Gears of War patch is live

The controversial patch for Gears of War is now live. Players will be prompted to download the update next time they play Gears of War. We hopped into a lobby to see the much talked about host removal, and sure enough, all the host names have been replaced with "host." For a complete list of changes, see our previous post.

While we understand the need to combat cheating, we also understand the desire for people to play with their friends. It's been beaten to death, but the fact that Gears shipped without a party system -- especially in the wake of Halo 2 -- was a mistake. This patch may serve as a temporary fix to team stacking and cheating, but Epic needs to announce its plans to incorporate team play (or officially announce that they won't) before they are devoured by an angry, chainsaw wielding mob.

[Thanks, everyone]