Its a 3D world?

To coincide with Sony’s latest 3D TV the PS3 is going 3D in the form of an update. This will make the machine compatible with 3D Blu-Rays and ready for 3D gaming.

So what? say you this is an Xbox site – well at the moment MS are sitting on the fence with this letting Sony charge in and should it be profitable and work then well maybe just maybe 3D will come to Xbox. Personally I wouldn’t hold your breath although fun in essence Im thinking this will flat on its arse.

For now the new 3D Samsung has been recently spotted at CES showing off Gears of War 2 in 3D – how? By simply splitting the HD signal into 2 and generating the 3D experience, you will still need to invest in a new TV and wear those Michael Caine glasses. The result of the 3D effect can be a bit nauseous at times but for now this is as good as it gets for 3D gaming on our beloved console.

Feel the love on Valentine’s Day with Gears of War 2

Epic are planning a special Valentine’s Day event that will reward players for working together in-game, offering Double XP for Horde and Wingman modes, plus double points for revives.

Although the event has yet to be officially dated, chances are the love-in will happen around the weekend of the 13th, 14th and 15th of February.

This week’s Gold Members only deal: Gears of War 2’s Combustible Multiplayer Map Pack

Gears 2 owning Gold Members can now get their hands on the Combustible Mulitplayer Map Pack for 560 Microsoft Points for the next seven days. The pack normally retails at 800 Microsoft Points.

Click here to add the Pack to your Xbox download queue.

E309: Gears of War 2: Dark Corners

The “Gears of War 2: Dark Corners” Game Add-on includes seven brand new multiplayer maps and a new campaign chapter, “Road to Ruin.” “Dark Corners” launches on Xbox LIVE Marketplace on July 28. The entertainment blockbuster of 2008, “Gears of War 2” has now surpassed 5 million copies sold worldwide.

Gears of War 2: All Fronts Collection – 4 Screens

Here are four new screen for the All Fronts Collection which is due for release July 28th. One of which is of the NXE theme provided with the collection!

Gears of War 2: All Fronts Collection

Gears of War 2,” the entertainment blockbuster of 2008, has surpassed 5 million copies sold worldwide, and the overall “Gears of War” franchise unit sales have eclipsed the 11 million unit mark. The momentum doesn’t stop there – to commemorate these milestones, Microsoft Game Studios and Epic Games will unleash the “Gears of War 2: All Fronts Collection,” a value-packed compilation that combines all previous “Gears of War 2” Game Add-ons with brand new multiplayer and campaign content. Available only at retail, the new collection invades store shelves worldwide on July 28 for £14.99

Included in the “Gears of War 2: All Fronts Collection” is the “Gears of War 2: Dark Corners” Game Add-on, which features seven new multiplayer maps and a deleted campaign chapter titled “Road to Ruin.” In “Road to Ruin,” Marcus and Dom return to the Locust Hollow in a scene that can be played two ways, guns blazing or in all-new stealth mode.

The seven new multiplayer maps in the “Gears of War 2: Dark Corners” Game Add-on are:

• Allfathers Garden: Honor the sacred grounds of the Coalition founders in this explosive map, where powerful weapons catalyze fast and furious action at this COG landmark.
• Memorial: Set near the Eternal Flame, which pays tribute to the fallen soldiers on the battlefield, a hard-fought battle ensues at the Tomb of Unknowns. Putting their flank formation and evasive skills to the test, players will fight to control the Boomshot.
• Sanctuary: Once a peaceful ground for reflection and remembrance, all that remains of the Sanctuary is the chill of death. Feast your eyes on the arsenal of weapons available as you make your way through the tight paths and blind corners of the Locust-damaged temple corridors.
• War Machine: In the abandoned train station that once served as a hub for travel, players will need to master the Longshot, Mulcher and Boomshot weapons to advance the fight while evading fire from the platforms above.
• Highway: Take the fight deep into the Locust Hollow in the complex passages of this underground highway system brimming with enemy vermin. Stick together, separate the enemy and have an exit strategy ready or it’ll be a one-way trip.
• Way Station:  Sitting in limbo between death and “processing” are Locust way stations filled with fallen COG soldiers. Tread lightly and practice patience as it’s better to sacrifice firepower for stealth while navigating this minefield of hidden grenades.
• Nowhere: Set in the middle of what was once a destination for weary desert travellers, the land is now barren and devoid of life. Pick off your enemies with the Longshot sniper rifle and make your way to the stairwell with a well-fortified team during this intense firefight.

In addition to the new content, the “Gears of War 2: All Fronts Collection” also contains every “Gears of War 2” Game Add-on released to date, including the classic “Flashback” Map Pack, volatile “Combustible” Map Pack and the winter-themed “Snowblind” Map Pack. Also included is an introduction to “Road to Ruin” from Epic Games design director Cliff Bleszinski, along with a custom Xbox LIVE theme, collectible “Gears of War 2” poster and a strategy guide. Containing over 3,600 Microsoft Points worth of content, the “Gears of War 2: All Fronts Collection” is an incredible value at £14.99

Already enjoying the previously released “Gears of War 2” collection of map packs? Available day-and-date with “Gears of War 2: All Fronts Collection” via download from Xbox LIVE Marketplace, the “Dark Corners” Game Add-on will be available separately for 1,600 MS Points.

Source

Gears of War 2 – New Achievements

Later this month Epic will be releasing the new map pack, Snowblind.

 Along with this will come the new ‘experience-based ranking system’  and if you have checked your achievements for the game you may have noticed a few additions.

 That’s because the new map pack will pull 9 new achievements and 250 gamerscore  along with it.

 

 

Check out Xbox360Achievements for the complete list.

Gears of War 2 upcoming title update features

Epic have announced a title update (#3) for Gears of War 2 which is due for release next week.  So what does the title update cover?  See the list below!

Improvements

Title Update 3 makes these new improvements:

• Adds 100 levels of player experience that you can gain based on your score in Public matches. The game still uses Trueskill for matchmaking to find the most competitive matches, but the skill rank is now hidden. The new level of experience appears next to your gamertag, with levels 1 through 99 displayed as numbers and level 100 displayed as an icon. The game normalizes experience based on match type so that players earn an equivalent amount of experience across all modes.
• Adds an experience penalty for players quitting before a match is complete.
• Adds bots automatically to a Public Match if players quit and cause unbalanced teams. This ability has always existed in Private Matches if the bot count is set higher than zero.
• Optimizes playlists to only have two modes per playlist. Ties are decided by random selection.
• Adds map cycling to Private Matches. The first match map is chosen by vote or by host, and when that match is completed, the game transitions automatically to the next match, with the next map selected in alphabetical order.
• Adds the ability for teams to talk to each other between rounds in a Private Match.
• Adds the ability to save Public and Private Horde high scores after each complete wave, in case the host loses connection.
• Makes minor changes to general bandwidth usage.
• Adds region preference to matchmaking.
• Improves standby detection.
• Adds nine new achievements worth 250 points. Progress toward them starts after Title Update 3 is applied. Six of the new achievements require the Snowblind Map Pack, a set of four new maps to be released soon. The nine new achievements:
  • “Rookie Gear” (10 points): Earn enough multiplayer experience to reach level 5 (Public only).
  • “Seasoned Gear” (20 points): Earn enough multiplayer experience to reach level 15 (Public only).
  • “Battle-Tested Gear” (30 points): Earn enough multiplayer experience to reach level 25 (Public only).
  • “Battle-Hardened Gear” (50 points): Reach level 50 and play a match on each of the four Snowblind Map Pack maps (Public only).
  • “Veteran Gear” (75 points): Reach level 100 and win a match on each of the four Snowblind Map Pack maps (Public only).
  • “Never Eat Red Snow” (20 points): Complete waves 1 through 10 on all Snowblind Map Pack maps in Horde (any difficulty).
  • “Icy Dead People” (25 points): Complete waves 1 through 50 on any Snowblind Map Pack map in Horde (any difficulty).
  • “Frigid Body Dynamics” (5 points): Play a multiplayer match on each of the four Snowblind Map Pack maps (any mode).
  • “The Weather Outside Is Lethal” (15 points): Win a multiplayer match on each of the four Snowblind Map Pack maps (any mode).

Exploit Fixes

Title Update 3 fixes these possible exploits, where under certain circumstances:

• A player could swap from a pistol to a two-handed weapon during a cover slide and then mantle greater distances.
• Players could kill themselves in Wingman to avoid giving their opponents more points. Now, suicides and team killing will reduce team score.
• A player holding a meatshield could melee through some walls.
• A player could equip a two-handed weapon with a shield using either the Boltok or the Gorgon pistol.
• A player could equip a two-handed weapon with a meatshield using either the Boltok or the Gorgon pistol.
• A player could prevent planted shields from being picked up by other players.
• Players could launch themselves into the air with a smoke grenade while mantling.

General Fixes

Title Update 3 fixes these other issues as well:

• An issue that caused chainsaw interruption when a player is shot to be less reliable in some body positions than in others.
• An issue where a third player could join a Public Wingman party lobby and remove another player from the game.
• An issue in Submission games where occasionally the meatflag would immediately run back to the spawn point after being dropped.
• An issue where players that were knocked down but not out (DBNO) while planting the Boomshield would appear to be standing.
• An elevation-based issue where the detection for a headshot might not align properly with certain character model heads.
• An issue that could cause Wingman teammates to have different character models.
• Additional miscellaneous bug fixes.

Balancing

Title Update 3 makes these balancing changes:

• Reduces stun duration of smoke grenades. Currently, characters always start to get up after 2 seconds.
• Gives melee the same delay after roadie running that shooting received in Title Update 2.
• Removes spawn protection from the Horde in Horde mode.
• Increased the forward angle that triggers chainsaw duels so that players with Lancers equipped won’t be sawn from the side without a duel.
• Reduces the delay before a player can climb up after entering low cover.
• Makes minor changes to weapon spawns on the Subway map to provide greater balance.

We continue to test internally and monitor online gameplay to determine what else may need adjusting.

13 Days of Gears

Xbox and Warner Bros. have teamed up to sponsor 13 Days of Gears to celebrate the release of the latest Friday the 13th film, with 65 daily prize packages and 13 grand prize packages. To sign up you merely need to download a free gamerpic. One entry per day by playing a specific gametype in a public match, and if you play all 13 days then you get one entry into the grand prize drawing.

Click this link for the official rules, details, limitations, etc. – This is only open the gamers in the US.

Gears of War 2 patch has landed

The new Gears of War 2 patch has finally landed and it couldn’t of come any sooner.  Rod Fergusson from Epic released a post on the Epic forums stating all of the fixes which address many issues including crab walking and the invisible shield glitch.  We look forward to downloading the update and having some real games online… Anyone up for some Horde on the new maps?  Full details of the patch after the break.

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Gears of War 2 patch incoming?

 
In what we suspect is the build up to the release of the long-awaited Gears of War 2 patch, Xbox.com has published the new achievements tied to the patch.  There are 7 new achievements worth 175 points but there’s a catch… You must both the Flashback Map Pack (Originally bundled with the game but now available on the marketplace) and the new Combustible Map Pack.  We look forward to recieving the new update and of course some more achievements but when will we see this?  The word was it would be ready this month and with only 11 days left will we really see the patch within 2 weeks? Only time will tell.

Gears of War 2 Wingman Tournament

At last we have finally launched our Gears of War 2 Wingman Tournament with CASH PRIZES! to find out more details on this tournament follow this link!

Gears of War 2 Combustible Multiplayer Map Pack

Well this was a little unexpected – Yesterday we heard rumblings across the Interwebs that Spike TV ‘accidentally’ streamed the rehearsals of the VGA’s and let slip that an announcement of a map pack for Gears of War 2 was going to be released.  Well it seems that it was true the new map pack is now available for download at the cost of 800 Microsoft Points.  The DLC contains 3 new maps, one of which was leaked on Flickr a few weeks ago which is called Flood and is based in some caverns which “Features a rising flow of Imulsion that drives the fight into close quarters.”.  The other 2 maps are called Gold Rush and Fuel Station.  Gold Rush is based in an imulsion factory and Fuel Station is a rework of fans favourite Fuel Depot from Gears of War 1 but we’re told that its not exactly the same.

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Gears of War 2 matchmaking update!

Today many gamers recieved an update for Gears of War 2 and several gamers noted issues in joining games due to outdated servers since the update. Here is the full update taken from the Epic forums posted by Senior Producer “Rod Fergusson” from Epic Games.

“Hey all,

I’m happy to announce that this morning, at 3:40 AM PST, we released a title update that should help with the current matchmaking issues. In order to get the update out as quickly as possible, we focused just on immediate infrastructure issues and have left any potential gameplay issues for a future update. Here’s what’s in today’s title update:

Gears of War 2 Collectibles Location Guide

Gears of War 2 has many collectibles in game that ultimately reward the player with achievement points. Finding every collectible in a game is never quite as easy as it should be; fortunately we’re here to make finding those collectibles easier for you with a act by act guide to finding all those collectibles.

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Gears of War 2 Hits 2 Million

The smash hit Gears of War 2 hits 2.1 Million sales in its opening weekend on general sale… now by our calculations 2,100,000 x $60/£40 = a lot of money for Epic and Microsoft.  Gears 2 also broke a Xbox Live record of serving 1.5 million playing Gears online – now that is a lot!  We also unlocked 19 million achievements which, I contributed 32 too

If you want more information on gears then visit our friends at Test Freaks for unbiased reviews and user scores.

10 Things I Hate About Gears of War 2

Now although I love Gears of War 2 and have been massively impressed with it I want to take a few minutes away from singing its praises and concentrate on all of those niggly bits that have annoyed me.  Only read on if you have completed the campaign mode as this contains spoilers.

1. No Berserkers
The best enemy from Gears of War and she doesn’t even get so much of a mention in the sequel! These were the monsters that everyone loved battling so why did they not appear?  It doesn’t make sense Epic please get them to return in the 3rd game!

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Gears of War 2 Ranking System

Apprently a ranking system has been introduced to Gears of War 2 – Not a lot is known about it as of yet but according to an internet source it is ’similar to Halo’ along with matchmaking.  Now is this good or bad? We will let you decide!  Hit the jump to watch a video.

 

 

 

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Gears of War 2 Torrent Uncovered

Last week we reported that Fallout 3 had been cracked and put on a torrent site but now we have just been informed that Gears of War 2 has also been leaked.  With 3 weeks until its official release Gears of War 2 is available people have been steadily downloading the game and playing it on dodgy Xbox’s.  If you feel like downloading this torrent remember Christmas is just around the corner and Santa Clause always know where the good little boys and girls live… Oh and remember guys if you buy the game in-store (Not pre-owned) you will receive the Day-One map pack (5 Remake maps from Gears of War) download code which will be available from… Wait for it… Day one.  Now go – find a downloader and lynch him.

Update:  No, We won’t provide you with a link you naughty, naughty people.

Update 2: For all of you good people you can pre-order Gears of War 2 here.

Gears of War 2 Goes Gold

According to several Internet sources Gears of War 2 has gone gold, a full 28 days before release!  Lets hope that its bug and glitch free!  We personally can’t wait to play this game so to celebrate we will be hosting a Gears of War 2 Team Tournament soon.. keep your eyes peeled!

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