In early November 2006, one of the greatest franchise fights of this console generation began: Gears of War vs. Resistance. It started as a battle between exclusives to showcase the capabilities of each respective console. Surprisingly, both series had many parallels and further cemented the rivalry by releasing each successive game in the same month, with release dates often less than two weeks apart. Two Sci-fi shooters designed by respected studios featuring characters fighting for humanity’s survival against far more powerful mutated alien invaders. While there is no doubt that the Gears of War series proved more dominant, the Resistance series has more than held its own in many respects as one of the PlayStation 3′s standout franchises.

The rivalry has included six games, three from each studio: Gears of War, Gears of War 2 and Gears of War 3 from Epic vs. Resistance: Fall of Man,  Resistance 2 and Resistance 3 from Insomniac Games.

Origins

Back in November 2006, the Xbox 360 had been basking in the sun for a year as the only “next gen” console. This was soon to change with the coming release of the of the Nintendo Wii and PS3. Out of the new contenders the PS3 was considered the more likely rival with expected greater computing power and graphical capabilities.

Prior to the PS3′s release, two major exclusives were being trumpeted to showcase the system’s prowess : one being the now infamous Killzone 2 “gameplay” trailer and the other being Resistance: Fall of Man. Both were hyped to be  superior to anything found on the Xbox 360.

ORLY?!

At the time, Microsoft had not released a console defining game. Halo 3 was still in development and would not debut until 2007. Microsoft knew they needed a champion – a showcase title to release as a counter to the PlayStation 3.  Luckily a young and ambitious developer from Epic games named Cliff Bleszinski had an idea for a 3rd person shooter which involved using cover and tactics. It was a new approach Cliff came up with after enjoying paintball outings with friends. Rather than a simple backstory, the ambitious Cliffy B created a complex sci-fi adventure featuring inhabitants of the earthlike planet of Sera in a desperate situation fighting for existence against a recently emerged overwhelming menace – the Locust.  As the first Xbox 360 game using Epic’s propriety Unreal 3 engine, early in development Gears looked amazing and after it won several “Xbox 360 Game of Show” awards at E3 2oo5, Microsoft was sure they found their champion.

Sony was also in a desperate position.  The PS3 launch needed marquee titles and as the launch date came closer more than a few expected titles would be delayed. Luckily Insomniac’s Resistance: Fall of Man would be ready. Resistance was developed as a “Halo Killer”. Insomoniac looked at the popular FPS’s of the time: obviously the console king Halo and World War 2 shooters such as Call of Duty.  What they created was an alternate timeline sci-fi shooter which took place in 1950′s England.  This world, while similar to ours, never experienced the second World War. Instead they faced an alien invasion which extended beyond simple miltary conquest with futuristic weapons, as the enemy Chimera could spread by virus. The focus would be entertaining and innovative weapons. Sony had found its first “killer app”.

The stage was set for battle with the success of each competing title tied at least some part to the success of their consoles. The two Sci-fi shooters with more than a few similarities debuted just a week apart.

This is 'Slightly' More Scary A Nazi Invasion

Resistance: Fall of Man vs. Gears of War

Gears of War debuted first on November 7th, 2006 to universal critical acclaim with an aggregate score of 94% on Metacritic.  Critics praised the game for its graphics, solid gameplay, innovative cover system, multiplayer and reload mechanics. Resistance released ten days later on November 17th as the most celebrated launch title for the PS3.  Fall of Man received generally positive reviews from critics. The game received an average score of 86% on Metacritic as reviewers enjoyed the game’s setting, story, variety of weapons and 40 player multiplayer.

Although Gears of War outscored Resistance by an average 8% points, many critics were divided as to which exclusive was superior. Furthermore, Gears lead in sales which could easily be attributed to the higher install base at the time of Xbox 360s.

Screw You Major Nelson!

Head to head, both had their strengths and weaknesses. Critics praised the story in Resistance while many described Gears as being “shallow” and a “missed opportunity”. Clearly, Gears had better graphics and distinguished itself with a excellent cover system, but Resistance had more interesting and varied weapons. Both games had excellent but far different multiplayer components however.

All in all both titles could claim victory because both had accomplished their individual goals.  Gears of War raised the bar for console graphics proving that Microsoft’s console would be able to compete, while Resistance gave the the PS3 the killer app it would need to sell consoles in the first place.

Like with any good fight, the first round ended, both combatants had gotten a feel for each other and adjusted their tactics for round two.

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Warner has signed a licensing agreement with Epic that will allow them to use the Unreal Engine for any games they develop until the contract expires in 2014. NetherRealm and Rocksteady Studios are apparently going to use the engine exclusively for all their games published between now and 2014.

This is a huge agreement as Warner owns several major studios that include NetherRealm Studios and Rocksteady as well a few smaller studios like TT Games, Surreal Software, WB Games Montreal, as well as the majority stake in Snowblind Studios.

We’re very excited that the talented production teams at NetherRealm and Rocksteady will continue to make Unreal Engine 3 their exclusive core technology for the next few years to create the exceptional titles they are so known for,” said Epic Games VP Mark Rein.

“We look forward to seeing how the engine will contribute to the upcoming games from these teams and potentially other Warner teams and external developers who develop or publish with Warner.”

[Source: Develop]

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In case you hadn’t heard, Bulletstorm is out today.  Better yet, if you’re a PC gamer – you can take your experience to another level thanks to 3DVision.  Moreover, Epic and People Can Fly think you’ll be “Blown Away” by it . . . dicktits.

According to Epic’s VP Mark Rein:

“If you haven’t seen Bulletstorm with 3D Vision, be prepared to be completely blown away.  The level of realism and stunning 3D visual effects it enables are absolutely amazing.  We can’t wait to see what other Unreal Engine 3 developers will come up with next!”

Lukasz Migas, lead programmer for developer People Can Fly added:

“You cannot imagine how incredible it is to play Bulletstorm using 3D Vision.  It brings the Bulletstorm world so close that you really feel immersed in the carnage and mayhem of the Skillshot system.  You have to experience it.  I did and I want more!”

Last but not least, Tony Tamasi, senior vice president of content and technology at NVIDIA stated that:

“Bulletstorm shows how gaming can be transformed by state-of-the-art stereoscopic 3D into something truly breathtaking,” “UE3 with 3D Vision support provides unlimited possibilities for developers to add awesome 3D effects to all types of games, and the folks at People Can Fly have really hit this one out of the ballpark.”

As someone who has had 3Dvision for quite some time and has used it to play pretty much every game available to the technology, I am interested to see if I’ll really be “Blown Away” by Bulletstorm in 3D or if this is just developers and publishers trying to get me hyped for Bulletstorm on PC.  I’ll let you know once I’ve messed around with it a bit.

I’ll also be hanging out with both Epic and Nvidia next week at the GDC – so expect some interviews and fresh impressions of what they’re showing off.

Learn more about Bulletstorm and other games that support 3DVision at Nvidia.com

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As part of a recent panel on paid versus free games, Epic’s Mar Rein discussed micro-transactions, budget titles, and developing for mobile platforms.

“I’d rather sell 10 million games at $25 and have a chance to sell DLC than 5 million at $50 on a disc that gets traded around. I think it’ll change, and it’ll change for the benefit of the customers. We’re definitely going to experiment with micro-transcations and lower-price games.”

Rein then elaborated, saying that he didn’t believe that downloadable games should necessarily be free.

“I’m a big proponent of AAA games. Triple-A isn’t going away, it’s going everywhere. As the quality of the games go up, the cost of the games go up, you’re going to have to monetise them better.”

I love the above statement because I love AAA titles. I also love budget titles. I don’t know which I prefer, I just know that I like both and I want them both to exist, so I’m glad to see Rein so devoted to continue producing AAA games, just as there are developers passionate about producing cheaper titles.

Rein went on to stress the important of the iPhone and iPad, calling them the “consoles of the future.” He then suggested that if mobile phone power doubled just two more times, you can play Gears of War on a mobile device.

When asked when Gears of War would become a download-only title, he said “eventually.”

[Games Industry]

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As a lead in, we decided that one writer would each take one of the big three keynotes and try their best to make a case for their selection as the “winner” of E3. We may or may not feel that they won on all levels, however it is our job to convince you that they won based on the foundation of our piece.

I’m here to convince you that Sony won the E3 2010 battle by entertaining the hell out of the keynote crowd, maximizing the amount of press on hand, and combining entertainment with more than a few surprises and some big title announcements that made fans (and one VP in particular) very happy.

Now, Sony didn’t give away a redesigned console to the press, but what they did do was leave practically no man (or woman) behind. There were more than a few people in line for the Sony conference that didn’t have pre-approved access, and a few minutes before the show began, Sony made the call to let them all in. Bravo. I can’t speak for everyone, but it’s my opinion that most press outlets would rather be at the show then left in the cold so a few select outlets could be greased up with a limited supply of shiny free gifts. Didn’t Microsoft ever hear of that saying “if you don’t have enough for everyone…” Well if they did, I’m going to guess that their version ends with “give what you do have to those you think matter most.”

You want laughs? Sony’s press conference had you covered there too. With everything from Jack Trenton taking shots at the Project Natal Experience, to Kevin Butler bashing the device itself, Sony certainly didn’t pull any punches when it came to talking about their next gen competition.

Comedic highlights included Trenton’s opening statement which warned the press nearest the stage that, outside of some potential dribble from he and the others set to speak, everyone should remain fairly dry and wouldn’t be needing protection from a poncho. The poncho remark was of course directed at Microsoft’s Natal event. As funny as that was, it didn’t hold a candle to the one liners delivered by Sony’s hilarious pitchman Kevin Butler.

Kevin preceded Trenton’s entrance in video format, as a short clip featured his first dig on the newly coined “Kinect” Microsoft product formerly known as Natal. “Who wants to shoot with their hand? What are we three?” said Butler before pulling out his very own hand gun and making the “Pew! Pew! Pew!” noise. During another clip addressing the benefits of Sony Move, Butler once again took a jab at Kinect, saying that “we here in the future call these buttons. They come in handy for millions that like to play platformers and shooters, or any game that doesn’t involve catching a big red ball.”

Once Kevin Butler hit the stage for real though, his kid gloves came completely off, and the crowd erupted as if Sony announced free consoles for everyone … wait, you can get that effect without giving away free shit? Amazing.

Kevin led in with “Am I crazy, or did I just see a hundred French acrobats prancing around an arena the other night?” and it went on and on and on from there. Nintendo wasn’t safe either, as KB made the comment that boxing with Move meant that on-screen characters would benefit from having important features like “arms … and necks.” After he got his fill, a big screen image of Kevin using the PlayStation Move device prompted a few more laughs as well.

A new ad campaign for the Sony PlayStation Portable brought even more funny, as it paired Kevin Butler with Marcus Rivers (played by actor Bobbe J. Thompson) to tell the story of a young gamer and his quest to become the face of Sony’s portable gaming division. All in all, I’d be shocked to hear that someone left the Sony keynote without letting out at least one chuckle. If you did, shame on you.

You want games? No problem. Sony announced a pant-load. They showcased titles like EA’s new Tiger Woods PGA 11, with an on-stage demonstration designed to show off the “one-to-one” swing ratio capable via the PlayStation Move. I laughed as the first few shots got hit into the sand, and thought to myself “Tiger’s got a new woman in his life, and her name is Sandy.” Hey, I’m no Kevin Butler, but I thought it was pretty funny.

Another Move specific title announced was “Heroes on the Move” featuring several Sony fan-favorites like Jax, Daxter, Sly, Ratchet and Clank. The long awaited release of GT5 was teased as well, saying that we’ll finally be able to get our hand on the full 3D capable release Nov 2 2010. This prompted Epic VP, Mark Rein, who was sitting directly behind me, to say aloud “really?” As in I’ll believe it when I see it.

Gamers also got a look at Crysis 2, God of War: Ghost of Sparta, Infamous 2, LittleBigPlanet 2, Killzone 3 in 3D, plus a slew of other games shown off at the end in a giant gaming montage, with many of them playable on the show floor.

Sony had something for the crowd expecting surprises and exclusive announcements too, as titles such as Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, Medal of Honor, and Dead Space 2 are all lined up to deliver various exclusives on the PS3 console.

Valve’s Gabe Newell hit the stage mid way through to announce Portal 2 coming to the PlayStation 3. Considering all the negative comments Gabe has made about Sony in the past, his presence was likely very humbling and motivated by spite. Many believe that his decision to finally support Sony was fueled by a Steam rejection by Microsoft. Regardless of the reason, Gabe surely ate every last piece of humble pie available when he issued the promise that the Sony PlayStation version of Portal 2 would be the best version available. He also joked a bit, attributing his on-stage jitters to the fact that Kevin Butler introduced himself back stage as the “VP of Sharpening Things.” Yet another point for Kevin and Sony in the laugh column. A clip of GLaDOS wraps up Kevin’s appearance saying “let’s put our differences behind us … you big monster.” How fitting.

The last surprise was of course the “Come E3 I’ll be sitting rite here at my mac” because “I WISH we were making a new Twisted Metal” announcement of Twisted Metal for the PlayStation 3 by David Jaffe, who from this point forward shall be referred to as “the big fat liar who likes to Tweet too much” until he gives me good reason otherwise.

So there you have it. It is my opinion, that although Sony did not end up introducing any new hardware (unless of course you consider a more detailed look at Move a new hardware announcement), they still won E3 2010 through sheer entertainment value, and as Kevin Butler so eloquently put it at the end of his on-stage appearance, by serving “one master … one king … and his name is GAMING!! FOREVER MAY HE REIGN!!!”

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Alright readers — it’s time to reach up high and grab some low hanging fruit from the always-delicious-yet-sometimes-unsatisfying rumor tree. Today’s tidbit involves a Project Natal name change (which shouldn’t come as a huge shock since things of that nature often undergo a name change before their final release), a rumored $149 stand-alone price tag ($299 when bundled with Xbox Arcade), and a “penciled in” October 26th ship date that has yet to be finalized (even by rumor standards).

First thing’s first. All of this information is pure speculation at this point, though it’s worth noting that the speculation arises from a reputable site in Edge Online, who says their intel comes from a “trusted source.”

Oddly enough, the words “trusted source” link then to an Edge Online piece about Gears of War 3 that further clarifies the source as “our US publishing source.” And those words are linked as well — this time to another Edge write up which once again talks about Gears 3 and features a quote from Epic Games VP, Mark Rein.

Now, I’m in no way saying Mark Rein is Edge’s source, but considering the type of Microsoft/Epic Games related information the source has, and the fact that Edge refers to that individual with the term “US publishing”, does lead me to believe that the source might be someone employed by Epic Games.

Update: UK based website, NowGamer, claims to have received information from a “source close to Microsoft” that the Natal device will be renamed “Wave” a few short weeks from now at E3.

Sound Off: Share your thoughts on this in the comments section below. Do you think someone at Epic Games is the Edge Online source? Furthermore, do you buy any of the Natal information rumored above, and if so, would you dish out $149 for the device?

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Epic Games’ Gears forum received a post from company VP Mark Rein a few minutes before 1AM today. In that post Mark makes mention of a title update for the Gears sequel that they hope to release in January. The laundry list of issues being addressed include the ability to wield an invisible shield, infinite lancer ammo, melee through walls, and more.

Hit the jump for Mark’s post in its entirety.

A brief status report on the next Gears2 title update

First of all I hope all of you had a safe and happy holiday season.

As I mentioned before the break we’ve been working on a major title update for Gears of War 2. This update will address bugs and exploits as well as add some new achievements related to downloadable content. We don’t have an exact date for it but all indicators are it will go live within January. If that changes we’ll let you know.

We’re fixing a whole bunch of online exploits. For example we’ve fixed the ability to wield an invisible shield, melee through some walls, gain infinite Lancer ammo and equip a shield and a two-handed weapon simultaneously plus many more.

We’re also making several small changes to improve the overall online gameplay experience. A few of the ones that might interest you are; increased penalties for quitting matches early, adding additional spawn protection against planted grenades and chainsaw attacks, and adding the ability to see the Submission flag carrier destination by using Tac/Com.

We know you folks love achievements so on the achievement side we’re adding achievement progress numbers to the War Journal, increasing the frequency of in-game Achievement progression notifications and adding some new Achievements for DLC.

This is just a very small list of some of the things that will be in the next title update but one more item which has been talked about a lot in our forums deserves a special call out…

About that shotgun…

We fixed the client side hit detection on the shotgun so that in a high-latency (i.e. “laggy”) match, the shotgun will be more reliable. We’ve also fixed another bug whereby shotgun and boomshot rounds could strike the ground when firing from the hip.

So there’s a brief status report on the next title update. At some point I expect we’ll post a more detailed list but I assure you we’re working hard to get this out the door and once it’s done we’ll start working on the next update. We’ll try to do a better job keeping you informed of our progress on future updates and we’ll try to be a little more active in the forums once this update is released.

Source: gearsforums.epicgames.com

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By now you have likely heard that the highly anticipated Gears of War 2 will not be making its way to your PC. Assuming that you wanted to play it there in the first place, the news may have come as a disappointment to you.

Personally, I don’t play very many games on my PC, with the exception of an obscure MMO called World of Warcraft that you may or may not have heard of. Regardless, according to the PC Gaming Alliance, which I had the opportunity to speak to at the past GDC, the PC gaming population is alive and growing. Epic Games VP, Mark Rein, is a member of this alliance which also includes representatives from NVIDIA, Dell, Intel, Gateway, and others.

That said, I decided to reach out to Mark and ask him personally about his company’s decision to not release Gears 2 on the PC. Specifically, I reiterated the statements made in a recent interview, by his lead designer (CliffyB if you live under a rock), where he had cited piracy concerns as the reason for the focus on the 360.

Here’s the problem right now; the person who is savvy enough to want to have a good PC to upgrade their video card, is a person who is savvy enough to know BitTorrent to know all the elements so they can pirate software. Therefore, high-end videogames are suffering very much on the PC.

Right now, it makes sense for us to focus on Xbox 360 for a number of reasons. Not least PCs with multiple configurations and piracy.

I asked Mark to respond to the statements made by his designer, stating “Your lead designer has been quoted saying that piracy is the main concern”, to which he responded:

The reason we decided not to develop Gears 2 for PC was so that we could focus our resources on making Gears 2 the best possible Xbox 360 game it could be rather than splitting them across multiple platforms like we did with the first one. I think Gears 2 will be a better game for it and that this was the right decision.

Mark’s response makes no mention of piracy as a deterrent in the game’s creation for the PC, and by not doing so it almost directly contradicts it as the motive. Taking Mark at his word, it is still hard pill to swallow for PC gamers.

Regardless of whether or not you agree with Cliff’s savvy consumer analogy, you can hardly disagree that piracy adversely effects the bottom line of digitally distributed media creators. Some may argue both points as rubbish, and it would be their right to do so, but I can understand the logic behind both.

Finally, I asked Mark about the piracy concern in general on PC’s and if he and the PCGA had any plans to deal with the concern in the future, to which he responded:

“This issue is something we’re looking at as a group …”

He then added that I would be better served contacting the group’s Intel representative for further insight into their plans, which I fully intend to do. There was a time not long ago when piracy was a major concern for consoles, but due to technology advances, that has become less of a mainstream problem. Here’s to hoping a solution is arrived upon for the PC sooner rather than later.

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After being nominated as some of the people in videogaming that need to “shut the fuck up“, Cliff Bleszinski and Mark Rein take it to the ring to decide which of the two of them wins the right to shut up more. Using the photo upload tools in EA’s new game Facebreaker, I was able to poorly reconstruct these two mammoths of mutilating machismo and let them do their thing. Video follows.

Mark came out swinging and really had Cliffy on the ropes, but the Blaznats is no bitch and came back with a vengeance. Too bad there’s a time limit — we’ll have to wait until the game releases in September to see what would happen if they weren’t confined to mere 90-second slap fights.

P.S. Does anyone else get the overwhelming urge to barf all over the place whenever they are subjected to EA Trax, or is that just me?

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Even though the Xbox 360 version of UT3 is getting a split screen mode and new maps, the lack of mod support has left a bitter taste in some people’s mouths. However, fear not! Mark Rein hasn’t closed the door on mod support for the 360 just yet.

In a recent interview he explained:

“We’re still trying. We’re working with Microsoft to try to figure out how to support it, but regardless of what happens, mods will play a part somewhere along the line. We’ll make sure we get a fair share of mods working. We’ll figure that out.”

Hopefully with collaboration, Epic will be able to work out where to go with this. Mod support would certainly open up a whole new world of content, good and bad.

Source: Computer and Video Games

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In an epic interview with GamaSutra’s Brandon Sheffield and Christian Nutt, Epic Game’s VP and key creator of the Unreal Engine Mark Rein went into detail about Unreal Tournament 3 and other official UE3 licensee titles.

Among other useful niblets of information, Mr. Rein highlights the importance of Sony consoles this holiday season, stating, “I think Sony’s going to have a good Christmas this year. Games like Unreal Tournament 3 will hopefully get out the door.”

Coming from PC roots, Mark realizes that user generated content plays host to some of the most memorable experiences ever created. When asked about the difference between the Unreal Tournament 3 map system and Little Big Planet, he went on to say:

CN: I bet they’re going to police LittleBigPlanet and other stuff.

MR: Well, LittleBigPlanet is more of an example of rearranging chairs on the deck, right?

CN: It’s pretty robust.

MR: This is the real thing. You can’t import your own models in LittleBigPlanet. You can’t write script code in LittleBigPlanet.

That’s all well and good, but what about the problems with the PS3’s development cycle? Brandon Sheffield went on to ask:

BS: Do you think Unreal Engine 3 running on the PS3 now is going to help people surmount the difficulties they’ve been having?
MR: I think that’s generally how it works. That’s part of the reason why we build a game — to prove out the technology, and iron all the kinks out of it and make it good. As I’ve said before, a year after the Xbox 360 was on the market, we had a really good game — Gears of War — and that kind of became version 1.0 of Unreal Engine 3 for the Xbox 360. That became a roadmap. It was well-optimized, and licensees could go look at that code. We released it so they could say, “If I want to do at least what Epic’s doing with Unreal Engine 3 and get that kind of framerate and performance and visual look or move some of those levers up and down to be different, I can do that.”

I think it’s the same thing with Unreal Tournament [3 on PS3] so absolutely. I think now, people can see, “Okay, they’ve got the engine running with this much content.” Everybody’s mileage varies, because not everybody’s making the same game. But, “They have the engine running with this many characters, explosions, and vehicles, and the level’s this size, and if I follow that idea, I can get that kind of performance, and if I do less of this, I can do more of that. If I do more of this, I can do less than that.” So, absolutely, I think we’re at that kind of version 1.0 on PlayStation 3 a year after the PlayStation 3 shipped, the same way we were with Xbox 360 a year after the Xbox 360 shipped. That was a pretty predictable thing, and was what we expected that was going to occur and what we’ve been telling people.

In addition to all of this, Mark Rein went on to comment about the relevancy of the Blu-ray player in the PS3:

CN: The 40-gig PS3 has been out in Europe for a little while now, and the numbers shot way up.

MR: Well, good for Sony. When I said they were going to have a good Christmas, I didn’t necessarily mean because of our game. They’ve got a lot going for them right now. It’s a great Blu-ray player. They’re going to push that really hard.
BS: I got Phil Harrison to admit that the PS2 was not the best DVD player in the past, but the PS3 is a great Blu-ray player.

MR: And a great DVD player, too. They did a really good job on that. It really feels like it was designed for that kind of thing.

CN: They do that multimedia thing…

MR: But it can confuse people.

Mark Rein has always been an outspoken character, rivaled only by Cliffy B in terms of press coverage. It’s refreshing to see this level of candor, given the frequent stonewalling we get from most developers. This may be indicative of the fact that Epic Games is an independent company, and most development teams seem to enjoy the financial umbrella provided by larger companies such as EA or Activision.

While we hope this will be a prelude of things to come such that all developers will want to express their opinions without an army of PR and marketing agents at their side, we won’t hold our breath.

via GamaSutra

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Ok, who farted?

“The next Gears of War update is coming along nicely”, said Epic VP Mark Rein on the official Gears of War forum. He added that while a release timeframe has yet to be set Epic wanted to make every effort to let the fans of the game know that significant progress was being made to the many aspects of the game including but not limited to the roadie run … new achievements have been added to the Annex and Hidden Fronts DLC as well.“The title update is free and that’s what contains the achievements. However some of the achievements are tied to things relating to playing the maps in the Hidden Fronts map pack which currently costs money but will be made free in a few months.” It should also be noted that Epic plans on making full use of the new Microsoft guidelines which will allow developers to add 250 extra gamerpoints via downloadable content.

The Hidden Fronts map pack containing four new multi-player maps are on Xbox Live Marketplace right now and can be yours for a measly 800 Microsoft points … well worth the investment.

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