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Epic demands: quit making Gears dolls
Back in January we reported on Emilio Lopez's custom Gears of War Munny doll that he made for his cousin as a Christmas present. And we still think that big headed Marcus doll rocks. Anyway, it looks like Epic Games' legal counsel took notice and sent Emilio a cease and desist order demanding that he quit making the dolls and remove all logos that infringe on their Gears of War trademark. The cease and desist order goes on to read,"Your unauthorized use of the Gears of War trademarks falsely suggests sponsorship or affiliation between Epic and you and constitutes an attempt by you to trade off the goodwill of the Gears of War trademark."Wait, we thought he was making a Christmas gift for his little cousin? Emilio never sold the doll, never made a penny off of it, and only created one as a gift. He was proud of his work and wanted to share it with the Gears community and nothing more. Come on Epic, we know you are much cooler than that as this seems just a little too corporate for even a company like EA. Was this whole cease and desist thing really necessary?[Via Something Awful, Thanks, Didlee]
GDC Awards: Gears takes home the hardware
The GDC's Game Developer's Choice Awards were announced last night and our very own Gears of War came away with a handful of metal statuettes. Gears walked off stage with a few trophies for best in technology, visual arts, and of course game of the year. Gamespot reports that when Cliffy B went on stage to accept the game of the year trophy for Gears he, in all his Cliffy B glory, exclaimed "holy sh**!". We congratulate you Epic Games (again) for the numerous awards you've received for Gears of War. Though, you'll probably have to invest in a new trophy case pretty soon.
Gears of War gets the Lego treatment
Gears of War in Lego form, built by Dunemaster ... how cool is that? These little guys were created by Dunemaster who loves building video game characters out of Legos and posting them on Flickr. He has previously made a bunch of minifigs from various video games, but we think the above Gears Lego creations are his best work to date. Now only if we could get some Locusts for our mini COG army to disassemble. Dunemaster, you've been challenged and have some work to do.[Via Wonderland]
Useful mod for blind firing in GoW
If you've played your fair share of Gears of War you know that being able to accurately blind fire is a useful tool in your arsenal of death. And if you're having some difficulty mastering this technique and want help gauging where your bullets are flying then Raging Fool has a soft mod for you. All that's needed is a sandwich bag, a ruler, and a Sharpie. Ultimately, you're attaching a reticule onto your television screen to know exactly where the aiming reticule would be if you were zoomed in. But this can be extremely useful if you're still mastering the technique or just want more accuracy out of your blind fire shots. Give this mod a try, tell us if it helps, and please be sure not to Sharpie directly onto your television screen.[Via Digg]
UK gamers: take on GOW developers, CliffyB
Everyone wants to take out CliffyB in Gears of War. It's a natural inclination, really. Whether you love him or hate him, something about the guy just makes you want to shoot him (virtually, of course). If you find yourself in this particular mood and you happen to live in the UK, then have we got news for you! Starting next Saturday (Feb. 24th) at 19:00 GMT until 22:00 GMT, you'll be able to play with the developers of Gears of War, including the outspoken Cliff Bleszinski. All you have to do is add some special Epic Gamertags to your friends list and wait for an invite. The battles will take place on the newly released Raven Down and Old Bones maps, so make sure you've got those, too. Find the list of Epic Gamertags after the break.
Ctrl+Alt+Del looks at the kill stealing epidemic
In one of their most recent comics Ctrl+Alt+Del talks about a topic that has escaped the public's scope and hasn't been openly discussed ... kill stealing. Kill stealing is prevalent in numerous games, but if you're a Gears of War addict you definitely know what we're talking about. Whether you have been a victim or the antagonist, Ctrl+Alt+Del opens up the gamer's glossary to educate the public about this ongoing epidemic. Please, spread the word and make it known that kill stealing is not okay. If you or a loved one suffer from obsessive kill stealing disorder please contact the Center for Kill Stealers at 1-800-I-CANT-PWN.[Via Digg]
New GOW content in months, PC version "inevitable"
Speaking with TeamXbox, Mark Rein revealed that new content will be arriving for Gears of War within "the next couple months," citing the Dreaded Xbox Live Certification Process® as a primary reason it has taken so long. Rein notes that the content is "not months away...it's maybe a month? When it's done." It is unclear, however, whether he is speaking of the actual creation of the content or the certification process. The upshot, obviously, is that new Gears content is coming, and that it will have "a fun little surprise."Also mentioned in the interview is the inevitability of a PC version of Gears of War. Rein notes that Epic's biggest challenge will be to recreate a game that was designed exclusively for the Xbox 360 so that it will run on a wide range of PCs. Finally, Rein speaks about the upcoming Unreal Tournament 3, discussing his excitement about bringing user created mods to the console space. Hit the "read" link for the whole interview.Now, any wild speculations about what the "fun little surprise" might be in the new GOW content? We'll have none of that reasonable speculation either. We're only interested in wild speculation, thank you very much.
GoW running on a PS3 ... not so much
Hey Playstation fans, we know you love our Gears of War, but what's up with the fake YouTube videos? A person by the name of somma12345 posted a video (the one above) "proving" that he is able to get Gears running on his Playstation 3. He even goes through all the trouble to film behind his TV, film all the connectors, and film his controller during gameplay, but forgets to turn on the lights. Yeah, it's one of those too dark to tell what the hell we're watching videos. In the end we're supposed to settle for a elementary explanation of how he changed a few files around, burned a new disc, and voila! Instant PS3 version of Gears. We're throwing our BS flag on this one and warn you somma12345 to never disgrace the Gears name by putting it anywhere near that shiny black box. We're nice though and will cut you some slack, because we understand your pain man ... the world is indeed a lonely place without Gears.[Thanks, Machiavelli 420]
The Onion: Man needs two trips to complete GoW
We just received some breaking news from The Onion. They are reporting that Pennsylvania resident Ronald Franks only needs two more trips to Best Buy to complete the Gears of War campaign. Ronald has been bringing his memory card to the retailer for the past three weeks and feels that he can beat the game in a few more trips. Though, he says that when he gets to the final boss he'll "probably take a personal day to defeat RAAM". We wish Mr. Franks the best of luck in his quest to complete Gears and hope his Barnes & Noble copying trips are just as successful. Where would we be without hard hitting news like this?
It's time to pwn, a guide to GoW multiplayer
Are you new to Gears of War's online multiplayer? Have you been playing online for a while, but just can't get the hang of it and wonder what the heck you are doing wrong? If you answered yes, then we have a guide just for you. GamingPhreak.com posted their guide to being successful at Gears of War's online multiplayer. The guide is pretty detailed covering host advantage, basic strategy, weapon analysis, and finding your niche. We can safely say that this guide will help those of you who have just recently wet your feet in multiplayer and are ready to dive in head first. Good read, good luck, and get learned![Thanks, iQue]
GOW glitch: delayed chainsaw death
In Joystiq's latest game video of the day, we have yet another new glitch in Gears of War. This glitch gives you the ability to manually "detonate" another player, causing them to explode. In reality, you're just tricking the game into causing a delayed chainsaw death. The glitch involves a lot of weapon switching and a troika, and it's not particularly useful, but at least it's fun to watch. Frankly, we enjoy actually playing the game, but different strokes for different folks, right? Check out the video after the break.
Say konnichiwa to Japanese Gears of War
So, Gears of War is apparently (and surprisingly) selling very well in the land of the rising sun. It seems that something about Gears of War has penetrated the cultural barrier and has made an impact. Of course, thanks must go to the localization team that hired new voice actors to dub all of the lines in Japanese. Many will recall that some games never see proper localization in other countries, lowering their appeal to prospective buyers (though occasionally making for some cheap, region free imports). The Japanese version of Gears (see above video) seems to have been done fairly well. The actors sound good, and the characters' lips are even properly synced with the Japanese dialog. Now let's just see if Gears manages to outsell Blue Dragon. Check out the "read" link for more videos.
Gears update is nothing special
Many of our readers noticed the mysterious Gears of War update yesterday. We spent the day trying to find out what it fixed to no avail. So, we did what we usually do, we slept. Upon waking, a tip from a helpful reader was waiting in our inbox. Epic's Mark Rein has spoken, and it was merely a compatibility update (most likely to coincide with the Japanese release of the game). So there you have it folks, no nerfed weapons, no bug fixes, just more compatibility. Now that that's out of the way, maybe we can start talking about some real changes.[Thanks, Dustin Schau]
Gears of War sells 3 million, surprise!
Microsoft sends word that Gears of War continues to sell like hotcakes ... no ... better than hotcakes, reporting that 3 million copies have been sold. The feat has been achieved in only ten weeks, which, as you can imagine, is damned fast. Also noted by Microsoft, the new Gears of War maps have amassed a healthy 750,000 downloads and all Gears content combined has accumulated 1.5 million downloads. All that's left now is to engineer a sequel, a few spin-offs, and a failed movie deal, and Gears of War really will be the new Halo.Full press release after the break.
GOW VGA fix makes VGA worse
Reports are coming in from several 360 Fanboy readers that the VGA fix implemented by the recent Gears of War patch has actually made things worse. It seems the aspect ratio fix was to downgrade the resolution to the lowest possible setting (640 X 480). The result is an ugly, pixelated image. Not only that, but other strange errors have been introduced. In some cases, the field of view is reduced, others report that the score display at the end of a round has errors (note the overlapping numbers and letters in the image above). Of course, the worst part about all this is that the patch was automatic, so there is no way to change it back. Many readers have already told us they preferred a squished high definition picture to a jaggy, washed out mess.How many of our readers suffer from this "fix?" Leave a comment and let your voice be heard. Don't forget to make your thoughts known at the official Gears forums, too.
GOW map pack impressions
We spent the last hour or so messing around on the new Gears of War maps, and now we're ready to give you the lowdown. First, Raven Down. Raven Down is a tiny map. The teams start in all four corners of the X shaped map. This map is sort of strange, as each team is split in two, with each pair spawning at different ends of the map. In other words, watch the friendly fire. As noted above, the map is positively minuscule. Most of the games we played devolved into shotgun and grenade warfare -- grenades, by the way, are the only extra weapon on the map. It's possible to play the map using the cover available, but it never happened in the games we played. Matches on Raven Down rarely lasted more than 2 minutes.Old Bones is almost the opposite of Raven Down. It's a fairly large map that is very well suited to the stop and pop nature of Gears. The map and spawn points are basically symmetrical. You have two options from the beginning, you can go for the sniper, or you can go for the grenades and the boomshot. Matches on Old Bones can start fast or slow, depending on which way each team decides to go. If both teams make the same choice, the action will start pretty quick. It's pretty fun when both teams go for the grenades and start lobbing them through the doorway. There are plenty of places for a sniper to hide and also many opportunities for rush tactics. Old Bones is quickly becoming one of our favorites.Overall, they're good maps for two completely different kinds of gameplay. Check 'em both out and tell us what you think.
GOW maps are live (so is Ms. Pac-Man) [update 1]
The Gears of War map pack is now available (as if Gears fanboys didn't already know). We've detailed the two new maps -- Raven Down and Old Bones -- already, but we'll be taking them for a test spin today and letting you know what's what. Also available is a special GOW map pack theme and an introductory video from Epic's boy wonder, CliffyB. So, download the maps, look for us online, and help us test these suckers out!Oh yeah, there's some game out for Live Arcade as well. Ms. Porc-Chop or something ....Update: Added the introductory video with CliffyB. Thanks to rivithed from Gaming Bits for spotting it.
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]
GOW patches rough spots, host name removed [update 1]
Update: The patch is now available. Details here.The revelation of new maps and a patch for Gears of War is great news indeed, and now we bring you a precise list of the upcoming changes to GOW multiplayer. Our maniacal commanders at Joystiq discovered the list, and we have unceremoniously ripped it from their digital pages. Notable changes include fixes for the voice bug, a grenade tag distance reduction, a VGA fix, and removing the host name from ranked matches. Fixed aspect ratio distortion when using VGA cable with 4:3 displays at resolutions higher than 640x480 Fixed voice issue with new players joining Player Match games in progress Players can now get the Achievement for "Dish Best Served Cold" when using Troika turret to kill RAAM Fixed rare situation where host could loop countdown and never start match Fixed rare situation where players could get stuck after chainsawing in multiplayer Reduced Grenade Tag melee distance Enabled "Strict" NAT check on host to prevent possible connection issues Optimized server browser queries to return results more quickly and prevent scroll bars from hiding quality of service icons Reduced number of possible revives in Execution to match Warzone Removed host name from Ranked match server browser Disabled security cameras in Ranked matches Ranked matches now require balanced teams (3v3 or 4v4) Increased penalty for quitting a Ranked match to -50 points Added additional cheat detection code Additional housekeeping updates The most controversial of the changes is no doubt the removal of the host's name from ranked matches. While the host name can be used to locate friends in a ranked match, it is also used for team stacking and other nefarious activities.[Via Joystiq]
Video: 5 player team in GOW?
360 Fanboy reader, Mitochondria, sent in this video of a 5 player team in Gears of War. While there are definitely 5 Locusts in the video, the end of game statistics still only account for 4 players (stop the video between rounds to see for yourself). Also curious, there are only 3 COG players, making the total amount still equal the usual 8. It seems the glitch was uncovered by a last minute team change in the lobby screen. The group fails to recreate the glitch at the end of the video. If this could be consistently recreated in ranked matches, we might just have another bug for Epic to fix.Has this ever happened to you?[Thanks, Mitochondria]
