Remember last week’s Gears of War event? John Dongelmans, the global product manager of Gears was in Los Angeles announcing the matches. Now that the event is over and everyone is back at their desk, we got a chance to ask him a couple of questions about the event and his response to the audience feedback.
Siliconera: What did you think of the audience response to Gears of War in LA?
John Dongelmans: In one word: “WOW” – It was great to be part of the excitement and enthusiasm created by all the gamers who attended the event. I just loved it. It was a big adrenaline rush for me and it seemed for most gamers. How can you go wrong – it was an evening of chainsaws – a real match made in hell.
Siliconera: Is there any feedback you got from the audience you’re going to pass over to Epic for the final build?
John Dongelmans: First and foremost I am going to send them all the great quotes from the gamers who attended and played Gears of War. The team at Epic is working extremely hard to put the finishing touches on the game before we ship on November 7th. It’s always a nice little morale boost to hear this feedback.
I also read the response from one of the attendees at the event. It’s too bad he did not have a great experience with the game because of the controls. This game just plays different from your standard first person shooter. It needs some getting used to – not easy if you only have 5 minutes of hands-on experience. As Cliffy B at Epic always mentions this is a stop-n-pop game not a run-n-gun. You should also play it this way. Believe me it’s fun.
Siliconera: One thing that gamers didn’t get a chance to experience in the event was a taste of the story. Is there anything you can tell us about Marcus, the Cog and the Locust Horde?
John Dongelmans: The story plays a very important part. Gamers will experience that part of the game on November 7th when the game will start to ship to retailers in the US. On November 12th: Emergence Day the game will be widely available in North America and we are planning some very cool promotions on Xbox Live that day. It’s going to be like Super Bowl game day on Xbox Live.
Siliconera: After the game is released what kind of downloadable combat can we expect to see?
John Dongelmans: Be on the look-out for announcements in the near future.
We’ll keep you guys posted on future Gears of War announcements and look for a playtest closer to the game’s release date.
