As fate would have it it seems as if the Japanese gamers DO like Gears and are quite interested in it. Apparently we have two things going for us that they dig:

1. We're not first person.
2. We've got monsters.

One of the journalists asked me the proverbial "How many weapons in the game" my feelings about most game marketing started uncontrollably bubbling to the surface. I wound up going on in a stream-of-consciousness mental dump about how game marketing is so very strange to me. I mean, when they market films do they say "Coming soon: Citizen Kane 2: Rosebud's Revenge: The Wrath of Kane, now featuring 10 actors, 13 sets, and 8 writers!"?

No, they don't. The proverbial movie marketing quote is "You'll laugh! You'll cry! You'll cheer!" And, in my opinion, we need to apply that mentality to game marketing.

Anyways, while Marcus and Dom were tearing shit up by blindfiring, grenading, and mantling over cover I had to wonder - in Japan, will "Gears of War" will be translated as "Super Macho Moleman Wrestler"?

By the way, check it out -> Matt is doing a fan made "Gears of War" comic book. It's turning out rather well!