution becoming more common (Steam,EA downloader, GameTap etc.), more & more users are buying their games online so that is why retail stores sales are decreasing.

And no, BF2142 isn't a mod. When I first played the demo, thats how I felt but as I gave it more time, I found that its a great online FPS if you can overcome its full retail price ($49.99).

Back to the original subject. As far as Gears coming to PC is concerned, it will obviously come to PC someday even if that picture just has Gears there for demonstration purposes. There have been rumors about it coming to PC before too (J Allard saying that its a Xbox360/PC title) and unless I am wrong, it has already been demonstrated using a PC. Anyway, it will definitely come to PC someday. Especially if M$ makes it a Vista exclusive, it would make even more sense. I am pretty damn sure that if they already have plans to port it, then a port is already being worked on. I would say that its probably a Q2 2007 release at the earliest although it should likely come at Q4 2007.

dasdef @ Nov 18th 2006 5:09PM

haha
what would the pc requirements be for a game like this?

Matt @ Nov 18th 2006 10:37PM

"near future"

Took them almost two and a half years to port Halo 2 to the PC, so I don't think it's out of the question.

Pretty Obvious @ Nov 19th 2006 1:10PM

Holy crap, gears of war has been out for over a week and people are still under the impression that its a first person shooter....

Graal @ Nov 24th 2006 1:04PM

Can't wait for this to come out on the PS3 ;)

Can't see it coming...... then you prolbably didn't see the move to PC either. Of course Epic (Not owned by Microsoft!) are going to port out a successful FPS out as much as they can, Heck there will probably be a Wii version as well! In just the same way that after UT2007 has been out for a while on PS3 it will come to X360. Time exclusives seem all there is left anymore.