MS Expects Gears of War to Shift 1 Million Copies by Xmas

[Zeus]

PRESS RELEASE: "Gears of War" Is Set To Emerge

Hailed as the most-anticipated video game launch of 2006 and punctuated by incredible demand from gamers, ‘Gears of War’ hits European retail outlets from Friday 17th November. Microsoft Corp. forecasts that ‘Gears of War,’ an exclusive title for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system, is expected to sell more than 1 million copies worldwide this Christmas, setting a new mark for the fastest-selling original game for Xbox 360™. Starting from tomorrow, gamers can run for cover and crush the enemy on their own, or take the season’s hottest action title online via Xbox Live®, the world’s largest online gaming and entertainment network, which boasts 4 million members.

‘Gears of War,’ developed by Epic Games Inc. and published by Microsoft Game Studios, made its debut to great fanfare at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in 2005 and has captured the imagination of industry watchers and fans ever since. The intense, genre-defining game thrusts players into humankind’s epic battle for survival against a nightmarish race of creatures known as the Locust Horde. With its combination of cinematic, visceral gameplay, dramatic storytelling and intense action, and with single-player and multiplayer online play via Xbox Live, ‘Gears of War’ is a seminal title for Xbox 360, providing one of the best next-generation interactive entertainment experiences.

“‘Gears of War’ is a title we know will deliver on all of its promise, and we expect the game to reach 1 million copies faster than any new titles for Xbox,” said Chris Lewis, Regional VP Entertainment & Devices Division (E&D) EMEA. “This Christmas is an extremely important one for the entire industry, and Xbox 360 will offer the world unparalleled experiences available only on this console. We’ve put an enormous emphasis on bringing new and exciting titles to market, and ‘Gears of War’ is a key example of Microsoft’s commitment to developing original and immersive titles for gamers everywhere.”

‘Gears of War’ has received several highly coveted awards, including the Game Critics Awards’ Best Console Game and Best Action Game of E3 2006, and has already garnered praise in early reviews, earning a 9 out of 10 score from Official Xbox Magazine in the UK.

“The reception that ‘Gears of War’ has received has been tremendous,” said Cliff Bleszinski, lead designer for ‘Gears of War’ at Epic Games. “Designing ‘Gears of War’ has been a labour of love, and we’ve poured everything we have into the title. We expect this game to be huge, and it’s exhilarating to see that people are as excited about ‘Gears of War’ as we are.”

‘Gears of War’ from Epic Games and Microsoft Game Studios is a third-person tactical action/horror game available exclusively on Xbox 360. Available from Friday 17th November for an estimated retail price of £49.99 for a special Limited Collector’s Edition, which will include a collectible embossed metal box, the ‘Destroyed Beauty’ hardbound art book, and a bonus DVD that features the making of ‘Gears of War,’ the ‘Art of Gears of War’ trailer, and the MTV programme ‘Gears of War: The Race to E3.’

[Mastershredder]

I wouldn't doubt it. Almost everyone on my friends list is constantly playing it. It's a great game :)

[Okami]

... and the only game for the Xbox 360 that is worth getting.

[whackawookie]

... and the only game for the Xbox 360 that is worth getting.

not true considering almost every cross platform game thats been reviewed for the 360 and ps3 has been better scored on the 360.

[burgertime]

Count me in. Can't wait to get it this Friday over here in the UK.

[crono]

I thought it did already past a milion in preorders tough. :confused:

[11111]

... and the only game for the Xbox 360 that is worth getting.

I'm ultimately not surprised with this game selling a million even if it turned out really bad or mediocre. If you go to theaters the Gears of War commercials play all the time and the last time I've seen gaming commercials in theaters was for the 360 console and Shenmue.

[Retroboy]

might sell more than 1m, hope so, my mate got the NTSC version and said it doesnt look as good as the images have made it out to be, not sure what he means, ill find out this friday when i rent it.

[daps83777]

1 million is a hefty expectation, the console has sold around 5 million, so 20% of all 360 owners would have to buy the game, thats a pretty large number.

[Retroboy]

it will be an easy target, this game will be getting people to buy the 360 just to play the game.

[DanASBO]

1 million is a hefty expectation, the console has sold around 5 million, so 20% of all 360 owners would have to buy the game, thats a pretty large number.

6 Million sold, as of last count, according to many sources.

I won't have it until tomorrow... TOMORROW!!! :eek:

I know many people that want to play this game, I predict it will be one of the best, if not the best, selling game of Christmas '06. 1 Million Copies is a realistic acheivable target.





http://www.betanews.com/article/Microsoft_6_Million_Xbox_360s_Sold/1161904433

[whackawookie]

might sell more than 1m, hope so, my mate got the NTSC version and said it doesnt look as good as the images have made it out to be, not sure what he means, ill find out this friday when i rent it.

the game looks exactly the same as the images which i thought was incredible especially when your in your old house and everything you hit gets bullet holes and woods flying everywhere. you have to see it to actually believe it

[daps83777]

6 Million sold, as of last count, according to many sources.

I won't have it until tomorrow... TOMORROW!!! :eek:

I know many people that want to play this game, I predict it will be one of the best, if not the best, selling game of Christmas '06. 1 Million Copies is a realistic acheivable target.





http://www.betanews.com/article/Microsoft_6_Million_Xbox_360s_Sold/1161904433

according to that article the sold number meant to stores, so in other words there is 6 million shipped, which lines up with everything i have read, and considering how many i see in stores there aren't 6 million sold otherwise there wouldn't be any available. ms hardly ever reveals consoles sold, but they like to say how many shipped, that way the numbers always look better.

[DanASBO]

according to that article the sold number meant to stores, so in other words there is 6 million shipped, which lines up with everything i have read, and considering how many i see in stores there aren't 6 million sold otherwise there wouldn't be any available. ms hardly ever reveals consoles sold, but they like to say how many shipped, that way the numbers always look better.

Go to the bottom...

"Liddell did not mean "ship" instead of "sell," we were assured. Conceivably, the company could ship fewer units than it sells, though with inventory windows narrow, the book-to-bill ratio in this case is probably fairly even."

Are you trying to say there are over 1 million 360's just sitting in store rooms? lol

GeOW will still sell 1 million copies.

[pCeSlAyEr]

shipped and sold = the same thing... well to the developers it does.. hell once shipped there already payed 4..

but whatever Gears Looks exactly like what they showed... maybe not so much on a SDTV... but in HD its sexaay!

Viva Pinata is another awsome game... I got it for my GF and I couldn't put it down.. its crazy... missed many Gears matches...

[DanASBO]

shipped and sold = the same thing... well to the developers it does.. hell once shipped there already payed 4..

but whatever Gears Looks exactly like what they showed... maybe not so much on a SDTV... but in HD its sexaay!

Viva Pinata is another awsome game... I got it for my GF and I couldn't put it down.. its crazy... missed many Gears matches...

GearsTomorrow :eek: Viva Pinata December 1st here :eek: Bought SD Vs Raw 07 last week, Dead Rising and SC: DA before that. It's been an expensive few weeks in 360 land. So many great games to play, so little time...

According to http://nexgenwars.com/ the 360 is nearing 7 million... who cares anyway? As long as they keep pumping out games like those above I'm a happy man.

[daps83777]

Go to the bottom...

"Liddell did not mean "ship" instead of "sell," we were assured. Conceivably, the company could ship fewer units than it sells, though with inventory windows narrow, the book-to-bill ratio in this case is probably fairly even."

Are you trying to say there are over 1 million 360's just sitting in store rooms? lol

GeOW will still sell 1 million copies.

at the top though it says update and says it means those numers are sold to stores, which means that is how many stores have bought which equals the shipped number you see that consoles companies normally show. ms never reveals sold, well hardly ever anyways, they like to inflate the numbers. i see so many 360's at stores, they have no more room to hold any more, and they don't sell them hardly ever, 360 sales have decreased alot. they hit 5 million shipped a long time ago, even shipping 7 million wouldn't be that impressive at this point because of the speed they got to 5 million. sales are slowing down for them, they aren't staying high, or consistent, like say the ds light. but i don't think the ps3 will catch the 360 real soon, the Wii could possibly but i wouldn't bank on it. to be honest i am kinda dissapointed with all of the next gen consoles.

[crono]

What did you expect?? Virtual reality?? A holo deck???

Just look at call of duty 3 for Xbox or 360!!!! I am very happy whit my 360.

[Scorpion3]

1 million is a hefty expectation, the console has sold around 5 million, so 20% of all 360 owners would have to buy the game, thats a pretty large number.

Is it? This is concidered a console seller, and was definitally the reason I bought a 360 so quickly. So 1 Million wouldn't be that suprising.

[Trashcat]

I know quite a few ppl who don't have 360 yet but after they saw Gears of War they want it now, also I'm pretty sure at least 2/3 of 360 owners I know will get it eventuelly if they haven't yet.

[daps83777]

Is it? This is concidered a console seller, and was definitally the reason I bought a 360 so quickly. So 1 Million wouldn't be that suprising.

there are over 20 million ds' that have been sold, and there games are selling as good or better than everyone elses, and they don't sell that many games that break the 1 million mark, now you talk about going from a 20million + installed base down to an installed base around 5 million. 20% of 360 owners buying the same game would be impressive. it could happen but by Christmas? thats alot of games in a short period of time, especially with such a small installed base.

people said everyone buys these types of games but its not always true, i have an xbox, yet i never bought halo or halo 2, mainly because i hate fps's on consoles, though the wii has me intrigued if a fps can be fun on a console, and second, halo and halo 2 were overrated and just sucked. i think gow is way overrated, but it doesn't suck completely, i would give it a 7 or maybe a low 8 mainly because i don't play console games online, so to me it is just a 7hr game, kinda a ripoff.

on a side note it appears that this game may be coming to the pc.

http://pc.ign.com/articles/746/746486p1.html

[Trashcat]

I went to the shop just now they have it but collector's edition is sold out till monday, there is no god...:(

[DanASBO]

Gears Collectors Edition £44.99
Gears £37.49
@ HMV

I was outside the shop at 8:30AM :D


P.S: Halo 2, IMO, was a poor game. Now Halo, that was fun.

[daps83777]

well i don't have the game for the 360, but if the rumor is true then maybe i will check it out on the PC. at least that way you get free multiplayer, not having to pay for xbox live.

[Scorpion3]

It's a lie, it won't ever go to PC unless it went to Windows Live/Windows Vista exclusively. Epic had a direct contract with Bill Gates to make it for the 360 alone, and Cliffy B said that the Xbox 360 was the only place they would like to see it.

[daps83777]

pc gamer magazine had scans from the pc version supposedly. because they have a contract with ms something like this wouldn't shock me, and the 360 uses dx9 so it could come to xp, even if they did use direct x 10, it could still come to xp because they are creating a version of dx9 that runs dx10 games.

[Scorpion3]

pc gamer magazine had scans from the pc version supposedly. because they have a contract with ms something like this wouldn't shock me, and the 360 uses dx9 so it could come to xp, even if they did use direct x 10, it could still come to xp because they are creating a version of dx9 that runs dx10 games.

It COULD come to XP, that's the operative word. Ever since Vista launched or whatnot, Microsoft has been pushing for the new OS, what a surprise, huh? :rolleyes:

[Havok154]

pc gamer magazine had scans from the pc version supposedly. because they have a contract with ms something like this wouldn't shock me, and the 360 uses dx9 so it could come to xp, even if they did use direct x 10, it could still come to xp because they are creating a version of dx9 that runs dx10 games.

Actually they are not creating a DX9 that runs DX10. They would have to program the game to work on both versions. MS has stated many times that any game that works only with DX10 will only be playable on Vista.

Either way, I'll be getting this game for the 360 very soon.

[Scorpion3]

Either way, 3'rd person shooters just play horrible on the PC, always have. I guess my views are those of PC gamers' views of FPSs on Consoles.

[daps83777]

Actually they are not creating a DX9 that runs DX10. They would have to program the game to work on both versions. MS has stated many times that any game that works only with DX10 will only be playable on Vista.

Either way, I'll be getting this game for the 360 very soon.

from what i understand ms is releasing direct x 9.0L that will provide support for dx 10 on xp, i read about it a few weeks ago. though i never looked into it. but the adoption rate predictions for vista aren't that good, and i suspect that even though ms has said dx10 won't come to xp, that it could infact happen if people aren't willing to upgrade. businesses have already said they won't upgrade and they are still using windows 2000. vista seems like it has a new visual gui, and nothing more really, plus compatability doesn't seem that great, not all is ms' fault, but if people don't make vista drivers for hardware then vista's compatability won't be as good as xp's.

[Evolution]

You know I like Gears of War, its a very pretty game graphically and it has plenty of gore in it.

But it is nowhere near the greatest game ever that some websites and reviews are calling it.

I also think that its 3rd person for the sake of being 3rd person because it lends nothing to the game that it wouldnt have had if it had been an FPS.

That said, it will sell a shitload of units and push MS further up the ladder to Next Gen dominance.

The PS3 is now in serious danger of succumbing the old Genesis/Megadrive vs SNES scenario. By the time the PS3 gets a decent amount of consoles and good games out there the 360 might have already reached saturation point thanks to games like Gears of War. Meaning that it will be too late to do anything about it.