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Gears of War 2 Combustible Map Pack available 3AM ET tonight
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Gears_of_War_2_Combustible_Map_Pack_available_3AM_ET_tonight'; This just in from the Spike VGA Awards: Gears of War 2 Combustible map pack, which includes Flood, Gold Rush and Fuel Station, will be available tonight at 3AM ET. No price mentioned. Now back to the liveblog ... Update: According to a source speaking to X3F, the map pack will be 800 points / $10. Gallery: Gears of War 2 - Imulsion Map DLC
Rumor: Gears 2 Combustible DLC releases soon!
According to a few eagle-eyed members of the official Epic Games forums, a new Gears of War 2 Combustible Map Pack will be announced tonight at the Spike TV Video Game Awards and will be available via the XBLM Monday morning at 3AM eastern.Per comments made on the Epic forums, Spike's live stream of the award show was (for a brief period) online and was displaying all the award show's rehearsal footage. Oops? The rehearsal footage supposedly showed new Combustible Map Pack DLC for Gears 2 that's set to release in early Monday morning. No other details were revealed, but we have a hunch we'll be seeing an Imulsion map among the mix. Seeing that the live feed is no longer active (or crippled under the bandwith strain), we can't verify the DLC announcement or its release, so keep your eyes glued to Spike TV tonight at 9PM eastern.%Gallery-37076%
Rumor: Gears 3 and five player co-op in 2010
Even though Gears of War 2 released to retail about a month ago, that doesn't stop the sequel rumor mill from a churning. The latest Gears rumor to surface is word that Gears of War 3 is in development and EGM claims will be ready for release Christmas 2010. Even more rumor worthy, EGM adds that the third Gears installment will utilize a "five player co-op experience", which we're guessing is co-op campaign over Live. But don't get too excited, because these exciting (and somewhat early) Gears 3 rumors have already been shot down by Epic's Mark Rein. Rein informed Eurogamer that the rumors are "total nonsense," adding that "we're still working on improvements to Gears 2." We say keep the Gears 2 updates coming, the DLC flowing and we'll shift our focus to Gears 3 in a year or two.Source - EGM's Gears 3 rumorSource - Mark Rein's rumor response
No brainer: Rein confirms more Gears 2 tweaks
We don't think it's a secret that Gears of War 2 multiplayer isn't perfect and, honestly, we don't think Epic Games is oblivious to that fact either. They've already released a patch to speed up matchmaking wait times and now, thanks to Epic's Mark Rein, we can be certain that a more wide reaching multiplayer patch is on the way. Mark Rein recently responded to a post on the official Epic forums that demanded an improvement to Gears 2 multiplayer. Rein's response, Gears 2 multiplayer "will be improved along with other tweaks and improvements to the game as well." There you go, straight from Epic, a new Gears 2 patch is on its way. Wonder what it'll fix?
Gears of War 2 surpasses 3 million milestone
After hearing word about Gears of War 2 selling a few million units its first week at retail, Epic Games VP Mark Rein just confirmed with Edge Magazine that Gears 2 has reached the 3 million unit sell through milestone. Wowzaz! Rein announced Gears 2's 3 million sell through success late last night, noting that Gears 2 achieved 3 million in sales in four weeks. In comparison, the original Gears (which ended up selling around 5 million copies) took ten weeks to tally up the same amount of sales. Now, Epic, we just ask that you not forget to keep supporting your lil' money making gem with regular DLC and as many title updates as necessary. Congrats!
Analyst: Gears 2 wins big in Nov, 360 sales soar
Industry analyst Jesse Divnich of Electronic Entertainment Design and Research (EEDAR) just sent over their analytical predictions of November's soon to be released NPD sales figures and, wouldn't you know, the Xbox 360 is predicted to have had an amazing November.Not only are November NPD hardware sales expected to be 800,000 units (a 3.9% increase over '07), but software sales were also on the up. The big winner being Gears of War 2 and its 2 million copies. Check out the bulleted list of facts we gathered after browsing through EEDAR's November NPD predictions. Xbox 360's 800,000 in sales are more than double the PS3's 375,000. Gears of War 2 expected to top the charts at 2 million copies. World at War sells big to the tune of 1.4 million copies. Left 4 Dead sold a reasonable 300,000 units. Mirror's Edge was a sales flop, not in the top 10. Guitar Hero franchise may be reaching its mass-market sales peak.
Gears 2's reign short lived, Halo 3 tops Xbox Live list
Well, that didn't take long. After a short stint, Gears of War 2 is no longer the king of Xbox Live (there goes our three month guess'timate), being taken over by none other than teh Haloz. According to the oh so informative Major Nelson, Halo 3 topped Gears of War 2 as the most played Xbox Live game last week which was also a Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Gears 2 did hold the number two position with CoD:WaW, CoD4 and GTAIV rounding out the top five. We find it surprising that Gears 2 lost its Live multiplayer dominance so quickly post-release even with the release of last week's matchmaking fixing patch. Somewhere there's a Cliff Bleszinski hunched in a dark corner shedding a tear and cursing at a Master Chief action figure. Guaranteed.
Video: 25 ways to die in Gears of War 2
There are numerous ways to die in Gears of War 2, everything from being Wretched to death, Ticker exploded to (our favorite) being Torqued between the eyes. In a weird, sadistic way, it's rather satisfying and entertaining to see a character get gibbed. That's why we bring you this "25 Ways to Die" Gears 2 video showcasing exactly 25 ways you can become a pile of gib goo. Enjoy the gore.[Via Digg]
Epic unleashes first Gears of War 2 patch
We asked for it, some even demanded it and now Epic is finally giving it by releasing a game improving Gears of War 2 patch. Released earlier this morning (3:40AM pacific to be exact), the Gears of War 2 patch or "title update" will be insta-downloaded the next time you pop in your Gears 2 disc while connected to Xbox Live. The biggest change the update will bring is a fix to the long matchmaking wait times that were overkill, especially for one and four player parties. Epic's Rod Fergusson is optimistic that today's patch will squash Gears 2's online multiplayer problems, saying that he hopes "the matchmaking issues we've seen up till now are a thing of the past." Amen to that.We're also informed that the Gears 2 patch will improve how stats are collected for GearsofWar.com and fixes the problem where some players couldn't access campaign when Xbox Live is down.
Marcus Fenix plastered all over NYC
If you're in or around the New York City area, we highly recommend going to visit one or all three hand painted building murals featuring "Mr. Badass" himself, Marcus Fenix.Three different Gears of War 2 murals have recently been hand painted on different buildings across NYC (locations after the jump) and feature Marcus and a few Locusts for aesthetic appeal. The murals will only be up through the end up the month, so hail a cab and go visit a 46 foot tall Marcus.
Bleszinski: Epic still has a few 'tricks up their sleeve'
Chatting with CVG, Epic's Cliff "The Dude" Bleszinski gushes about the look and visual enhancements Gears 2 has over the original, but promises to push the technical limits of the 360 even further. "I honestly believe that our talent at Epic has many more tricks up their sleeve if need be for a future products," Blezinski explains. "Give us a couple of years and I guarantee you we'll turn out something that looks even better on Xbox 360." Word.Prettier graphical prettiness that's even prettier than Gears of War 2? We say impossible, Cliff! Or is it?
Sam's auctions signed Gears 2 and Locust bust
Tis the season for online auctions and our retailer friends over at Sam's Club are doing just that, an auction for Gears of War 2 goodies. Currently on the auction block is an autographed copy of Gears of War 2 LE, signed by none other than Cliff Bleszinski and Mark Rein. The other Gears 2 auction is for the crazy expensive Locust drone bust that's so expensive, one would probably have to take out a second home mortage. But not here, not at the Sam's Club auction, because the Locust bust is currently sitting at a not so crazy $16. Auctions close in about a week, so go get your auction bidding on and try to score a Locust bust for sub-$100.Source - Locust bustSource - Gears of War 2 autographed[Via Joystiq]
NECA offers free repair kit for toy Gears Lancer
For those who were willing to slap down the extra cash for the Gears of War 2 Lancer bundle over at Amazon.com and were unlucky enough to receive a broken Lancer, know that manufacturer NECA will send you a fix-it kit. NECA is reporting that some toy Lancers were manufactured incorrectly, not allowing the batteries to make proper contact which results in a less than functioning Lancer. NECA is offering a fix (a small metal plate and installation instructions), all you have to do is shoot them an email with your name and address, then they'll send you a fix kit. Lancers without lights or sound are just not acceptable.[Thanks, Timeridert]
Gears 2 is the new king of Xbox Live
After a much too intense (and admittedly repetitive) weekly brawl between Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4, where each fought for Xbox Live supremacy, we are proud to bring you news that a new game has chainsawed its way to the top. For the week of November 10th, Gears of War 2 has achieved the honor of being called the most played game on Xbox Live. Surprising, eh? Gears 2 kicked CoD4 to the second spot, Halo 3 to the third (how appropriate) and World at War to the fourth. Now we get to keep a weekly watch on the Live most played list to see how long Gears 2 can hold the number one honors. We're guessing four months and three days. What say you?
Gears of War 2's ranking system explained
After hearing about gamers' anger and general confusion surrounding Gears of War 2's online ranking system, team Epic has come to the rescue by explaining how the whole ranking thing works.According to Gears community manager SixOkay, the Gears 2 ranking system strictly uses Microsoft's TrueSkill which is was created using chess' ELO rating system. This means that ranks aren't calculated strictly by points or kills, instead a rank is determined by your wins and losses AND whether or not you were favored to win the match. Also, the five different icons used to express your rank (viewable above) are used as a general range of ranks attainable, so small fluctuations in your win / loss ration won't instantly change your icon. Click the jump to read more about the Gears 2 ranking system and learn how it all works. Then, hopefully you'll be one less confused gamer.
Epic addresses Gears of War 2 matchmaking hiccups, still no fix
After hearing the community's complaints and general negative feedback regarding the long wait times experienced during Gears of War 2 matchmaking, Epic's Rod Fergusson addressed the issues over on the official Epic forums. Sadly, there is no hard fix in place.Fergusson wants the Gears community to know that the long wait times experienced in matchmaking are limited in scale (riiiiiight) and that Epic is working with Microsoft to speed things up. While they figure out the mess, we're given a few tips to improve the matchmaking experience, including: restart the search, avoid 1 and 4 person parties, and (our favorite) skip the whole matchmaking mess and host custom games. With a frown on our face, we await a Gears of War 2 patch ...
Possible Gears 2 'Imulsion map' DLC pics surface
A mysterious set of Gears of War 2 screenshots recently made their way online and look to be pictures of a never before seen multiplayer map that could release as new downloadable content. The nine screenshots (galleried below) show what look to be a multiplayer map that is surrounded by gorgeous yellow imulsion. And from what we can tell, the screens seem legit and one could easily speculate we'll be receiving some multiplayer map DLC in the near future. Then again, if you didn't expect Gears 2 DLC, you'd be one silly Locust Wretch.%Gallery-37076%[Via Digg]
Video: Winning a chainsaw duel in Gears 2
With the addition of the button smashing chainsaw duels in Gears of War 2, we've always wondered what the best strategy is for rapid B button tapping. Thanks to Chris Paladino and the Gamerscore Blog, we now have chainsaw duel strategy tips and tricks from the Epic crew. Personally, we agree with Cliff's caffeine consumption strategy that makes one's reflexes extra twitchy. Though, never tried the the clicky pen trick or the pinkie slide. But they don't sound too useful.
Epic sinks Gears 2 pirate's ship
Protip: Pirating video games just doesn't pay. As is made evident by the recent lawsuit Epic Games filed against a St. Louis man who advertised copies of Gears of War 2 on Craigslist prior to its release along with modded Xbox consoles.A settlement has been reached where the St. Louis Mod Shop owner agreed to never sell copies of Gears 2 or any modded Xbox hardware, turn over all modding hardware, pay an undisclosed amount in fees, help Epic identify other copyright violoators and issue a public apology. For shame! Remember kids, pirating games doesn't pay. Ninjaing games just makes more sense.[Via Kotaku]
A peek inside Gears 2's Day One arcade
Our compadres over at Joystiq took a gander through the Gears of War 2's arcade that's featured in the multiplayer map "Day One" and, not only did they grab a few screenshots, but they also analyzed the heck outta the entire setup. It's a very informative arcade analysis. We advise you view what the Playland Arcade has to offer and whether or not you're up for beating the high scores in "Murder Simulator", "Malicious Delicious" or our GOTY pick "Carny Brawl". Oh how we love our "Carney Brawl" ... Gallery: Gears of War 2: Playland Arcade
