This week Xbox 360 exclusive Gears of War 3 from Epic Games releases and design director Cliff Bleszinski has confirmed they've got some meaty DLC plans. The studio will be "constantly" working on title updates from now on. Campaign add-ons won't have "Marcus or Dom or Cole in it." DLC has to be "unique and cool".
Microsoft has announced a unique new ad campaign gimmick for their Gears of War 3 television spots in the UK. The ads will be "live" in that they will show the actual number of gamers playing Gears of War 3 online at that very moment.
Epic Games' trilogy instalment Gears of War 3 entered the UK all format chart in 1st place last week, with driving sim F1 2011 debuting just behind in 2nd place. Techland's Dead Island is still going strong in 3rd, and Eidos Montreal's Deus Ex: Human Revolution holds on 5th for another week. Resistance 3 sinks 8th.
The first DLC is due out November for Epic's freshly released Gears of War 3 and it appears we have the names of at least three maps expected soon. The online leaderboards accidentally listed three unplayable maps: Rustlung, Azura, and Blood Drive. Can these be the first map pack arrivals?
Design director Cliff Bleszinski of Epic has revealed that the studio is working on DLC for Gears of War 3 that put's comic series Hollow star Barrick up front. It'll feature "all new campaign content" that is devoid of main guys "Marcus, Dom, Cole and Baird". Bleszinski teases to expect Barrick "and more..."
Major Nelson today announced that Gears of War 3 - as expected - has dominated game sales, and is already the number one selling game of the year, after only one week. "Following more than 22,000 midnight madness launch events, Microsoft and Epic Games today announced that the Xbox 360 exclusive sold more than three million copies in its first week since release, cementing Gears 3 as the biggest game of 2011 and catapulting the franchise beyond one billion dollars in lifetime sales." said Nelson.
Epic Games' Cliff Bleszinski says they can "always do better," but the design director hopes Gears of War 3 "brings us closer" to Call of Duty's level of success. He reminds us that this is "only the third game" of the series, and there's been "a couple more Halo's and a few more Call of Duty's" but Epic could reach it one day.
Epic Games' Horde Command Pack DLC for Gears of War 3 will not be releasing today as it suffers a delay, and the studio is yet to offer a new date for the 800 MSP content. The development team are "working around the clock to resolve this" which is apparently a "technical issue," and Epic apologize saying they "understand the frustration" of fans.
While some fans are upset that the premium Horde Command Pack DLC has been delayed for Gears of War 3, they may be mollified to learn that Epic will be releasing free downloadable content for the game on 24th November.
Epic Games has announced the second update for Gears of War 3, which will be launching on the 16th September. While the update is being uploaded, the dedicated servers will not be available for multiplayer.
According to magazine OXM and its rumour-mill, Epic Games-owned People Can Fly will be taking over the reins for Gears of War with a "prequel trilogy" as the "likely scenario". Epic is developing DLC for Gears of War 3 right now, which includes a prequel visit as Locus boss General RAAM. People Can Fly created Bulletstorm but it had lacklustre sales.
Epic Games and Microsoft have announced some free downloadable content for Gears of War 3 is now available on the Xbox Live Marketplace, sponsored by Paramount Pictures to promote their new Mission Impossible film.
Author Karen Traviss has penned five books based off the Star Wars: Republic Commando game from LucasArts, and just released Halo: Glasslands - but she doesn't play them. Traviss says if she did game then she "wouldn't do anything else" most likely. Traviss has also written five books for Gears of War and leads their comics - she wrote Gears of War 3.
Cliff Bleszinski, design director at Epic Games, ponders how they'd approach a new Gears of War instalment saying it'd need to retain the "Gears DNA," but feel "fresh and new." Microsoft is the Gears home "for the foreseeable future," he added, hoping that GOW 3's success will lift the movie out of "development limbo". Unreal rebooted with a "Fallout/Skyrim vibe"?
Epic Games has announced the third "Season Pass" downloadable content for Gears of War 3, called "Fenix Rising". The latest DLC will add a new multiplayer feature, "Re-Up", which is very similar to the Prestige System found in Call of Duty. Players level their characters, and once they hit the level cap (100 in Gears of War 3's case), can elect to return to level one, sacrificing all of the gear they earned leveling up, but with a new visual perk. Players can Re-Up three times.
The few Xbox 360 gamers who didn't pick up Gears of War 3 can finally check it out on a demo which was just released on Xbox Live Marketplace. The demo covers the Shipwreck level, which is the first mission of Act 2.
Chief District Judge James Dever III has dismissed Silicon Knight's key testimony in a lawsuit aimed at Epic Games, which has dealt a serious blow to the developer's case. The court lambasted expert witness Terry Lloyd's damage estimates, calling Lloyd "not qualified" and his testimonial "unreliable and speculative". The testimony which was dismissed by the court was a six part cost breakdown on theoretical lost income due to Epic for allegedly failing to "provide a working game engine" for Too Human. Epic was accused of "sabotaging" Too Human for the sake of Gears of War.
Epic Games has announced that a new update is live for Gears of War 3. The biggest change by the update fixes two serious multiplayer exploits. On the Mercy map, players were able to shoot from a concealed position near the Sanctuary bells using use the the iron-sights/scope with the Hammerburst and Longshot. The Drydock exploit using the OneShot was fixed as well.
The fourth and final map pack for Gears of War 3 will be releasing March 27th for 800 MSP. It contains five maps with three being original creations, and two classic. New character skins are offered as well. Guardian Mode makes a return from Gears of War 2 in the Forces of Nature DLC. Seven weapon skins and 250 Gamerpoints await fans.
Epic Games design director Cliff Bleszinski thinks that one of the key goals for a young designer is to make their work personal. In fact, the developer stated that Gears of War was inspired by the failure of his first marriage. According to Bleszinski, "I wonder how much of the first Gears, the violence and weight, came out of the angst from the failure of my first marriage. I’m sometimes at my best when I’m challenged by someone or angry at someone in my life.” Suddenly the theme of testosterone-filled, hulking men slaughtering aliens with huge guns takes on a whole new subtext.