Hey Gearheads, over at EPIC's Gears of War site, they have posted the specifics on the up and coming multiplayer gametype, "Annex".  You'll all be happy to know that "Annex" and several needed patches will be available for download on April 9, 2007.  

Now, when do we get some maps and how much is it gonna cost us?

Entry Link :: 12 Comments

Here is the sign up sheet for Friday Night FragFest.  No specialty matches going this week, just some good fun Gearheads versus Gearheads competition.  I'll be hosting a group, so I hope to see some familiar and some new faces there.  I'm in Texas, so ya'll can start looking for my matches around 9:30PM(Central).  Hope that isn't too late for some of you Eastenders, but I like to have a beer at the end of my work week before going home.

Oh, Happy St. Patrick's Day, and may the Luck of the Irish be Upon You and a good beer be in You!

Entry Link :: Comment

I saw the post asking how to best mod your 360 and controller with sweet looks, but that isn't what I'm talking about.  What I am refering to is customizing your controllers to suit your style of play.  On several posts I have seen comments from gamers lamenting their fumbling with control sets between games or just wanting to tweek this or that button.  I have suffered the same fumbling. So, why do we have to suffer these structured control sets?  I mean really, there all just buttons.  Grant it, the sticks are fundamental so I'll not go there, but really, can't we pick and choose what everything else does?  I know the game developers go to great lengths to map their controls, and for some, it just makes sense, but shouldnt we be the final judge?

At the end of the day, shooters are all doing the same thing.  Some games add an action, the mysterious "x" button for Halo 3, or the game adds a new unique feature, like active reload in gears, but even that could be mapped to an alternate button.  And, if the game isn't a shooter, then mapping your own buttons helps you handle the situation.

How about this argument.  Pretty soon, console players are going to be competing with PC players.  PC players are going to have a more flexible control scheme and may even have the choice to map buttons for operations that console gamers won't.  Consoles will need some means to customize in order to eck out whatever advantage a gamer can.  Maybe once Shadowrun hits we will have a chance to see true comparisons between consoles and keyboards.  Then, if rumors are true, we will see Gears on PC.  When that happens, we may see either a trend of PCs competing against consoles, just like MicroSoft (MS) has been leading up to with 'Live Anywhere'.

If you say this can't be done, just because, then I need more convincing.  MS has created a gaming platform and given game developers criteri to fit the platform and meet basic xboxlive expectations.  So, why cant' they require game developers to allow gamers with full control of their button mapping?

Entry Link :: Vote in Poll :: 14 Comments

Alright, months after launch and millions of copies sold, Epic's juggernaut is out and on the rampage.  So what's next?  More Gears of War of course, but we all realize that is going to take time.  That's ok, we're expecting downloadable content to sate our appetites and keep us playing till the next coming.  OK, does that mean we have all that we can have or want?  Nah.  We want more.  What we want to see is EPIC come alive and out of their cocoon.  How can they do that you wonder?  Well, if you don't, I'm going to lay out an appeal to EPIC anyways.  

I enjoy our site here, and have been happy to see the steady contributions of our regulars and fresh POVs from newcomers to Gearheads of War.  Our site has become a vibrant sounding board for all things Gears and diverse enough to handle many things in between.  Here, there is a steady flow of topics, news, speculation, and discussion that draws people here.  All of this good brings to my attention the stark contrast to Epic's own Gears of War website.  Since Emergence Day it has been largely left dormant and inactive.  

My "beef" with things as they are is this.  EPIC, you now have a legit full-on like Donkey Kong Juggernaut in Gears of War.  It is the killer ap every game developer is craving to have.  Now that you got it what do you do?  Well, after pushing it like crack prior to launch, you can't just sit back and let that high go by.  No.  You got to keep the baby looking fresh.  

What I'm saying is how about some updates to your own website. Fellas, that site has been abandoned like a mange infested stray dog.  Prior to Emergence Day (launch) that site was the tip of the spear.  We could look there for updates, communications, highlights, and trailers.  Now, its all old news not updated in ages.  You guys have got a game on your hands, but you got a community out here with us that wants to get more.  Bring us in like Bungie has.  That's right, I said it, bring us in like Bungie has.  Your big time now and I think all of us here and out there would like to see EPIC give new life and purpose to their own Gears of War site.  

Make your site the tip of the spear again.

Entry Link :: 23 Comments

As you all know, Papi is having a damn good vacation south of the border; sucking salt, eating lime, drinking coronas like a mad man, and burning his flesh under the Aztec sun.  So, while he's gone, I get to grab the reins and run with a few stories of my own.

To kick things off, I thought I'd start a post to let everyone sound off on the results of EPIC's first patch for Gears of War.  Now that it is out and in effect, does it satisfy gamers, did it fall short with the changes made, and is there still something missing that gamers still want/need to have patched?  

To help, I am attaching Mark Rein's summary of the patch, as earlier posted by Papi:

•    Fixed aspect ratio distortion when using VGA cable with 4:3 displays at resolutions higher than 640x480
  
•    Fixed voice issue with new players joining Player Match games in progress
  
•    Players can now get the Achievement for "Dish Best Served Cold" when using Troika turret to kill RAAM
  
•    Fixed rare situation where host could loop countdown and never start match
  
•    Fixed rare situation where players could get stuck after chainsawing in multiplayer
  
•    Reduced Grenade Tag melee distance
  
•    Enabled "Strict" NAT check on host to prevent possible connection issues
  
•    Optimized server browser queries to return results more quickly and prevent scroll bars from hiding quality of service icons
  
•    Reduced number of possible revives in Execution to match Warzone
  
•    Removed host name from Ranked match server browser
  
•    Disabled security cameras in Ranked matches
  
•    Ranked matches now require balanced teams (3v3 or 4v4)
  
•    Increased penalty for quitting a Ranked match to -50 points
  
•    Added additional cheat detection code
  
•    Additional housekeeping updates

In the case of weapons, I still want to see the Lancer given more kick to keep opponents pinned behind cover, rather than storming you with a grenade or shotty.  Further, I think that a pistol whip should only stun and not be a knockdown in one or two hits.  In reality it probably could, but we're fighting monsters with big dudes.  

At this time I don't have any good ideas on game types, but I imagine there are some out there and invite ya'll to chip in.

And the maps.  The two new additions were a great bonus, but I'm still hoping for an outdoor or elevated map.  I'm thinking an old battlefied site, like the Maginot Line from WWI, which marked that last line of conflict in human wars, but now finds new combatants to trap.  Bigger.  I don't mind the 4v4 constraint, but I think the maps are to flat and compressed.  I think a map that compliments Marcus and Dom's trek below ground into enemy territory would be great with large elevation changes and dark corners to take cover in.  

At this point, I am most thankful for the grenade tagging range, as will Papi be.  For those who have played with the Gearheads, grenade tagging has been the thorn in Papi's side.  Now with the patch, Papi can't curse his gory elimination to unfair tagging; however, despite the new patch, I imagine he is still going to be the target of choice for all of us online.  Plus, he still makes a great bullet bag.  So, I ask ya'll, is grenade tagging better balanced now, or is more still need to be done?

Before this runs on I'll leave it up to your comments to continue the story....

Entry Link :: 12 Comments