Epic racing clock to release Gears patch, mum about details

by James Ransom-Wiley { Dec 8th 2006 at 4:15PM }

Speaking to GameSpy's Planet Gears of War, Mark Rein expressed a sense of urgency in delivering the first round of Gears of War "housekeeping" updates. Epic is rushing to complete the game's first patch and send it off to Microsoft for certification. Apparently, the certification team calls it quits for the holidays "relatively early" this month, suggesting that if there's a jam-up in the pipeline, Gears won't be amended until early next year.

In the same interview, CliffyB confirmed that the patch will focus on improving online multiplayer, musing, "Xbox Live is an umbilical crackpipe that an entire generation of gamers are rapidly becoming addicted to. The versus is where we plan on extending the fun of Gears". Rein also reaffirmed that some general bugs would be fixed in the update, including the well-documented aspect ratio issue. Full details will be posted on Epic's forums once the patch is complete.

[Via CVG]

Tags: CliffyB, Epic, Gears of War, GearsOfWar, Multiplayer, Patch, Update, Xbox Live, XboxLive

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

KineticOnline @ Dec 8th 2006 4:23PM

rushed work means people make mistakes, i hope they miss the deadline so they can take their time and do it right

Iscariote @ Dec 8th 2006 4:27PM

I just hope they fix the microphone problems, ie. people who join after other people have left.

RoroCo @ Dec 8th 2006 4:28PM

Patches are here to stay. As long as they fix it before I am done with the game. Lets hope them get rid of the 10 ft grenade tagging ability.

Myself @ Dec 8th 2006 4:44PM

"Xbox Live is an umbilical crackpipe that an entire generation of gamers are rapidly becoming addicted to."

I've been playing against other people online for many years now. It's not a new concept. I can't believe they charge you on top of what you pay for your ISP.

Flame on, IDC.

Orangecoke @ Dec 8th 2006 5:20PM

Looking forward to a balancing of the grenade-tagging (hopefully) and a fix to the microphone bugs. The mic bugs are particularly annoying for a team-based game.

Orangecoke @ Dec 8th 2006 5:25PM

"I've been playing against other people online for many years now. It's not a new concept. I can't believe they charge you on top of what you pay for your ISP. "

I think there are a number of reasons why Microsoft is justified in charging for a subscription to the Live network, but it's probably not worth the effort to get into it.

DarkMavis @ Dec 8th 2006 5:28PM

I have an idea.... why don't they, or Microsoft, fix the problem with GoW crashing every hour or more. I'm on my second disc already and I'm still getting the message that the Xbox can't read the disc at random times. Oh yeah, I'll save you some time here by letting you know that neither my first or second discs are scratched and it happens whether the Xbox is vertical or horizontal.

It's a pretty well known problem.

Anyway, I'm actually bringing my Xbox back to Best Buy tonight to exchange it. I bought it in November and it was my first Xbox. I'm a little bummed that I'm having so much trouble with this game. GoW is one of the main reasons I bought the system.

Endejas @ Dec 8th 2006 5:41PM

They need to race the clock to beat people losing interest.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/12/06

Just because you knocked Halo 2 off the top spot, does not mean you've won. I wouldn't be surprised to see Halo 2 resurface if these problems aren't dealt with quickly.

fester @ Dec 8th 2006 5:43PM

"7. I have an idea.... why don't they, or Microsoft, fix the problem with GoW crashing every hour or more. I'm on my second disc already and I'm still getting the message that the Xbox can't read the disc at random times. Oh yeah, I'll save you some time here by letting you know that neither my first or second discs are scratched and it happens whether the Xbox is vertical or horizontal.

It's a pretty well known problem.

Anyway, I'm actually bringing my Xbox back to Best Buy tonight to exchange it. I bought it in November and it was my first Xbox. I'm a little bummed that I'm having so much trouble with this game. GoW is one of the main reasons I bought the system"

-------- ^^^^^^^

You answered your own question. It's not Gears that is at fault (how can it be when millions of gamers don't have the problem?) it's the hardware and as you are getting in replaced it's a non-problem.

fester @ Dec 8th 2006 5:48PM

@8 title of that comic is "Rainbow Sux" not "Gears Of What's he say?" (the night vision gogs give it away too)

Though the same issue does apply (In some cases).

saboola @ Dec 8th 2006 6:21PM

DarkMavis, this happened to me once, but only once. Hope your problems do not persist on a new 360. I had this happen a few times in CoD2 and Oblivion as well.

NeverEnder @ Dec 8th 2006 6:43PM

"umbilical crackpipe"? Cliffy B. could be our generations Hemingway.

JPRacer @ Dec 8th 2006 6:48PM

@4. I've been playing online since Quakeworld and before that I played a lot of Doom and Hexen (co-op was great) with my friends with modem connection (sweet memories). I think Xbox Live is the best online service ever and I have no problem with the cost.

Doomstalk @ Dec 8th 2006 7:33PM

Myself: If you've used the service, you know why the charge. Live is a hell of a lot more than a simple matchmaking service. The fact is, every time you turn on an internet connected 360, it signs you into Live, updates databases with your current play stats, lets other players know you're online, and allows them to message and chat with you across games. The sheer ammount of computing power and bandwidth needed to do what Live does must cost a fortune, not to mention the stoage space for over a million users' stats and voice messages.

biltmore @ Dec 8th 2006 8:19PM

"Lets hope them get rid of the 10 ft grenade tagging ability."

Here Here ...

Endejas @ Dec 8th 2006 9:32PM

@10 - fester,

yeah, i know (i own both games). but i was kinda referring to the article to which the comic refers to, in which tycho says:

Last Friday, I wondered aloud whether the voice issues with Rainbow Six would be resolved before I quit playing the game altogether. Well, it didn't take long - I'm done.

i hope it's a little easier to understand why i posted the comic now..

The same happened with GRAW. The only game I've known that had people flock back to it after a patch was COD2.. but that's just because the game is plain fun.

colin @ Dec 8th 2006 11:20PM

my Xbox 360 didn't come with a crackpipe, was it not included with the core package? what a gyp!

GOLD5 @ Dec 9th 2006 9:23PM

I love how the developer (not Cliffy B) in an interview on major nelson's toronto event podcast, totally made fun of a fan.
Fan:will the multiplayer on GOW be a smooth experience?
Dev:Haha no, we are going to ship you a broken game. Next question.
Now look. Seems like buddy's question wasn't so dumb now was it Mr. Jackass? Almost every single game released for 360 from full games to arcade ports have issues on live, some get patches. Some, like MK3's annoying inability to just search for a match, making you have to press A button a thousand times before it successfully matches you up, have not been fixed. Some, like DOA4, COD2, PD0, Saints Row, Prey, Street Fighter II, the long list goes on, all these games had lag/connection issues and required patching. Looks like Halo3 are the only ones smart enough to actually test on the full public xbox live and not the stupid test network simalcrum live. Now we just need COD3, Contra and GOW patches so I can buy those games. (Game broken, no me buy.)