In a move that makes total sense, Microsoft is bringing Gears of War to the PC during the holiday season of 2007.  This is going to be a great move for PC gamers.  Gears is a high profile game and it was only released for the XBOX 360 in late 2006. This game is still fresh.

It is going to wear the "Games for Windows" badge and come with a host of exclusive features not available on the XBOX 360 version of this game.  The game will support five new campaign chapters.  Campaign was the "killer" feature for Gears of War.  Adding five new chapters is going to sell a lot of copies.  Gamers were not only into the story that Gears presented, they were into the characters that we played and assisted us throughout the campaign.  That's when you know you've built a good campaign - when fans bond with the characters. 

Another feature that PC gamers will be excited about is the game editor that will allow users to can create and publish new multiplayer content.  They will be using the Unreal Editor - one of the most popular editors available.  Players can now import custom artwork into the engine, create particle systems, scripted encounters, cinematics, and more.  While I've never been a fan of games that did this, it's still a great option to include that will add to replayability. 

Gears PC will also ship with new multiplayer maps, one new multiplayer game mode and new achievements.

The game supports the Games for Windows - Live online service.  Many people have read my takes on the shortcomings for Games for Windows - Live.  In short, it needs a lot of help and could be more crippled than the XBOX Live beta from 2002.  A high profile game like Gears of War will surely bring some changes to the GfWL service.  While HALO 2 was a high profile game (understatement?), it was released in 2004 and launched the GfWL service.  HALO 2 (PC) game got mediocre reviews and had a quite launch with crippling online connection errors.  Gears should change that.  Gears PC will be in your face and heavily marketed.  Here's hoping that MORE users on the GfWL will give Micrsoft the data and feedback it needs to make the service better.  If for nothing else, a hugely popular title like Gears PC will at least assure us that support forums and message boards will fill up with requests and threads for support.  More feedback, even about technical issues, will eventually lead to a better service.

Gears of War PC will also run on DirectX 10.  This is going to help usher in the DX10 era.  Unfortunately, DX10 hardware hasn't penetrated the market yet.  Still, more and more gamers are updating their rigs to the latest cards from ATi and nVidia.  DirectX10 will ensure that this game looks better than the XBOX 360 version while playing at higher resolutions.  However, it will come at a price.  Since DirectX10 is new, most PC gamers will have to buy new hardware.

This game will most likely NOT support cross-platform play allowing PC gamers and XBOX 360 gamers to play together in the same game. While it works well with Shadowrun, there's no sign of that happening in Gears.

There's also no mention of dedicated servers being released for Gears. Being able to play Gears on a super highspeed network connection would have ensured lagless games and possibly more than 8 players in a game.

Gears PC will be the biggest Games for Windows title to date.  It's going to drive the community and technology which will lead to even better games later in 2008.

A ton of news smacked us in the face last night as Microsoft held their E3 presentation.  They are hyping this holiday season as the "greatest holiday lineup in video game history."  It's hard to quantify "greatest" so I'm sure they'll achieve that goal.

So what makes this holiday season so big?

Gears of Wars is headed to the PC and will run DirectX 10 and support Games for Windows - Live.  I have a feeling my 8800 GTX is going to get a workout.  GoW PC ships with five new campaign chapters, a new multiplayer gametype, new maps, new achievements, and a new game editor. 

A new HALO-themed XBOX 360 with HDMI output and themed accessories is going to roll out later this year.  It includes an exclusive HALO 3 dashboard theme and gamer pics.  The console is "Spartan green" colored with shiney gold accents (kind of like Master Chief's armor) and will ship in September.

Speaking of HALO, a ton of HALO media has been released.  My favorite:  a live action short film.  Bungie.net has a ton of new videos and screenshots.

Unreal Engine 3 will utilize Games for Windows - Live.  This should encourage more developers to make games with GfWL functionality (we've ONLY got TWO GfWL titles right now).

Marathon: Durandal his XBOX Live Arcade.  This will be Bungie's first IP on the Arcade.  Sonic the Hedgehog is NOW available as an XBOX Live Arcade download. 

Major franchise titles will be launched this year including:  Call of Duty 4, Grand Theft Auto IV, Guitar Hero III, HALO 3, Madden NFL 08, Project Gotham Racing 4 and Splinter Cell Conviction.  But other first title games will be launched as well including Assassin's Creed, BioShock, and Mass Effect. 

Click "read more" for a complete listing of the games rolling out this holiday season for Xbox 360, Xbox Live Arcade, and Games for Windows Live:

HALO 2 for Windows Vista will be launched on May 8th. This is according to tons of new reports that were released early this morning. The Games for Windows - Live service will also be launched at that time in the US.

Kotaku
Shacknews
1up
Planet XBOX 360
Team XBOX
Gamespot
USA Today

I've begun building my new gaming system. I've decided to hold out for the new ATi DX10 cards that were supposed to be out this month. While DX10 isn't required for HALO 2 for Vista, I want one of those cards any way. The released date of those cards is expected to be sometime in April. Those cards were supposed to be released before Vista. Here's hoping for an April release of the R600 cards and that they don't get pushed back any further.

Gamespot is reporting that when you buy Live, you are buying the service for XBOX and Games for Windows. In other words, it won't cause PC gamers any extra money to play Live enabled games on their PC _if_ they are already subscribed to XBOX Live. They WILL have to pay out money to become a member if they don't have an XBOX Live Gold account. Just like with the Xbox 360 there will be a free Silver package as well as a Gold package which retails for $49.99 for a year subscription, $7.99 for one month, and $19.99 for three months. From the article: