Gears of War 2 Dark Corners DLC released

The new Gears of War 2 DLC, Dark Corners, is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace for a mere 1200 ($15) MS Points.

This downloadable content pack features seven new Gears of War 2 multiplayer maps and a bonus deleted single-player chapter called “Road to Ruin,” from the Gears of War 2 campaign. In “Road to Ruin,” Marcus and Dom finds themselves navigating the deadly Locust highway, having to choose which way to handle situations: stealthy infiltration or a full frontal assault.

Those more interested in multiplayer will get seven new maps to play: War Machine, Allfathers Garden, Highway, Memorial, Nowhere, Way Station, and Sanctuary.

You can learn more about Dark Corners by visiting xbox.com.

Microsoft, Ubisoft Vets Join Jerry Bruckheimer

Jerry Bruckheimer and MTV Games today announced two executive appointments to Jerry Bruckheimer Games that officially mark the producer’s entrance into the video game industry. Industry veterans, Jim Veevaert and Jay Cohen, have been named President of Production and President of Development respectively. Bruckheimer and MTV Games previously announced this exclusive deal to create new and original video game content together. Details on the partnership have been quiet until today’s executive appointments.

Jim Veevaert is 15 year veteran, having spent the past eight years at Microsoft overseeing the the Halo franchise. As the Executive Producer for Halo 3, Veevaert was responsible for production and franchise management for the Halo Xbox 360 game series and Microsoft’s relationship with video game developer Bungie Studios. Prior to his work on the Halo series, Veevaert brought the Epic Games relationship to Microsoft, along with the Gears of War franchise. Veevaert led collaboration with the creative leads of Rare Ltd in the United Kingdom to expand the Viva Piñata franchise with an original television production and series of companion games.

A 13 year veteran in the interactive entertainment industry, Jay Cohen spent the past decade at Ubisoft building the company’s North American subsidiary. During his tenure as Senior Vice President of Publishing, Cohen and his team successfully engineered and executed the launches of blockbuster franchises such as Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, Prince of Persia, Rayman and Assassin’s Creed. Cohen currently sits as Chairman of the Board for the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences as well.

Game Developers eXchange: Don’t Miss It

The Game Developers eXchange, a unique event that is disseminating information in real-time via Twitter and streaming video, is happening right now and you need to know more about it. Sponsored by the Savannah College of Art and Design , the Game Developers eXchange has brought together game developers, educators and students with experts who are sharing their wisdom about the game industry.

This year (the event is in its fifth year) the Game Developers eXchange is focusing on a trio of important topics including game art that focuses on aesthetics; game design that focuses on rules, system design, prototyping and immersion; and the synergy of level design as it relates to game and art design.

Today’s speakers include Andrew Bains, senior level designer of the “Gears of War” series from Epic Games and art-game genius Jason Rohrer, who will serve as keynoters for the event. Also speaking will be Jason Arnone, art manager at Harmonix; Richard Dansky of Red Storm Entertainment; Mark Nelson of Big Huge Games; and Brenda Brathwaite, a game designer and professor of game development and interactive design at the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Those interested in watching this unfold live can visit www.twitter.com/SCADdotEDU or watch it as it happens on scad.tv. Andrew Bains will give his presentation at 5 PM EST on SCAD TV.

For a full list of speakers, check out the GDX Speakers page.

Gears of War: The Ten Year Plan..

Like the PlayStation 2 and the old guy who stole Adam Sandler’s girl in Big Daddy, Epic has a ten year plan for the Gears of War franchise. Speaking at the New York Comic-Con over the weekend, Gears of War 2 writer Joshua Ortega said that fans of the popular series would not be disappointed “in the next ten years.”

That sounds like some sort of challenge: “I dare you to not be disappointed!” Gives us three games and we start belly aching about the lack of innovation. Give us six and sometimes we hate you. We’re a fickle bunch.

Ortega went on to say that Microsoft and Epic have plenty more in store for gamers and that they are in it for the long haul. Besides the possibility of new DLC at some point for Gears of War 2, Ortega did not elaborate on what these plans might entail and Gears of War 3 was not even hinted at.
Ortega also said that the Lancer was the new lightsaber, intimating that both companies see this game universe as one that will be as epic and as far reaching in scope as the George Lucas films, games and merchandise.

Of course Gears of War is no Star Wars, and the comparison is pretty silly right now, but a lot can happen in ten years. I mean the economic crisis only took eight..

Gears of War 2 Patch Released, Detailed

Since its release, Gears of War 2 has been a huge hit for both Epic and Microsoft. The road to success, though, hasn’t been without its potholes, as a number of various glitches have plagued the gameplay. Well, today the ride got a lot smoother, as the latest Gears of War 2 is now officially live, fixing a massive number of the problems with the game.

In a post on the Epic forums, executive producer Rod Fergusson listed the full details of the new patch.

According to the new title update includes the following fixes and improvements:

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Xbox Live 2008 Data Puts Halo 3 on Top

Microsoft’s Major Nelson released Xbox Live statistics for 2008, revealing that Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 were the most played games online, and that Castle Crashers was the top seller on Xbox Live Marketplace. In the top five, Gears of War 2 and GTA IV were the only games published in 2008 that made the list. Full lists after the jump.

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Is Legendary Pictures Vying for Epic?

Here’s an interesting bit of news being reported in Variety this morning. Citing those pesky and nebulous “sources close to the companies”, the outlet is reporting that film studio Legendary Pictures is in negations to acquire Epic Games.

Taken at face value, this news might seem a little far-fetched, but there are actually indications that there might be some merit to possibility of a Legendary/Epic deal. For starters, less than two weeks ago, news broke that Legendary CEO Thomas Tull had left his position with game publisher Brash Entertainment, due in part to his reported disappointment in the direction the company was taking. Add to that, Legendary is already working closely with Epic, financing New Line’s upcoming feature film based on Gears of War games.

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