Gears of War 2 confirmed (like anyone wasn't expecting it)

For those not following GDC, the release for Gears 2 is set for November this year, just in time for the holidays - and just in time to save my boyfriend (again) from not knowing what present to get me. For those of us that aren't particularly interested in Spore, this is probably the best gaming news we've heard in awhile! The Gears toys look fantastic and should be available later this year as well, although there's no Dom in the first set. There is, however, a Locust mid-headshot - on the receiving end, which was an interesting choice.

Other than that, SFIV and KoF XII both seem to be shaping up quite nicely, as shown at AOU earlier this month. As a Third Strike devotee, I'm kind of iffy on IV, particularly the visual style - and I don't care much for the new challengers, C. Viper and Abel - but it looks like it could turn out to be a solid competitive fighter. KoF XII looks positively gorgeous, at least from the media that's been released - 3d models on a 2d plane, it seems? I haven't looked at the character roster yet, but I'd really like to see Angel again. Certainly not for her, um... assets. The new Samurai Spirits Sen is, unfortunately, 3d... and for the few of us that played SS64 and 64-II (not to mention the atrocious home version of Warrior's Rage), we know that this is not a good thing.

Quake Live (formerly Quake Zero) beta signups are up, though there's precious little (read: nothing) else up on the site. The idea of trying to play old-school Quake with ads running in the background is a little iffy to me, but hey - the idea of classic, competitive FPS gaming with strong competitive community support sounds like a revolution waiting to happen, particularly because it's browser based. And now we've got "freemium" to go with hip marketing phrases "Play4Free" and "Free2Play."

With the rumored pseudo-death of CPL (and, by extension, CAL), competitive FPS gaming seems to be having a rocky time, although the Beijing Olympics showcasing competitive gaming as a welcome event may help inject some much-needed legitimacy into the scene. They haven't announced which games will be played, but... anyone guessing we'll see a little Zerg action?