A quick look at the floorplans of the 2008 Game Developer Conference reveals that Microsoft and Epic have secured the two biggest floor spaces.

With the largest exhibit at the event, taking up 4,800 square ft of space, Microsoft will certainly have a bigger presence than in previous years, when Sony and Nintendo got the biggest areas to utilize this professionals-only game industry conference as a pre-E3 event.

Only second in size to Microsoft's space, Epic Games' presence at the event isn't surprising at all, since the developer always uses GDC to show the latest Unreal Engine technology.

Furthermore, both companies' spaces are in front of each other in the first level of the Moscone West Hall. This last detail wouldn't matter if wasn't for the fact that the two companies worked closely on Gears of War.

After the listing of Gears of War 2 on Amazon.com and today's unveiling of "Gears of War: The Pendulum Wars",ibelieve that the size and location of Microsoft and Epic Games' areas at GDC are not just a mere coincidence.

teamxbox contacted Epic Games to ask about the recent Gears of War fuss, as well as its area size and proximity to Microsoft in the Moscone Center. Mark Rein limited his response to the company's presence at the event to support Epic's engine business.

Microsoft and Epic Games have the largest boothscompared to Nintendo and Sony' booths .

I have a strong feeling that Cliffy B is gonna unveil Gears of War 2 at GDC this year :oops: :). Gears of War is my most played single player & online game ever . i ve beaten its single player campaign alone , in co -op over live ,in splitscreen some 25 times :P , played its multiplayer nonstop for 8 freaking months every day and nite . its my favourite game on the 360 along with Halo 3. The Halo trilogy is done & Gears of War is following the footsteps of Halo in manny ways . Gears of war did things for the Xbox 360 that what Halo & Halo 2 did for the xbox . Gears of war has an amazing rock solid campaign, it has co-op play in splitscreen & co-op play over xbl , a superb intense online experience, a Sci Fi storyline & anawesome new Hero . these are some of the things that make gears of war a lot like what Halo was for the Xbox . I hope that at GDC this year Cliffy B unveils Gears of War 2 :wink: .

2008 has just begin & there are some quiet gr8 news around the gaming industry . first one is that the Gears of War novel is on the way :oops:.

Listings on Web sites including Amazon UK and Wal-Mart have revealed that a Gears of War book is in the works. Titled Gears of War: The Pendulum Wars--The Battle of Aspho Fields, the novel is being written by Steve L. Kent. Kent has written several sci-fi novels and strategy guides.

Gears of War: The Dead Tree Version.According to Amazon UK, Gears of War: The Pendulum Wars--The Battle of Aspho Fields is due out in the region on February 26, 2008, weighing in with 352 pages and published by Del Rey Books. In the US, according to Wal-Mart, the book will be due in August and will cost $8.94. The Battle of Aspho Fields took place before the game's storyline, during the Locust-Human War. Gears of War main character Marcus Fenix fought and performed many heroic actions during the war. According to booksamillion.com, "The first official prequel to the blockbuster new Xbox 360 game Gears of War builds upon the characters' back stories and gives eager fans their first in-depth look at some of the past events that shaped the game's world."

I ll definately be getting it once its out . cant wait to read this awesome novel to the prequel of gears of war . its gonna be 1 awesome read 4 sure :) :wink: .

Second gr8 news is that Far Cry 2 is in development for Consoles too :oops: .

Ubisoft attributed its windfall in operating income to less-than-expected research and development costs due to the delayed release of Tom Clancy's EndWar and Brothers in Arms Hell's Highway for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360, as well as Far Cry 2 for the PC. All three games are now slated to arrive sometime in fiscal year 2009, which runs from April 1, 2008, to March 31, 2009. Reporting on its half-yearly financial results in October, Ubisoft delayed four other unannounced titles out of fiscal 2008, one of which is part of a franchise and three that are new properties.

I expect the PC version of far cry 2 some time around October this year and console version to be followed later in 2009 .In My Opinion its 1 awesome move by ubisoft . Crysis was phenomenal on PC ,its my current favourite . but since everyone didnt had cutting edge PCs to run it , Crysis didnt sell that much as expected . Ubisoft is aware of it that not everyone will upgrade thier PCs just to run Far Cry 2 . its a good thing that Far Cry 2 is in development for consoles too . i hope Crytek takes note of this & port Crysis to consoles soon. I am a very big fan of Far Cry , it was phenomenal on PC , its 1 of my favourite games of all times .The AI , the graphics , the level dseign , gunplay was just superb in far cry , towards the end it was just superb , i still remember the Volcanno level from far cry , it was something that was just superb to look and play.

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I also enjoyed the console version of Far Cry a lot ,it was called Far Cry Instincts .it was a bit different from the PC version except storyline ,but sometimes it felt a whole lot better than the original far cry as gameplay was very different since Far Cry Instincts had amazing feral powers and dual wielded guns , though graphically it wasnt identical to the pc version ,but still the xbox version of far cry was breathtaking & was made by ubisoft from srcatch , it wasnt done by Crytek , but ubisoft delivered the goods , pushed the xbox hardware to its limits & made sure that far cry was still that much fun to play on the xbox like it was on pc :wink:.

I have got tons of gr8 memories from Far Cry & here are some videos from both versions of far cry :wink: .

Far Cry Instincts on the Xbox .

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Far Cry on PC .

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Good old days from Far Cry :oops:.I can talk all day on games that i loved to play in the past :P. i am sure that Far Cry 2 will be as good as the original Far Cry was & i ll be getting Far Cry 2 for both PC & 360 for sure :wink: :)