Gears of War 3 Blast Gamers With April Launch

By Ian Bell April 13, 2010

Hardcore gamers on many platforms enjoy RPGs and FPS titles, making these some of the most popular, and profit-generating categories. Game consoles often fight for the exclusive rights to blockbuster franchise like Halo and Gears of War.

The gaming world is anticipating the latest entry in the Gears of War franchise, Gears of War 3. The launch date for this new title has been announced as April of 2011. That means fans of the Gears of War franchise have a year to wait for the next entry in the saga.

Gears of War 3 is the finale to the trilogy that is an Xbox 360 exclusive. The specific release date is pegged as April 5, 2011 reports NewsObserver. Gears developer Epic has also stated that it has a new franchise set to launch next year called Bulletstorm, which it expects to be one of its next big franchises.

“Our absolute intention is to have every year be our best year, but 2011 is looking awfully sexy right now,” Epic CEO Michael Capps said.

Other than offering up a firm launch date, Epic is mum on the particulars for Gears of War 3. Capps would only state that the game will be the climax to the franchise and fans will be excited. Epic has been showing off a trailer for the game called Ashes to Ashes that will give fans a glimpse at what the game promises. Perhaps more details will be offered at E3 this summer.

Microsoft has previously stated that hardcore games such as Gears of War and Halo scare some casual gamers away from the Xbox 360. However, the company continues to offer the games. Earlier this year analysts stated that they believe Epic regrets making Gears of War an Xbox 360 exclusive. However, once the trilogy is ended on the Xbox, perhaps the game will come to the PS3 and PC.

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I work with the best people in the world and get paid to play with gadgets. What's not to like?

Gaming

The best perks in Modern Warfare 3

Soliders take cover behind a riot shield in a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 promo image.

If there's one thing besides your gun that you need to ensure is customized just perfectly in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, it's definitely the layout of your perks. You get to choose one perk from each of the four categories, and you'll want to be sure they match ideally with your playstyle. As such, your perfect perk selections will ultimately come down to personal taste, but we've compiled a list of the two best perks from each category that we feel will be useful on the widest variety of loadouts. Read on to see what we've chosen as the best perks in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.
Best vest perks
The best perk for your vest slot depends a lot on your playstyle. If you find that you're a run-and-gun type, you may prefer the Gunner Vest since it spawns you with the maximum amount of ammo while also providing faster reload speed for every gun. That being said, the Engineer Vest can be invaluable for those who want to take things slow because it shows you killstreaks and field equipment through walls, which can save your life by letting you know exactly what to expect in the next room and letting you plan accordingly.
Best gloves perks
The best perk for your gloves slot is generally going to be the Scavenger Gloves due to them allowing you to restock ammo off of fallen players, keeping you in the fight longer if you can manage to keep dropping your foes. However, you may prefer the faster weapon swapping that comes with the Quick-Grip Gloves in certain cases, particularly if you find that you're frequently swapping to your sidearm to finish off your enemies.
Best boots perks
The best perk for your boots slot is either the Lightweight Boots or Covert Sneakers. The former grants you noticeably faster movement speed both on land and in water, while the former completely reduces your footstep audio to make you significantly sneakier as you run around the map looking for your next kill. If you're a guns-blazing kind of player, Lightweight may actually work best at letting you rapidly approach other players, but being able to slink around with Covert Sneakers is definitely unmatched for those taking things a little slower.
Best gear perks
The best perk for your gear slot is probably Mission Control Commlink, as it reduces the number of kills required to earn killstreaks, which will in turn provide you with even more options in combat. However, don't sleep on Ghost T/V Camo either, as this will stop you from showing up on your opponents' radar while you're moving, making their UAVs and Heartbeat Sensors useless when it comes to you.

Gaming

Xbox’s 2023 games feel like the Series X launch lineup we never got

EMBARGO 10/4 12:01 AM PT: A camera angle up close to a Forza Motorsport race.

Even though we’re almost three years into the life span of the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, it feels like this console generation is just starting for Microsoft.
It’s no secret that Xbox was slow to start up and then maintain consistency this console generation. For example, 2020 saw the company putting out a weak console launch lineup made up of ports and remasters. While 2021 had a flurry of great games, it was followed by a comparatively barren 2022. And 2023 hasn't been perfect either (due, in large part, to the flop that is Redfall), but outside of that, this year delivered the excellent Hi-Fi Rush, the grandly scaled Starfield, solid ports of two Age of Empires games and Quake II, a new Minecraft title, and a technical showpiece in Forza Motorsport.
Looking at that varied lineup, these games showcase both the potential of the Series X and the power of Xbox as a brand. Prospects for Xbox’s lineup are up heading into 2024 too, so it feels like we’re at the proper start of the Xbox Series X and S console generation ... even if it came a few years too late.
A new beginning
Looking at the 2020 launch lineup for Xbox Series X/S, it wasn’t exactly emblematic of what the console could do. While there were some nice 4K and 60 frames per second (fps) upgrades for Xbox One games, the only new draws were a console port of Gears Tactics, the multiplayer-supporting Tetris Effect: Connected, a temporary next-gen exclusive version of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, and some smaller indies like The Falconeer and Bright Memory 1.0.

Most of those games were on or came to more platforms afterward and, in general, didn’t provide that strong of an argument for why players should stick around this console generation. But looking at many of the games Xbox has released this year, it finally feels like we have a bundle of good Xbox exclusives that show what the platform was always capable of.
In my review of Forza Motorsport, I note that the game feels like a launch title because it’s an impressive technical showpiece. It runs at 4K and 60 fps in performance mode, which is something not many games this generation have done. The closest comparable games are Astro’s Playroom and Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered on PlayStation 5, which effectively demonstrated the power of Sony's console early on.
Forza Motorsport was also built as a platform that developer Turn 10 Studios can expand over time. It plans to periodically slot in new single and multiplayer content, including new cars and tracks. A game like that makes a lot of sense early on in a console’s life span in this live-service era. It’s what Microsoft tried to do with Halo Infinite, even if that didn’t pan out as expected due to a one-year delay, and with Killer Instinct on Xbox One.

Gaming

Nintendo is shutting down online services for 3DS and Wii U next April

Mega Man and Mario fight in Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U,

Nintendo confirmed it will widely shut down online services for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U games in April 2024, which will be just over a year after it discontinued the Nintendo eShop on those systems.
This deactivation of most of the online services for those platforms was revealed on X (formerly Twitter) and Nintendo's support site early Wednesday. "In early April 2024, online play and other functionality that uses online communication will end for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software. This also includes online co-operative play, internet rankings, and data distribution," the message says. "We will announce a specific end date and time at a later date. Please note that if an event occurs that would make it difficult to continue online services for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software, we may have to discontinue services earlier than planned. We sincerely thank players for using the online services of Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software over a long period of time and apologize for any inconvenience."
Essentially, this means that after April 2024, you won't be able to use any online features in things like 3DS Pokémon games or Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U anymore. Nintendo does say in the Q&A section of its support article that people will still be able to play games offline and redownload updates and games from the Nintendo eShop for the foreseeable future. Pokémon Bank will remain unaffected, so it'll still be possible to transfer Pokémon from Ruby and Sapphire all of the way to Pokémon Home. However, SpotPass support and other online-focused applications like Nintendo Badge Arcade will stop working entirely.

Just like the Wii U and 3DS eShop closure that caused a ruckus earlier this year, this move is a blow to game preservation and will forever harm some games not available anywhere else. While it's understandable that Nintendo might want to move on from these systems' dated online infrastructure, it's still a disappointing move for those of us who spent a lot of time playing games offline and online on these systems.