Epic Games posts (Subscribe to this feed)
Microsoft won't let new GoW maps be free?
by Dustin Burg 
{ Apr 9th 2007 at 11:30AM }
In a recent 1UP Yours podcast, Epic's own Tim Sweeney and Mark Rein sat down to discuss Gears of War and downloadable content. During the podcast, Sweeney talked about four new multiplayer maps that they have ready to give out, but are butting heads with Microsoft on how to distribute them. Word on the street is that Epic wants to give away the four new Gears maps, but Microsoft wants Epic to charge for them which is ultimately causing a delay. This of course has caused a community uproar, because we just want our free maps. Cue the Microsoft hating.
But just wait one second. Mark Rein posted Epic's response to this whole podcast interview mess and isn't pointing fingers at anyone. He goes on to say that Epic and Microsoft both want to make money and that they feel "the way to maximize the return on Gears of War is to give the maps away for free and Microsoft thinks the way to maximize the return on Gears of War is to sell the maps". So, they just weren't seeing eye to eye. Instead, Epic and Microsoft came to an agreement that they'll be offering all four multiplayer maps for a small fee on the XBLM and a few months later the content will be available for free ... a la Halo 2 maps. Mark Rein further clarifies things by saying that Epic must play by Microsoft's rules when it comes to the XBLM and as a publisher, but says both companies have the best interest of the consumer and their bank accounts. Still need some clarification? Head over to this post where Mark Rein answers the community's concerns and complaints about all this drama. We swear, it's like high school all over again ...
Oops, Gears of War update isn't coming April 9th
by Dustin Burg { Apr 5th 2007 at 1:00AM }
Nevermind what we all know about the Gears of War update's release date, because we may not know what we thought we knew from where we've known it. Why? Because according to 1UP, Microsoft accidentally posted all the juicy update details a little too early and promptly pulled down all the information from Gears of War's official website. A Microsoft rep told 1UP that all the details about Annex are correct, but the April 9th release date isn't set in stone. Actually, they aren't sure when it'll be released due to that lovely certification process we've all come to know and love. So, come Monday don't work yourselves up into a tizzy if the Gears update isn't released, because odds are it won't be. And for the person who was responsible for making up an arbitrary release date and getting our hopes up, we highly recommend giving them the pink slip Microsoft. There's no forgiving them for the pain they have caused.Annex Official Word: King of The Hill-ish
by David Dreger { Apr 4th 2007 at 3:05PM }
The official Gears of War website has the full skinny on the upcoming free title update, hitting an Xbox 360 near you on April 9th. The game will play very similar to the Halo series' Team Crazy King gametype, with a 15 second respawn time and unlimited lives. The way Annex works is that a given map will have somewhere between two to five control points, located near key weapon locations on the map. Full details available on gameplay after the break.
GoW's new Annex gametype to feature respawning [update 1]
by Dustin Burg { Apr 4th 2007 at 11:15AM }
Yesterday, on Epic's official Gears of War forums, Cliffy B decided to shake things up a little. On the forums there has been a lot of discussion about the addition of the new Annex gametype and how it'll end up working. So, in one of the Annex threads, Cliffy B came to the rescue by stirring the speculation pot and simply posting a one word answer to what Annex will include, "::respawning::". Yup, that's all Cliffy posted, but it is one post that could change how we think of Gears as it pertains to Annex. So, let's recap. Annex will probably be a territory or land grab based game and will be the only gametype to include a respawn feature. Anyone excited about the twist on traditional Gears gameplay or do you shun Epic and vow to never play Annex ... ever?
Update 1: It's official, Annex details revealed.
Behold, a lone Unreal Tournament 3 screenshot
by Dustin Burg { Apr 3rd 2007 at 4:00PM }
Today, we present to you one lonely screenshot from Epic's upcoming game Unreal Tournament
[Thanks, DjDATZ]
Upcoming Gears update fixes glitches & adds gametype
by David Dreger { Mar 30th 2007 at 5:05PM }
DAKing240 let us know about pretty big news for you gearheads out there: Mark Rein dropped into the Gears of War forums to leave a couple tidbits for fans. The next update for the game is currently in certification and he'll have more news for us next week. What he said this week, though, was very promising. For starters, there will be a bunch of glitches fixed, 720p support for VGA users running 1280X1024 and most importantly, a new gametype. Called Annex, Mark says that he's gotten great feedback so far on the new mode, and can't wait for us to get our hands on it. So, you think this new gametype will coincide with the Global Tournament?[Thanks, DAKing240]
Japanese Gears viral vids are freaky
by Richard Mitchell { Mar 29th 2007 at 11:30AM }
We may never understand Microsoft's Japanese marketing. "Do! do! do!" was a stretch, but this is just weird. At first glance, the video above appears to be nothing more than one of those self-promoting, vaguely voyeuristic videos you see on YouTube. If you don't speak Japanese -- and perhaps even if you do -- you would have no way of knowing the video is about Gears of War. "Whaaa?" you say, and we understand. The Japanese schoolgirl stereotype is about as far from Gears of War as is Hello Kitty. Still, it's sort of hypnotizing. Watch the video above (it's actually worth it) and then check out the next video after the break.
Buy a Premium 360 from Dell, get GOW free
by Richard Mitchell { Mar 23rd 2007 at 11:45AM }
So N'Gai Croal says that the 360's software isn't causing more people to purchase 360s. Now is the chance to prove him wrong, thanks to a nice offer from Dell. If you've been waiting for a good reason to pick up an Xbox 360 (Premium, of course), how does a free copy of Gears of War sound? Sounds pretty good, right? Well then head on over to Dell and you can pick up an Xbox 360 Premium and a copy of Gears for the reasonable price of $399. Not too shabby, if you ask us (which you didn't, but just pretend, okay?). Even if you have one, you could always use another. You know, so you'll have one for the parlor. People still have parlors, right? Alternately, you could buy it as an early Easter present. Just stick it in a basket with some neon green plastic grass and you're done.If your interested, you'd better hurry, because Gears is only included in the bundle while supplies last.
Anyone plan on picking this up?
[Thanks, laserboyjc]
CliffyB will executive produce Gears of War film
by Ross Miller { Mar 22nd 2007 at 7:00PM }
Gears of War creator CliffyB will serve as an executive producer to the film adaptation, according to Mark Rein, Vice President of Epic Games. Speaking to Game Invasion at Midway's Gamer Day, Rein also explained that it was Jay Wilbur, the other Epic Game VP, who worked with Creative Artists Agency to negotiate the deal.Having the creator of the franchise in such a prominent position is sure to satiate purists to the game, but so far we have seen only minimal plot that could not be stretched to a feature length. And CliffyB's production role may not give him too much influence, for better or worse -- after serving as executive producer for the latest film adaptation of his work, Frank Miller has decided to serve as director on his roles from now on.
No director has been announced, but the treatment was done by Stuart Beattie, scribe of Collateral, which bodes well. New Line won the rights to create the film, but we're still hesitant to call it will still come to fruition or fall through the cracks like Halo did.
[Thanks, Frank]
Post-release GoW interview with the Bleszinski bros.
by Dustin Burg { Mar 22nd 2007 at 5:30PM }
If you're like us, you can never get too much Gears of War coverage or too many Cliffy B interviews. The other day Gearheads of War founder Tyler Bleszinski interviewed his brother Cliff after their recent Friday Night FragFest. Tyler asks some of the typical questions about the Gears universe and the game's success, but gets other information from Cliffy we haven't heard before. Cliffy discusses the cliche sci-fi storyline, delves into what his favorite maps and weapons are (Fuel Depot and the torque bow), but still refuses to confirm a sequel or a time frame for when new content will be released. He's kind of like a clam that just won't open even though we know he's holding a pretty pearl inside. Just crack already! Overall, it's a darn good interview with dashes of brotherly love sprinkled throughout ... check it out.GoW tournament shut down by diaper gamer
by Dustin Burg { Mar 22nd 2007 at 3:00PM }
First, a word of caution. If you are at all uneasy about diapers and their contents then this blog post may not be for you. In Fort Collins a group of gamers organized an underground Gears of War tournament at a nearby warehouse for over 60 gamers. Among the tournament's participants was a 16 year old kid who was wearing a ... diaper. The diaper clad teenager wore his protection in case of an emergency and didn't really think he'd have to soil himself, that is until he downed five energy drinks. You see, the 16 year old (being the hardcore gamer he is) decided to use his emergency diaper and soon after other participants complained about a "septic tank like smell" coming from the kid. The event's security promptly removed him due to his foul odor. The story doesn't end there as our diaper wearing gamer then called the police to complain about his ejection from the tournament and how he was unfairly treated. The police showed up knowing full well the event was an illegal paid tournament, shut down the event, and fined the event coordinators.Whether this story is true or not, we still can't get the image of a 16 year old diaper wearing gamer out of our head. Who'd knowingly mess their pants in the name of gaming? Something tells us neither this kid or his diaper will be invited to the next Gears tournament.
[Via Digg]
Gears of War movie rights purchased
by Dustin Burg { Mar 20th 2007 at 5:45PM }
Look what we have here, another big video game intellectual property destined for the big screen. Variety is reporting that the Gears of War movie rights have been purchased by New Line Cinema with Stuart Beattie writing the screenplay and Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey producing. We figured Gears of War was destined for the movies, you know, since it has sold a crapload of games and is uber popular. Let's just hope the movie does the game justice and doesn't end up like our beloved Halo movie ... which we will be seeing someday (hopefully). Good job Epic Games and feel free to send us pictures of your entire development team rolling around in stacks of your newly earned greenbacks.[Via Gamespot]
Learn character modeling from Gears expert
by Dustin Burg { Mar 13th 2007 at 1:30PM }
Epic Games' own character modeling maven Kevin Lanning lent his knowledge to a new book that is coming out entitled d'artiste: Character Modeling 2. Inside its pages Lanning and two other talented modelers give tips on how to create flawless high poly and low poly models including pictures along the way. It's extremely interesting to see how much work, the amount of detail, and how much talent and effort goes into each character model. After looking through a few of the pages we'd love to get a copy strictly for Lanning's Gears modeling artwork ... it's that pretty! Head on over to the website, take a peek at a few of the pages, and if you feel the urge plop down $55 for a copy. And, as always, we would never turn away free gifts from our loyal (or not so loyal) readers.
Epic retracts Gears sequel statement
by David Dreger { Mar 13th 2007 at 12:45PM }
In our report on Cliffy B's take on Jazz Jackrabbit and its potential for Xbox Live Arcade, he made a tongue-in-cheek remark about "potential sequels" for the Gears of War franchise. Some people took this and ran with it as confirmation that there "ToTAlLY iz a GEars sequaL!1!!". Mark Rein made an appearance on the official Gears of War forum and stated that Cliffy in no way confirmed the development of a sequel. Mark has also said that if popularity and room for innovation was still there, he saw no reasons to stop at three games. So, not that we're suggesting anything, but if there was enough story and progression in the gameplay mechanics, how far can you see the Gears franchise going?[Via Eurogamer]
New Aussie GoW Xbox 360 pro bundle
by Dustin Burg { Mar 12th 2007 at 3:45PM }
Australian Xbox fans will be getting another 360 bundle this week featuring the coolest chainsawing game around, Gears of War. Hitting retailers on March 15th, the Gears of War Xbox 360 bundle will include the standard Xbox 360 pro goods plus a copy of Gears for the must-have price of $699.95 AU. So, if you or a friend are from the land down under and are looking to invest in a Xbox 360, we couldn't think of a better game to jump start your fanboy ways. And mad props to the Australian marketing team for whoring out half of Xbox 360 box to Gears of War artwork ... we all love Marcus' manly man face.
