We've already seen various example of successful shooters that integrated RPG elements into the gameplay such as BioShock (PS3, Xbox 360, PC). Cliff Bleszinski thinks this isn't just a passing thing. He believes that RPGs are the future of first-person shooters.

Tick-tocking like cogs in a gear, the Gears of War movie is moving along smoothly. The film hasn't been casted yet, much less the production started on, however, we do get some promising updates at the very least. Screenwriter Chris Morgan give us a status update on New Line Cinema and Epic Games' joint project. They're already talking about budget and how potentially epic this feature length movie can get. "All the stuff you want to see, we put that in there and then we blow it out a little more, even," says he.

It's been months since we last heard about the planned big screen trip of Epic Games' Xbox 360 hit, Gears of War (also for PC). Today's update has producer Wyck Godfrey talks about the progress of the film, plus an ETA: 2010. Hold on to your popcorn, fellow gamers-slash-moviegoers, and click the full article link for more info.

PC gaming, like many hardcore enthusiasts would tell you, has been overshadowed recently by powerful consoles that are more accessible and with more games. Even Epic Games' Cliff Bleszinski believed the PC is in disarray, but now, he found new hope in the hands of the PC Gaming Alliance. More details at the full article.

 

Lock and load, mercs, because the Locust Horde will be emerging from the depths to invade your PCs by November 6. And don't worry much about Epic Games' Gears of War for Windows: despite being a product of Unreal Engine 3 development (shader 2.0) and Microsoft publishing, it will arrive on both Windows XP and Vista on PCs sporting older hardware to the newest and latest.

Epic may have claimed that the Windows version of Gears of War will come on an improved Unreal Engine 3, but things aren't all about moving up and forward. Giving gamers with dated hardware lots of love, the new, "almost different" UE3 will run on older hardware. If UE3-powered Unreal Tournament 3's requirements are anything to go by, then there's probably little need to worry.

"Once you fire it up on the PC...it's almost like an entirely new game. ... Gears PC is almost on a different engine. ... You can tell it's not trying to be a PC game," said game director Cliff Bleszinski of Epic Games.  Gamers disappointed with the critical flop that was FASA Studios' Shadowrun can rest easy, because Bleszinski assures Gears of War will not be a PC port.

"Quite frankly, we want there to be other reasons to buy the PC version," added Bleszinski. As a result, Gears of War for Windows will arrive with PC-exclusive content to lure gamers to its midst - some of which we've covered before.

In addition to the 19 multiplayer maps made available to Xbox 360 gamers, the PC version with arrive with 5 new single player chapters, a King of the Hill multiplayer mode and three new multiplayer maps, an editor for the mod-inclined, and yes, the highly anticipated battle against a Brumak.

Gears of War for Windows screenshots

  

More screenshots coming your way at the full article!

In an interview with the PC team of IGN, Epic Games' lead designer Cliff Bleszinski and producer Rod Fergusson claimed that the PC version of Gears of War, dubbed Gears of War for Windows, is being created over a later iteration of Unreal Engine 3.

Fergusson said, "Gears of War for Windows was not created with the same version of Unreal Engine 3 as Gears of War for 360. We wanted to take advantage of all the latest and greatest optimizations and features that are constantly being added to UE3." Back in the E3 Media & Business Summit, hopes of avid fans were shot down after the Epic stated that the new PC content was exclusive.

It appears that aside from giving PC gamers some love, Epic revealed that the effort would be technically unfeasible. "There is no plan to provide the PC exclusive content to Xbox 360 gamers for a number of technical reasons. One is simply the size and scope of the new content which would be difficult to deliver as an update," said Fergusson.

The other, as it seems, is than the new content will be taking advantage of the enhancements and therefore is not compatible with the older Xbox 360 version. The new content is reportedly coming with a slew of new story missions, including a segment where PC players will be able to face a Brumack - a "monster tank" Xbox 360 gamers ran from in their version - and take it down.

After a change in the usual development strategy for Epic Games had Gears of War debut on the Xbox 360, the previously thought 360-exclusive is well on its way to the PC now. But with the Unreal community unmoved and clamoring for Unreal Tournament 3 to be released first, Epic had to switch gears and lend something to whet the gamers' appetites: additional Gears of War content.

Fans of the game on the Xbox 360 were hoping for a share of that extra content, after speculations persisted that Epic would release the content over Xbox Live when the PC version settles comfortably after its release. But during the E3 Media & Business Summit, vice president Mark Rein and lead designer Cliff Bleszinski both mentioned that PC content for the Xbox 360 as very unlikely.

When pressed for answers concerning this issue, Cliff Bleszinski said, "If we didn't have any exclusives on the PC, why would anybody have the PC version?" He later pointed out that the timed-exclusivity of the content had yet to be determined.

But higher-ranking Mark Rein doused the few flames of hope left, replying to an exclusive interview with AMN, "[The chance of Gears of War's PC content coming to the Xbox 360 was] unlikely. I don't want fans' hopes up." More developments on this as they come in.

Unreal Engine.">Epic Games will be at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2007, demonstrating their Unreal Engine 3 that powers Gears of War, the multiplatform Unreal Tournament 3, Mortal Kombat 8, and oh, a couple of Square-Enix games, too. This will be a closed-door event, though (some velvet ropes are not meant to be crossed).

For those who can get to GDC this year, here's the sked for the speaker sessions:

• Wednesday (March 7, 2007) 2:30pm - 3:30pm (Visual Arts) – Adapting Digital Cinematography Techniques for Game Development - Jerry O'Flaherty (Art Director)
• Thursday (March 8, 2007) 12:00pm - 1:00pm (Audio) – The Sound Design of Gears of War - Mike Larson (Audio Director), Jamey Scott (Sound Designer), Daniel Vogel (Programmer)
• Thursday (March 8, 2007) 12:00pm - 1:00pm (Business & Management) – PC Gaming in an Age of Connected Consoles - Michael Capps (President)
• Thursday (March 8, 2007) 5:30pm - 6:30pm (Game Design) – Designing Gears of War: Iteration Wins - Cliff Bleszinski (Lead Designer)

As you can see, Epic will also deliver talks you might be interested in listening to, because they're about Gears. Oh, and "online PC in an age of online consoles," probably one of the more debated topics in the UT3 community right now, which we'd love to hear just to settle the argument. Yeah, you'd want some seats there, too - maybe some sneak peeks at how UT3 will handle multiplayer. Or maybe not - the topic's under "Business and Management" - but the talk might offer some hints about what the people at Epic are thinking up.