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When asked on variety program Late Night with Jimmy Fallon Gears of War 3 would be released, designer Cliff Bleszinski replied, "probably April 8". Microsoft is giving another date for North American, however. More »
Why wait for Cliff Bleszinski to debut Gears of War 3 on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon? Here's the trailer for the "worst-kept secret in the video game industry," posted to the Late Night website ... before it's appeared on television. The trailer is prefaced by some banter with Mister B about his vintage Nintendo Power appearance and what makes a great game.
The new game has playable female soldiers in it! Take that, Crackdown 2! Don't worry, it's still jam-packed with men who look like refrigerators, and mellow music like the famous Gears of War 2 trailer (in this case, Sun Kil Moon's "Heron Blue".)
When Epic Games' Cliff Bleszinski got bumped from last night's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon because of a Justin Bieber-shaped "scheduling conflict," someone forgot to tell the Xbox Dashboard programming team who, inadvertently, spoiled Mr. B's big reveal: Gears of War 3. Re-booked for Monday's show with no big reveal has left Epic Games with only one alternative: reveal a second game!
CliffyB took to Twitter with the following comment: "NEWSFLASH: Two announcements about two upcoming games on Monday. BOOM!" Lucky for them, Epic has a second game that's just about ready for its close-up, People Can Fly's Bulletstorm.
Now, he didn't say specifically that Bulletstorm would be the second "upcoming" game, but the pieces are certainly in place. Take, for example, the cover of next month's Game Informer magazine, which can already be found floating around various corners of the internet. Of course, Epic could simply be following Nintendo's lucrative Pokemon strategy and releasing two editions of Gears of War 3. If so, might we suggest Gears of War 3 Brown and Gears of War 3 Gray?
With this morning's Dashboard surprise (or slipup), we've learned that Gears of War 3 is scheduled to emerge on Xbox 360 next April. Given that Edge Online's earlier prediction of an April 2011 release for the game was spot on, the latest details from the site's anonymous source, said to be in US publishing, could certainly be accurate. From piloting a mech (allegedly appearing in single- and multiplayer modes) to the sequel's summer setting (reported to feature underwater levels, presumably to cool off), the report makes for an interesting read if you're wondering where Marcus and crew could possibly end up next year.
As for the bad guys, the Locust Horde is said to be evolving alongside the game's setting, spawning "tentacle-like appendages," which can attack players that are in cover. We've reached out to Microsoft and Epic for confirmation of any of these details, but, like Edge was told, we imagine the best we'll get is, "We don't comment on rumor or speculation."
We actually hadn't heard that Gears of War 3 was announced -- wasn't Cliff Bleszinski's big reveal bumped to Monday? -- but thanks to the marvels of modern technology and inattentive switch flippers, our Xbox 360 has brought us up to speed. The menu item (shown above) in the Xbox Spotlight channel doesn't lead to any further information, but does seem to confirm that "the epic story concludes April 2011."
Oh no, all our GoW trilogies are coming to an end!
#xbox360
Somebody at Microsoft appears to have flicked a switch a little early, with an advertisement appearing on the Xbox 360 dashboard tonight for Gears of War 3. More »
#xbox360
Epic Games is planning to reveal its next video game within the week, debuting it on national television, a game speculated to be the third Gears of War. What will Gears of War 3 bring to the popular third-person shooter? More »
#xbox360
Tomorrow was supposed to be the day that Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski was to appear on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon to debut the new Gears of... Epic's new game. There's been a change of plans. More »
#cliffbleszinski
When game designer Cliff Bleszinski revealed Gears of War 2, he did it by ripping through a barrier with a Lancer chainsaw weapon at the 2008 Game Developers Conference. How about when he debuts his new game on Jimmy Fallon? More »
#rumor
Gears Of War developer Epic Games hasn't dated (or even confirmed) the third game in the stop and pop shooter series, but someone else has, pegging the third entry for an April release in 2011. More »
A few things in this life are certain: Oprah will have a new book for you to read every month and you can bet there's a new Gears of War in the works. Edge says a source has put a pin in April 2011 as the release window for the third entry in Epic's series -- and we should expect the first teaser trailer next month, on April 8, with a full-on reveal at E3 in June.
"Microsoft's keen to avoid a clash with Halo: Reach and wants Natal to own Christmas," said Edge's source. "That's why we won't be seeing Gears Of War 3 until next year, but expect a major marketing push ahead of its release." And considering what Epic's prez Mike Capps hinted at recently, this all sounds about right.
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