A Gears of War update should start pushing through the system at some point tomorrow, Tuesday January 9, 2007 prior to the two new multiplayer maps being available on Xbox Live Marketplace on Wednesday January 10, 2007.

The maps, plus an introductory video featuring Gears designer Cliff Bleszinski, are free thanks to the kind sponsorship by the Discovery Channel's Future Weapons series which launches next Monday January 15th, 2007. Be sure to check out the show to see some really cool firepower. I expect game designers all across the country will be watching the Future Weapons series very carefully looking for ideas for their future games

Here is a list of what was addressed in this update:

• Fixed aspect ratio distortion when using VGA cable with 4:3 displays at resolutions higher than 640x480
• Fixed voice issue with new players joining Player Match games in progress
• Players can now get the Achievement for "Dish Best Served Cold" when using Troika turret to kill RAAM
• Fixed rare situation where host could loop countdown and never start match
• Fixed rare situation where players could get stuck after chainsawing in multiplayer
• Reduced Grenade Tag melee distance
• Enabled “Strict” NAT check on host to prevent possible connection issues
• Optimized server browser queries to return results more quickly and prevent scroll bars from hiding quality of service icons
• Reduced number of possible revives in Execution to match Warzone
• Removed host name from Ranked match server browser
• Disabled security cameras in Ranked matches
• Ranked matches now require balanced teams (3v3 or 4v4)
• Increased penalty for quitting a Ranked match to -50 points
• Added additional cheat detection code
• Additional housekeeping updates

BTW, click here to check out Discovery Channel's Future Weapons series. Be sure to check out the Weapons Zones and see some of the amazing things they showed last season. There was a huge email thread going around Epic about the Metalstorm (which they say is the "potentially the world's most powerful automatic weapon"). It is lacking a chainsaw for close-up combat but it is still pretty cool

Here's a little homebrew I've been working on for a few days:

I've updated the game with a music loop and a cool water effect in the background grid.
And another cool addition in v7: updated menu graphics. I'm revamping the interface, expect more soon.

heres a video clip of a test (old version of the game):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC0Cd5-YZT8

any ideas are welcome.

PSP has sold over 20 million units worldwide. This ain't no Game Gear, folks.
Remote Play hype: "So if you want to access Spider-Man the Movie in Milan from your PS3 in Milwauke... it's possible."
Expanded "online community" for PSP .
Portable gaming is increasingly important to the consumer: Sony obviously wants a large cut of the market.