A job advertisement for Microsoft Game Studios is looking for somebody to work “with an experienced team at MGS and the world-class developers at Epic to drive the success of Gears of War and Shadow Complex in the highly competitive and fascinating world of interactive entertainment”.

Exciting. We’d have pointed out the Gears part too, but news of more Gears of War games is like news of the sun’s rising.

Microsoft hunts producer for new Epic games [Develop]

Many have made the comparison of Gearbox’s Borderlands to Diablo. Cliffy B certifies it with this unsolicited Tweet: “Borderlands, I adore you. You’re Diablo for a generation raised on first person shooters. I want a Claptrap statue.”

That can be arranged, Cliff.

Cliff Bleszinski’s Twitter [via Hot Blooded Gaming]

Outside of mod tools included in the PC versions of Gears of War or Unreal games, the only way to get your hands on Unreal Engine 3 technology for free was to date Cliff Bleszinski, and even then odds are you wouldn’t be sharp enough to do anything with it. Now Epic has released the Unreal Development Kit, a standalone game development package available for free non-commercial use.

The Unreal Development Kit, or UDK, contains everything a budding game developer needs to create Unreal Engine 3-powered games. Games like Whizzle from Psyonix Studios, a game crafted in two months using a two-man team of a programmer and artist. You can see the results in the screenshot up top, or head over to the showcase page to download the game for free.

“I’m excited about the possibilities the Unreal Development Kit opens to those who are looking to get into the game business but don’t otherwise have the means to acquire world-class technology and tools like ours,” said Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games. “UDK is Unreal Engine 3, which has been used to create games in a wide range of genres, as well as military simulations, 3D architectural walkthroughs, animated movies and more. Users are only limited by their imaginations. Go ahead make something Unreal!”

You can download the Unreal Development Kit right now at http://www.udk.com/, where you can also find documentation, licensing terms and a full feature listing.

Okay, $US949.99, but I very much doubt that $US50 under is going to sway anyone to the dark side of video game collectibles. TriForce’s Lancer has been crafted by some of the biggest names in the business. Names like Erick Sosa, William Valenzuela, Jorge Martinez, Toi Ogunyoku and painter, Paul Komoda. Names you probably don’t know, but again, don’t think they’ll matter that much in this purchasing decision. What matters is that this is a 40-inch long, 6.8kg, 1:1 model of an iconic video game weapon, and if that’s your kind of thing, then it’s your kind of thing.

The Lancer is limited to 500 pieces worldwide, so if you are feeling at all compelled, I’d suggest heading to the product page and preordering. Or buying us all pizza for a week.

We loved Shadow Complex, and so did you folks apparently, with stellar review scores and one-week sales so spectacular that Microsoft had to issue a celebratory press release. Multiplayer titles dominate Xbox Live Arcade, and single-player games generally don’t perform nearly as well, but Chair seems to have knocked this one out of the park.

“Congratulations to Chair Entertainment and Epic Games for creating an outstanding game,” said Scott Austin, director of digitally distributed games at Microsoft. “As the capstone title of the second annual Summer of Arcade program, “Shadow Complex” has raised the bar for downloadable games. We’re proud to offer such high-quality content on Xbox LIVE Arcade.”

I found the game to be one of the most complete game offerings ever made available on Xbox Live Arcade. I would have easily paid full price for it, which makes the 1200 Microsoft point ($15) so much sweeter. If you’ve not yet played it, it comes highly recommended.

It includes the main game along with all post-release DLC, which comes to 19 maps and the bonus singleplayer level Dark Corners.

The extra content seems to have stopped the game from going Platinum, however, with the Gears 2 GOTY selling for $US40.

Kotaku AU Note: I’ll check with Microsoft to see if we’re getting this. It’d make up for not getting All Fronts on disc last month.

[GameStop]

Witness Epic’s Cliff Bleszinski, Chair’s Donald Mustard, and sheer awesomeness’ Peter David talking about the final Summer of Arcade game, Shadow Complex.

I must have missed McWhertor’s story on Peter David taking up writing duties for Shadow Complex, which is strange, considering David is one of my all-time favourite comic book writers, and not too shabby as a novelist as well. His stint on X-Factor still stands as my favourite comic book run, developing Guido “Strong Guy” Carosella into the role model for guys with torsos way out of proportion to their legs. Yes, guys like me.

Sure, you may game on a HD set. I know I do. But in an interview with Eurogamer, Epic’s Mark Rein has revealed that “Over half the users who played Gears of War 2 so far do not have HDTVs”.

That’s, uh, a lot. Millions of people. No wonder these console manufacturers keep banging on about a ten-year lifecycle; it’s going to take that long for people to upgrade to an HDTV.

Epic’s Mark Rein [Eurogamer]

Speaking to Eurogamer, Rein, the Epic vice president, said Sony has “their own financial issues to solve and lowering the price of the console would probably have made their situation worse.”

“They will get around to it in their own good time,” he said. “If you’re willing to look at this as a long-term play, they’re going to be just fine.”

What’s more, if the Gears of War 2 install base is any indication, there’s still a lot of life for the current console generation to live, making a price cut now somewhat less urgent. Fewer than half of those who played Gears 2 have HDTVs, Rein said. And, “ff the systems that are out there now, the majority of them aren’t plugged into HDTVs. So there’s no way we’re ready for the PlayStation 4 or the Xbox Whatever.”

Epic’s Mark Rein [Eurogamer via GamesIndustry.biz]

With Title Update 4 dropping just in time for America to celebrate its independence from British tyranny, which seems a bit silly now that we look back, now is the perfect time to hold a double experience weekend in Gears of War 2. Executive producer Rod Fergusen agrees:

Starting Friday morning you’ll be receiving double XP as well as a 500 XP bonus awarded to the winning team. And to give a little extra bang to Horde we’re bringing the Ticker squad (a group of Tickers that all spawn at the same time) into full effect. They’ll be showing up a lot more throughout all the waves of Horde and they’ve completely infested every 10th wave with nothing but Tickers. So if you’ve been having trouble with Bloodmounts, this weekend is a good time to get your Horde on and get further than ever before. And don’t forget that TU4 will give you experience for every wave you beat.

Who needs fireworks and picnics, right?

July 4th Weekend Event – XP Galore/Ticker Infestation [Epic Games Forums]