Microsoft is hinting that Gears of War 3 may not be the final game in the Gears of War Saga…

When Microsoft mades it’s official statement of the release of Gears of War 3, Microsoft described the storyline of the new game, suggesting that it will not necessarily conclude the franchise but, rather, the storyline started by the first two titles.

Gears of War 3 plunges players into a harrowing tale of hope, survival and brotherhood that will conclude the current story arc for Gears of War”

Now its offical… Cliff was on Jimmy Fallon Monday and discussed the official announcement for Epic’s threequel. Microsoft has made it offical as well. If any Xbox 360 owners switch on their consoles, they’ll see the image below looking straight at them. It simply says, “The epic story concludes April 2011″.

Get your chainsaws ready Gears of War Addicts.. It’s going to be a long 12 months.

Edge is at it again… It appears that new gameplay details have emerged for Gears of War 3, according to Edge magazine’s “trusted source.”  This is the same source that accurately predicted Epic Games would be revealing a new Gears of War trailer on April 8. That date has since been moved to Monday, April 12. 

According to the source, Gears of War 3 will include all-new Locust enemies the feature “tentacle-like appendages” that can extend to cover spots. To combat this, Delta Squad COG members will now carry explosives that can travel underground and take out enemy positions.

Gears of War 3 will also have “a heavy duty mech suit” that COG members can use for both protection and causing havoc on the battlefield. These new combat mechanics will be used in both singleplayer and multiplayer, according to Edge. Gears of War 3 will be set during the summer, and include a host of new locations as well. The biggest addition are new underwater levels.

In response to Edge’s report, Microsoft says “We don’t comment on rumors or speculation.”

GameSpy nicely sums up the latest rumblings from the Internet rumor mill concerning a possible upcoming Gears sequel.

Edge broke the story today citing an unnamed “U.S. publishing” source who said series creator Epic Games is now well into development on the title and is preparing to launch a teaser trailer on April 8. A full preview is coming at E3 in June, the source added, but the game won’t release until spring 2011.

“Microsoft’s keen to avoid a clash with Halo: Reach and wants Natal to own Christmas. That’s why we won’t be seeing Gears Of War 3 until next year, but expect a major marketing push ahead of its release.”

It’s worth noting that the “upcoming Epic shooter” published by EA and co-developed by People Can Fly is also rumored for release in spring 2011.

Microsoft announced that Gears of War 2, one of the most critically acclaimed action games of 2008, will be getting its own Game of the Year edition

Set for release on September 1 for $39.99, this new edition includes the All Fronts Collection (including all 19 extra multiplayer maps), the Road to Ruin campaign chapter, and every achievement totaling 1750 Gamerscore points.

The Xbox 360 is due a dashboard update tomorrow, which is to include the previously-reported Gears of War style armor for your Live avatar…

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.”

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.

Earlier today, we told you about the Gears of War 2 : All Fronts Collection making its way onto Xbox Live several days before its official release and at half the price. Epic Games has issued the following statement regarding the leak:

The All Fronts DLC was leaked for 800 MS points last night around 1 a.m. (U.S. Central). When users attempted to download it, they received an error message.

At this time, you cannot download the maps. But for some reason, those who bought them right away are playing them RIGHT NOW.

If you attempt to download them now you will receive an error message. Those of you who received the first error before MS was alerted, can re-download them fine.

Over the weekend, TeamXbox contacted Epic Games to find out more about the supposed matchmaking issues users reported in different forums. Several users claimed after the Memorial Day weekend in which Epic Games ran the “Old School” event, Gears of War 2 started to experience issues with Matchmaking similar to those that affected the game right after launch. This time, it’s not Epic Games’ fault:

Our investigations have shown that the reported issue has to do with a very small minority of players with very poor network connections. When they attempt to host a matchmaking party, they are not able to find matches due to their high network latency. We could increase the ping threshold to allow these players to host but it would have an overall negative effect on the global Gears 2 community as they would begin finding games with greater latency. So while this isn’t ideal for a tiny minority of players, it is much better overall for the majority of players. For the players that have this issue, the easiest answer is simply to join another player’s matchmaking party instead of trying to host one themselves.

In terms of when this began, we’ve been making continuous optimizations to the matchmaking experience, and the perceived timing of recent changes with the “Old School” weekend is purely coincidental.

Rod Fergusson
Executive Producer, Epic Games