Despite the drop out rate for the ESA and gaming companies that will be forgoing E3 2008, there will be plenty of upcoming games to get excited over. Microsoft will be featuring both Halo Wars and Gears of War 2. The company’s press conference is scheduled for July 14th.

Gamers can also look forward to learning more on Lionhead’s Fable 2. Rare is coming to the party and bringing Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. There’ll be more on Silicon Knights’ Too Human as well.

Gaming Today will be covering the event live and will keep you posted on the details as they’re revealed. E3 2008 is returning to the Los Angeles Convention Center this year and runs from the 15th to 17th of July.

via Eurogamer

Getting an early start on your Halloween costume? Then you may be interested to learn that TriForce Sales has just announced they soon be releasing life-size armor and weapons based on those found in the hit Gears of War game. After acquiring the license from Epic, TriForce is now planning to release 1:1 scale replicas of the COG armor, COG helmet, and Lancer Assault Rifle like those used by Delta Squad. They’ve also enlisted the services of Sid Garrand from Nightmare Armor Studios to sculpt the gear:

“I have been a huge fan of Gears of War since its release in November of 2006,” said Garrand. “In my spare time I sculpted a full set of armor for myself, which I enjoyed showing off at conventions. When the fans saw it they all asked me how they could get it. I was thrilled when the team from Epic saw it, and liked it, which allowed us to move to the point to where we are today. It all truly began as a labor of love.”

“Sid Garrand’s team came to our offices wearing the armor one day, and everyone here at Epic was blown away. The level of detail in these pieces is incredible, and it’s so rewarding to see our work come to life,” said Dr. Michael Capps, president, Epic Games. “We’re really psyched TriForce will give fans – and our team – the chance to own some of these awesome pieces from the Gears of War franchise.”

I have to admit, I wouldn’t mind having an actual Lancer laying around. Well, maybe if the chainsaw actually worked. If you want to get your own COG armor and weapons, be sure to place your advance order on July 8th at TriForce’s website.

Via Press Release [image via Kotaku]

A few months back, Microsoft’s director of games platform strategy, Andre Vrignaud (better known as Ozymandias), created the Co-op Game Bill of Rights which contained a list of features and key elements gamers expect to see in their co-op games (as well as some features that aren’t absolutely necessary). There was a lot of discussion about it around the web; I wrote up a similar story that took a more broad look at games in general, but 1UP wanted to know more from Vrignaud and how that list plays into Microsoft’s relationship with developers.

Your blog has a disclaimer about how “not everything posted accurately reflects the views of my company, my management, Microsoft partners, affiliates, or even my mother.” That given, would you say that co-op gaming is something Microsoft is very interested in or concerned with this generation? Are you bringing your feelings on co-op games and this list of “rights” to bear in particular?

Certainly, a lot of people at Microsoft are believers in co-op. That can be seen throughout the organization, including the platform side and Microsoft Game Studios. I’d highlight Crackdown, Halo 3, and Gears of War as having some of the best co-op implementations in the industry today, and that’s certainly not by accident. As for bringing the list “to bear,” I guess I’d say that that’s not really my role. My job at Microsoft is to help define and evangelize a killer platform for developers to build upon. Through that work I’d certainly like to believe that my co-workers and I have valuable lessons and insight to share… and we’re happy to do so. In fact, we’ve had some great conversations with different folks inside and outside Microsoft on the topic. But at the end of the day, it’s up to the game developers to innovate on the platform as they see fit. If we can help with ideas… great!

Have you shared the Co-op Game Bill of Rights with developers or publishers, or are there plans to do so?

I’ve shared it by publishing the Co-Op Game Bill of Rights on the web. Also, I’ve had conversations with some MGS folks, but there are no plans to publish this beyond that. Again, we sincerely believe that our role is to provide a fantastic platform for developers to build their visions on. We don’t define their games. If some of our co-op thoughts are seen as useful and adopted by this publication, great! But we’d never mandate this sort of thing.

With Grand Theft Auto IV in the books and several months’ time gone by, is there anything you’d now add to either the Co-op Bill of Rights or my list of required game features?

An updated two-disc retail version of the Xbox 360 version of Gears of War will hit North America beginning June 24. The two-disc version includes previously released multiplayer map packs, the Annex game mode, and the ability to earn up to eight additional multiplayer achievements worth 250 Gamerscore. Gamers will also get a taste Gears of War 2, through trailers and other extras.Two-Disc Version Contents:

DISC ONE – GAME DISC

DISC TWO – EXTRAS
• Map Packs 1 & 2
• Theme – ‘Emergence Day’
• Gamer Pics – ‘Gears of War,’ ‘Emergence Day’

Gears of War 2 Extras:
• Trailers – ‘Duel,’ ‘Assault’
• Theme – ‘Bare Your Teeth’
• Gamer Pics – ‘Crimson Omen’

For more information on prices and availability, check your favorite gaming store online or in person.

Via: Press Release

If a listing on GameStop.com is to be trusted, you can expect to see Gears of War get the re-release treatment with additional maps. Presumably those maps will simply be from the downloadable content that’s been released, but there’s no way of knowing for sure — the only detail the GameStop listing shows is that the game’s name is “Gears of War with Maps.”

The game is listed at $40, but if this is real, Epic Games isn’t saying just yet. Their only comment on the matter has been that they haven’t announced any such title — which is far from a denial that the game is coming.

via NeoGAF

Gamerscore Blog recently had the chance to sit down with Cliff Johnson, the lead designer for Gears of War 2, to have him answer some questions from their community about the upcoming game. Most of the questions really didn’t reveal anything groundbreaking that we didn’t already know, although “the artist formerly known as CliffyB” did mention one major change to the gameplay. This time around, you won’t be able to issue commands to your squad as before; they’ll pretty much just function on their own. Also, you’ll apparently be able to play as other members of Delta Squad at different points in the campaign. I guess it’s not that major of a change if the AI stays up to snuff. Really, all this means is we can devote more time to shooting things.

Via Gamerscore Blog

Videogaming247 could not have said it better when they labeled Cliff Yablonski Bleszinski “the artist formally known as CliffyB“. Made me laugh my rear off actually, so I just had to use it as the title.

According to the post over on their site, Cliff spoke about fans going from one extreme to the other in regards to his accomplishments and failures. In an interview with CVG, Cliff talked a bit about “name calling”:

“You’ve got to have a thick skin. If I had a nickel for every time I was called a fag on the internet, I could retire. It’s just the way the fans are sometimes; you do a good job and they’ll hold you up in a chair and carry you through the streets. You screw up once and they’ll be the first to tar and feather you, and that’s the risk I take when I stick my neck out there.”

Well, if you don’t want folks making fun of you Cliff, stop doing Romeroesque photo-ops like the one posted.

You can read the full interview by clicking on the link below.

Interview: CVG

We’re over four months into the year, but Shane Kim still believes that 2008 will be another landmark year for Xbox 360. Speaking with GI.biz at yesterday’s Microsoft event, the head of Microsoft Game Studios pointed to the exclusives we’ll be seeing this year as proof of his claim.

“What we’re really trying to communicate is that this is going to be another landmark year for Xbox 360,” Kim said.

“Mainly because we are really focused on the strategy of tremendous exclusive content. Titles like Gears of War 2, Fable 2, Banjo, et cetera. as well as the continuing leadership we have in the online space with Xbox Live.”

He claimed the battle between Xbox 360 and PS3 in Europe was a “horse race no matter what,” but also said, “I understand that Sony has declared leadership already. We’ll let the data speak for itself.”

Kim admits that Europe has always been a dominant market for Sony, and claims that with that in mind, any progress Microsoft has made is great progress. Japan, however, has few bright spots for the 360.

“Look, we’ve acknowledged for a long time that we probably wouldn’t win in Japan and that it was going to continue to be a tough market for us.

“We took some different steps in this generation – our partnership with Sakaguchi-san produced two very well-received and critically reviewed titles in Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. Unfortunately, it remains a difficult market for us.”

With that in mind, Microsoft isn’t about to give up on that market. Kim knows it’s critical and that there’s nowhere to go but up.

“I’m not going to go out and say our hope is to win in Japan because that’s not realistic. Do I think we have room for progress and improvement? I absolutely do.

“So, no, the battle is not over.”

For those of you who’d rather view your trailers online, the first look at Gears of War 2 “Assault” trailer is streaming on FileFront. As Gaming Today laid it out this weekend, Cliffy B talks about the new threat of Locust Horde forces that can drag entire cities down into emergence holes. You’ll have to pass an age gate to view the trailer, but it’s well worth it. Chainsaw dueling… need I say more?

via FileFront

I won’t bother you with any teaser text: go here to download the first real trailer for Gears of War 2.

With that out of the way, those of you who are of age are in for a treat after downloading the trailer, which shows off the game’s usage of an upgraded Unreal Engine that looks terrific. There’s also a preview of a number of new game mechanics, such as being able to grab an enemy and use him for cover and chainsaw duels. Head over to GameVideos for an in depth analysis of all the details those folks were able to pull from the trailer.

As for my thoughts; it certainly looks great, there’s no denying that. I wasn’t blown away by the trailer, but that’s the nature of seeing gameplay versus a teaser trailer. And in all actuality, while it doesn’t have the same effect that a teaser would have, this is much more satisfying, as we can actually see the game in motion. I’m not sure how to feel about the chainsaw duels — it seems like an improvement from the first Gears, but I’m not sure that mashing B (which may or may not be all there is to it) is really the most elegant solution to the problems with Gears‘ chainsaw. Cliffy B is right, though. The game looks pretty badass.