Gears of War 3's "Season Pass" on sale today

Today's Xbox Live Marketplace sale consists of Gears of War 3's "Season Pass," which, if you didn't already know, gives you the first four downloadable add-ons at a discount. Today's price is 1800 Microsoft Points, or $22.50, which is 25% off the regular price. Not a bad deal if you were in the market for it.

Two of the first four downloadable add-ons have already released--the "Horde Command Pack" and "RAAM's Shadow." The next one up is "Fenix Rising," which will have you revisit Marcus' past and also adds a new ranking system for multiplayer. "Fenix Rising" is due out January 17. 

Oh, and you can also snag the "Gears 3 Skins Launch Collection" at 1800 Microsoft Points today, if you have an extra $22.50 laying around.

Gears of War 3 demo gets shipwrecked

Not only is it months after Gears of War 3's September release, but it's also after the holidays. Apparently, Microsoft felt this was the perfect time to release a Gears of War 3 demo on the Xbox Live Marketplace, as that is exactly what they did. The demo consists of the "Shipwreck" mission from the game's second act, and also features a lot of bullets flying by. Thinking back on it, the release of this demo is the perfect way to gear customers up for the massive presidential sales in the coming months. I'm sure that was the thought process behind it. 

Marcus Fenix rises in Gears of War 3's next DLC

In other downloadable content news, "Fenix Rising" will launch for Gears of War 3 on January 17 for 800 Microsoft Points, adding five new maps, four new character skins, 250 additional Achievement Points, and "Re-up."

"Re-up" is Gears' version of Call of Duty's "Prestige," where players can rank through level 100 three times, unlocking "exclusive emblems and weapon skins." Here, "Re-upping" will net you the following weapon skins: "Re-up Plasma," or animated plasma flowing in gold, a shiny, red "Re-up Omen," and lastly animated, golden "Re-up Electric" shocks. "Re-upping" will reset your number rank, but you'll keep your TrueSkill rating, profile unlocks and custom items.

Epic Games' Cliff Bleszinski tells IGN that all the maps in the campaign extension represent a location or event that was significant in Marcus' life, so we'll be visiting the "Escalation" map from Gears of War, as well as the Academy and the prison where Marcus served time. All are said to offer a range of both tactical and assault-style gameplay.

"Fenix Rising" is the second to last add-on that season pass owners will get for free, with the first two being the "Horde Command Pack" and "RAAM's Shadow."

Capps says new Epic Games title is "radically different" for the team

The new Epic Games title to be announced at this year's Video Game Awards is not only going to be a "fresh, new experience" as Cliff Bleszinski teased, but also something "radically different" for the in-house team in North Carolina.

"So this is going to be one of those projects where we try something totally different, and it just went 'boom,' because everyone had this pent up energy to do something new," Epic's Michael Capps said to GamesIndustry.biz [via Joystiq]. 

Capps adds that, after doing something new, the team at Epic will be more "energized" going back to their "bread and butter" titles, like Gears of War, in the future. 

Epic announcing "fresh, new experience" at VGAs

Just because Gears of War 3 released a few months ago doesn't mean the guys and gals at Epic Games are taking a break; that couldn't be further from the truth. Design director Cliff Bleszinski shot an official Spike Video Game Awards promo to announce the company will be revealing an "entirely fresh, new experience" at this year's show which, is this week, actually.

Bleszinski also made sure to note that the reveal has nothing to do with either Gears of War or Infinity Blade, though it is possible that it could have something to do with the never-announced GDC 2011 reveal, as Joystiq mentioned. All we know at this point is that the project is being developed in-house at Epic in North Carolina, so take that for what it's worth.

(No, I'm not hinting at Bulletstorm; I just like the image ;))

The new multiplayer characters from Gears of War 3's "RAAM's Shadow" DLC

Although the "RAAM's Shadow" downloadable add-on for Gears of War 3 isn't due out until December 13, one gamer quickly snapped a few photos of the six new multiplayer characters--who are Theron Elite, Tai Kaliso, Minh Young Kim, Michael Barrick, General RAAM, and Alicia Valera.

They were seen through the character select screen in Gears 3's multiplayer menu, and when attempting to buy the content the price comes up as -1 Microsoft Point, ultimately leading to an error screen.

"RAAM's Shadow" will also offer a three-hour prequel campaign set after Emergence Day, and the "Chocolate Weapon Set" for multiplayer, all at a $15 price-tag. Season pass owners will get the content for free.

Rumor: Gears prequel trilogy to be done by Bulletstorm developer

Time for your weekend rumor, and this time it comes from the rumor section of the latest Official Xbox Magazine [via TVGB], which asks, "Gears of War will live on, of course, but in what form?"

It then answers its own question, stating, "a prequel trilogy developed by Epic-owned People Can Fly (Bulletstorm)" is a likely scenario. 

Bulletstorm wasn't the smash-hit that I'm sure both Epic and People Can Fly thought it would be, so it's unlikely that a sequel would be coming out any time soon. So, what else could the team be working on at this point? After all, Epic's Cliff Bleszinzki never denied more Gears content.

Free Gears of War 3 maps out now, Insane Gearheads can obtain bonus weapon skins

The Gears of War 3 "Booster Map Pack" unleashes free maps, two new and three already available via "Horde Command Pack," onto the Xbox Live Marketplace today. Fellow Gears (or Locusts) can gib their foes in the new "Bullet Marsh" and "Clocktower" maps or the previous DLC maps -- "Azura," "Blood Drive" and "Rustlung."

Players who have completed the campaign on Insane difficulty in either single or multi-player can unlock the Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol weapon skin pack after watching the Mission Impossible trailer. People who haven't completed what Epic calls "Impossible Mission" have until December 24 to achieve the task and claim dibs on the skin set. Achievers will receive their reward on December 31.

A free map pack. A month-wait for a free weapon skin pack. Happy Thanksgiving!

[via Epic Games Community]

Second Gears of War 3 Title Update aides gaming leagues, machinima creators

A new Title Update for Gears of War 3 will begin to roll out tonight, and among its list of changes are aides for gaming leagues and Machinima creators.

For the gaming leagues, the Title Update adds spectator mode to private versus matches in the event of the match being broadcasted. One player on each team will be able to choose spectator mode during the match's setup, which will then play out 4v4 with a spectator on each side. Machinima creators can now disable the HUD during multiplayer gameplay, which will certainly make for a cleaner end-result.

Other notable mentions in the update are an indicator pointing to the next "King of the Hill" ring during the current ring's last 10 points, and a better host migration during "Horde." 

For the full list of changes, head on over to Epic Games. 

Kmart on Black Friday: Discounts on Battlefield 3, RAGE, Gears 3, MGS HD, more

Wal-Mart and Best Buy have some hefty deals for this year's Black Friday hullabaloo, but that other retailer, Kmart, is not to be left out in the cold, cold November weather. They have their own chock full of deals starting at 5 a.m. November 25, including Battlefield 3 and the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection for $35 each, Gears of War 3 for $40, and RAGE and Call of Duty: Black Ops for $30 each.

Those who have a backlog of games to buy can also pick up Transformers: War for Cybertron and the Gears of War Triple Pack for $15 each, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for $20, Killzone 3 for $30, and Uncharted 2 for $15.

Console-wise, the 4GB Xbox 360 is on sale for $150. And of course, the games listed above are not all that are on sale, so check GottaDeal for the full skinny on the savings, savings, savings.

[via Joystiq]

Best Buy's Black Friday Specials: Battlefield 3, Gears 3, RAGE, and more for $30

Best Buy is no stranger to good deals, and their Black Friday deals usually prove to be the best of the bunch. "30" appears to be this year's lucky number, with a ton of hot games selling for that price, including Battlefield 3, RAGE, Gears of War 3, and last year's Call of Duty: Black Ops. 

Those who pick up any of the above mentioned games will need to use some communication, so opting for the $40 Turtle Beach X12 headset wouldn't be a bad bet. 

Among the other titles and accessories on sale, Best Buy is selling the 250GB Xbox 360 Holiday Bundle, complete with Halo: Reach, Fable III, and a 3-Month Xbox Live subscription for $199.99.

GamerDeals has the full scoop on everything on sale, which are the non-Respawn-centric titles, so head there to see what else will be slashed. 

Say wut? Wal-Mart selling Battlefield 3, Gears 3, and more for $28 on Black Friday

Wal-Mart outed its insane list of Black Friday deals, and in terms of the video game section, there's a lot to  choose from here. 

You can pick up shooters such as Battlefield 3, Gears of War 3, Killzone 3 and Call of Duty: Black Ops--all on either systen--for a mere $28. 

Those who have some older games to go through, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Uncharted 2 will be on sale for $15. 

This all goes down Thanksgiving night at 10 p.m. and lasts all day that immediate Friday. What will you be picking up? 

[via CoffeeWithGames]

"Code Magic" can still grasp untapped power of Xbox 360, says Bleszinski

Epic Games' Cliff Bleszinski feels that creative programmers and developers can still squeeze some potential out of the Xbox 360, and all that is needed is some "code magic," he said to Next-Gen (via Joystiq).

Bleszinski added that the team at Epic used such magic when developing Gears of War 3, adding, "We're now at the point where it's not learning how to use the hardware, it's learning to trick the hardware into doing what you want it to do."

The current state of this console generation is comparable to the late years of the Super Nintendo in Bleszinski's eyes, when "programmers starting using Mode 7 in ways you never expected."

Gears of War 3's on-disc DLC explained

The release of Gears of War 3's first downloadable add-on this week didn't only come with cries of joy--it also came with actual cries and questioning.

After seeing the download size for the "Horde Command Pack" was a mere 1.42MB, consumers realized that they were actually paying for content that was already on Gears 3's disc, and the pack's $10 price-tag was only to unlock it.

Epic Games' Rod Fergusson spoke to Kotaku about the situation, and stated that with Gears of War 3's release date changing from the spring to fall, the team had already completed the first piece of DLC, and instead of making gamers download a huge file, they incorporated it into some of the disc's free space.

"We felt it was a win/win," Fergusson stated, "because no one is going to have to download anything huge when the DLC comes out." 

Fergusson also doesn't feel that gamers were cheated out of the "Horde Command Pack's" $10 unlock key, given the amount of praise reviewers gave Gears of War 3 for the amount of content it already provides.

Future add-ons, like the upcoming "RAAM's Shadow," aren't on the disc, and you'll have to download them in their entirety. 

"RAAM's Shadow" DLC priced, dated

Sure, today is all about Gears of War 3's "Horde Command Pack"--and the recently announced "Versus Booster Map Pack"-- but come December 13 it will be all about "RAAM's Shadow," the $15 campaign expansion that revolves around the characters from the first Gears, including Lt. Minh Young Kim and the man himself, General RAAM.

"RAAM's Shadow" brings with it "more than three hours" of prequel campaign gameplay, six new multiplayer characters, the "Chocolate Weapon Set," and, like the "Horde Command Pack," an additional 250 Achievement points to obtain.

"Horde Command Pack" maps become free "Versus Booster Map Pack" on Nov. 24

Although the "Horde Command Pack" for Gears of War 3 came out today, the game's first set of downloadable content, those with the virtue of patience will be able to snag the pack's maps for free when they become the "Versus Booster Map Pack" on November 24.

The key words in that last paragraph are "the pack's maps," as the "Versus Booster Map Pack" excludes the "Horde Command Pack's" new playable characters, weapon skins, the new "Horde" fortification upgrades, and the additional 250 Achievement points. It does, however, include two maps from the first Gears of War--"Bullet Marsh" and "Clocktower." Those who want the other goodies will just have to opt for the original "Horde Command Pack" for 800 MS Points.

[Update] Gears of War 3's "Horde Command Pack" delayed

[Update: It's now available for download.]

Don't get too excited about playing Gears of War 3's first set of downloadable content today, because Epic Games announced on their forums that the "Horde Command Pack" has been temporarily delayed due to a "technical issue."

"We apologize to those of you who are anxiously awaiting to play" Epic posted. "We know this is disappointing news as we've seen a lot of posts today showing excitement for the content."

A new release date wasn't given, but Epic says they have people working around the clock to resolve the issue, so perhaps we can play the add-on by the weekend. 

Epic Games still working on Gears of War 3's freezing problem

Epic Games commented on the freezing issue which is currently plaguing Gears of War 3, stating to IGN that they are still "working with Microsoft, [quality assurance] and the community" in order to pinpoint the source of the problem, which keeps players from joining any game mode once afflicted. 

Possible sources include participating in the game's beta which took place in May, and rejection of the last title update. Once a remedy has been conceived, Epic will out another title update. 

Epic Games wants Unreal Engine 4 ready for "day-one" of next-generation

Speaking to Develop, Epic Games' Mike Capps revealed the studio is already making the rounds to hardware manufacturers to discuss the Unreal Engine 4 technology in hopes of having it ready on day-one of the next-generation of consoles.  

"I think a year from a console's launch is perfectly fine for releasing a game," Capps stated, "but not for releasing tech. We need to be there day-one or very early. That's my primary focus." The Unreal Engine 3 came about roughly a year after the Xbox 360 launched. 

Capps then went on to mention their "Samaritan" demo which was shown earlier in the year, and feels what was demonstrated could be achieved at a reasonable development cost, and it's what gamers should demand for the next cycle. 

Availability of the Unreal Engine 4 to smaller developers, specifically for mobile games, is also a focus for the company. 

Gears of War 3's "RAAM's Shadow" campaign DLC follows Zeta Squad on December 13

The first Gears of War 3 campaign downloadable content, "RAAM's Shadow," will be available on December 13 for 1200 MS Points, Epic Games announced today. People who purchased Gears' season pass can download the DLC whenever it is released without additional charges.

"RAAM's Shadow" covers backstory preceding the first Gears of War. Players take control of Zeta Squad, consisting of old faces like Lt. Minh Young Kim and Tai Kaliso. As the add-on's name suggests, General RAAM will make an appearance as well--before you blow his head off on the train, that is. The add-on will also include six new multiplayer characters and the "Chocolate Weapon Set."