Gears of War is awesome yet it never hit the top of the live usage charts and it gets criticized like no other even after 4 title updates. If Epic could make the following changes/additions, I think this would easily be atop the usage charts and dive deeper into the hearts of the average gamer.

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GamePro’s XboxFanForce has interviewed Gears of War novel author Karen Traviss. She talks about everything from her novels, to working with Epic and where she thinks the Gears universe is headed.

XBFF: In “Aspho Fields”, we saw how Marcus and Dom met, as well as learned more about little known Gears characters and backstory. When working with such a big license, how much freedom do you have in creating the story? Was Epic very protective over their story and characters or were you given free rein over The Gears universe?

KT: In licensed work, the spectrum of working practice is vast. You can get anything, from the license owner who won’t tell you what’s coming up in the original property or even speak to you – you get third-hand messages via the publisher, or lobbed through your window wrapped around a brick if you’re really lucky – right through to the owner who brings you into the creative team, involves you, and gives you every freedom you can possibly want. Epic’s at one far end of that curve – they’re totally open, totally team-minded. I work directly with Rod, Cliff, and Mike. Plus if I have bizarre questions, like where the controls that aren’t shown in a ‘Dill might actually be located, I can talk to the concept artist. In fact, we work so directly that the publisher doesn’t get involved with the book until the manuscript is finished and Epic has signed it off with me. That’s very unusual in this industry.

Holy crap! They’re making a Gears of War movie?

Yep. In March 2007 it was announced that New Line Cinema had purchased the rights to take Gears of War to the big screen. Legendary Pictures will co-finance and co-produce the film.

How will the film fit in with the Gears of War games?

The Gears of War film will reportedly be a prequel to the games, meaning we may see parts of the Pendulum Wars or Emergence Day itself – past events which are referenced in the games but which haven’t been fully explored yet. Screenwriter Chris Morgan hinted that the Gears movie could delve further into the history of Sera, revealing amongst other things how Marcus Fenix got his scar.

Who’s working on the Gears movie?

The Gears of War film is being made by New Line Cinema and Legendary Pictures. Len Wiseman will direct the movie, written by Stuart Beattie, Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey (who is also onboard as a producer). Screenwriter Chris Morgan will be doing script rewrites.

Who will play Marcus Fenix?

No-one has been officially signed to play Gears main character Marcus Fenix, however screenwriter Chris Morgan has suggested that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson could be an ideal choice for the starring role.

What is Epic’s involvement in the film?

Epic Games maintains close contact with the Gears movie team. Gears of War design director Cliff Bleszinski is involved with the film as an executive producer.

When will it be released?

Originally the Gears of War film was planned for a 2009 release, however given its current stage of development a 2010 or later box office release is more likely.

Keep watching Gears of War Addicts over the coming months for more Gears of War movie developments as they happen.

I usually wouldnt put this on the front page.. but I thought it was front page worthy!

With the recent trend of blockbuster games being packaged together (Game of the Year Bundle), it seemed that EPIC’s blockbuster Gears of War series was missing out on its very own package. Well fear not Gears of War fans, as Microsoft Australia have just announced a special ‘Gears of War’ bundle to be released on the 4th of June to participating retailers.

The limited edition Gears of War bundle will include an Xbox 360 Pro console, accompanied by both Gears of War 1 & 2, in a swanky looking blood red box. Though the press release clearly states an Australian release date, it is highly likely that this promotion will include all other major territories.

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I know it’s early, but as some of us know epic has said that they are already working on a TU4. TU3 did a lot to get rid of some of the annoying things about gears, but here are some things that were not included in TU3 that I think they should add to make this game perfect.. (continue reading…)

The latest batch of classic 360 games to join Microsoft’s Xbox Platinum Hits includes the original Gears of War. The platinum version of Gears will include all the DLC available for the game on Xbox Live.

Named “Game of the Year” by over 30 media outlets, Gears of War is the definitive third-person shooter and one of the most popular Xbox 360® games in history. Gears of War: Platinum Hits comes complete with every map pack, game mode and Achievement ever released on Xbox LIVE.

Epic Games VP Mark Rein talks about all the cool stuff coming to Unreal Engine licensees in his recent article in Develop Magazine. Some of the new things that he talks about could be really cool. Some of these enhancements could makes it way to Gears of War 3?

Unreal Lightmass, our new global illumination solver, produces high quality lightmaps within the Unreal Engine development environment. Because it requires relatively little filtering of indirect lighting, Unreal Lightmass produces smooth bounced lighting without detracting from indirect shadows. Also, the custom Swarm distribution solution enables the system to scale effectively, which ensures fast performance. Unreal Lightmass provides advanced global illumination that requires no third-party software or integration code.

The official Gears of War site has some photos of a couple of pretty cool-looking custom Gears-inspired art projects.

Theron Guard Costume, by Prtheron

We’re thinking this is the kind of outfit that you should wear everywhere—the grocery store, the office, whatever. Hell, why not senior prom? Prtheron’s Theron Guard costume, constructed with cardboard, paper, resin, and plastic, is what those fashion types would likely refer to as an “any time” garment. Prtheron tells us that this fearsome garment took nine months to create, and it shows in the detail. Check out the pictures below, and check out this video detailing the costume’s elaborate build phase.

Click here for more cool Gears art, including a stylized Boomer model and a new Gears wallpaper.

This might not be “gears of war news” but i thought it was worth a mention, for one its epic(the people who made gears of war) and us three chairman are big Duke Nukem fans. According to a Duke Nukem fansite Duke4.net. Epic Games was apparently among the studios approached by the now-defunct 3D Realms to try to secure $5 million in funding to finish Duke Nukem Forever.George is said to have previously went to iD Software and Epic in an attempt to make a deal with funding for them, but was turned down.