Gears of War to hit on November 12

Well, it might not be the “BIG” news that Epic Games’ Mark Rein promised, but at least we now have a firm release date for Gears of War on the Xbox 360. The third-person action game has wowed gamers since it was first announced for the system, and made quite a splash at this year’s E3, with the game being the highlight of Microsoft’s pre-E3 media briefing. Fans will be interested to hear that the game will arrive in both standard and limited edition forms, with the latter including a making of DVD and an art book.

“‘Gears of War’ represents the emergence of a thrilling new franchise for Xbox 360 and is the must-have game of 2006,” said Shane Kim, general manager of Microsoft Game Studios. “Combining the best in innovative gameplay, next-generation graphics and interactive storytelling, Epic has harnessed the extraordinary power of Xbox 360 to create an extremely powerful and immersive entertainment experience.“

“Our vision is to deliver a one-two punch of cinematic action paired with a thrilling and compelling interactive experience,” said Cliff Bleszinski, lead designer at Epic. “With ‘Gears of War’ we’ve created a title that will place gamers directly in the shadows of a ravaged world, surrounded by the beautiful remnants of a destroyed city and the horrific dangers that hide in the rubble.“

Interestingly, November 12 is a Sunday, and is also the supposed launch date of Nintendo’s Wii. The launch date of the Wii is far from confirmed, but should it be the same date, gamers will face burning quite a large hole in their bank accounts; then there’s the small matter of the PlayStation 3 arriving a few days later.

There’s currently no news on a European release date for Gears of War. Although we usually receive new releases on Fridays, with the North American release set for a Sunday, anything is possible. We’ll let you know as soon as Microsoft makes an official announcement.