Crispy Gamer News

gamerDNA.com, a social platform that allows people to build and express their unique gaming identity, announced today that it will celebrate the launch of Gears of War 2 on November 7th with a contest giving fans a chance to win a huge 8’ x 5’ Gears of War 2 banner that features main character Marcus Fenix and is signed by the Gears of War 2 development team. To enter to win, players must reach a 195 GamerScore in Gears of War 2 by 11:59pm PST on November 17th. On November 18th, gamerDNA will draw the grand prize winner.

To participate, players must register for an account at gamerDNA.com and add their Xbox Live account name to the “AKA” section of the gamerDNA panel. After reaching a GamerScore of at least 195 and signing into Xbox Live between November 7th at 12:00am PST and November 17th 11:59pm PST, players will be entered to win the grand prize. Current gamerDNA.com members will be automatically entered into the contest (and will just be required to have their Xbox Live name in the “AKA” section of their gamerDNA panel and to reach a 195 GamerScore in Gears of War 2). Entrants must be at least 18 years old.

More at www.gamerDNA.com.

Sumthing Else Music Works today revealed the contents of the official Gears of War 2 soundtrack. The original soundtrack from the upcoming Xbox 360 action video game will be released on Nov. 25, 2008 to retail outlets through Nile Rodgers’ Sumthing Else Music Works record label and for digital download at www.sumthingdigital.com.

Gears of War 2 The Soundtrack features a new original music score composed by Hollywood composer Steve Jablonsky (“Transformers”, “The Island”, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”) and recorded with the Skywalker Symphonic Orchestra and Chorus at the world famous Skywalker Sound.

Gears of War 2 is set for released on Nov. 7. Full track listing after the jump, folks:

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Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad are on the move! Microsoft announced that epic Games’ second game in the popular action game series, Gears of War 2, has gone gold. Available exclusively for the Xbox 360, Gears of War 2 will hit retail on Nov. 7 on a worldwide basis.

Gears of War 2 tells the story of humanity’s last stand against the underground Locust Horde, and is the follow-up to one of the most popular Xbox 360 games in history. Gears of War 2 offers a brand new storyline, single-player campaign, new gameplay elements, and new extensive cooperative online play. Gears of War 2 is rated “M” for Mature by the ESRB and will be available exclusively on Xbox 360 with an M.S.R.P of $59.99 for the Standard Edition and $69.99 for the Limited Edition.

In an interview with Develop Magazine, Epic’s Cliff Bleszinski said that the Call of Duty method of developing games convolutes a franchise. Bleszinski made the comments in reference to a question about outsourcing Gears of War 2.

“We’ve got a lot of ideas about where the franchise will go. But sometimes I feel a franchise loses something when it’s shifted off to another shop,” said Bleszinski. “You get the primary studio that really understands about the franchise, and sometimes the other studio that takes it over can do well, but there’s something lost in translation, like the game’s soul has gone.”

The Call of Duty method he refers to is the switch-off between two of Activision Blizzard’s two internal studios: Infinity Ward and Treyarch, who have taken turns developing the franchise over the years. While there is some merit to the comment, Epic has certainly had its share of outside help in developing some of its prior core franchises like Unreal Tournament and Unreal. The company’s first title in the Unreal series had a lot of serious help from Canadian developer Digital Extremes, who also helped the company develop Unreal Tournament.

Still the point is valid. When publishers own IP rights they also have the power to decide who develops sequels and follow-ups. For example BioWare’s Neverwinter Nights 2 and Knights of the Old Republic 2 were developed by Obsidian Entertainment. While these games were certainly solid endeavors they didn’t quite stand up to the level of the BioWare originals.

Perhaps Bleszinski is simply looking forward, instead of back. You can read the comments in the full context at Develop Magazine.

Microsoft is heading to PAX, like many other publishers (including Sony and Nintendo) later this week in Seattle. During the event, which begins on Friday, Microsoft will showcase a number of its new and upcoming projects including Halo Wars, Project Origin, Gears of Wars 2, the new Xbox 360 interface, Popfly and a special Gears of Wars 2 signing is planned on Saturday and Sunday. Microsoft will also have other titles not listed here available for public play at its booth. Full schedule after the jump.

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Epic Games and Del Rey (an imprint of Ballantine Books, which is a part of the Random House Publishing Group) announced today that it will publish three novels set in Gears of War video game universe. The first novel, Gears of War: The Battle of Aspho Fields, written by Karen Traviss, will go on sale October 28, 2008.

In the book, the last human stronghold on Sera prepares for another onslaught from the Locust Horde, as ghosts come back to haunt Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago. The return of an old comrade threatens to dredge up an agonizing secret Marcus has sworn to keep about Dom’s brother that could end the popular partners’ friendship forever. And when I say partners, I don’t mean domestically, for the record..

Del Rey editor Keith Clayton promises the Gears of War books will remain true to the spirit of the game, which is probably a smart idea if you want Gears fans to read them. For our contribution to making promises, We promise you’ll love this preview of Gears of War 2.

More fun with Marcus and Locusts. Check out these action packed screens.

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