Gears of War blends the best of tactical action games with the best of survival horror titles, thrusting gamers into the harrowing story of humankind's battle for survival against the Locust Horde. The next "free" title update, coming tonight at 4:00 p.m. PDT (7 p.m. EDT), will include a brand-new multiplayer mode called Annex. Read more for details, screens and in-game footage.

Gears of War blends the best of tactical action games with the best of survival horror titles, thrusting gamers into the harrowing story of humankind's battle for survival against the Locust Horde. The next "free" title update is currently being tested, and while details are vague it will fix a whole bunch of glitches, provide 720p for VGA users running at 1280x1024, and contain a brand new multiplayer game type called Annex.

After a failed attempt to get the Halo picture off the ground with Peter Jackson as the executive producer, Microsoft has been shopping around the Gears of War franchise to movie studios, and it seems New Line Cinema has managed to reel it in. Stuart Beattie, known for Collateral and Derailed, will be writing, and it will be produced by Temple Hill's Marty Bowen/Wyck Godfrey. Gears of War is an action game where hero Marcus Fenix is rescued from prison by a small group of elite soldiers to save planet Sera from an invasion of aliens known as the Locust.

Gears of War blends the best of tactical action games with the best of survival horror titles, thrusting gamers into the harrowing story of humankind's battle for survival against the Locust Horde. At GDC Mark Rein confirmed that Epic is planning and working on the conversion, as the game was actually developed on a PC. Epic is a small company so it usually focuses on one project at a time, so Gears of War for PC will get its full attention once UT 3 ships.

The current Last Vegas D.I.C.E. summit is not only about speeches and announcements, but also awards. Last night's Annual Interactive Achievement Awards was, once again, an overwhelming success for Microsoft and Epic as Gears of War won no less than eight awards, with "Game of the Year" being one of them.

Gears of War blends the best of tactical action games with the best of survival horror titles, thrusting gamers into the harrowing story of humankind's battle for survival against the Locust Horde. People who log onto Xbox Live may will be asked to update Gears of Wars, the patch is a minor compatibility update, no gameplay or functionality changes at this time.

Gears of War has gone triple platinum, reaching the 3 million-units-sold milestone in just 10 weeks on store shelves, ending 2006 as the top-selling game among all platforms during December.

As promised, Microsoft has released the first mappack for Epic's action game Gears of War. Sponsored by the Discovery Channel's new show Future Weapons, the 2 free multiplayer maps Raven Down and Old Bones weigh in at 98mb. There is also a Map Pack 1 Theme and an introductory video by CliffyB available when you log onto Xbox Live.

As promised Epic has released a "house-hold" patch addressing various gfx and voice issues, bugs, crashes, better anti-cheat code, multiplayer adjustments and other tweaks. Logon to Xbox Live, with the game in the tray and you should be prompted to download the patch. Tomorrow Microsoft will release two new multiplayer maps...

Earlier it was revealed that Microsoft would be releasing two new multiplayer maps for Gears of War, but first Epic is going to be rolling out the promised patch. The patch will fix gfx and voice issues, bugs, crashes, better anti-cheat code, multiplayer adjustments and other tweaks. Read more for detailed fix list...

Hinted at by Epic a few weeks back, it is now official. Microsoft will be releasing two new Gears of War multiplayer maps, sponsored by the Discovery Channel's new show Future Weapons, which will be available for download via Xbox Live Marketplace Wednesday, Jan. 10.

Last month Microsoft issued a statement saying that it expected to sell one million Gears of War units by year's end, but it seems they have underestimated the title's popularity. In its 6 weeks since launch Epic's gritty action game has sold more than 2 million copies worldwide (1 million in the US alone), becoming the fastest- selling next-generation game of 2006.

During the recent Spike TV Video Game Awards ceremony Epic Games president Mike Capps stated that they have been working on new content for its recently released gritty action game Gears of War. The question on everybodies mind however was whether the long time PC developer was going to jump on the microtransaction bandwagon or not. Putting the discussion to rest Capps said, "We always take care of our customers, we always give them stuff for free, and we're going to keep doing that forever. That's how we do it, man. This is Epic."

Sandvine's broadband network solution observed an 80% increase in the number of Xbox Live users across a sampling of North American-based broadband service providers' networks during the first week following the release of six new Xbox games, mainly due to the release of Gears of War.

An article in the latest PC Gamer issue showed a photo of a promo kiosk featuring a Gears of War Games for Windows retail box, indicating a port might be in the works. Now Microsoft, usually not commenting on rumors, issued a short statement that this is not confirmed, but merely a mistake by the artist as one of the MGS titles used as examples to show what their retail setup would look like. Still, no confirmation does not mean it is not true ...

Gamers will think Christmas has come early as Microsoft announced a special Gears of War retail offer available from Friday 24th Nov. (while stocks last). Gamers can get a copy of Epics action game Gears of War and an Xbox 360 to play it on, all for £299.99 (434.99 Euro).

For the first time since its launch Halo 2 is not the most played game on Xbox Live. Last week there was some controversy by adding Halo 2 to the Xbox 360 list, but this week it is clear, Gears of War reigns supreme and dethroned Bungie's sequel. Even if the Xbox 360 list and the original Xbox list were combined, then Gears of War would be the top Xbox Live title.

The PC Gamer Holiday 2006 issue features a nine-page article about Windows Vista and Microsoft's recent push for PC gaming with its Games for Windows initiative. The article talks about Microsoft's plans for the near future, an interview with Peter Moore, but most interestingly, it features a photo of a Games for Windows promo kiosk (similar to the current PS3/Wii demo stations). The kiosk to promote PC games has a display with various titles on it, including Flight Sim X, Age of Empires III, Rise of Nations, ShadowRun, and Halo 2, but most importantly ... Gears of War, complete with a Games for Windows logo on the box cover.

Gears of War blends the best of tactical action games with the best of survival horror titles, thrusting gamers into the harrowing story of humankind's battle for survival against the Locust Horde. With its Nov. 17 Euro launch, Microsoft forecasts that Gears of War is expected to sell more than 1 million copies worldwide this Christmas.

Gears of War blends the best of tactical action games with the best of survival horror titles, thrusting gamers into the harrowing story of humankind's battle for survival against the Locust Horde, creating cinematic, high-definition visuals so intense and powerful, it feels like the gamers are controlling a blockbuster action movie.

Gears of War blends tactical action with survival horror, thrusting gamers into the harrowing story of humankind's battle for survival against the Locust Horde. Epic's Mark Rein confirmed that, as is customary to Epic's post-release support, they are currently working on more Gears of War multiplayer content and functionality, as well as pledging "to make improvements and enhancements."

Gears of War blends tactical action with survival horror, thrusting gamers into the harrowing story of humankind's battle for survival against the Locust Horde. If you are one of the many people having multiplayer connectivity issues, Lead Programmer Ray Davis announced Epic is working on a patch (also addressing other bugs), and while no specific release date is set, it ought to be soon.

Xbox Live celebrates Emergence Day with 24 hours of special events beginning at 12:01 A.M. on Sunday, November 12 on Xbox Live. Gold members in North America can join online tournaments, download exclusive videos, win cool prizes, and participate in variety of other activities.

Gears of War blends the best of tactical action games with the best of survival horror titles, thrusting gamers into the harrowing story of humankind's battle for survival against the Locust Horde, creating cinematic, high-definition visuals so intense and powerful, it feels like the gamers are controlling a blockbuster action movie.

To celebrate the upcoming Emergence Day, several lucky gamers will win the chance to play Epic's Gears of War prior to launch, and party with celebrities living and dead at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles on Thursday, Oct. 26 at 12:01 a.m.