Cliffy B reveals the secrets of the universe
He didn't tell us how to program a VCR or how socks go missing in the dryer, but in his session today, Cliff Bleszinski clued us into some interesting aspects concerning the development of Gears of War. Our friends over at Xbox 360 Fanboy told you about Cliffy's longing for Jazz Jackrabbit on Xbox Live Arcade, but did you know that Gears of War began as Unreal Warfare, which then turned into the Onslaught mode found in Unreal 2004?
If that didn't blow your mind, Cliff also revealed that the "roadie run" only increases your speed by a whopping twenty percent. It's all in the camera tricks, my friends. He also touched briefly upon the original name for the Locusts, which was Geist, until a Nintendo trademark squashed that into oblivion.
The Y Button -- used to focus in on objectives in the final game -- was without a purpose until one of his leads came to him one day and said, "Why don't we make it the look at cool sh*t button?"
Designing by iteration, indeed.
