Gears of War

Gears of War Lead Designer Cliff Bleszinski leads a walkthrough of the two new maps. It's pretty short but it should give feel for what to expect when you download the new map pack.

Just a reminder that the first Gears of War Map Pack is now available for download on Xbox Live for free. The pack includes two new multiplayer maps called Raven Down and Old Bones. Descriptions of each map are below the jump. An update for Gears of War was also released yesterday and addressed issues related to voice communication, grenade tagging, and connections, among others.

During Microsoft's CES keynote, Robbie Bach revealed the staggering sales results of Gears of War. Epic's blockbuster has sold 2.7 million copies worldwide since the game's release in November. This kind of performance has officially turned Gear of War into a franchise. Expect Gears to follow in the footsteps of Halo with multiple sequels and branches.

That title is now a Halo-like franchise that continues to drive hardware in a very positive way," Bach said. "We think it's an evergreen property that we're going to be able to leverage for a long time.

On Wednesday, Epic will release new content for Gears of War via Xbox Live. This will include two new maps, a patch, and a video featuring CliffyB. Three more screenshots after the jump.

Here we go again. It's the beginning of a new year and chance for us to look back on all the crazy stuff that happened last year. Here are my two favorite games from 2006. What are your top picks?

Gears of War

Surprise! It's the game that most everyone will pick for the best game of 2006. But we go way back with Gears of War. It won our prestigious Best of E3 2006 award. It lived up to and surpassed my expectations--something that rarely happens. Gears of War has a finely tuned single player campaign that has some of the best squad-based gameplay available. Your teammates aren't simply there to increase the number of bullets you wail at the enemy. They provide valuable covering fire and coordinate realistic maneuvers that adapt to meet the diverse requirements of each arena. The impressive graphics, clever camera techniques, and efficient controller layout make Gears of War feel like movie.

Here's an advertisement for Gears of War that's been running on TV. It has no audio other than Gary Jules' cover of the song Mad World. The affect of the song combined with the absence of other sound makes the ad rather stirring. Gears of War will be in stores on November 7.

The message below the jump was sent to Xbox Live subscribers this morning. It links to a promo site for Gears of War that includes some pretty cool videos. But the interface is rather annoying. You have to use your mouse to strike matches against the wall. You only have a few. Once a match ignites, use its light to find text written on the wall. Clicking on the text plays a video. Each piece of text plays a different video. Move quickly because the matches burn out. The entire message from the E-mail is after the jump.

To promote the release of Gears of War on the Xbox 360 this November, Microsoft and Epic Games will fly several fans from around the world to North Carolina for a tour of the Epic studios. Winners will have a chance to meet CliffyB, the game's lead designer, and play multiplayer Gears of War before it hits shelves.

The registration is easy, so it's worth a shot if you're not busy the week of October 27.

Microsoft announced its official holiday lineup for Xbox 360 and Windows at X06, the company's annual industry event. Topping the list is Gears of War, the gritty 3rd person action title from Epic Games, to which we gave our Best of E3 2006 award. Another among the headlining titles is, Viva Piñata, a game that transports kids and adults to Piñata Island to play in paradise with 60 different Piñata animals. A new animated TV show on 4Kids TV began on September 9th and licenced merchandise will go on sale in 2007. I bet you just can't wait to attend a party themed with Viva Piñata plates, napkins, and... um piñatas. Check out the full list of holiday games after the jump.

Gears of War has been given our Best of E3 award and I think we've just found the next killer app for the Xbox 360. Gears of War stole the show at this year's E3 with a single player presentation inside Microsoft's theater. I was also able to play in an eight person multiplayer match behind closed doors at the Microsoft booth.

During the single player campaign, you play as Marcus, a buffed up human with heavy duty armor and weapons. You're fighting a war against an evil race of alien invaders. In an effort to kill the aliens and save humanity, men have destroyed much of the Earth by their own hand. Your task is simple: stop the aliens and win Earth back--what's left of it at least. Although we've seen this kind of story before, the game play in Gears of War leaps far beyond what we're used to. It looks, feels, and plays genuinely next generation.