The Xbox 360 only Gears of War series will probably never know a life on any other consoles, as Microsoft paid Epic Games an undisclosed amount for exclusive rights to the franchise. While Gears of War 3 wrapped the story of Broody "Muscles" McDo-rag and my main man Dom pretty thoroughly, Black Tusk Studios is in development on the next installment to the highly influential series. Heading the new unnamed Gears of War project is Rod Fergueson, former Epic Games employee who acted as executive producer of the first three Gears games. 

In case you missed it, a new Gears game is coming out next week. Gears of War: Judgement totally snuck up on me. I guess that's what happens when you age out of the target demo. I don't watch the right shows to see the ads and the Xbox 360 dashboard has become nothing but white noise to me. It's actually rather pleasant.

The trend with most AAA titles nowadays is that they’ll more than likely produce a Season Pass of some kind, the Gears of War series being no different. Epic’s upcoming title, Gears of War: Judgment, will be offering its own Season Pass deal, but with a new twist: a permanent, double XP bonus to those who choose to purchase it.

Gears of War: Judgment is shaping up to be another exciting entry in the Gears of War universe.  Recently, the full list of achievements surfaced online.  While the list contains mostly standard fare, gamers intent on achieving a perfect gamerscore will have to bring along a friend (or three).  Take a peak below for the full list of achievements, and look forward to Gears of War: Judgment shipping out on March 19, 2013.

If you haven’t played the original Gears of War, then you’re in luck. When you purchase a copy of Gears of War: Judgment at launch, the game will also come with a free copy of the first game in the Gears of War franchise.

5 Dead Grunts, 4 Screaming Men, 3 Active Reloads, 2 Total Wars and a Chainsaw in a Locust's Knee.  Nothing says Holiday Greetings than 12 festive days of absolute violence.  This is exactly what the team at Epic are offering owners of Gears of War 3 with the '12 Days of Gearmas' - a dozen special events. 

Gears of War has been around since early on in the life cycle of the Xbox 360. The first game was released in 2006, introducing the world to Marcus, Dom, and the glorious Lancer weapon. A smash hit, the original was followed up by two sequels, one in 2008 and another late last year. Each of these games took what made the first great, cranked it up a notch or three, and added in glorious features like Horde and Beast mode. Throughout the series, co-op options have been solid, culminating in four-player online campaign support in Gears of War 3. To say that it has been a successful series would be an understatement.

Looking for more info on the upcoming third-person shooter, Mercenary Ops? Well, here some new info on the game's modes to hold you over until the summertime comes around.

Everyone expects shooters these days to receive downloadable content down the line; it helps keep the multiplayer community going while bringing in the bucks. Gears of War 3 even went so far as to allow players to prepurchase its first four DLC packages at a discount as part of a Season Pass. The fourth and final Season Pass component, 'Forces of Nature' just launched this week. It packs five maps, four character skins, numerous weapon skins, the classic Guardian multiplayer mode, and of course, 250 GamerScore of Achievements. For players without a season pass, 'Forces of Nature' costs 800 Microsoft Points ($10).

As I walked to the living room, and called for my faithful ten-year old sidekick to fire up the 360, it occurred to me that a friend had left his copy of Gears of War 3 at our house. I walked back to the kitchen, where super-Mom was dutifully preparing dinner. Grabbing her hand, I put a controller in it, and invited her to join us in some Horde mode. She protested a bit, but I insisted.

Nobody can say Gears of War 3 doesn't have staying power. Not only is it massive to begin with, but Epic keeps pushing out downloadable content and title updates. In fact, the fourth and latest title update has just appeared, a week ahead of the 'Forces of Nature' DLC (pictured). It contains a number of minor tweaks and bug fixes, all of which should make the multiplayer experience more enjoyable.

Amazon's deal of the day today is Gears of War 3 available for the low price of just $29.99.  It's a title we felt was one of the best games available last year, giving it an Editor's Choice as well as awarding it our Co-Op Game of the Year for 2011.  With four player campaign co-op and five player online Horde and Beast modes, as well as plenty of couch and online options we couldn't help but fall in love with Gears 3.