NYCC 09: Gears has 'ten-year plan', prequel possible

by Dustin Burg on Feb 9th 2009 4:30PM

This weekend, during a NYCC held panel on Gears of War, Gears 2 lead writer Joshua Ortega let slip information on plans to extend the Gears franchise ten years, which may result in an Emergence Day prequel.

"You will not be disappointed in the next ten years," revealed Ortega when answering a panel question that asked about a future Gears project being a prequel. "It's a ten-year plan. Gears is long-term. The lancer is the new lightsaber." You know, just replace the glow of the saber with a chainsaw and a few bullets, and you have one accurate analogy.

While Ortega didn't flat out confirm a Marcus Fenix prequel, his talk of a ten year life cycle makes it all too possible that Gears' storyline would (eventually) have to go into prequel territory. And is it just us, or lately, has talking up ten year life cycles been all the rage?

[Via GamePro]

Source

Tags: epic, epic-games, gears-of-war-2, gow2, nycc-2009, ortega, shooter, x3f-twitter

Reader Comments (36)

Gears launch title for 720 confirmed? (assuming the 360 is going to last 10 years)

lol the title and that picture works together so well

OMG Gears of War Wars confirmed.

I think he meant 'The lancer is the new tractor beam"..

Doesn't the lancer have a tractor beam on it?

Do I smell a stand-alone Cole-Train thrashball XBLA game in the works???!!!

That is... actually not a completely terrible idea.

Though the 2500 Microsoft Points it'd likely cost is a bit too steep for a game that would be released sans-thrashball...

If the game play is as good as the first two I'll get it but I doubt the multi player will be any better.

If the game is anything like the first two I'll have to assassinate Cliff Bleszinski myself.

Seriously, could a game as hyped up as Gears suck any harder?

Now I love me some gore and action, but not at the cost of an intriguing story and its characters.

ooo i hope there a new planet eventually...or all unique locust weapons like the covenant

Its Santa fenix!

i think we weill se another gears of war game (Gears of War 3) and then maybe get a trilogy of prequels called "Pendulum Wars"

I think we might be taking this the wrong way. My guess is that Gears of War 2 is the last complete game they ship, but they anticipate a ten year plan of patches and updates in order to make the game playable online.

LMFAO!!! haha yeah.... i'm not really excited to hear this.
HEY! how about you guys fix your game first b4 we think of making another one eh?

The lancer is the new lightsaber? Hahahahahaha. That's the most ridiculous comment i've heard all day. I love it.

Sorry buddy, but that just ISN'T going to happen.

Heh, I was thinking the same thing. I love Gears (and the Lancer) but I just can't see it coming even close to evolving into a massive multimedia franchise like Star Wars. I guess we'll see what the next couple of decades bring. :P

Epic also said the movie would be the next Lord of the Rings. I think their success has gone to their heads.

I thought the Gears of War movie was going to be a prequel, assuming it's still supposed to be in the works. So are we talking about Gears of War: The Movie: The Game? Or TWO prequel stories?

Personally, I'd rather see more actual sequels, as long as they're as fun as the original. I haven't even started on GEoW 2 yet because of my already massive backlog.

Im a big fan of the gears story, but ugh wtf... milk this and lose all your credibility much like you did with gears of war 2 you were not innovative your ten years behind...

Hahaha that picture is great. Well Gears 2 was a big improvement over the first one (specially in the campaign), so I can only see the next ones improving a lot.

Gears 2 an improvement? Do you really believe that? Rock worms for cover? Gears 2 is awful.

improved doesn't mean the best. So, an improvement non the less

there gonna have to give something really new and exciting each time if they wanna keep it going for 10 years

should be ok for at least another couple of years though, since gears 3 will be multi-platform

hm.. PC maybe. Epic have used all the 360's RAM on Gears of War 2.. if GOW3 does the same.. it'll need a big shoehorn to fit the PS3s lesser amount of RAM available to games, and that's before you get to the weaker GPU..

I honestly don't see a prequel game happening: you know what's going to go down, so any kind of story (haha) that they try to make, "What's this?" or "What's going on!!!" is going to seem completely forced and see-through.

Halo hasn't even really been around for that long. At the rate things are going for them, sure, they will hit the 10 year mark and beyond, but I just don't see that happening with Gears. Halo has better matchmaking, better story, better multiplayer, better coop, and a bigger following. I could be wrong, but Bungie sure got a few things right a while ago that Epic has already failed on, big time. I am a Gears fan, but I just don't see the series lasting so long. Few series actually last that long. Sure, every developer wants that, but very few get it. I would venture that Rock Band will be around for a while, GTA will continue on, we will still be playing Halo stuff for a while, Call of Duty will keep on, but Gears? I just don't see it. Maybe. It is possible, but not probable.

I think you make valid points, however, Gears of War has potential to last. That's only if the developer's pull their heads out of their asses and realize they need to innovate, and make online fun enough to keep on playing. If they could find the perfect balance of awesome game-play and challenge (Instead of every game becoming a shotgun/ lancer fest) then this series might last.

pfft. if epic plans on making gears a lasting franchise they should focus on making a credible sequel to the first game. its such a struggle to get a game started in gears 2 and the story is barely bigger, definitely not badass..

So with the Star Wars analogy, did they just let the bag slip that either the Queen or RAAM-like-locust will have a 'Marcus, I am your father/mother' moment?

Here's what'll happen:

A year or so after GOW 3 comes out, we'll get a prequel on the Pendulum Wars which, IMHO, would be great to see as an RTS. Then we'll get an Emergence Day game with Marcus as a "pre-COG recruit" so naturally he wouldn't have any armor and would require a distinct "element of stealth".

What do you all think? It could work!!!

For real? I'm gonna get sick of those over sterioded marines by that time. The first two have been fun and the third one will be good as well, but I doubt it will have the longevity that Star Wars has.

wow, gears of war 2 had a dedicated writer? i assumed that the game designers themselves had to have written the game, considering how goddamn hackneyed and shitty in general the writing is, whether we're talking plot, characters, or dialogue.

(for the record, before i'm branded a hater and greyed-out, gears is truly one of my favorite multiplayer games ever.)

that pic made me laugh.

Gears RTS anyone? ...chuckle

Will Gears even be relevant in 10 years? Somehow, I don't see myself getting excited for Gears of War 4 or even 5. Something bigger, badder, and bloodier will surely take its place eventually.

Also, why does everyone feel the need to do a prequel these days? George Lucas has started a really really bad trend.

Doubt it. With the way MS is going with their franchises (snagging already established IPs, milking newer ones) I doubt most of what they do this generation will be relevant next gen, let alone in 10 years.

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NYCC 09: Gears has 'ten-year plan', prequel possible

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