• Today: Fortifications for free (Gift Boxes aplenty)
• Day 2: No Team Love (Friendly Fire in Horde Mode turned on)
• Day 3: Much Bigger Heads (Big Head Mutator turned on)
• Day 4: Squawking Bird (Cluckshots replace Boomshots)
• Day 5: Beasts on the Cheap (Tier Beast more common in Beast mode)
• Day 6: Boomers Flaming (Tickers and Flame Boomers in Horde mode)
• Day 7: Gibbing Comets Ringing (King of the Hill has Comet Mutator)
• Day 8: Experience for Milking (4x multiplier)
• Day 9: Locust Ladies Dancing (Bezerkers and laugh track added to every wave)
• Day 10: Locust Ladies Dancing (more Lambent per enemy wave)
• Day 11: Snowman’s Heads a Popping (characters get snowman heads)
• Day 12: Mortars Incoming (all weapon pickups swapped with Mortars)

Versus schedule:

• Day 1: Brothers to the End for all maps
• Day 2: Torque Bow Tag
• Day 3: Can you Dig It
• Days 4-6: Hardcore Weekend
• Days 7 -8: Boom Snipes
• Days 9-10: This is My Rifle
• Day 11: Thanksgibbing
• Day 12: One Shot One Kill

“In the future, who knows? We would certainly love to make more experiences in the Gears universe,” Bleszinksi said at a backstage press briefing following the VGA reveal of new IP, Fortnite.

“I want to make sure we switch it up sufficiently so it still feels like Gears DNA, but it feels fresh and new.”

While he noted that the industry could see a hardware transition within a few years, Bleszinski said Gears was likely to remain a Microsoft exclusive for now.

“It’s technically capable, but we have a good deal with Microsoft, so that’s the home of Gears for the foreseeable future,” the designer said of a possible PS3 version.

“Business is business man. We could speculate about anything. What if streaming online services decided they wanted to make a great deal with us? Then Gears would be a streaming game. But as of right now, Microsoft’s been an amazing partner for us.”

Still on the topic of Gears of War, Bleszinski expressed hopes that interest in the latest game might rescue the troubled film project.

During the same conference, Bleszinski was asked whether Epic will ever return to Unreal, its first-person shooter property, which has been quiet for several years now.

“I will tell you right now, if you could magically double Epic’s team temporarily and just build another game like that I would love to do it,” he said.

“I’ve had all sorts of crazy ideas. I think it would be amazing to reboot the original Unreal with a Fallout, Skyrim vibe, where it’s more about exploration than it is about action, and more RPG elements.”

Unfortunately, Bleszinski said the company is “a slave to our success with games like Gears and Infinity Blade”.

“Thankfully we’re able to craft a new IP with something like Fortnite right now,” he added.

Watch the full press briefing below, courtesy of GamerLive.TV.

Thanks, Eurogamer.

“I have an obsessive personality and it’s taken all my strength not to buy the FIFA game,” Traviss told 1UP. “The thing about Gears, and the thing about anything I work on, is that I must come to it cold. The less I know about something, the better.”

Instead of playing the games themselves, Traviss absorbs detail about the IPs she works with from “visuals”.

“For me, so much of the back story lies only in the visuals, the art,” she said. “Images are the most important thing I can extrapolate from. The best way I can describe it is like an aerial recon image. These guys that process the image that come back from recon satellites and aircraft? They go through it with a fine-tooth comb, they work out what those things on the ground are. That’s what I’m like when I see an image from a game. The imagery of Gears is such that when you look into the environments, I want to walk into that world and down those paths.”

Traviss has worked with several big science fiction IPs aside from Gears of War, having written for both Star Wars and Halo. Most recently she’s focused on the Epic actioner, and has become responsible for writing the game itself: Gears of War 3 was her work.

She’s also written every book on the series, having released Aspho Fields in 2008; Jacinto’s Remnant in 2009; Anvil Gate in 2010; and Coalition’s End in August of this year. The Slab, her fifth Gears book, comes out next May.

[Pic]

The magazine (via CVG) suggested the rumour in its rumour section, which reads: “Gears of War will live on, of course, but in what form? A prequel trilogy developed by Epic-owned People Can Fly (Bulletstorm) as a likely scenario.”

Worth noting that, as well as Bulletstorm, People Can Fly – also owned by Epic Games – was behind the PC version of the original Gears of War in 2007.

The main Gears of War story, with Marcus and Delta Squad, wrapped up with the release of Gears of War 3 in September. Epic design director Cliff Bleszinski told VG247 around launch there was “8 billion types of ways we could spin” the series following the culmination of Fenix’s tale.

Epic has confirmed the release via a tweet from Mark Rein: “Good News! The Horde Command Pack is now available on the marketplace! Restart your Xbox to get the latest changes.”

A post last night on the official Epic Games forum advised checking back there for updates, after a “technical difficulty” had the firm scrambling “around the clock” to fix the issue.

However, all is now right in the world of Sera and you can go back to fighting for your very survival.

The Horde Command Pack is the first Gears of War 3 DLC that Gears 3 Season Pass holders will gain access to for no additional charge. It adds new maps, characters, fortification upgrades and weapon skins.

The second DLC pack, due December 13, is titled Raam’s Shadow. Both packs will be available to non-Season Pass holders for 800 and 1,200 Microsoft Points, respectively.

The Gears of War 3 Season Pass is available for 2,400 MSP and gives subscribers access to the first four Gears 3 DLC packs for a discount of more than 30 percent.

The DLC will last around three hours and stars characters new and “eerily” familiar to the series, in a storyline preceding events in the first Gears of War. It will also include six new multiplayer characters, the Chocolate Weapon Set and an additional 250 Gamerscore.

In addition, players will step into the boots of RAAM, and, for the first time, “storm the human stronghold” from the perspective of the legendary boss.

As for storyline: “RAAM’s Shadow drops players into the events of Sera post-Emergence Day, as Zeta Squad is enlisted to evacuate Ilima City and protect the citizens against a Locust Kryll storm. Taking on the infamous Locust leader from Gears 1, General RAAM, Zeta is led by Michael Barrick (from Gears comics fame) and comprised of familiar faces such as Lt. Minh Young Kim (Gears 1) and Tai Kaliso (Gears 2), and also includes a new female comrade, Alicia Valera.”

Those who own the Gears 3 Season Pass will be the first to play the Horde Command Pack, which launches on November 1, and RAAM’s Shadow on December 13.

“When we announced the Gears 3 Season Pass, we immediately started getting hundreds of questions from fans about what the game add-ons would be,” said Epic design head Cliff Bleszinski.

“We’re really excited to be lifting the curtain on the first two releases, first with the Horde Command Pack and now with RAAM’s Shadow, which gives fans a new perspective on the Gears universe and is also the biggest DLC release we’ve ever made.

“RAAM’s imposing size and strength, along with his Kryll shield, make him one of the most powerful and daunting foes in the Gears’ universe. We think fans are going to have a blast unleashing hell upon the poor humans for the first time in a campaign setting.”

The Gears of War 3 Season Pass can be purchased for 2,400 Microsoft Points, which will give you the first four game add-ons for a discount of more than 30 percent.

RAAM’s Shadow separately, will run you 1,200 Microsoft Points.

The pack contains three new maps, three new playable characters, two new weapon skins, additional achievements worth 250 Gamerscore points, and new fortification upgrades.

It is to be made available for 800 MSP or for those who purchased the game’s Season Pass, it will be automatically downloaded.

Here’s a list of what the pack contains in more detail, courtesy of Major Nelson:

Maps

• Blood Drive – The Jacinto Medical Plaza was overwhelmed by evacuated citizens after the government-sanctioned Hammer Strikes, and the ensuing riots quickly turned this safe haven into a dangerous inferno. An abundance of high ground and funneled choke points make this map a returning favorite to Horde.
• Rustlung – Once the pride of the Royal Tyran Navy, the foredecks of this decommissioned battleship are now riddled with bullet holes. Any team with the fortitude to hold the exposed central torpedo bay will find that the ship’s Loader has been replaced with a battle-ready Silverback mech suit.
• Azura– This island resort was once the exclusive domain of Sera’s educated elite, but the tranquil water gardens and lush foliage have become a hotly contested combat zone. Dual snipers overlook a powerful explosive weapon, while the defensive central platform may be your last resort of retreat.

Fortification upgrades

• Command Center – A brand new type of fortification that allows you to call in fire support from sniper teams, mortar strikes and even multiple Hammers of Dawn.
• Decoy Upgrade – A new fortification level that turns your decoy into an Onyx Guard bot that will fight in your defense.
• Sentry Upgrade – This upgrade adds a fire bolt sentry that deals much more damage and is very effective against Berserkers.
• Silverback Upgrade – This advancement allows you to upgrade your Silverback exo-suit with devastating rockets and extra levels of repair cost reduction.

Characters

• Onyx Guard
• Big Rig Dizzy
• Bernie

Weapon Skins

• Team Plasma
• Jungle Camo

The Horde Command Pack is also playable in Beast mode and privately hosted Versus matches.

Screenshots for the DLC are posted below.

Announced by Major Nelson on his blog, the figure “cements Gears 3 as the biggest game of 2011,” and has helped push the franchise beyond $1 billion in lifetime sales, making it the first Xbox 360 exclusive franchise to eclipse the billion dollar milestone.

“In just one week, Gears 3 has already grossed more than any 2011 video game to date,” wrote Major Nelson.

“Gears of War was the first killer app for Xbox 360, and the series has continued to contribute directly to the overall success of the platform ever since,” said Microsoft CVP Phil Spencer. “Gears of War 3 kicked off the biggest Christmas period in Xbox history, setting the standard for the kind of amazing, action-packed experiences gamers should expect on Xbox 360 this year.”

The game’s debut topped the UK charts, making it the seventh biggest launch on 360 to date. It was also the 12th largest individual format launch for the region, and figures in the UK have it close to selling as many copies at launch as Gears of War 1 and 2 combined during the same periods.

Gears 3 was released worldwide on September 20, with more than 22,000 midnight madness launch events held for it.

Speaking with Eurogamer recently, Traviss explained that this was very much a deliberate choice. It was important for her to accept that – as in most things – she was never going to please all the people all the time, so she took a different approach.

“I come from a background where a series with things left unanswered is part of the joy of it. They may never be answered, I don’t know. But you can’t tie up everything. There are some things that we know but the characters don’t know yet – and may never know.”

Describing some story elements as “really mucky stuff”, she says the Gears plot is far from being all black and white – which is a nice change for video game stories.

For more on Gears of War 3, check out Pat’s recent discussion with Cliff Bleszinski.

While a series such as Gears having a rather large female fan-base could be construed as a surprising phenomenon, it’s not really. Granted, it centers around bulky men and the bromance which blossoms between them as they try to erase the even bulkier scourge of Locust invaders, but whether this premise is a consideration as to whether or not to purchase the game is neither here nor there: women like it because it is fun, and you get to blow shit to pieces. At least, that is this woman’s personal take on the matter.

Cliff Bleszinski may have mentioned to Gamasutra that he was a bit unsure as to why the series appeals to women, but there are enough who do, and this acknowledgment from the female fan-base was paid back in spades to us in Gears 3.

“I initially wanted to [female characters] it in Gears 1, but we didn’t have the time to properly model them and everything like that,” Bleszinski explained. “And by the time we got to the third game, the way the fiction was panning out was that now the women aren’t even birthing anymore. They have to grab their guns and get into the mix as well, right?

“The evolution of Anya from being just kind of the dispatcher who’s your voice in your ear to someone who’s stomping on Locust heads next to you — it’s an interesting character evolution. And quite frankly, the franchise seems to have a lot of female fans. I don’t know why, but I’ll take it. And the fact that we’re the go-to game, and girls come up to me at Comic Con and show me the Crimson Omen tattoos on their neck, is pretty crazy.”

While commendable in and of itself, the inclusion of an equally adept female fighting alongside Dom and Marcus has been made even more laudable by the fact females in the game are not designed to draw attention to their physical characteristics as a sexual object.

While still physically appealing to look at, Anya for example, is a lovely gal but you are drawn not to her body, but instead to her abilities as a warrior. Having perfect hair that never gets mussed up when destroying Locust scum is just icing on the proverbial cake.

“We felt the need to properly represent [women] in the game, and make sure that they have characters that they like,” said Bleszinski. “That are confident. That, again, don’t look like prostitutes.

“Because the traditional video game methodology used to be that. But if you look at the new Tomb Raider, she actually looks great. She doesn’t look like the traditional Lara Croft with the big boobs anymore, she looks more like a Hilary Swank who’s been fighting for her life in the jungle and I think that’s the maturity of the industry growing up a little bit.”

Bleszinski admits that not all women like the Gears of War games, and they may not be drawn to Gears 3 even with the inclusion of female characters, but it doesn’t mean women can’t like it regardless.

“I don’t know if it’s the third person nature, or the fact that you can kind of hang out behind cover and pop up, and the fact that Gears fans generally tend to be more cooperative, as opposed to adversarial,” he mused. “It might be a combination of all those factors, but it’s a good problem to have, for us.”

Gears of War 3 was released earlier this week on Xbox 360 to fantastic reviews.

Price Wars

The catch, is you have to trade in UK’s current number one title Dead Island in order to get the sweet £1.99 deal, and you have to do it before September 25. The retailer is also offering F1 2011 for

£3.99 when it releases on September 23 when you trade-in Gears of War 3, Dead Island or Resistance 3 before September 29.

Not to be outdone, GAME will also sell you Gears of War 3 for £4.99, which let’s be honest, HMV’s offer outdoes GAME by £3, when you trade-in Dead Island, Driver: San Francisco or Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine.

It does have a sweet deal on the Limited Edition Gears of War 3 320GB Xbox 360, though. When you trade-in a 250GB Elite 360, you can get the Gears branded one for £99.99.

Also, you’ll pay only £150 for the Gears-themed 360 if you trade in a 120GB Elite, and it will net you a digital download code for Crysis 2 on top of it (thanks, OrbitMonkey).

Thanks, MCV.

Speaking of Gears-themed Xbox 360s

For those that do not wish to trade-in a perfectly good, working Xbox 360 for one with a snazzy paint job (we’ll forget about the extra GB for a minute), Calibur11 may have the answer for you.

The firm announced today it’s partnership with Epic to release an exclusive Gears of War 3 Vault – a high-end, interactive case for Xbox 360 Slim.

It features a Bleed-Out finish, controller cradle and an LED Crimson Omen that glows red every time a player is downed by an opponent. It offers airflow and stability, so as not to void your factory warranty on your Xbox 360 Slim.

It’s rather cool looking, and will run you today £69.99 with an additional £17.99 asked should you wish to have the name plate customized.

Check it out online, and through the virtual poster below.

Gears 3 is out on September 20, and in case you missed it, Pat had a chat with Epic’s Cliff Bleszinski and you can read it here.

According to a report from Norwegian site PressFire, customers who purchased the game online through store Elkjop.no have reported, and sent in pictures as proof, that they received the game before its street date of September 20.

Microsoft issued a statement on the matter saying the broken street date was something it would “immediately” follow-up on.

“Gears of War 3 shall not, under any circumstances be sold before the launch date on September 20 and violations of this is something we look very seriously,” said Microsoft Norway.

The online store said it was “keen to keep these deadlines,” and was unsure how it happened.

“We informed Microsoft yesterday,” read a statement. “Now we [are] examining what has happened, so it does not happen again.”

You can read more on this via the PressFire link, which sent us the tip.

If any of our readers can speak Norwegian, it would be most helpful to us if they could make sure Google translated the original article for us properly. Thanks in advance.

Meanwhile, we’ll send Epic a mail.

Speaking with CVG, Capps said adding 3D to Gears 3 and getting it to work proper was one of the reasons support for the tech was revealed for the game long after its initial announcement.

“I think 3D was the very last thing we did,” he said. “We’ve been playing with it for a long time and it added a lot of complexity and testing time. We didn’t think we’d make it, which was part of the reason we made a late announcement. But we got it working and we think it looks pretty good.

“I think there’s room for improvement in what the console supports in terms of 3D, but for folks who are looking for a stereoscopic experience, I think it’s really good.”

Other games for Xbox 360 which support 3D sets include Black Ops, De Blob 2 and Crysis 2.

Gears 3 is out September 20.

According to Brown, the team tried “really hard this time around” to make the maps more dynamic.

“There’s a lot of motion, things you can interact with, cover you can destroy, push over, and other things just to make it feel a lot more alive,” he said, before eventually adding that all maps in the game will have something that is “moving, or alive so to speak.”

Give it a watch.

Gears 3 is out towards the end of the month, and I’m, personally, planning on tossing my phones or any other sort of communication device in the bin until I finish the game.

• Batman: Arkham City will be on-hand at London Comic-Con, which is being held at ExCel October 28-30.
• Kickoff the NFL Season on PS3 with the NFL SUNDAY TICKET App, available today on PlayStation Network – reads the headline here.
• EA has released Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters on PC and Mac.
• The London Philharmonic Orchestra held a concert titled: Video Game Heroes. Lots of gaming music was played.
• The Gears of War 3 soundtrack will be released by Sumthing Else Music Works on iTunes, Amazon, and SumthingDigital.com September 20 when the game launches.
• Team Meat has said it will never make a game “that couldn’t also be on PC,” because “that’s a stupid thing for most indies to do. PC is crucial.”

• Here’s an interview about Counter-strike: Global Offensive which is a little too in depth for easy reading.
• There’s a Fallout board game. And Kotaku‘s done a video of the Gears of War one.
• Speaking of board games, Majesco’s only gone and announced Twister Mania for Kinect.
• A former QA Tester is suing 2K over allegedly unpaid wages.
• The latest SSX comic character intro is for Zoe. Enjoy!
• Final Fantasy XI is going to open a beta server, so diehard fans can check out new features ahead of the rest.
• There’s a Resistance 3 tournament coming up – here’s a trailer for it.
• Moar trailer! Trailers forever! This one‘s for Rise of Nightmares, and it’s pretty silly.
• A couple of new tracks have been announced for Dance Central 2, including The Humpty dance. I don’t know what that is.
• On the theme of music I don’t know, here’s a video for Driver: San Francisco to the strands of one Yelawolf.
• DS title Aliens Infestation will release in late September in Europe, and mid October in the US.

And finally here’s a couple of frankly hilarious and or awesome Deus Ex: Human Revolution videos which have been giggling their way between games journos all day.

Today’s unrelated street art.

Gears 3 will come with 10 maps, all playable in Versus Multiplayer, Beast and Horde mode, including Gridlock which features enhancements and new weapon spawns.

Also, due to the feedback of more than 1.2 million fans, the game also includes improved versions of Old Town, Thrashball and Trenches from the game’s public multiplayer beta. These maps have been “enhanced based on player behaviour to offer a more balanced and enjoyable experience for veterans and rookies alike.” Trenches features a new combat area which changes the dynamic of the fire-fights, and similar modifications have been made to Thrashball to better prevent spawn camping and level the playing field.

Here is the full list of maps in Gears of War 3, along with a description of each:

• Checkout – Checkout’s combat takes place in the carcass of an abandoned superstore. The shop owners tried to move their inventory with a closeout sale in the weeks leading up to the HOD evacuations, but ultimately had to walk away and leave everything to time and history. The intense close-quarters combat of the store aisles makes every decision important. Weapon selection is key, cover is essential to survival and every move has an impact. When facing your enemy, remember what the sign says: “Everything must go.”

• Drydock – Much has been written about the beauty of Seran culture, but people often forget the backbone of industry upon which it all relies. This shipyard stands full of undelivered goods and the necessary tools of a society’s infrastructure. Its most prominent landmark is the rotting husk of a cargo ship that will forever stand in Drydock.

• Gridlock – This ashen street was once a bustling tourist destination known for its quaint inns and waterfront cafés. Even the water is gone now, replaced by the burnt shell of a crater that stands as a testament to the loss of Seran humanity.

• Hotel – Small island resorts such as this one catered to the opulent tastes of vacationing Serans. But as the Lambent infection spreads across the globe, tides are shifting to flood once popular beaches, and fierce winds batter and push at the walls of humanity’s creations.

• Mercy – This area was once a bustling town square filled with people, but it never recovered from the UIR mortar shellings of the Pendulum Wars. Emergence soon followed, and the already heartbroken residents were shown no mercy by Locust forces, leading to an almost immediate evacuation. This large and open central square is surrounded on all sides by sheltered passageways and buildings. A raised dais yields powerful weaponry and a view of virtually everything within range, but the power located there must be hard-earned and well-protected to provide any lasting advantage.

• Old Town – Several remote areas of Sera managed to stave off the impact of Emergence for quite some time. Island towns such as this one were able to sustain themselves with small farms and a steady bounty from the ocean. But all good things must come to an end, and eventually they could hide no more. This is an excellent map for team-based play, with multiple areas that are well-suited to both attack and defence scenarios. A well-executed plan will often reap great rewards, and an enemy caught unaware can be flushed into a trap like a chicken free of its coop.

• Overpass – As the Lambent infection spreads across Sera, the planet is quite literally falling apart. And as the substrata beneath this forgotten overpass begin to disintegrate, the entire city block is collapsing along with it, sliding into a vast underground cavern. Head for the high ground or you just might slide along with it. Battles in this highly dynamic map often focus around the elevated Overpass, where teams can hole up and take advantage of the protected position and emplaced weaponry located there. But gaining the high ground can also be a trap, as the team left below will most assuredly use mortars and orbital lasers to regain their lost footing.

• Sandbar – This observation post once had a commanding view of the distant horizon. Never threatened, it was thought to be impenetrable due to its unpredictable coastline and the constant shifting of sandbars along the shallow water of the coastline. And it never did fall, it was simply abandoned when humanity fled from a threat that nobody could ever see coming.

• Thrashball – This stadium was once home to a different sort of national hero, one who fought for honour and glory, instead of scrambling for survival. The invigorating roar of the crowd has been replaced by the melancholy moaning of wind in the empty stadium seats. Stadium matches are no longer restricted to the playing field, and the team that controls the concession stands earns a great advantage. The scoreboard still keeps track of every point earned, but its frayed support cables also make it a precarious trap for anyone foolish enough to run underneath it.

• Trenches – The Locust have begun to carve mines and tunnels into the rocks of the Seran Deadlands, eking out any existence that resembles the underground passages of the Hollow they once called home. But this harsh environment is as relentless an d unforgiving as any enemy they’ve ever had to face. The Locust Trenches are small and tight, with clean lines of sight across virtually the entire battlefield. The central hill leads to a fortified bunker with a strategically important vantage point. Once taken, it is rarely surrendered, unless opposing forces can manage to sneak up under the cover of a passing sandstorm that leaves everyone blind for a short while.

Gears of War 3, which is the fastest pre-selling Xbox exclusive in history according to Microsoft, launches September 20,  and is available in Standard, Limited, and Epic Editions.

Screens of Gridlock are posted below, as well as a B-roll footage of it along with Thrashball and Trenches, courtesy of GodisaGeek.

Without further ado, here it is:

Xbox LIVE Arcade

• Hole in The Wall – August 24 -800 MSP
• Street Fighter III 3rd Strike – August 24 – 1200 MSP
• Crazy Machines Elements – August 24 – 800 MSP
• Mortal Kombat Arcade Collection – August 31 – 800 MSP
• The Baconing – August 31 – 1200 MSP
• Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon – August 31 – 800 MSP

Game Add-ons

• Call of Duty: Black Ops Rezurrection – August 23 (today) 1200 MSP
• Dragon Age II Item Pack 2 – August 23 – 800 MSP

Sales and Specials

• Activision Publisher Game Content Sale: Games on demand, Add-ons, and more from the Call of Duty franchise – August 30 – Sept 5 – Up to 50 percent off

Deal of the Week

• Bulletstorm Gun Sonata DLC Pack – August 23 – August 29 400 MSP (50 percent off)
• Bulletstorm Blood Symphony DLC Pack – August 23 – August 29 – 400 MSP (50 percent off)
• Red Faction: Battlegrounds – August 23 – August 29 – 400 MSP (50 percent off)
• Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction: Deniable Ops Insurgency Pack – August 23 – August 29 – 400 MSP (50 percent off)
• Hydrophobia – August 23 – August 29 – 400 MSP (50 percent off)

Manic Machines

• Gatling Gears – August 30 – Sept 5 – 400 MSP (50 percent off)
• Metal Arms: Glitch In The System – August 30 – Sept 5 – 800 MSP (33 percent off)
• BioShock 2: Minerva’s Den – August 30 – Sept 5 – 400 MSP (50 percent off)
• Borderlands Claptrap New Revolutions – August 30 – Sept 5 – 400 MSP (50 percent off)

Games on Demand

• WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2011 – August 23 (today)
• MySims SkyHeroes – August 23 (today)
• Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires – August 23 (today)
• de Blob 2 – August 23 (today)
• Wheelman – August 30
• Sniper: Ghost Warrior – August 30

Games on Demand August 23 – August 30

• Gears of War
• Gears of War 2

Avatar Marketplace

• Deus Ex: Human Revolution – August 23 (today)
• Dead Island – August 25
• Robo Cop – August 25
• Ugly Americans- – August 25
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – September 2

Executive producer of Gears of War 3 on the Microsoft side, Chris Kimmel, has said there it could still “do more” with Gears after the release of 3, but stopped short of actually saying that it would include new titles. Note, this might mean books, comics and stuff.

“Gears is a huge universe that Epic has built,” Kimmel told VG247 at the Microsoft Play Day in Cologne earlier today when asked what to expect next for the series following GoW3′s release.

“Not only the game, but in the US, we also have comic books and novels that talk about different characters. For example, Jace is a new character in Gears 3 that came from the comic books. So there’s a rich universe there, there’s plenty of potential to do more, but right now we’re only talking about Gears 3.”

On the series’ multiple array of appearances in several forms of media, one project that’s gone under the radar is the movie. Kimmel didn’t have anything to offer in terms of an update, though.

“Epic’s really been driving that one. We don’t have anything to announce about the movie right now,” he said. “So when we have something to talk about, you can be sure we’ll be talking very loud about it. But right now, things are under wraps.”

For the first time ever, a Gears title will release in Germany unrated with 3 after 1 and 2 were refused release. Clearly, Microsoft is delighted by the news that it can finally bring the series to the country, according to Kimmel.

“Microsoft and Epic, we’re really excited to be in Germany. Being able to come to gamescom and show off Gears to 250,000 fans is amazing. We’re super excited to be here. Fans have wanted it for a long time, so we’re really happy.”

And for those who’ve missed on Gears of War 1 and 2 – either because of the non-release of both games in Germany or due to skipping out on them – you’re going to get something that catches you up in Gears 3.

“When you start the game, we actually have a video that kind of brings you up to speed of the events of Gears 1 and Gears 2, where Enya Stroud or one of the main characters will talk about some of the events that happened in the past,” said Kimmel.

“So if you’ve never played Gears before and Gears 3 is your first version, we’ll kind of catch you up to speed with the intro video.”

Gears of War 3 launches worldwide on September 20 for Xbox 360.

Oh, and if you’re a PC gamer, we imagine you’ll enjoy this bit.

“It’s nice to target the PC as a primary platform again,” Capps said during a Gamescom presentation, “not just for ports.”

According to Eurogamer, the games are in “varying” stages of development. Beyond that, Capps was understandably tight-lipped. Some fuel for your speculative fires, though: For one, that gorgeous “Samaritan” tech demo from GDC is playable. Also, Epic’s fresh off an incredibly fruitful love affair with iOS. We doubt it’ll leave those extremely fertile soils undisturbed for long.

Speaking in an interview with Edge, Fergusson said the leak was “frustrating”, and “saddening,” for the team working on the game, and while the build wasn’t “truly representative,” of the final game, it still had the potential to ruin the experience for gamers.

“The leak was a pretty old build so it’s not truly representative of what the final game’s going to be,” he said. “The one nice thing about a leak on Xbox is that it’s somewhat limited. A PC leak is much more devastating so basically everybody in the world could play it if they wanted to, whereas an Xbox leak requires certain modifications, which means at least the audience is smaller. And yeah, the videos can get out there.

“But at the end of the day, it’s people choosing to ruin their own experience, which I don’t completely get. I get people going, ‘oh no, I just watched this thing on YouTube and it’s totally given away something’. And I go, ‘well, why did you go looking and why did you watch it?’

“So for us, it’s frustrating. It’s saddening when people have worked so hard and we’ve been building toward September 20 and then you have this stuff go out, especially going out in an early state. This was a build from before even the beta. It’s just sort of sad the way people will be seeing the game for the first time is not the way that we intended and not the best. So we’re extremely diligent about getting that stuff taken down and issued a call to the fans to not perpetuate it because it’s not helping anybody to perpetuate that. And just keeping track of those who do. I don’t think everybody’s always aware of the potential repercussions of those types of actions so it’s just a matter of being diligent.”

Fergusson goes on to say it’s tempeting for a person excited for the game to take “a peek behind the curtain,” into the development and while he doesn’t understand why someone would want the final experience possibiluy ruined for them, he said Epic never underestimates its fans.

“ When I look at being a fan of certain things, I want to consume them in their best form first, and then understand how they were made,” he offered. “Otherwise it has the potential to lessen the experience, lessen the impact. If someone said, ‘ok, before I do this magic trick, let me show you how it works. So she’s not actually floating. There’s a cable here holding her up, and I’m going to move the ring around it this way. Ok, now let me do the magic trick and I want you to be astounded!’

“I love the fact that they’re hungry for information. I love that they’re eager and I want to keep them interested. But at the same time I don’t want that eagerness to hurt the experience for themselves.”

Gears of War 3 is out in September.

• Remember Taiwan’s Watara/Quickshot Supervision? Journey To The West was released on it. It’s rare, and has been videoed.
• Pre-order From Dust on Steam, get a Shaman mask for Team Fortress 2.
• The Gunstringer will have a hardcore mode for those who think Kinect games are easy.
• The PS Blog got some hands-on time with Need for Speed: The Run.
• Emotional Robots’ Warm Gun , “a sci-fi, class-based FPS set in a post-apocalyptic second coming of the wild, wild west,” is hitting iOS in August (thanks, manamana).
• PocketGamer’s Pocket Picks is up. Go read it.
• Fallen Earth’s account transition to GamersFirst starts today.
• Our pals over at GamePron have posted their weekly screenshot dump. It’s awesome as usual.
• You can watch the EVO fighting tournament in PS Home this weekend, if you like.
• There’s a trailer out for the Gears of War board game.
• Play LOTRO but have never bothered with the Shire? Shame on you! Here’s 10 reasons why you should.
• Loads of sales going on and lists for them can be found here, here, here, and here.

Pic: Keggers of Yore.

“I mean, we’re business people,” the outspoken designer told RipTen.

“Gears 1 and 2 sold about 6 million copies, so if this game comes out and, God willing, sells 8 or 10 million it would be completely dumb to not do another one, right? It’s just business 101.

“So, I mean, the key is figuring out what’s appropriate. What makes sense for this connected world that we’re moving into? So, that remains to be seen. That’s the million dollar question.”

As for what form another entry might take, Bleszinski said there’s “always the Peter Jackson route” and that Epic could “do The Hobbit or something like that”.

In the same interview, Bleszinski said Gears of War 3 will feature more varied and busy environments – what he describes as “crunchy combat bowls” – than Gears of War 2 did.

“There was an image that went around on the internet a while back that showed a FPS map design from 1993 of DOOM E1M1. It showed this really cool kind of porous environment that you could kind of explore around a bit, and then it showed 2010 and it was like ‘line, cut scene, line cut scene, line, cutscene, line, cutscene.’

“And I feel like, you know, not to slag our old work, because we’re still proud of it, but there were sections of Gears 2 were a little more of the latter image and less of the prior image.”

Gears of War 3 releases exclusively for Xbox 360 in October.

Thanks, CVG.

• Q-Games developer Jesse Venbrux will be showing off a new project at Casual Connect next week.
• Steam this weekend has new DLC for Duels of the Planeswalkers, Zeno Calsh on sale for 75 percent off, and the pre-order for Driver: SF.
• Nathan Fillion has addressed an important issue affecting gamers worldwide: Swamp Ass.
• Digital Leisure will launch Move-enabled, arcade classic Fast Draw Showdown July 19 on PSN.
• A band called Miracle of Sound loves Gears of War so much, it wrote two songs about it.
• Guess what? You like big guns, and you cannot lie. You other brothers can’t deny, so, don’t try, etc. Thanks, oliverh72.
• Soundgarden DLC hits Rock Band 3 on July 19.
• Ex-Freestyle staffers have formed the studio Music In Colour, and are working on a new mobile project for 8linQ.
• Leonard’s Penny (a.k.a. Kaley Cuoco) wants ladies to think before cosplaying as Slave Leia. (just for fun, there)

Speaking at a Gears 3 preview in New York, Fergusson told MTV Games most of the unlocks pertain to weapon skins as far as the “historical stuff,” goes.

“Two of the weapon skins are based on historical weapon skins, so if you want the gold lancer and the gold hammerburst in Gears 3, you get them by owning the gold hammerburst and the gold lancer in Gears 2, so those skins transfer over,” he explained.

The gold skins were given to players the special edition of Gears 2 as well as handed out via giveaways. There will be some chrome skins as well, though, for completing achievements in previous Gears games too.

“If you did something in Gears PC you get a chrome skin, if you did something in Gears 2 you get a chrome skin,” said Fergusson. “The chrome set is sort of our thank you to people who played our games in the past.

“Generally whenever we do unlocks, we do it based on Achievements. That’s why I’ve been trying to tell people about the level 100 thing. No, it’s not about getting level 100 [in Gears 2 multiplayer], it’s about Veteran Gear. Get that Achievement and that’ll get you something. I don’t care if you’re level 100, you have to have the Veteran Gear achievement.”

The chrome Hammerburst which was unlocked through the Rookie Gear Achievement in Gears 2 multiplayer was revealed some time ago, and none of these perks will give anyone an advantage because they are purely cosmetic.

Gears 3 will be released on September 30.

We’re saying nothing.