The new Xbox Live Avatar Items are now live. There is a ton of new Gears of War Themed avatar items. Listed with pictures below. Check them out!!

Props:

• Tickers

Hats:

• Hoffman Hat

Shirts:

• Chainsaw shirt
• 2011 t-shirt

Suits:

• Cog armor from Gears of War 3

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.

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.

In a recent conference speech, Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney revealed the development cost of Gears of War 2, putting it somewhere around the $12 million mark – a surprisingly modest sum for a current-gen blockbuster.

Tim also revealed that Gears of War 2 took 15 programmers and 45 artists over two years to create.

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…

Blorge.com recently posted a list of the top 40 Xbox 360 exclusive titles. The game atop this prestigious list?

Gears of War – Epic Games didn’t invent the cover system but this game revolutionized it and fostered a new genre.

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.

[Source]

Tonight at 6:30 PM ET, X-Play travels to Seattle to score an interview with Michael Capps, the President of Epic Games, about the upcoming Gears of War 2: All Fronts Collection. Capps also details some of the new maps included in the collection, the continuation and expansion of the single-player campaign and the addition of stealth gameplay.

Courtesy of AchievementHunter, we have full achievement titles and descriptions for the new achievements. These were attained at the recent event that showcased Nowhere and the All Fronts package contents. See below for the full list of what’s to come.It should be noted these 13 new achievements bring Gears 2 up to a gamerscore of 1750, the current DLC addon cap, meaning no more achievements can be added. This probably means this is the last DLC for Gears of War 2 also, but who knows?

Afraid of the Dark (20)
Play a multiplayer match on each of the 7 Dark Corners Map Pack maps

Did Not Go Gentle (30)
Win a multiplayer match on each of the 7 Dark Corners Map Pack maps (any mode)

Blood on the Sand (50)
Reach level 50 in multiplayer and complete waves 1-50 on the Nowhere map in Horde

Am I Only Dreaming? (40)
Reach level 40 in multiplayer and complete waves 1-40 on the Memorial map in Horde

Like Father, Like Gun (30)
Reach level 30 in multiplayer and complete waves 1-30 on the Allfathers Garden map in Horde

Lost in Transition (20)
Reach level 20 in multiplayer and complete waves 1-20 on the Way Station map in Horde

No, But His Face Rings a Bell (15)
Reach level 15 in multiplayer and complete waves 1-20 on the Sanctuary map in Horde

Ride It All Night Long (10)
Reach level 10 in multiplayer and complete waves 1-10 on the Highway map in Horde

Be Careful What You Wish For (10)
Reach level 5 in multiplayer and complete waves 1-10 on the War Machine map in Horde

Is It Hot or Is That Just You? (25)
Kill 25 Bloodmounts with a Scorcher while playing Horde on a Dark Corners Map Pack map

Two for the Road (25)
Complete the “Road to Ruin” deleted scene in co-op as either Marcus or Dom

Highway to Hell (25)
Complete the “Road to Ruin” deleted scene after choosing the blasting option

My Way or the Highway (25)
Without being detected, complete the “Road to Ruin” deleted scene after choosing the stealth option

[Source]

Epic Games is getting prepared for a huge E3’09 showing this June. The new Unreal Engine 3 Technology is going to be displayed across all platforms, and it’s very possible we may see a brand new game coming from the guys behind Gears Of War and Unreal Tournament. Something is very strange though, take notice of the possible new character in the next iteration of Gears Of War which should work in conjunction with the new technology that is going to be displayed.

Gears Of War is a great game but even great games need to be updated significantly, and the introduction of a female character will do just that. it’s time for a bad ass chick to take the scene and Gears Of War 3 will be the perfect title for this to happen. Why? Because it will open up the market even more to female gamers showcasing that not only the men can be stars of big games and kick ass, also seeing a woman with a chainsaw gun will easily stand out over the competition and will potentially become a trend setter for more games in the future.

Gameplay elements using a female character will change the entire feel of the series in which Epic Games are masters at enhancing gameplay. Looking at this picture you can see the beautiful hardcore red head with sex appeal on top of a dead brumack, this raises one question how did she kill this monster? This seems to be Epic Games new change in direction for the Gears Of War series and considering the boss at the end of Gears Of War 2 is a woman wouldn’t be great to see this female character lead Marcus and his crew to victory.