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..

Splatterhouse Developers Go Bust

Rumors move faster than the speed of light on the Internet. As developer Bottle Rocket’s new game, a remake of Splatterhouse was being shown off at New York Comic-Con over the weekend, rumors were circulating that the company had closed its doors. Today that rumor becomes more of a truth as a report on VG247 confirms that the new game’s development has been moved in-house to publisher Namco Bandai Games.

The development team behind Afro Samurai has apparently taken over development of the game and the Bottle Rocket staff is being paid what its owed and let go. The Carlsbad, California-based development studio was formed in 2002 from the core team behind the PS2 hit Mark of Kri.

Dead Rising 2 Revealed?

New York Comic-Con is already paying dividends it seems. According to a conversation overheard at a Capcom meeting today a video has been leaked showing off the very first glimpse of Dead Rising 2.

While this has not been confirmed by Capcom as the real deal, we are inclined to believe that it is because they are talking about it amongst their own ranks. We’ll leave it to you to decide if it’s real or not until we get some official confirmation. Watch it after the jump.

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The Prototype Eric Holmes Interview

You may not know the name Eric Holmes just yet, but odds are good you’ve heard of his work. As a Lead Designer at Radical Entertainment, Eric was a driving force behind the The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, one of the best comic-based video games in recent memory. Now, Eric is hard at work on Activision’s next big original IP, Prototype. I managed to pry him away from the latest round of testing and development for the game and talk to him about just how involved the design process is, what gamers can look for in the upcoming sandbox adventure, and what kind of pressure there is on the development team to succeed.

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Bad Company 2, 1943 Revealed

A double dose of Battlefield news from Electronic Arts and DICE today: a sequel to Bad Company and a multiplayer-only Battlefield are on the way. DICE announced Bad Company 2, the follow-up to the first story driven Battlefield game that followed the antics of B Company as they tried to get out of the hot zone while trying to make a buck or two.

The new game promises more destruction and vehicular combat in addition to the run-and-gun missions the first game offered. My hope is that DICE has learned some hard lessons from last year’s game; better squad AI that, enemy AI that doesn’t put a bullseye on the player’s head and destructible terrain that offers full scale destruction. I have faith that DICE is ready to “bring it” this winter when the game is released.

Prior to that release DICE will give players the multiplayer only Battlefield 1943. Fans of the very first game in the series will no doubt be delighted with a return to the series’ roots. Using the same Frostbite game engine as Bad Company 2, Battlefield 1943 brings players back to World War II for some team-based action as either the Axis or Allied Forces in such locations as Wake Island, Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima - fighting by land, sea, and air using a variety of vehicles and familiar classes.

Anyone attending the New York Comic-con this weekend will be able to get a first look at Battlefield 1943 by visiting Booth #1441.

New York Comic Con: Now With 50 Percent More Games

With the demise of expos like E for All and the pending rebirth of the E3 of days of old, video game companies have had to find new venues to show off their wares. Where better to appeal to video game fans than a comic book show? Last year the industry saw a pretty hefty presence at Comic-Con International in San Diego. Now they’re movin’ on the city so nice, they named it twice.

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Sega’s New York Comic Con Plans

SEGA passed along a note that it plans to have a booth at the New York Comic Con, February 6-8, 2009 at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City. Games that will be playable at the show include MADWORLD, The House of the Dead: Overkill, and The Conduit.

In addition, development teams from PlatinumGames and High Voltage Software will be at the SEGA booth talking about their games, along with members of the PR team who plan to blog their pants off and harass journalists.

I hope that I will be in New York that week, because I really want to see just how much Mad World play it takes to induce a seizure.