Zune of War: Gears 2 Zune unleashed Nov. 7, $280

by Alexander Sliwinski { Oct 1st 2008 at 10:00PM }

Much like the Haloz before it, Gears of War 2 will receive a special edition Zune 120. The glossy black media player has the Gears logo laser-etched on the back and comes with 244 pieces of GoW bric-a-brac -- all for $280. The unit is available to pre-order now at Walmart.com and Amazon.com, and will ship on November 7. Same day as the game ... fancy that! No word yet if the military will get its own (sexier) version of the Gears Zune like they did with Halo 3.

[Via X3F]

Gallery: Gears of War 2 Zune

Tags: epic, gears-of-war-2, gears-of-war-2-zune, microsoft, zune

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Lkr @ Oct 1st 2008 10:08PM

Kinda ironic, I was considering a Zune

Envoy @ Oct 1st 2008 10:20PM

I thought Zunes were dead...

wiredknight @ Oct 1st 2008 10:33PM

That's called a coincidence. The opposite of ironic.

Chris Are @ Oct 1st 2008 10:38PM

@Envoy

That's what I thought! Remember when everyone was like "OMG!!! THE ZUNE GUY IS GETTING HIS TATTOO REMOVED!"

Tiptup300 @ Oct 1st 2008 11:20PM

Evory, the Zune is very much alive. With the new 3.0 update and the now almost finished ability to put your own homemade games on the Zune the Zune is alive more then ever.

warlock7 @ Oct 2nd 2008 8:40AM

With a one million unit per year sales rate, the Zune is barely alive.

Compare that with the big guys on the block selling over 20 million units per year on average and you might understand why...

Tiptup300 @ Oct 2nd 2008 1:23PM

One million Zunes means dead? Shit, nobody told me!

Joeshie @ Oct 1st 2008 10:08PM

Well, I've been thinkin' of getting rid of my iPod and picking up a Zune. Might be the time to do it.

reign-♥-of-♥-love @ Oct 1st 2008 10:13PM

dude its totally worth it. as long as you dont buy too much of ur music on itunes, everything plays. that was my concern when i made the switcharoo.
once you go zune you never to back.

Misfit Toy @ Oct 1st 2008 10:20PM

Agreed. I've owned two iPods. I liked them. I, however, love the Zune. Especially after the new 3.0 software update. You should shoot over to zune.net and download it to try it out for free. Then all you'd be missing is the hardware ;-)

Misfit Toy @ Oct 1st 2008 10:09PM

I have the 80 and love it. Pretty much out of room on it too.

Tempting...tempting...

reign-♥-of-♥-love @ Oct 1st 2008 10:10PM

oh my god ive been wanting to upgrade my 80 and now even more of a reason! ohh yeah!

- "pelvic thrusts to walmart for preorder"

FSK405K @ Oct 1st 2008 10:11PM

Sorry, "bric-a-brac"?

Misfit Toy @ Oct 1st 2008 10:18PM

As per site quote:

"...pre-loaded the device with 244 pieces of "Gears of War" media -- the soundtrack, concept art, behind-the-scenes vids and so forth..."

Jason @ Oct 1st 2008 10:21PM

So you can get even more use out of the term:
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bric-a-brac

Andre @ Oct 1st 2008 10:13PM

Looks much better than the Halo edition before it, but I'll still pass. I don't think I could use anything but an iPod anymore, they've got me hooked.

Envoy @ Oct 1st 2008 10:20PM

The new ipods do look sweet.

Obie @ Oct 1st 2008 10:22PM

I just bought the iPod touch 2G, it's my favorite new toy. :)

ice~ @ Oct 2nd 2008 12:13AM

The iPod Touch is a kick ass piece of tehnology...other than the problems with typing, I think the iPod touch is the best mp3 player I date (maybe cause of the amazing web browser or the awesome apps) anyone else agree?

ice~ @ Oct 2nd 2008 12:15AM

To Date* not I Date... that's the typing problem I was talking about...stupid spell check thing

Khaled @ Oct 1st 2008 10:21PM

Nice, too bad the Zune won't integrate with Gears 2 PC version, oh wait ..

halongw77 @ Oct 1st 2008 10:25PM

I don't understand why people like iPod's. I hate trying to control that thing in a car. Or control it period. The touch wheel is kinda cool at first but using for everyday life is kinda annoying. I don't like the navigation. The old Zunes buttons were alright but they were also kind of a hassle when you were trying to scroll through the menus quickly or trying to scroll through your giant list of songs. I still preferred the old Zune buttons over the iPod touch wheel though. I haven't used the new Zune pad, any comments on it guys?

DefPo3t @ Oct 1st 2008 10:31PM

the new zune pad rocks except for the occasional volume increase when yo put in your pocket

Huey2k2 @ Oct 1st 2008 10:32PM

The touch can be a little iffy sometimes... most of the time it is good though. If you don't like the touch on it though you can turn it off completely and use it like the old Zune 30's as the squircle acts as a D pad too.

Huey2k2 @ Oct 1st 2008 10:37PM

"the new zune pad rocks except for the occasional volume increase when yo put in your pocket"

That's why you lock it before you put it in your pocket lol

Misfit Toy @ Oct 1st 2008 10:45PM

That's what the lock switch is for. So you don't accidentally hit a button, like turning the volume up.

Abscissa @ Oct 2nd 2008 12:42AM

"I haven't used the new Zune pad, any comments on it guys?"

I've tried it. It's complete garbage. (Not that the iPods are any better.) The Zune 1 pad is the only portable media player directional control I've ever used that wasn't complete shit (How the hell do so many companies screw up something as simple as *buttons* so incredibly badly?!?).

The Zune 1 would have been absolutely great if it weren't for the insane amount of DRM, arbitrary proprietary lockdowns, and other such bullshit that's usually more the domain of Apple. (It had rather shoddy engineering too. Not as bad as the 360, but still pretty lousy.)

It's a shame that the Zune 2 screwed up the directional control instead of fixing the things that were actually wrong with the Zune 1.

&rew @ Oct 1st 2008 10:38PM

How could joystiq call this Zune "Zune of War"? Way to destroy my hopes of a God of War Zune which also would be called Zune of war.

wiredknight @ Oct 1st 2008 10:42PM

Would you settle for "God of Zune?"

Sora @ Oct 1st 2008 10:59PM

Well, Gears of Zune just sounds plain dumb.

Misfit Toy @ Oct 1st 2008 11:41PM

An unlikely pairing. A Sony "video game" brand on a Microsoft piece of hardware.

dangcucu @ Oct 1st 2008 10:44PM

well, i love my zune though the directional pad is going nuts lately
& i got the warranty box by mail but inside it states i need to send
it with a copy of the receipt which i can't find so i don't know. now
i have to click the left button to unfreeze the directional pad or
move the hold on/off switch & reset didn't work. i have the new 4gb
model. other than that i LOVE it. i bought my wife the small square
ipod & she loves it cause it's small & i think the quality is superb.
but i love the zune as it links to my xbox & i watch the podcasts on
my big screen & so podcast do look sharp on it + wifi & it configured
somehow my xbox to link to my pc to watch videos+pics+music (streamed)
that's cool. plus 3.0 updates rocks. only know 1 person that has a
zune at my job & its a big older one but looks like its tough and
would last forever.

tcc3 @ Oct 2nd 2008 6:57AM

It actually asks for proof of purchase date so they can verify the warranty. Your Zune account should list when it was registered and if you happened to buy a Zune Original it will be the same as the purchase date. I just printed out that page and send that instead.

Phillip Black @ Oct 1st 2008 10:44PM

That's it? Cool looking Zune and some pics for $280? C'mon MSFT!

TheAzureKnight @ Oct 1st 2008 10:49PM

Too bad the Zune sucks ass...

Love my iPod! And soon upgrading to an iPod Touch which I'm sure I'll love as well!

Still love you MS though. Keep turning out great games.

See it's possible to love both Apple and MS!

Arturo @ Oct 1st 2008 11:30PM

I've had the 30 since launch and I love it, so I think I'll probably get this one :)

Misfit Toy @ Oct 1st 2008 11:43PM

My nephew has the 30 gig Halo one. I own the 80 gig, and my wife owns the 8 gig. The hardware changes they made between the 30 and 80 were significant in many ways I feel. You'd be quite happy if you jumped to this model. Not to mention the extra 90 gig of memory.

R @ Oct 2nd 2008 12:22AM

Gotta sucker someone into buying me this for Xmas...

Steven M @ Oct 2nd 2008 1:29AM

I love windows and 360's but Microsoft needs a touchscreen zune and a drm free music store before i ever even consider getting a zune to replace my ipod touch.

tcc3 @ Oct 2nd 2008 7:00AM

You mean like Apples totally DRM free store? No, wait...

I wish there were more drm free tracks too, but it doesnt really matter. You can just use the Amazon store instead.

Easo @ Oct 2nd 2008 8:21AM

The zune store sells completely DRM free mp3s. The only time the music has DRM is if you use the zune all music pass, or if you share it with a friend.

The zune is superior to any ipod when viewed strictly as a portable music player, however the ipod touch and iphones are better tech devices.

OTAM @ Oct 2nd 2008 7:12AM

I had a Zune and took it back to the store. The music organization on it was ATROCIOUS. I sort my music by albums,so when I had a mixed folder by the album name of "Random Mix",the Zune would sort it by EVERY SINGLE artist in that folder.

The Zune itself was a good piece of hardware. The way it handles ID tags and organizes music...absolutely horrible.

Easo @ Oct 2nd 2008 8:23AM

Its not the zunes fault that you don't understand the difference between a playlist and a folder.

Vcize @ Oct 2nd 2008 10:28AM

How is the sound quality on Zune's? I'm not an audophile or anything but after using a Cowon for years I bought and iPod and could not listen to it because it just sounded so terrible.

Is the Zune's sound quality comparable to the iPod's poor quality?

Susie @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:27PM

Be sure to shop around before selecting the ZUNE! I have the 80gig I'm very disappointed with mine. Not alot of accessories to chose from and my headset is only three months old and trashed. Ipod, much better product!

Misfit Toy @ Oct 2nd 2008 4:21PM

Agreed that there are not 'as many' accessories as the iPod. But it has been out longer, and knowingly has the larger marketshare, therefore more products made for it. But just as recent as the 3.0 software update for the Zune you'll see they've increased the accessories. There's twice as many now as when I last looked just a couple/few months ago.

I'm sorry your headset broke. My headset is still working fine though, and I've had the 80 gig almost since they've been out. So it not the case with all of them.

Susie @ Oct 6th 2008 11:33AM

Well I didn't shop around before buying my Zune. My friend had it and we were together for the weekend, so I took her word. When I went looking for a base there was NO selection, so I got the Altec Lansing. I find that if my Zune is not sitting just right, it doesn't work! Do you know of another base the is compatible. I am frustated with this unit and feel like just going out and buying the Ipod! Let me know.