PlayStation 3 owners have grown immune to outrageous rumors, and now Xbox 360 is getting a taste of its own medicine. Recently a rumor was started that Gears of War was coming to PS3, and Epic Games' Mark Rein didn't hesitate to make a statement:

"This story is complete bull****. I emailed the site and asked them to take it down. We're very happy with our relationship with Microsoft. If it weren't for them Gears wouldn't be the huge hit it has become."

I wonder how well Gears of War would sell on PS3, since most PS3 owners I know swear that the game of the year was shit compared to their beloved Resistance: Fall of Men. Although, it probably won't be much longer until we hear more about Epic Games bringing their game to the PC.

The new Gears of War Hidden Fronts multiplayer map pack 2 is now out on Xbox Live Marketplace for 800 points, here's the official details from MajorNelson:

• Bullet Marsh: In this Kryll-infested swamp, an old generator still powers the area lights. A few stray bullets could easily knock out the generator, leaving players in the dark to fend for themselves against the hungry Kryll.
• Garden: This overgrown and crumbling conservatory still has a working fertilization and pesticide system. This system can pose a serious health hazard to anyone who ventures into the greenhouse without first venting the air.
• Process: Teams must fight for control of this subterranean Imulsion processing plant, still active despite the cessation of the Pendulum Wars.
• Subway: Timgad’s Central Subway Station used to serve as a central hub for commuters. Now the tunnels are crawling with Locust.
  

The first Hidden Fronts map pack was only 100MB, but this one is 230.32MB worth of waiting while it downloads, so don't put it off for too long - unless you're willing to put it off for a few whole month. Epic Games got into a fight with Microsoft about these maps - they actually wanted them to be free, which of course, Microsoft couldn't understand. So there compromise is that from now to September 3rd, they'll cost 800 points to download. But after that they're free. Check out the four pictures below to get an idea if they're worth a download or not.

Last month I found a quote from Mark Rein confirming Epic Games wanted to bring Gears of War to PC, and he's mentioned it again, this time not as just a possibility: "Gears of War will come to the PC platform eventually." The Inquirer isn't too reliable as a source, but it sounds like they've done the paperwork and plan to pursue the PC game now. If you refuse to get a 360 then that's probably because you consider Gears of War its only great game, so you might be enjoying it next year without having to get another console. And if they're going to keep working on the game then there will probably also be more content given out on Xbox Live, more levels would be nice.

A lot of people won't buy the Xbox 360 because they can play most of its best games on PS3 or PC, but despite constant rumors, Microsoft has always insisted that Gears of War will remain an Xbox 360 exclusive. Mark Rein from Epic games recently told the public that they do want to bring it to the PC though, but won't say when that possibility could come to life:

"I don't think that's any great secret that we would like to do it on PC, but for now it's a 360 game. Eventually we'll get around to a PC version. I just don't know when."

Doesn't sound like it'll happen any time soon, but I'll pass. I used to prefer shooting games on PC, but I've grown used to console controls too much over the years. I'll have to make an exception for Crysis and a few others though.

The AIAS awards have finished - the awards that aren't worth paying too much attention to because they wouldn't include Dead Rising or Okami due to Capcom not paying them $10,000 for each game to be judged. So don't take these awards too seriously, but Gears of War probably would have destroyed the competition even if more games were recognized and considered anyways.

• Overall Game of the Year - Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
• Console Game of the Year - Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
• Computer Game of the Year - Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks/2K Games)
• Outstanding Innovation in Gaming - Wii Sports (Nintendo/Nintendo)
• Handheld Game of the Year - Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day (Nintendo/Nintendo)
• Outstanding Achievement in Animation - Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
• Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction - Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
• Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack - Guitar Hero 2 (Harmonix/Activision/Red Octane)
• Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition - LocoRoco (Sony Computer Entertainment/Sony Computer Entertainment)
• Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design - Call of Duty 3 (Treyarch/Activision
• Outstanding Character Performance - Male - Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
• Outstanding Achievement in Character Performance - Female - Viva Piñata (Rare/Microsoft Game Studios)
• Outstanding Achievement in Story and Character Development - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo/Nintendo)
• Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering - Wii Sports (Nintendo/Nintendo)
• Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play - Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
• Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering - Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
• Outstanding Achievement in Game Design - Wii Sports (Nintendo/Nintendo)
• Sports Game of the Year - Tony Hawk's Project 8 (Neversoft Entertainment/Activision)
• Strategy Game of the Year - Company of Heroes (Relic/THQ)
• First-Person Action Game of the Year - Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
• Fighting Game of the Year - Fight Night Round 3 (EA Sports/Electronic Arts)
• Racing Game of the Year - Burnout Revenge (Criterion Games/Electronic Arts)
• Role-Playing Game of the Year - Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks/2K Games)
• Children's Game of the Year - LocoRoco (Sony Computer Entertainment/Sony Computer Entertainment)
• Action/Adventure Game of the Year - Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
• Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year - Guild Wars: Nightfall (Arena Net/NCsoft)
• Family Game of the Year - Guitar Hero 2 (Harmonix/Activision/Red Octane)
• Simulation Game of the Year - Microsoft Flight Simulator X (Microsoft Game Studios/Microsoft Game Studios)
• Downloadable Game of the Year - Bookworm Adventures (PopCap/PopCap)
• Mobile Game of the Year - Orcs and Elves (Fountainhead Entertainment/Electronic Arts Mobile)

That' 8 out of 30 awards all to one game. The Gears of War project leader Cliffy B was honored to have done so well in such an exciting year of gaming, and commented that "being on the outside of this industry looking in as a kid, and wanting to be part of it, and then being able to be here and get an award from all of these talented people who've been in the business for so long, finally to be a part of it, to be recognized like this is absolutely unbelievable. We could not be honored more." Hopefully we'll get a Gears of War sequel before too long that doesn't disappoint. Considering that most games take hundreds of people and over a dozen million dollars to make, Epic Games should feel proud to have made a game of the year with just 20 - 30 people on a budget of just $10 million dollars.

Even though it will be the fourth game in the UT series (Unreal Tournament, the second was Unreal Tournament 2003, and the third was Unreal Tournament 2004 the next year), Midway plans to rename their Unreal Tournament 2007 game Unreal Tournament III to coincide with their Unreal Engine 3 that's getting so much attention lately. Does this mean Epic Games expects a game delay pushing the release date back to 2008? Too early to tell, according to CVG another more confusing name change may be reported on later today from Midway. I don't care what they call it, I just want to play the damn War of the Worlds game some time soon.

Update:  It's officially called Unreal Tournament III, and here's the shocker - it's coming out for Xbox 360 as well. The game's multiplayer will have deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag, and also a mode called 'warfare.' Thank you Microsoft for working your magic once again.

Square Enix has struck a deal with Epic Games that lets them now develop Final Fantasy games using the Unreal Engine 3 in its next generation gaming plans. Is it safe to call it current gen yet? Squeenix realizes that this means the game developing process will be much more challenging for them, but they're hoping it will speed up the process and allow them to spend more time on shiny cinematics and game mechanics. After making the announcement the Square Enix and Epic Games spokesmen circle jerked it for a while, but it's cool to know that they're putting a lot of extra effort into FFXIII, and more importantly, this should mean no Final Fantasy end is in sight - they wouldn't be doing this unless they had some larger plans for the future.

Years ago I used to think that Squaresoft would just make a bunch of cool semi-related cinemas and then throw a story together that matched it - one of my fantasies is that they'll finally run out of ideas and do just that - make a bunch of kickass cinematics and hold a contest that lets the fans decide what the story will be. Give it another 5 years and I'm sure we'll start seeing entire game development processes being broadcasted step by step on TV and the Internet. The first company that lets the viewers impact the game from week to week like some kind of a reality TV show is in for a hell of a lot of money and easy press attention.

Class, raise your hand if you bought Gears of War. A's for all of you! Now, do you know anything about the people that made Gears of War? Lecture time, Jimmy hit the lights and turn on the projector for me please. Here's TLB's newest weekly article for you readers: Weekend Reading - a semi-longish post every Friday night that does more than make you laugh or get you horny: it teaches you something. Feel free to suggest other weekly articles you'd like to see. (please say weekly babe, please say weekly babe, please say weekly babe)

Before Gears of War starting curb stomping noob-locusts, they actually started making games not from from those very same burbs - in the basement of Tim Sweeney, Epic Games founder. Sweeney started working on simple shareware games while he was still in college, with his first successful one being just a text game where players moved a smiley face around the screen picking up pennies. I made better games in one math class on my TI-83 calculator back in high school, but back in his day(before the internet) it made him $100 a day.

Before long he made a second game called Jill of the Jungle, which was a Mario knockoff platformer game, but back in 1992 it made him $1000 a day. At this point in Sweeney's life, his main competition was Apogee Software, which is the company responsible for the Castle Wolfenstein and Commander Keen series. platform game like Mario or Sonic. He said it was a pretty basic game for that time frame. It was released in 1992 and it sold even better than his first game, bringing in about $1,000 a day. At the time, Sweeney's big competitor was Apogee Software, which created shareware hits like Castle Wolfenstein and Commander Keen. 

This is when Sweeney said he needed to make his company look legit, and not just 20 dudes in a garage. So he called it Epic MegaGamesand started recruiting external developers who were also building their own games. This is where Cliff Bleszinski (CliffyB) enters the story. CliffyB had created an adventure game called Palace of Deceit using visual BASIC, so he jumped on board. James Schmaltz, maker of Solar Winds and the third best selling shareware game in the 90s: Epic Pinball, also joined. Add a bunch of others and Epic MegaGames had five small teams of one to four people each, with Sweeney helping manage them all. Then Mark Rein joined them to help get their games published, and the rest was history. 

"By 1995 we had five external projects going on. It was clear that the real industry growth was in retail distribution of PC games. Games would have a few million dollars of development funding from a publisher and sell a million or more copies at stores. We looked at Doom and Duke Nukem as the big examples of hit games then." Knowing that they needed their own big hit FPS game, they set out to make what we now all know as Unreal, which was released back in 1995 and helped change the industry forever.

(Bell rings). Ok class, that's all for now. Here's your homework, it will be on the test.

Wouldn't that make a kickass Christmas present to look forward to next year? Cliff Bleszinski and Mike Capps from Epic Games have been dropping some hints about Gears of War that suggest a sequel might be in store. They mentioned that the story of Gears of War is larger than the one told in the game, and even that "one could even argue that the ending cinematic leaves room for a sequel". They want gamers to wait to play through Gears of War this week before making any guesses at future Epic Games products, but it seems like they've got a secret. Perhaps a cliffhanger ending from Cliffy? We'll find out soon, Gears of War comes out on Xbox 360 on November 7th.

Epic Games is showing the world how easy it is to make one of the most anticipated next gen games of all. Final Fantasy X cost over $32 million to make with a team size of over 100 people in just two years. Gears of War however has taken just as long to produce, but at only the price of $10 million and with the help of 20 - 30 people. And in case you've forgotten how damn amazing the game looks here are 4 new single and multiplayer gameplay videos for yuh: Movie 1, Movie 2, Movie 3, Movie 4.