The latest Gears novel, Gears of War: Jacinto’s Remnant, hit bookshelves last week. Epic has a video interview with the author Karen Traviss. She talks about her writing process, what it’s like to work within the Gears universe, and much more. Check it out [Here]

Siliconera has a brief interview with Gears design director Cliff Bleszinski on the recent Japanese launch of Gears of War 2…

How do you feel about the Japanese version of Gears of War 2?

Cliff Bleszinski, Lead Designer: They actually did a really good job casting the voices. Marcus sounds like, you know, how a Japanese version of Marcus would sound like and Cole Train always translates hilariously into other languages. [In an impression] It’s Cole Train woo!

It’s fun to play. It’s fun to see the subtitling and everything like that. We do have a share of Japanese fans out there and we’re glad we could fill the promise of letting them play Gears 2 in their local language.

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Will gamers finally be able to play as a female in the Gears of War series? That’s the question Epic Games’ Cliff Bleszinski was asked by 1 vs. 100 Live host Chris Cashman during a game this past Saturday, according to Binge Gamer.

Bleszinski danced around the question and said he couldn’t comment on “‘possible aspects’ of a game that ‘may or may not’ be in development.” He then followed up on his comment by saying the female character sitting on top of a dead Brumak from the comic series “‘may or may not’ be involved in any ‘as-yet-unannounced’ video game projects.”

The GameSpy guys had a chance to sit down with Epic Games design director Cliff Bleszinski at the recent San Diego Comic-Con. Topics of discussion included the upcoming Gears of War movie, as well as how to make it into the games industry.

GameSpy: Can you elaborate on what kind of talent will help get you [into the industry]?

Cliff Bleszinski: You have to be honest about the level of talent that you have. Whether you’re a programmer or an artist, you need to get on websites, like CGtalk.com, and you need to start posting some of your images for critiques. You have to be willing to throw away the first thousand images you do. Your portfolio is only as strong as your weakest link. You need to network on the Internet and eventually get to GDC, show up with copies of your work, run into people, like me, Molyneux, whoever. This industry is a lot more open than a lot of other ones, you could come to events like this and see us hanging out and say “hello,” and kick and scream and claw your way in. I think it’s kind of a self-regulating thing: If you’re that determined, and you’re that hard-working, you’ll get in.

1Up reports that leading Japanese games magazine Famitsu has heaped high praise and a score of 38 out of 40 on Gears of War 2, which was recently released in the land of the rising sun.

For Famitsu, the real darling of the week was Microsoft’s Japanese release of Gears of War 2, which touches down over there July 30. “The fun, just like the violence, is even more dangerous than the previous game,” wrote one reviewer. “Every stage in campaign mode has a different objective; the story is fascinating, and you play right through to the end without every feeling the pace slow down. With Horde and other additions to multiplayer, I think I’m going to have yet more sleepless nights ahead of me.”

 
Adam Sessler gets an exclusive preview of the Gears of War movie. Cliff Bleszinski from Epic and the film’s director Len Wiseman talk about the film’s development, casting and what’s important when turning a video game into a feature film.

For those of you that are unaware. Microsoft and Epic Games released today the Dark Corners Multiplayer Map Pack, which features 7 new Gears of War 2 multiplayer maps and a bonus deleted single-player chapter, “Road to Ruin,” from the Gears of War 2 campaign. Available for 1,200 Microsoft Points, the Dark Corners Multiplayer Map Pack is the largest expansion for Gears of War 2 yet, and brings with it 13 new Achievements worth 325 additional Gamerscore points.

Now the Gears panel is over, here’s a quick and easy to read list of the announcements should if you missed it. Note that these are only the announcements made, much more was discussed in depth in the panel. See the bottom of this post for the link to the full dialogue of the panel. Heres the highlights

Game Related

• Double XP Week coming on Dark Corners release

Movie Related

• No casting decisions have been made
• Emergence Day will definetely be in the movie
• Story and character comes first, but the spectactle is going to be there

Avatar Related

• COG Armor coming to Avatars on August 11th with the dashboard update
• Locust Armor coming also, but release was unspecified

Comic Related

• Gears of War comic series “Baron” announced. Introduces female Gears.

For the full dialogue of the panel and for extended details on the subjects listed above, click HERE.

Kotaku recently got hold of a draft copy of the screenplay for the upcoming Gears of War movie. The screenplay appears to cover events leading up to the first Gears game, including the Pendulum Wars and Emergence Day.

With just a week to go before the big DLC launch, Gears of War 2 can be found for under $30 at Amazon.com