RUMOR SMASHED: GEARS OF WAR NOT GOING MULTIPLATFORM

If you’ve been hanging around the internet water cooler, you may have heard a rumor that Epic Games is so pissed off with Microsoft at the moment that they’re considering bringing Gears of War to the PlayStation 3… well, in a post on Gears’ official forums, Epic Vice President Mark Rein decided to set the record straight once and for all;

“This story is complete bull****. I emailed the site and asked them to take it down. We’re very happy with our relationship with Microsoft. If it weren’t for them Gears wouldn’t be the huge hit it has become.” – Mark Rein, vice president, Epic Games

According to this article over at Kotaku, the rumor began on the forums of a small PlayStation 3 site called “The Sony Protection Group“and even went so far as to claim Cliff “CliffyB” Bleszinski had threatened to move the series to the PlayStation 3. Needless to say, as with anything on the internet, the story continued to grow from there.

Not content with just debunking the rumor over at the Gears of War forums, Rein also sent a little nasty-gram to the staff of the site expressing his displeasure;

“Please remove that complete b******* story about Gears going to PS3. Cliff Bleszinski has NEVER been quoted as “threatening Microsoft to port over Gears to the PS3″. We’re very happy with our relationship with Microsoft and are extremely grateful of everything they’ve done to help make Gears the huge success it has become. Part of that success came from being an Xbox 360 exclusive FIRST PARTY title and Microsoft getting behind it in a huge way. They’re the publisher of Gears of War and, unless they say otherwise, there is no chance Gears is coming to PS3. For PS3 we have Unreal Tournament 3 and it’s going to be fantastic.” – Mark Rein

So there you have it folks, there’s no double-talk or hidden meanings in this one – it looks like Gears of War will be remaining an Xbox 360 exclusive. While I don’t think it’s the case here, one thing I often wonder when I hear wild stories such as this is whether or not the sites in question run these kind of stories knowing full well that they’re false, but are hoping that the traffic the story is bound to create will increase their readership.

• Gears of War coming to the PS3?! – Official Gears of War forums
• Could Gears of War2 go multiplat? – Sony Protection Group Forums
• GoW Definitely Not Coming to PS3 – Kotaku

XBOX LIVE ARCADE TEXAS HOLD’EM NOT FREE?

A few days back we reported on a Gamespot story that stated that the upcoming Xbox Live Arcade Texas Hold’Em title would be a free download. Well, it now seems either Gamespot’s source was mistaken or Microsoft is having second thoughts about giving something away for nothing. A recent posting on Gamerscore Blog states that the title may not be free of charge after all and that no definitive decisions on any details about the game have been made at this time.

“As Greg Canessa pointed out in an interview with Joystiq, Xbox Live Arcade’s upcoming Texas Hold ‘Em Poker will be coming soon, and he said something about it not being free.  After talking to the product team to see what the story is, I’m told that specific details regarding the launch of Texas Hold ‘Em Poker have not yet been announced, and it’s too early to say anything yet.  I’m told we should stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks. “ -Gamerscore Blog

The interview that quote refers to can be found over at Joystiq. While Gamerscore Blog may be playing the pricing angle carefully, Canessa was much clearer in the interview, stating that the title would not be free – no ambiguity there.

“First of all, it won’t be free. We haven’t decided on what the final price will be, but it will not be free.” -Greg Canessa as per Joystiq

So there you have it, XBLA Texas Hold’Em will not be free, but no price has been decided on at this time. Click here for the original Gamespot story, here for the Gamerscore Blog posting, here for the full Joystiq interview and here to seek help for your gambling problem.

NINTENDO SHOOTS DOWN EARLY LAUNCH RUMOR

Nintendo Revolution is reporting that Nintendo has responded to CNN Money’s article about a possible early launch for the Wii with a resounding “not true”. According to Nintendo Revolution, in an talk with financial site Bloomberg.com a Nintendo rep put the brakes on the racing hearts of Nintendo fans everywhere;

“There’s no change in our plan to release the console in the last quarter of this year. We are planning an announcement in September and it may be causing some confusion” -Nintendo rep as per Bloomberg.com by way of Nintendo Revolution

Just as that bit of crushing news was revealed, Kotaku brought hope back in the form of a new rumor, citing a tip from an insider at a development team working on Wii games, Kotaku reported that the insider stated that their deadlines for completion have been vastly moved up.

“The source tells us that Alpha, Beta and Final times for the game just got vastly reduced and the common belief among the team is that the Wii will in fact be hitting this October.” -Brian Crecente, Editor – Kotaku

Check out our earlier story on the CNN Money article here, the Nintendo Revolution’s article here and Kotaku’s recent rumor report here. Put it all together, and that’s one big bag of snakes – too bad they aren’t on a plane.

NO INTERNAL HD-DVD DRIVE FOR XBOX 360

There have been rumors floating around that Microsoft will be releasing a new version of the Xbox 360 that includes a built in HD-DVD drive. In a posting yesterday, Microsoft’s in-house employee blog, Gamerscore blog, shot that rumor down before it could start making the talk-show rounds;

“Saw a few stories online about an Xbox 360 with a built-in HD DVD drive: not true. We have no plans to release an Xbox 360 with an internal HD DVD. What we showcased at E3 was an external HD DVD drive, and we’re sticking with that.

We’ve always had a games-first emphasis with the Xbox, but some consumers can build on the platform – like by adding a Windows Media Center Edition PC. By keeping the drive external, we’re offering consumers a choice in creating their own hi-def experiences. So: no plans for an internal HD DVD.” -Cesar Menendez, Gamerscore Blog

While I would never suggest trusting the word of a corporate employee at face value, it certainly makes sense that this rumor would be false. Simply put, Microsoft is pushing the angle that the 360 offers you a choice regarding HD, whereas Sony is forcing you to buy a player now. Any moves against that concept would just lend credence to Sony’s position that the Blu-Ray drive is necessary. Besides, with the HD format wars just starting, I can’t see MS marrying HD-DVD technology just yet.

Check out the Gamerscore Blog posting here and remember that whole Betamax incident you were involved in before you get behind either technology just yet.

MICROSOFT SHOOTS DOWN 360 PRICE DROP RUMOR

Microsoft’s in house blog, Gamerscore Blog, posted a reply from John Porcaro to the recent holiday price drop rumors. For those who were thinking of holding off picking up a 360 in anticipation of a drop later this year, the news was not good;

“As you’re all aware, there have been rumors of a price drop for the Xbox 360 coming along later this year.   The official word from folks in the know is that there are currently no plans for a price drop this fall. “ -John Porcaro

Now while he did specify that there were currently no plans for a price drop, I’d probably also guess that it’s a safe bet things will stay that way for the foreseeable future. Simply put, unless Sony somehow magically drops the price of the PS3 or the Wii puts up unheard of sales numbers, Microsoft has no need to drop the price of the 360.

Porcaro’s advice for those sitting on the proverbial 360 fence?;

“Pick one up on the way home from work, and tell your S.O. that you got a killer deal that you just couldn’t pass up.   C’mon.  You know you want to…” -John Porcaro

Check out the full text of the Gamerscore Blog entry here and then figure out a good story to tell about how you got that 360 for free, but had car trouble…

GAMESPOT RAINS ON MY SOUL

Gamespot has cast some doubt on the GameDaily report that Soul Calibur IV is now in production. According to Gamespot, they feel that there may have been some errors in translation as far as the comments regarding Soul Calibur IV went;

” Because it’s a paraphrased response in an almost certainly translated interview, it’s impossible to parse words here and see if there might have been some misunderstanding on either Uchiyama’s part or the writer’s. In any case, it just says that a new Soul Calibur was taking up the development team’s time when the Bandai-Namco merger was finalized. Uchiyama doesn’t appear to mention Soul Calibur IV by name, so the new game could be a PSP version of an existing Soul Calibur game, or maybe even a project that was already known about.

The Bandai-Namco merger was finalized in September. Soul Calibur III was released in October, so there’s even a slight chance Uchiyama was referring to that game as the incomplete Soul Calibur project in question. However, that seems unlikely, given how close to completion the game already was. ” – Gamespot

It certainly would be a bit of a downer if it turned out just to be an error in translation. Hopefully Namco Bandai will give some type of official word either way in the coming days in response to the story. You can check out the Gamespot article here and the original GameDaily story here.