Well, get a load of this. Remember the E for All Expo? Yeah it's this weekend in Los Angeles and finished as of today (so are the Cubs, unfortunately). But the Gears of War 2 booth there handed out a dogtagged COG stamped with a supa-secret code that you enter at this site (screenshot above). That delivers you to to a flash site where you can explore the GoW2 environment, pick up some concept art, wallpapers, a lot of stuff to discover and look at.

Here's some useful tips for getting all this to work:

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Major Nelson takes a look at the revamped Xbox Live Marketplace (which is a little like "Action Figure Man: the How to Buy Action Figure Man episode" from The Simpsons) and of course concludes that it's awesome. You can compare the two "experiences" with the images above (bigger on the jump) and more on Hryb's flickr account. For those not necessarily wondering how streamlined their buying experience will be, just when it's all over with, he says "The New Xbox Experience will ship later this year. As in before the New Year." No real news there, but it's nice to have his personal assurance.

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GameTrailers TV got its hands on the backstory trailer for Halo Wars. The 3:28 video sets up what's going on and why in the forthcoming RTS based on the Halo universe. Seems the Covenant have been scraping around in the ice on some planet and have found something that, of course, "it could just be the key to the whole war." No gameplay, but a lot of threatening mandible-flexing.

Halo Wars - Field Trip to Harvest [Gametrailers]

That's right, after a particularly good run I've had another Xbox 360 die on me. This time a debug unit.

While the instances of Xbox 360 red rings have certainly dropped, I do still hear stories about the console's DVD player giving up the ghost. That's what happened to me in July last year when my last 360 died and that seems to be the case this time around. I was playing the end of LEGO Batman The Videogame when the game paused and a "dirty disc" error popped up on the screen. A few more runs at playing the game allowed me to get a few minutes in before the console crapped out on me again.

Just last month my brother had his Xbox 360's DVD drive die on him as well. He recently went out and purchased a replacement Xbox 360 Arcade.

For those keeping track I've now had a total of ten Xbox 360s die on me since the launch of the console. (That's counting debug units and retail consoles). Of those eight died with a Red Ring error and two died with perpetual dirty disc errors.

So the Fable II Collectors Edition box set has been trimmed a little, losing the five printed fate cards, the Hobbe figure, and..oh yes, the box. Still, we still get a bonus DVD with developer diaries and the full game soundtrack, right? Perhaps not. Frequent Kotaku contributor and all-around nice lady Lesley Smith passes on this email from UK retailer Game regarding even further cuts to the decreasingly collectible edition.

We have recently contacted you regarding a marketwide problem with the Fable II Collectors Edition. We have since been informed by Microsoft that there has been a further complication.

They have advised us that the developer diary and soundtrack are no longer going to be available on the bonus DVD.

Let's just hope that they don't decide to cut the actual game from the CE before the title ships next month. Hit the jump for the full email.

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Are ten multiplayer maps in Gears of War 2 not good enough for you? How about fifteen? Epic Games is packing a special treat into every retail Copy of Gears 2 - a coupon redeemable via Xbox Live good that allows players to download five additional maps for the game, each one a slightly more polished version of a map from the first game. The Flashback Map Pack includes newer versions of Canals, Gridlock, Mansion, Subway, and Tyro Station, and will only be available to folks who purchase the game new, making buying a used copy a bit less attractive.

Epic has also revealed to the folks at GamePro that people who attend midnight launch events around the country will also be able to snag a code for a gold-plated Hammerburst assault rifle, the perfect companion to the gold-plated Lancer that comes with the special edition.

Gears of War 2 getting free day-one DLC, gold Hammerburst [GamePro]

Rooster Teeth achievement-centric site Achievement Hunters managed to land their hands on an early copy of Dead Space from Electronic Arts.

Starting on Monday the hunters will be releasing video walkthroughs of how to grab the achievements in Dead Space. "Dead Week" will also include contests, live broadcasts and other Dead Space material posted on the site.

If you want to catch a glimpse of what an achievement walkthrough video looks like, check out the Achievement Hunters take on finding the Holocrons in The Force Unleashed over on their site.

Achievement Hunters

Microsoft has announced a limited edition Last Remnant premium bundle for Japan. The Square Enix game is actually multi-plat, but no PS3 release date has been announced as of yet. This Microsoft bundle includes the Xbox 360 console, 60GB HDD, a faceplate, a premium soundtrack and a copy of the game. Retails for ¥34,800 (US$331) and goes on sale November 11th.

The Last Remnant [Xbox 360]

You know, some trailers we get are just a pleasure to watch and that goes for this new Fable 2 developer diary. A few members of the audio department over at Lionhead explain some of the music and sound choices that were made for the game. So if you've had a rough day at work or are just stressed out, sit back, relax and enjoy this one.

Here you are, a selection of footage from the first two chapters of Gears of War 2. Plenty of gameplay, plenty of cutscenes, plenty of large men growling from the depths of their enormous throats. There's the clip above, and a second after the jump.

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The Fable II Collector's Edition will be missing some stuff. The swish box, some cards, and a neat little Hobbe figure. The box and the figure, sadly, there's nothing that can be done for them. They're gone. But the cards, they live on, Lionhead telling us that they'll be made available as downloadable pdf files so you can print them off. They won't look as good as they would have coming from a professional printer, but then, poor quality versions are normally better than no version at all.

At the time of this writing, Xbox Live is currently down. Turning on your Xbox 360 will give you a 'signed into Live' message, but then the system will idle for a bit (as seen above) and return to the sign in message. This of course follows Monday's background update meant to help prepare for the switchover to the New Xbox Experience in November, and the multitude of problems that followed. The US Xbox 360 support site currently lists Live status thusly:

Users will not be able to connect or log into Xbox LIVE. We are aware of the problem and working to resolve the issue. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Patience, my friends. I'm sure the issues will clear up soon enough. In the meantime I urge my friends to stop IMing me to complain that they cannot play Call of Duty 4 online.

[Thanks Rodney!]

Update: Larry Hryb, director of Xbox Live, tells me that the engineers have figured out what's wrong and are working on a solution.

Yesterday's British console sales charts showed two things: one, that the Wii is an unstoppable force of nature. And two, that the PS3 is playing tortoise to the 360's hare, as it starts to play catch-up following its late European launch. So Microsoft will be breathing a sigh-and-a-half of relief today to read that, since their latest round of price cuts, 360 sales in Europe have shot through the roof (up 214%), and the console is now outselling the PS3 across the continent by "more than two-to-one". Shame we don't get some hard numbers to show just how awesome that is for Microsoft, but hey, that's how GfK and ChartTrack roll. Mysteriously.

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For Fable II, Lionhead Studios wanted a more mature look. In fact, in the game's original mission statement, the developer put forth it wanted Fable II to be like Fable done by Ridley Scott. Lionhead technical art director Ian Lovett explains:

The idea behind that is that Microsoft understand Ridley Scott, they understand that this means that we wanted to mature the franchise a little bit. Not losing its charm, but basically trying to grow it up ever so slightly.

Hope Lionhead meant the Blade Runner, Alien, Gladiator Ridley Scott and not the White Squall, Hannibal, 1492 Ridley Scott. Those movies sucked.

Fable 2 art guys wanted "Fable, but done by Ridley Scott" [Eurogamer] [Pic]

No joke. It's a Gears of War 2 Zune. And hey, why not, it sure worked wonders for Halo 3's marketing campaign (didn't it?), not to mention the Zune's popularity (did it?). Due to start shipping on, you guessed it, November 7, the 120GB media players will sport a laser-etched Gears logo, will include "244 pieces of media" (think art, screenshots, etc) and will cost you, uh, $280.

Gears of War 2 Zune Coming on Nov 7, Preorders Start in the Morning [Gizmodo]

Last week I got hands on with Act One of Gears of War 2 at Microsoft HQ. Want to know what I think? Yeah, c'mon!

In general terms, there is a solid intensity from the outset to the gameplay. You get a few minutes worth of breathing space to get your groove back before things ramp up very quickly and skills get tested. Act One runs at a pretty fast pace, with a good mix of locations and scenarios to contend with. There's even a horror-style tunnel sequence that plays to one Delta Squad weakness -- no flashlight! "I'd rather have an extra gun than carry a light" is the response... you know, because gun-mounted light technology got left behind on Earth.

There's also some more personal storyline in the mix. It may ring a bit melodramatic for some, but it isn't too obtrusive if you just want to bring the pain. And for those eager to get a little more involved with the life and times of Delta Squad, this certainly adds more emotional weight.

Jump for some more thoughts, plus some mildly spoileriffic images. One features a total fucking bad ass you will meet before the end of Act One.

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Lionhead Studios is owned by Microsoft. Peter Molyneux works for Lionhead, so thus, he bleeds neon green. But does that mean Molyneux doesn't want to make a PS3 game? Let's hear what fable Molyneux has to spin:

I um and ah because, OK, it's a quite sophisticated piece of tech. These days I don't get involved so much with shaders and the actual 3D design any more, the actual programming. It looks very complex. The 360 and the PS3 technically seem neck and neck. Sometimes I look at a title on the 360 it looks fantastic, sometimes I look at a title on PS3 and it looks fantastic. I can't see a difference.

What I would say, and this is not just me being the good company man, I'd say the thing I love about the 360 more than anything is nothing to do with the hardware, it's all to do with LIVE. LIVE is still underexploited for a game mechanic. Some of the stuff in Fable II we're doing with co-op is only possible because of the way that LIVE is structured. I love playing around with that stuff as a designer. Whereas PS3 doesn't seem to be quite so mature on that side. They haven't got quite the same infrastructure and service but, you know, yeah, I'd love to get games on every platform.

Oh ho ho. Wonder if Microsoft would love to get Molyneux's games on every platform, too.

Molyneux: 'Fable 2 co-op only possible because of LIVE' [Videogamer]

Where's Mega Man 9? It's out on the Wii. It's out on the PS3. But the 360 version is, strangely, nowhere to be seen. But worry not, 360-owning retro fetishists; it's on its way. Indeed, its on its way right now, with Microsoft's Larry Hryb announcing that the game will be out "tomorrow". Tomorrow being October 1. Get on it, Mega Man fans.

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Remember that red controller Microsoft showed off at E3? We figured it had a Christmas theme. Turns out it doesn't. The theme is instead blood, as it's been announced that the "limited edition" red controller will be out on November 2. Which is, yes, the same day Gears of War 2 is released. It's to be released in a bundle with a play-and-charge kit, will go for $US65, and will be out in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand and Asia. Or, in other words, not Europe.

[AU: Local price on the controller is $99.95 with Play & Charge cable and red rechargeable battery included --SB]

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Know this, humans, Gears of War 2 won't be a short game. It'll be a long game. One you play for "months, if not years to come". So says Epic's Cliff Bleszinski, at any rate, who also says that because of the amount of time you'll spend with it - thanks to the longer campaign and multitude of multiplayer modes - it's no longer a "game". "It's no longer a game: it's a platform. Each mode is huge", he told VG247. And he should know! Dude Huge knows huge when he sees it.

Bleszinski: Gears of War "is no longer a game: it's a platform" [VG247]

Epic Games won't be bringing Gears of War 2 to the PC. That's their story and they're stickin' to it. It's "definitely" not happening, swears designer Cliff Bleszinski, pointing to a worsening PC gaming environment.

"The person who is savvy enough to want to have a good PC to upgrade their video card, is a person who is savvy enough to know [BitTorrent] to know all the elements so they can pirate software," says Bleszinski. "Therefore, high-end videogames are suffering very much on the PC."

Hmph! Thanks a lot, assholes. Oh, not you, Cliff. We were talking to the dude stealing your game.

Gears Of War 2 - Cliff Bleszinski Q&A [TVG]

Doesn't matter how good he is at promoting himself, Peter Molyneux is a game developer. Repeat, Peter Molyneux is a game developer. He's not a PR guy. And since he's no PR guy, Molyneux has pointed out Fable 2's flaws. Here, listen to what Peter Molyneux has to say:

The point is I'm not a PR man. I'm just a developer. And when you sit down opposite people, people like yourself, and they look you in the eyes and they say 'are you happy with absolutely everything in Fable II?', I can't hand on heart say that we have got a state of the art animation system. I mean our animation system's pretty good.

For all the goofy things Molyneux says, at least he does seem somewhat sincere. Well, sometimes. "Now Microsoft has put these PR policemen in the same room to make sure I don't trip over myself," he adds. That's swell.

Molyneux gets himself into trouble over Fable 2 honesty [Videogamer via VG247]

Alex from, you guessed it, Bulgaria writes:

So i wanted to buy Duke Nukem 3D from arcade store and surprise "THIS ITEM IS NOT AVAILABLE FROM YOUR CURRENT LOCATION". Sorry, but when is Bulgaria became Germany, Japan and Korea? On Major Nelson blog i read this "Availability: Not available in Germany, Japan and Korea". I tried to buy DOOM too and guess what? That's right, born at the wrong location again. What do i have to do in order to buy and play that game? Anyone? Anyone?!

Alex from, that's right, Bulgaria continues after the jump.

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We reported last week that you can grab Banjo Kazooie on XBLA in November for 1,200 points. Or you can snag it free by pre-ordering Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. Rare helpfully, and applicably, put out info on which retailers are specifically offering free download codes with pre-orders. They are:

[AU: No local details yet available. -SB]

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If you're looking for an excuse to get an Xbox Core Arcade Bundle (second console perhaps? I dunno), Amazon would like to provide one: You get Lego Batman for free. Or, put another way, if you consider it a $199 purchase of Lego Batman, they throw in the console for free. It's a big family-game promo that we antifamily, antisocial types can still take advantage of.

This is in addition to a slate of other price cuts the online retailer introduced this month, including discounts on yearlong Xbox Live subs, Xbox Live points, and extra controllers.

Xbox 360 Family Game of the Month [Amazon, via PunchJump]