November 3rd to 9th

Whole Loaf Love

The term "Bromance" is thrown around a lot these days. It seems like every time two dudes in a blood-drenched battlefield make eye contact everyone is ready to crown them King and King of the prom. But they are all mere pretenders to the throne; no media on this green earth carries the scintillating, repressed sexual energy that Gears of War does. From the first moment Marcus and Dom locked eyes in that prison cell, we knew there was something more than simple battlefield camaraderie at play.

It should be no surprise then, that our Game Of The Week is Gears of War 2. It's actually a tough call, because like most weeks at this time of year, there's a little something for everyone. Gears 2 stands out thanks to some lush roleplaying opportunities when you and your best buddy slap on your headsets and play coop. Embrace the bromance, everyone. Awwwww yeah.

On DVD this week we have Get Smart, The Bourne Trilogy, Flashbacks of a Fool and more.

PC
Guitar Hero III/Aerosmith Bundle
Space Trader
Realms of Arkania Trilogy
James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace

Xbox 360
Gears of War 2
Tom Clancy's End War
Legendary
James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace
Namco Museum Virtual Arcade
Secret Service: Ultimate Sacrifice
WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009

PS3
Tom Clancy's End War
Resistance 2
Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm
James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace
Valkyria Chronicles
WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009

Wii
Monster Lab
James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace
Rubik's World
WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009

PS2
Call of Duty: World at War Final Fronts
NHL 09
Onimusha: The Essentials
Secret Service: Ultimate Sacrifice
James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace
WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009

DS
Exit
James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace
Tom Clancy's End War
Theresia
WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009

PSP
Tom Clancy's End War
WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009

Chainsaw Queen
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Mystic Violet's picture
Location: Limbo, USA

I know what I'm getting this week!

Quote:
From the first moment Marcus and Dom locked eyes in that prison cell, we knew there was something more than simple battlefield camaraderie at play.

*swoon*

Sam Are I
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stupidhaiku's picture
Location: Ceci n'est pas une Location

Nice to see that you've redeemed yourself from not naming the original GoW GOTW two years ago.

Guitar Hero be damned!

Steam 3DS: 2019-9672-3387
Aristophan wrote:

Steam sale! Steam sale! Now!
Five Oh Three error - Oh noes!
Wallet happy now.

iTumor
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Dysplastic's picture
Location: Ottawa, Ontario

Gears of War, you shall remain a casualty of the season. See you in the spring, maybe.

Steam: Dysplastic

Executive
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Gameraotaku's picture
Location: Woodland, CA

Dysplastic wrote:
Gears of War, you shall remain a casualty of the season. See you in the spring, maybe.

Same here. Things might have been different if GoW2 came out before Fallout 3.

Hypatian wrote:

...sometimes you get a point in agility, and sometimes you get a giant fighting bear.

Attention Whore
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KrazyTaco[FO]'s picture
Location: Silver Spring, MD

Don't worry guys. We will still be playing this in the Spring. And next spring. Then off to "GoW 3: Hot Cole Train Lovin" for 2 more years.

"Thanks, KrazyTaco, thanks. I'd put it in your pooper too." -Mex
"Oh, KrazyTaco, you fulfill all my wishes." -pneuman
"I sometimes hang awake at night dreaming of being called a dumbass by KrazyTaco." -Gravey

Optimus Primate
Gorilla.800.lbs's picture
Location: New York, NY

When I saw those crowns on the pic, my first thought was about Cogs chainsawing up the Horde and hollering "WHERE IS YOUR JESUS NOW?!", Burger King style.

I Ching, You Ching
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wanderingtaoist's picture
Location: Hello Kitty Adventure Island

PC games list wrote:
Realms of Arkania Trilogy

Anyone have info on this? Are those just the old RoA games packaged together or did they get some updated graphics and stuff? Any RPG-positive person watch out, these are some of the greatest old-school RPGs. Deep and entertaining.

Robear wrote:

EU3 is the king. It's like the Civ 4 of strategy games.

Consultant
wahwah's picture
Location: Austria

wanderingtaoist wrote:
PC games list wrote:
Realms of Arkania Trilogy

Anyone have info on this? Are those just the old RoA games packaged together or did they get some updated graphics and stuff? Any RPG-positive person watch out, these are some of the greatest old-school RPGs. Deep and entertaining.

Pretty sure they're just thrown together, no update of any sort ( I would have heard of that). Still, these are some of the best games I played, they're just really kinda old by now. But in Germany there's still a community around them and enough people playing the series.

Intern

I'm down for Valkyria Chronicles (The demo was a lot of fun, and I'm generally a fan of SRPGs). I would have bought Legendary. In fact, I set money aside for it when it was supposed to be released in September. But that money has since been spent on worthier games (IIRC, I bought Warhammer Online with it), who more or less stick to release schedules.

On the topic of Gears of War 2: I never played the first one, and I don't intend to. From what I've seen advertised, and overheard casually, it hasn't grabbed my interest enough to even read the reviews. But then again, I loathe shooters. The only one I've purchased on the Xbox 360 was The Orange Box, and that was for Portal. The one I ran out and got before that was Max Payne in July of 2002.

Hetero Pen Pal BFF
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WiredAsylum's picture

Gears 2 is my highest anticipated release of 08.

Bear wrote:

We're like a bunch of crack addicts who keep buying more rocks for each other!

See One, Frag One, Teach One
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Coldstream's picture
Location: Denver, CO

Great, now I've got the "Guy Love" song from Scrubs running through my head. Thanks a whole lot!

Jonman wrote:

Now that I think about it, I've got a rubber leg at home - maybe I'll try this out on the wife.

XBL | Steam
Twitter: ColdstreamGWJ

Tunneler of Doom
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Irongut's picture

Hell, yeah! Bring on Gears 2! Whooo!

Executive
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InigoMantoya's picture
Location: In search of the six fingered man...

KrazyTacoFO wrote:
Don't worry guys. We will still be playing this in the Spring. And next spring. Then off to "GoW 3: Hot Cole Train Lovin" for 2 more years.

Gears and Beers forever... Think I might have to carve this into a tree, with a chainsaw or spraypaint it on an overpass.

XBox Live Gamertag:
Inigo Mantoya

Finger of God
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Staats's picture
Location: Daejeon, South Korea

Nothing like a sentence that mixes alcohol with dangerous machinery.

Xbox Live: StaatsM

Spondee Camper
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wordsmythe's picture
Location: "The City White hath fled the earth, But where the azure waters lie, A nobler city hath its birth, The City Gray that ne'er shall die."

I see that image and think, "Here we are, born to be kings!"

Pyroman wrote:

Let it never be said I'm not obedient—unless you want it to be said.

Gravey wrote:
Your feeble examples are no match for the power of my confirmation bias.

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AcidCat's picture

You know those games that everyone and their brother seems to love, but you just don't get it? Yeah, that's Gears for me. I really tried to like it. I mean, co-op was pretty fun. But the whole combat system just never grew on me. The setting or characters never grew on me. Got maybe halfway through the game and never picked it up again.

So, it's a blessing in a way, my gaming budget is already in the red, so one less must-have game out there is ok with me.

Live: AcidCat
PSN: AcidCat-

Consultant
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Infinity's picture
Location: Walking on the moon.

The wonderful visual stimulation of the trickle of XP you get playing the 8-man co-op in the Resistance 2 beta was addictive. That will probably be the next PS3 title I purchase.

Yew shall not grass!
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HedgeWizard's picture
Location: SF Bay Area

Gears 2 is in the 3rd row seating of the mini-van this go around thanks to Fallout 3, Fable II and L4D coming up.

Fairy Princess
Zedian's picture

I will not be able to play gears of war 2 because my xbox is dead, CURSE YOU MICROSOFT!!!!!

Spiderman wouldn't sneak, Spiderman would go. -Elysium

XBL: TheZedian

PSI Level Ω
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Vrikk's picture
Location: Onett, Eagleland

Am I the only one that was very intrigued by the Legendary?

Steam | XBL | Backloggery | PSN: VrikkGWJ

Tunneler of Doom
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Irongut's picture

The nice thing about Gears, even if it is a delayed purchase for folks on their gaming interest lists, is that there is no doubt the multiplayer will still have momentum 2, 4, 16 weeks down the road and beyond via Gears n Beers Fridays. Other games either develop an immediate following, or the multiplayer won't be an option in a few weeks.

The only thing that I think will displace Gears 1 events, is the release of Gears 2.

Executive
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InigoMantoya's picture
Location: In search of the six fingered man...

Irongut wrote:
The nice thing about Gears, even if it is a delayed purchase for folks on their gaming interest lists, is that there is no doubt the multiplayer will still have momentum 2, 4, 16 weeks down the road and beyond via Gears n Beers Fridays. Other games either develop an immediate following, or the multiplayer won't be an option in a few weeks.

The only thing that I think will displace Gears 1 events, is the release of Gears 2.

Gears and Beers (version 1) was played on 10/31/08 and giving it almost 2 years of play. Almost every friday night for almost 2 years! That's pretty impressive by any games standard

Imagine that with multiplayer gameplay that was actually intended to do well!

XBox Live Gamertag:
Inigo Mantoya

Optimus Primate
Gorilla.800.lbs's picture
Location: New York, NY

DS release list is missing Korg DS-10 which appears to promise quite a lot Dr.Dre-in-a-pocket kind of of fun.

Hellhound for hire
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Concave's picture
Location: UK

I saw that pic and was expecting something along the lines of "here's a couple of old queens".
Glad to see you didn't disappoint.

Employee with Games

Citrus Casanova
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zeroKFE's picture
Location: In your fruit bowl terrorizing the oranges

Wait, what? Valkyria Chronicles was pushed up a week after all, eh? Well nuts, I guess I was going to end up waiting until later in the month to play it anyway, so what's the difference if it enters my house this week or next.

What Is Your Quest?
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oldmanscene24's picture
Location: Watauga, TX

Vrikk wrote:
Am I the only one that was very intrigued by the Legendary?

No, you're not. I totally missed this in all the Gears 2 hype. I think I've got it in my Gamefly Q. I'm sure I'll get around to it sooner or later.

Xbox LIVE: oldman GWJ

2007 GWJFFL2 Champion
2008 & 2011 GWJFFL Champion

LobsterMobster wrote:

Gnomish prostitutes look like bunches of grapes.

Polygonal and Proud Of It
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interstate78's picture
Location: Beautiful Québec City

why do I feel like Legendary and Endwar will be trampled by Resistance 2 and Gears of War 2?

but seriously, I'm playing Fable 2 and Fallout 3 at the moment and I don't know if I'll pick up Gears of Wars 2 and Resistance 2 this week. they may have to wait a bit.

To anyone on the fence: get Fable 2, it's incredibly good. I didn't even bother with the first one but this one, I'm totally hooked.

XBLive: Interstate 78 / PSN: Interstate78 / STEAM

Rising to the Occasion
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Poppinfresh's picture
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

The great reviews on Gears of War 2 have me pretty hyped up. I was going to wait for some impressions here, but I don't think it'll take much to push me into a purchase. This has been a very impressive season for games.

XBox Live: PoppinfreshGWJ

LobsterMobster wrote:

Wow, my mom is hot.

Junior Executive
Freeagent's picture
Location: Hurricane central

Gonna go with others and say maybe early next year. Just too little time between Fable 2, Fallout 3, Farcry 2 and Witcher EE. Just too little time in the day. Plus I'm out of town for 9 days starting the 14th, so my precious 360 will have to live without me.

Freeagent is formerly known as divorced. Please make the necessary legal and illegal adjustments.
Yankeefan4444

Hetero Pen Pal BFF
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WiredAsylum's picture

InigoMantoya wrote:
Irongut wrote:
The nice thing about Gears, even if it is a delayed purchase for folks on their gaming interest lists, is that there is no doubt the multiplayer will still have momentum 2, 4, 16 weeks down the road and beyond via Gears n Beers Fridays. Other games either develop an immediate following, or the multiplayer won't be an option in a few weeks.

The only thing that I think will displace Gears 1 events, is the release of Gears 2.

Gears and Beers (version 1) was played on 10/31/08 and giving it almost 2 years of play. Almost every friday night for almost 2 years! That's pretty impressive by any games standard

Imagine that with multiplayer gameplay that was actually intended to do well!

What else I love is, no matter what night of the week it is, I get IMs from people talking about hooking up and playing some ranked Gears.

I have gotten more time from gears then any non-mmo purchase I have ever made.

Bear wrote:

We're like a bunch of crack addicts who keep buying more rocks for each other!