Gears of War 3

[Handshakes]

While on the topic of Call of Duty, Rein went on to stick up for the man gamers love to hate – rabble rousing Activision top dog Bobby Kotick.

"I've talked to him once or twice – I don't know him that well - but he seems like a really nice guy. The times I've spoken to him I was very impressed. He seemed very smart to me.

"Y'know, he's like me," he continued. "He likes to talk and sometimes we get ourselves in trouble. Sometimes you get in trouble for telling people what you really think – they don't always want to hear it."

I really think that most of the hate over Bob Kotick comes from jealous people in the industry who are reflexively bothered by the fact that a dude who says he doesn't play or even like videogames is being uber successful by just being a good businessman. And I'll go out on a limb and say that the games industry needs more professionals like him.

For a long time the industry was run by all the same people who were making the games. While those people are unquestionably dedicated to designing works of art, they are awful business people; as such, the industry has been plagued by poor working conditions and almost zero job security. In comes Bobby Kotick, who is dispassionate about making games but very passionate about making lots of money, and his success brings much needed maturity to the game dev world.

[nCogNeato]

He's a mole!  GET HIM!

[Handshakes]

He's a mole!  GET HIM!

I've been compromised!

[GamerMan316]

Gears of War 3 public beta date

Buying Bulletstorm isn't the only door to the Gears of War 3 multiplayer beta - a public test runs from 25th April to 15th May.

The press release mentions pre-ordering Gears of War 3 at GAME to gain access. We're checking out whether this is an exclusive offer.

Bulletstorm: Epic Edition owners can start early and play from 18th to 24th April.

Participating in the Gears of War 3 multiplayer beta can unlock content within the full game. Complete one beta match and you'll get a Beta Tester Medal; complete 50 and you'll unlock the Thrashball Cole character, who'll transfer to the full game when you complete 10 games with him; complete 90 matches and receive the Gold-Plated Retro Lancer, which will transfer to the full game after scoring 100 kills.

A Flaming Hammerburst weapon goes to anyone playing a match by Sunday, 24th April; a Flaming Lancer goes to anyone finishing a match during the week of 25th April; a Flaming Sawed-Off Shotgun goes to anyone finishing a match during the week of 2nd May; and a Flaming Gnasher Shotgun goes to anyone finishing a match during the week of 9th May.

Over the course of the Gears of War 3 beta, four maps and three modes will be rolled out. Maps Old Town and Trenches will be included.

What's more, the Gears of War 3 beta will take place on the game's vaunted dedicated servers.

Eurogamer's Christian Donlan played the Gears of War 3 beta late last month.

Gears of War 3 can be pre-ordered now in three versions: Standard, Limited (£59.99) and Epic (£99.99).

[GamerMan316]

Epic: We'd 'love' to bring Gears of War to PS3
"That would be fun. I want to be there," says Epic boss

Epic Games would "love" to ship Gears of War on PlayStation 3, but it's consistently convinced to partner with Microsoft, it's said.

Speaking at GDC, Epic President Mike Capps said he wants to be on PS3, but "time and time again" Microsoft gives him "really good, compelling reasons to work with them again."

He said: "Do we wish we could take all those Killzone [players] and Resistance fans on PS3, and get them to say 'Gears is awesome'? Yeah, sure I'd love to ship the Gears trilogy on PlayStation. That would be fun. I want to be there; I want to be everywhere."

So will Gears of War ever come to PS3? Capps wouldn't say, but he did note that, "We definitely own Gears of War. This is our franchise, our IP." So it's a possibility in the future.

However, Capps added, "Time and time again, when it came down to figure out what we do next with Gears, we sat down with Microsoft and they've given us really good, compelling reasons to work with them again.

"They don't just market it; they do amazing work and they have a user testing team that makes our games better, and so each time we've come to the point of 'what do we do next?' we've been happy to work with them. They help us make a better product and do some really cool marketing on the platform, so we save some money there."

Microsoft execs just did a little shudder.

[GamerMan316]

Bleszinski teases Gears Of War 3 Easter Egg treat
Epic design lead says there's a whole lot of secrets to discover

Cliff "Cliffy B" Bleszinski has admitted that Epic is "packing" its new games full of Easter Egg treats - whilst teasing an extra special secret for fans to discover in Gears Of War 3.

Speaking at GDC 2011 in San Francisco this afternoon, Bleszinski encouraged his peers to put more of their own personality and experience into their games - and to not be afraid of taking a public role as a "power creative".

To help get products noticed, he suggested devs pinched addictive design ideas from social games and target the creation of viral videos - such as the "Donkey Lady" glitch clip from Red Dead Redemption. (Bleszinski even suggested that "someone smart" at Rockstar may have created the bug in on purpose to garner consumer attention).

But an even bigger impact on publicity, according to Bleszinski, could come from Easter Eggs. He said: "The second after Bulletstorm came out, the front page of Kotaku and all these [gaming] websites was the Red Ring Of Death secret. That's your hidden X-factor to extend the launch of the game. So now I'm running into our office like, 'Dude. Easter Eggs, Easter Eggs. Pack 'em in, pack 'em deep."

In a jokey reference to the infamous 'Hot Coffee' scandal of Take Two's GTA series, he warned: "Clear them through legal - that could be a very bad way to change your game from [M for Mature] to Adults-Only."

Bleszinski he was "syched" about one particular Gears Of War 3 Easter Egg - which he said would take fans "months if not years" to discover. He added that "if fans don't find it, we'll leak it". Nice.

Gears Of War is due for global release on September 20, exclusively on Xbox 360.

[ASYLUM NINJA]

Max and Dom share some man love

[Failed]

Anya shower scene 

[nCogNeato]

Anya shower scene 

Maria shower scene   

[Failed]

I've been sick in my mouth ... in a good way

[Handshakes]

Anya shower scene 

Maria shower scene   

What did Dom see in her anyway, amirite?

[Failed]

*insert distasteful bulimic joke*

[zerosum]

Aside from the beta stuff....anyone know or heard of what's included in the 'Limited' and 'Epic' Editions?

[Dankinia]

Aside from the beta stuff....anyone know or heard of what's included in the 'Limited' and 'Epic' Editions?

I have been wondering that myself. 

[GamerMan316]

Nothing confirmed for the Limited & Epic Editions just yet only the price, £59.99 & £99.99 respectively.