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If you have an Xbox Live Gold subscription and have yet to experience the joys of Shadow Complex, it's time for you to stop reading this post. You see, Shadow Complex has been marked down to 800 for one week and one week only. It was already a steal at 1200 ($15) and $10 is absolutely ludicrous. Go buy it. Now. We'll even help you out with a handy shortcut link. You should click it. Your friends will make fun of you if you don't.

Shortcut: Add Shadow Complex to your 360 download queue [Via Xbox.com]

This past Saturday brought us the Spike TV Video Game Awards and – before experiencing the litany of world exclusives that awaited us inside – we spent some time outside cruising the red carpet and talking (briefly!) to many of the game developers and talent. We squeezed them for information as fast as we could while simultaneously wishing them holiday cheer and good tidings. Yes, it was as awkward as it sounds. Here's what we learned from Epic's Cliff Bleszinski.

So you segued from Gears into Shadow Complex ... what are you working on now?

I can't tell you that! It's actually quite agonizing for me right now, because there's a bunch of awesome shit we're working on, but I can't say a damn thing about it no matter how many alcoholic beverages you might try and feed me! Well, maybe if you bribe me with hookers and blow, that might work.

Shadow Complex will be on sale during the holidays. Was that Microsoft's idea or Epic's?

Microsoft is doing that promo. They're doing some other stuff as well to help drive the holiday sales. I mean, in this day and age look how crammed Christmas is, and it's like March is the new holiday. Everybody's moved out to March. I think it's good because the good games will rise, and the bad games will sink, right? I was getting tired of the fact that everyone had to cram everything into the holiday season. Hopefully we'll get some quality releases in March that will do well, and the gaming industry can sell more than 80% of its games outside of a three month period.

What are you playing right now?

I'm playing the hell out of Modern Warfare 2 and I hate those guys, because those guys are so awesome. Uncharted 2 I beat, which was absolutely stellar. Borderlands co-op is amazing ... that's the only way to play, really. I gush about it not just because it's our engine but because Randy and those guys are good friends, and it's the kind of game I really want to play. It's the perfect blending of the shooter and the RPG.

So when will we hear about this "awesome shit"?

Maybe sometime when the weather's warm, you'll be hearing something.

With Shadow Complex setting very specific week-one sales records on XBLA, Epic and Chair would be kind of nuts to not consider a sequel. One job listing out of a recent crop on Microsoft's employment boards seems to out that likely scenario, implying that Shadow Complex is a bona fide franchise for Microsoft Game Studios and Epic. Said listing specifically calls for a Lead Producer to "lead the publishing side of games made by Epic: Gears of War and Shadow Complex."

Additionally, Microsoft appears to be looking for more able bodies to join its growing pool of Project Natal and 343 Industries employees. Existing job listings call for everything from designers to engineers to even a few artists. Sadly, the company isn't looking for MJOLNIR armor models yet, but just in case, Microsoft, you know how to reach us.

[Via Develop]

Now that Epic's rolled out TU5 for Gears of War 2, it's geared up to celebrate the game's first anniversary of existence with a triple XP event spanning the next nine days. Starting tomorrow at 9 AM EST through Monday, November 16 at 9 AM EST, all players will not only get triple the delicious experience points, but also access to a new tactical mode across all game modes -- which adds increased weapon damage and decreased ammo counts. On top of that, there's going to be "a few subtle tweaks," including a longer down-but-not-out phase for revivals and individual playlists that will allow you to play the exact gametype you want.

For you masochists out there, Epic will crank up Public Horde's difficulty to hardcore -- and if you've been playing Gears of War 2 through all of its changes, odds are you kinda are.

[Thanks, Nick!]

In celebration of Halloween and the impending release of a new title update, Epic's Rod Fergusson has announced that Gears of War 2 will be hosting a double XP weekend starting this Friday, October 30. In addition to awarding double XP in all multiplayer modes, the game will be featuring an extra "scary" lineup of Locusts in Horde mode. Specifically, Fergusson notes that Horde mode will feature lots of extra Boomers, including some waves comprised entirely of Boomers. An entire squad composed of Flamers, Grinders and good old Boomshot Boomers?

Yeah, pretty scary.

[Via VG247]

Epic's latest list of fixes to Gears of War 2's online multiplayer aims to satisfy what seems to be an ever-growing community of dissatisfied gamers.

The new Title Update (#5) reverts the roadie-run camera back to its state in the first Gears of War and fixes an exploit where "a player could modify the game's behavior due to a security vulnerability introduced in an earlier title update." The update also kills the ability to use turbo controllers with the game -- something folks have been using to increase their rate of fire -- and turns off the ability to mantle the shield in competitive multiplayer matches, eradicating the ability to escape the map or glitch certain pieces of geometry.

The fixes sound all well and good, but is it enough to bring folks back to the game and satisfy those still playing with a chip on their massive, hulkish shoulders? We'll all find out when the update goes live, which Epic's Rod Fergusson says could happen as early as today or Monday.

Like our sister site Big Download, you may have been asking yourself, "What was going on at Epic Games yesterday?" Well, we think we have the answer: According to the Joystiq Mole™ -- the same mole who accurately predicted NBA 2K10 Draft Combine and LucasArts' Lucidity -- the epic announcement will be the release of an Unreal Engine 3 PC toolset for consumers.

Our mole tells us that the toolset will ship with example objects, like weapons and maps, and will show users how to build their own custom assets. Odds are, the kit being a product for consumers (read: nonprofessionals), that the cost won't be all that high. Of course, knowing who's going to get their hands on this (again, read: nonprofessionals), we're totally frightened by the inevitable flood of Delta Squad fanfics that will unfold on YouTube.

It's a sad testament to how much we loved Shadow Complex that we were able to spend several happy minutes simply poring over Chair's hand-drawn proto-map for the game, as obtained by MTV Multiplayer. As an added bonus, we got to hear the story of Chair staffers playing the game with their imaginations, tracing a stick figure's journey through a giant-sized version of the map as they tried to perfectly balance the experience.

Golly! Imagination? Non-electronic games? What will video game developers think of next?

Cheaters beware! Epic's Rod Fergusson recently popped into the Gears forums to let everyone know that Gears of War 2's fifth Title Update is currently in the works and will hit Xbox Live sometime soon. The new update will not only add some new features to the game -- no more "sticky walk" and you'll be able to see friendly grenade plants in Tac/Com -- but will also put an end to a rather nasty cheating hack that surfaced shortly after TU4. Cheating in Gears -- who'da thunk it?

We'll be sure to let you know when the TU5 is available.

[Thanks, Kyle B]

Epic and Microsoft have long been cozy bedfellows, comfortably sharing the covers with each other for years. Now that partnership has extended to Microsoft's proposed game changer, Project Natal. Speaking to Epic's marketing maestro, Mark Rein, OXM asked what Natal's use of the Unreal engine implied for the futures of both companies.

"I think any future Xbox games we make will have some Natal support," Rein commented. "We always want to have something that exploits the unique capabilities of a platform." While Rein had no idea what type of game Epic would make with Natal, he did have some ideas on how Natal could improve the hardcore experience -- namely, simplifying the controls.

An example he used was taking one's hand off the controller to mimic throwing a grenade, or using a hand gesture to signal your squad move to a certain location. On paper it sounds great, but we have to question how much such controls could improve on what is arguably one of the easiest things one could ever do: pushing a button.

Oh, sorry -- do you lack the cryptologic know-how to decipher that headline? Excuse us as we get our Layton on:

• UT3 is not a shorthand way of saying three urinary tract infections -- rather, it's the acronym commonly used to refer to Unreal Tournament 3.
• Though the internet-savvy may assume FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, that doesn't make much sense with the previous piece of the puzzle in place. However, "Free-to-Play" fits quite nicely.
• STW obviously means "Steam this weekend." If you couldn't figure that out, you should probably go jump off a cliff or something.

Every puzzle has an answer -- this time around, the answer is "Unreal Tournament 3 is free-to-play on Steam this weekend," beginning today at 1PM PST. Unfortunately, we've got no Picarats to distribute. As any true gentleman knows, cerebral satisfaction is its own reward.

Atlus isn't exactly known for big-budget epics, but that's exactly what Demon's Souls feels like in this latest trailer. From Software's hardcore RPG touts some rather unique online connectivity, and this trailer teases the functionality, along with a bevvy of overwhelming praise from various media outlets. Why no quotes from us, Atlus? Oh, that's why.

That's, um, sales of single-player games (multiplayer ones don't count!). And, uh, you know, we're just talking about Xbox Live Arcade titles -- not that clarifying this awfully specific sales record is an attempt to take away from the much-deserved success of Chair's excellent Shadow Complex or the 200,000-plus downloaders (much of the Joystiq staff included) who didn't wait long to cash in 1200.

Still, we're not going to label Shadow Complex's sales Achievement® (as Microsoft does) the "New Era of Downloadable Games." It takes far too much effort to produce a decent Metroidvania experience than it does a mediocre dual-stick shooter, after all.

We will, however, join in on the not-so-subtle peer pressuring. Seriously, you still haven't purchased Shadow Complex? Shame on you. (So ... just direct deposit that check, cool? Thanks Microsoft!)

The cogs of retail agree: a Gears of War 2: Game of the Year Edition will soon emerge. The package will allegedly bundle the full game with the $20 All Fronts retail compilation which includes the Flashback, Combustible, Dark Corners and Snowblind map packs along with the deleted "Road to Ruins" campaign chapter.

GameStop currently has the product listed at $40 while Amazon has it for $37; what they both agree on is that the GOTY edition has a September 1, 2009 release date. We're currently confirming the release date, price, and existence (!) of the GOTY edition with Microsoft and will update as soon as we hear back on our coms.

Update: Microsoft has confirmed the bundle will release September 1 for $40 in the US.

[Thanks, crazeeseal]