gears-of-war posts

When Epic Games decided to do a PC port of their 2006 Xbox 360 mega seller Gears of War they decided to go all out with support for DirectX10, Games for Windows Live support, an all new single player mission and new multiplayer maps and modes that the Xbox 360 owners would never get access to. However, the game's release in 2007 was a bit of a bust with sales on the low side.

So it's no shock that Epic designer Cliff Bleszinsk has been quoted by IGN in a new Q&A as saying, "Gears of War is a great franchise first and foremost for Xbox 360, and therefore we're focusing on that platform for Gears of War 2. We've decided we're not going to do a PC version this time around." Epic is not abandoning the PC platform; they are working on a PC game for Electronic Arts with their partners at People Can Fly

Epic Games was a little hurt at the reception that their 2007 PC port of their 2006 Xbox 360 game Gears of War got last year. In fact, in a MundoRare video interview with Epic President Mike Capps he states, "I think it's bullshit. Because what we did was take a great game, Gears of War 1 for Xbox 360, made it run at higher resolutions and added three new hours of really good gameplay and it got lower reviews. I think that's bullshit, and I don't understand it. I can't figure out what it is."

While all of that is true we have to say that the Games for Windows Live features, some of which you had to pay for until just recently, were part of the reason why Gears of War for the PC may have gotten some lower scores. Also, the fact that PC owners still had to wait a full year to play the game is always a factor, no matter how much new content you might have put into the game.

[Via Voodoo Extreme]

Forget hot coffee, violence and piracy -- lists are perhaps the most controversial topic in the video game industry, especially among readers. Someone's favorite choice always seems to be excluded, and less-than-deserving names often manage to edge out more venerable entries.

That being said, GamePro has assembled what is arguably a competent list of the eight most powerful game studios in the world. Love them or hate them, it's hard to argue the studios that made the list, and thankfully the list is not compiled in any order designating best and worst.

Among the most notable is Epic Games, developers of Unreal Tournament and Gears of War. The growing popularity of Epic, mostly due to console gamers' embrace of the Gears franchise, certainly qualifies their inclusion. Equally important, especially to the PC gaming world, is Blizzard Entertainment. Always a favorite among mouse owners, Blizzard's World of WarCraft launched the company into mainstream culture, a move that is good or bad depending upon whom you ask.

You can check out the full list on GamePro's official website.

Last month the development of the planned Gears of War movie got some new life thanks to the naming of director Len Wiseman and a new scriptwriter Chris Morgan. Now Variety reports that the New Line Cinema film adapation of Epic Games' hit action game will have a new financial and producing partner in Legendary Pictures.

This will be the first time that Legendary will help to finance a New Line Cinema branded film. They current helped to co-finance the biggest movie at the moment, The Dark Knight, and have also helped to fund Batman Begins, Superman Returns, 300 and the upcoming Watchmen. Legendary is also spearheading development of another game-to-movie property World of Warcraft.

There have been rumors that Epic Games would license the rights to their hit Gears of War game series for prose novels but today that news became official with word that Del Rey will release three novels based on the sci-fi action game series.The first novel in the series is due out in book stores on October 28.

The first novel is titles Gears of War: The Battle of Aspho Fields and will be written by Karen Traviss She has some experience in turning a game into a novel; she previously wrote novels based on another game series, Star Wars: Republic Commando. This new Gears of War novel joins previously announced plans to release a Gears of War comic book series this fall from DC's Wildstorm brand.

It's a bit of a case of "good news, not-quite-as-good news" on the current status of the film adaptation of Epic' Games' sci-fi action game Gears of War. The good news, as reported on by Variety, is that New Line Cinema has finally secured Len Wiseman as the film's director. Wiseman has been rumored to be the top choice for the gig for some time but now it's apparently official. Wiseman directed the first two movies in the Underworld horror-action film series (he also met and later married the films' star Kate Beckinsdale) and in 2007 directed Live Free or Die Hard, the fourth film in the Bruce Willis action series.

The not-quite-as-good-news comes in the form of a new writer, Chris Morgan, who Weisman will reportedly work with on the script. Morgan replaces the film adaptation's original writer Stuart Beattie which likely means the tenative summer 2009 release date of the movie will likely be pushed back. The article quotes Epic Games VP Mark Rein as saying they are happy with this move, saying, ""We want to get it right. There's no timetable for us. We just want to make as good a movie as we can, and we think (Wiseman's) the guy who will do it."

In case you haven't yet procured Gears of War for your PC, tomorrow would be a great time to do so. Gamerscore Blog reports that starting on Wednesday, 6/4, Gears of War for Windows will drop to an affordable $29.99.

For those unfamiliar with the differences between the original Gears of War Xbox 360 release and Gears of War for PC, the Windows version contains DirectX 10 support, five new campaign chapters, three new multiplayer maps, and a new multiplayer game type.

Because PC gamers love to get down and dirty with custom content such as mods and new maps, Gears of War for Windows also contains the versatile Unreal Editor which, as described by GearsOfWar.com, allows players to "import custom artwork into the engine, create particle systems, scripted encounters, cinematics, and more."

For you console owners out there, the Xbox 360 version of Gears of War will drop to $39.99.

We know what you are thinking right now. "Wow. I really would like to dress up in official Gears of War armor and hold official Gears of War replica weapons." Well, have we got a deal for you that's on its way in the very near future. Epic Games and Triforce Sales have announced plans to offer geeks . . . er, gamers a way to get their hands on 1:1 reproductions of the helmet and armor used in the third person action game along with a (non-working) version of the Lancer Assault Rifle.

The reproductions are being created by Nightmare Armor Studio who have done these kinds of jobs in the past for other games. Indeed the company created Gears of War armor and weapon replicas for promotional uses such as in the above picture. Pre-orders will start on July 8 but so far there's no word on what the items will actually cost.

Gamasutra recently caught up with Epic Games vice president Mark Rein to discuss a number of topics, including the sate of the company and its popular Unreal Engine 3 technology.

When asked whether he feels an engine can influence a design -- specifically, whether he feels developers who have licensed UE3 are using Gears of War's exact cover system -- Rein doesn't "think that's an engine thing. We've seen games that don't use our engine use a very similar cover system to us. I think it's something that we luckily stumbled upon that I'm sure we stole from somebody else, and it turns out to be something people really like and it caught on."

Rein believes that games will always build on trends established by predecessors, and that's just fine with him. "That's just a natural evolution of this industry, and many industries. Pretty much any industry, for that matter. That's okay."

Head over to Gamasutra to read the full interview.

Gears of War is incredibly manly. So manly, in fact, that just a sideways glance at the cover art could make you suddenly grow a thick, manly mane of hair all over your body. Keeping that in mind, DC and Epic have teamed up to bring us the full-fledged hairy manliness in comic form. Expect lots of gore, chainsaw bayonets, huge muscles, and potentially sticking grenades to the faces of Locust troopers.

"We are thrilled to be working with DC Comics to further bring to life the Gears of War universe. A lot of our developers are huge comic fans, and have loved the personas and chronicles unique to DC Comics since childhood," said Dr. Michael Capps, president of Epic Games, as he pulled up his lumberjack pants and stroked his extremely masculine beard.

The comic is set to expand the underpinnings of the story and explain some of the questions the fans have about the universe. DC has yet to announce the manly creative team behind the comic, or when it will actually be released, but fans can expect to see it before the testosterone-laden sequel hits this fall.

[Via Gamasutra]