One of the most disappointing aspects of this year’s E3 was the fact that we didn’t see anything from Respawn Entertainment, the new studio formed by former Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella. Now, the week after show, we’re starting to get a bit of information on the mystery title.

The tidbits come from an E3 meeting with Frank Gibeau, EA Games Label President. ““Titles like Respawn – and I think the Insomniac title (Editor’s Note: The Insomniac game would later be revealed to be Overstrike) is a little bit more of an action game than a pure shooter – we’ll sprinkle those in where we see opportunistic gaps, either in a release schedule or in a genre standpoint,” said Gibeau. Those typically are more sci-fi oriented shooters, where as the Medal of Honor and Battlefield brands are obviously more modern military oriented. So it allows us to pick and choose the best of the sci-fi shooters. It allows us to compete with things like Gears and Halo and put them on places in our release calendar where they’re not cannibalistic to the core business and that’s the essential strategy going forward.”

Gibeau went on to say that EA will be alternating releases of Battlefield and Medal of Honor, but would release the as of yet unnamed Respawn title when the time is right, or when an “opportunistic window opens.”

Respawn Entertainment was formed by West and Zampella after a messy divorce from Activision and the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series.

Still not in the awesome Gears of War 3 Multiplayer beta? Want to be one of the cool kids? Blast has you covered. We’ve partnered with Microsoft to give you a total of 10 codes for the beta that’s happening right now.

So how do you win? Simple, just comment on this post and tell us what your favorite weapon in Gears is and we’ll pick ten names at random. You can comment as many times as you want, but only one entry will count.

Good luck!

Rumors have been swirling for months now that Kinect was getting some form of Gears of War title, possibly named Gears of War: Exile, but now Kotaku seems to have scored what could be the very first details on the rumored title.

According to the site, the game will be an on rails shooter that reuses assets and events from Gears of War 2. The image to the right apparently shows the game in an early beta stage.

Epic Games head honcho Cliff Bleszinski teased a Gears of War reveal that we “wouldn’t expect” late last year before the Spike TV Video Game Awards, but the announcement was indefinitely postponed.

Stick with Blast  for more on this building rumor.

Remember last month when we were supposed to get a brand new Gears of War reveal at Spike’s Video Game Awards, but it was pulled at the last second? If a brand new trademark filling, recently spotted by Siliconera means anything, we may have our first clue as to what it was meant to be.

The filing, which was accompanied by the image to the right, lists that it will be used for “video game software,” a “series of computer game hint books and instruction manuals,” and/or “t-shirts.” Gotta have those t-shirts I guess.

So just what is Exile? While there’s still no official word, the smart money says it’s either that Gears of War Kinect game we’ve been hearing about for some time now, or some sort of downloadable content similar to Dead Rising: Case Zero, which series producer Cliff Bleszinski has shown interest in.

Stick with Blastmagazine.com for more on Gears of War Exile and Gears of War 3.

If you’ve somehow missed the Gears of War franchise entirely thus far, you may be in luck as Epic Games and Microsoft are planning on giving you one hell of a deal.  According to a listing on Gamestop.com, the Gears of War: Ultimate Collection, listed for a February 15 release date will include both Gears of War and its sequel in one package.

Though it’s since been taken down, IGN; who first spotted the listing was able to get a confirmation out of a Microsoft rep — sort of. The rep didn’t announce anything specifically but did announce that a new bundle SKU was coming, and that it didn’t have anything to do with Gears of War 3 or the upcoming Beta that will be bundled with Bulletstorm.

Cliff Bleszinski promised a Gears of War announcement you weren’t expecting at tonight’s Spike TV Video Game Awards — which would be true, unless you were expecting no announcement.

Major Nelson announced via his blog this morning that the announcement won’t be making the show. “I have just learned of a decision to postpone our planned Gears of War news from Epic Games for the Spike Video Game Awards this weekend.  I wanted to share this with you and let you know that while these are never easy decisions, we can tell you that what we have to share for the franchise in 2011 will definitely be worth the wait and we look forward to working with our partner at Spike on sharing this world premier news when it is ready.

While it’s a bummer that we won’t hear about the series, there are still plenty of announcements and reveals expected to happen. Stick with Blast for up to the minute coverage.

This year’s Spike TV Video Game Awards are shaping up to be quite the event for reveals — and Cliff Bleszinski, creative director of Epic Games may have just topped it off in the above video by announcing that he’s going to reveal some new Gears info, that’s not what we’re expecting. Of course, that wouldn’t be a stand along Gears Kinect title would it? ‘Cause we’re expecting that and all…

A few things to notice, Cliffy never once mentions the game as Gears of War 3, it’s just Gears and Gears of War, so a new title isn’t too out of the question, but he’s sitting down and not doing much else — so that could be an indication that this is not a Kinect announcement. What say you?

Last year, Epic Games head honcho and Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski shot down rumors of new Gears titles using Kinect, saying that motion controls were “not the kind of thing you tag on to a game like that.” If a rumor published by IGN is to be believed though, he could be changing his tune.

Citing an unnamed, yet “reliable source,” IGN claims that some type of  Gears of War experience with Kinect support is going to be unveiled at next month’s Spike TV Video Game Awards. Whether that means the technology will be incorporated into Gears 3 or a yet to be unveiled title is yet to be known.

On his official Twitter, Bleszinski shot down the rumor that Gears 3 would be getting Kinect support, but didn’t mention anything about a possible new title.   We’ll know for sure when the VGAs are taped on December 11 in Los Angeles.

Microsoft and Epic Games have announced that their highly anticipated Gears of War 3 won’t be making its April 8 release date as the title has officially been delayed. Gears 3 is now tentatively scheduled to release in the Fall of next year.

In an official announcement, Microsoft credited the need for the game to be ” the marquee game of the holiday season,” for the delay. “Gears of War 3 promises to be the biggest entertainment launch of 2011,” the  statement reads. “The teams at Microsoft Game Studios and Epic Games have done great work thus far readying the title for release in the Spring of 2011. However, we’ve elected to move the launch of Gears of War 3 until Fall 2011 to make it the marquee title for the holiday season.”

Rod Fergusson, Epic’s Executive producer assures fans that the delay is strictly marketing and not a quality issue, along with teasing some future big reveals. “I know fans are going to be disappointed with the new release date, but rest assured that this is a business decision between partners, and not a quality issue. Gears 3 was on track to be the most polished Gears of War game ever when it released in April, and this additional time allows us to polish it that much more before it hits shelves next fall. Next week we have a major multiplayer press visit at Epic HQ, and I’m really looking forward to the fans seeing and hearing about Gears 3 versus multiplayer for the first time. Lots more exciting news to come.”

The move is also likely done in an effort to give Epic’s other title, Bulletstorm, which releases in February a little bit of breathing room. It’s also not very surprising as both previous Gears games released in November.

Ro

Jimmy Fallon, the host of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on NBC, dispatched a tweet last night claiming Epic Games will debut its next game on his program next week.

Here’s the update Fallon wrote late last night:

“Game designer Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) debuts his new game on Late Night next Thur. Set your TiVos! And your Xboxes.”

So there you have it, Cliff Bleszinski, Dude Huge, or whatever other moniker he has been known to go by, will chat it up with the slightly awkward and usually funny Fallon April 8 to discuss the studio’s next project, whatever that may be.

A third Gears of War installment seems the most likely game announcement, but Epic Games also owns Polish studio People Can Fly, a team currently working on a game not yet announced.

However, a source reporting to games site Edge, said a teaser trailer for Gears of War 3 will debut April 8, which is coincidentally the same day Bleszinski will appear on Late Night.

Whatever the case, it’s undeniably great Fallon has stuck to his promise of appeasing the gaming crowd by  hosting these gaming icons, playing games on his show, and referencing them quite often.

Source: IGN

Is it just me, or has it been a while since Epic Games and Gears of War have graced the headlines?

That’s soon to change as Mike Capps, president of Epic Games has serious news planned for this summer’s E3 convention in sunny Los Angeles.

“We might have a new one coming,” he said of an upcoming reveal. “I think E3 is going to be really exciting for fans of Epic.”

Now, I sat in on a Gears of War creative panel at the New York Comic Con in 2009 and Gears writer Josh Ortega said the Gears franchise is on a 10-year plan and strongly hinted at Gears of War 3 and a Gears film on top of it.

Gears of War 3 is a sure thing, but a film, that’s a little more adventurous, but we won’t count Epic Games out yet to deliver on that front.

The E3 2010 convention runs June 15-17 in Los Angeles. We’ll be there to relay the information when it hits, stay tuned.

Source: Destructoid

This isn’t some kind of sick, twisted dream, it is, in fact, truth.

Gears of War, Resident Evil and Lost Planet have all combined to form one epic Lost Planet 2 later this year.

For the first time ever these iconic characters from vastly different franchise morph into one collective force of badassery.

Capcom released three new screens of the mash-up of sorts today and to clarify, the characters will be made available in the game’s campaign and versus modes as character skins.

Dom and Marcus

Marcus

Marcus, Dom and Wesker

When Capcom revealed the trailer you see below, earlier this week, I though to myself WTF?

What we’re getting is Lost Planet 2, a title looking to be a fine sequel, infused with Marcus and Dom from the Gears of War series.

Strange? Maybe, awesome? Definitely.

Right now we have no idea at what capacity the muscly-duo will appear in the game as, but Cliff Bleszinksi, director at Epic Games offered a bit of insight to gaming blog Kotaku.

He said:

“They [Capcom] contacted us about the cameo and we said ‘heck yeah. We’re mutual fans of each other’s work and crossovers are darned cool so we sent over the Marcus and Dom models for implementation.”

As far as implementation of the very distinct Gears of War controls, Bleszinski wasn’t so sure:

“I can’t speak about the controls for LP2,” Bleszinski adds. “Anything else about how it’s accessed or used in game remains to be revealed. I’ll leave that to Capcom’s capable hands.”

Here’s the trailer.

Source: Kotaku

Capcom today revealed a new partnership with Microsoft to bring noted Gears of War characters Dom and Marcus to the alien-infested world of Lost Planet 2.

It is unknown in what capacity the muscly Lancer-wielding killers will appear in Lost Planet 2, but really, does it matter?

And as you’d expect, Dom and Marcus are properties of the Gears of War series, which is, at least at the moment, a Microsoft-exclusive, so it’s highly unlikely they’ll show up in the PS3 version of LP2.

Now, I don’t really understand this, like at all. But hey, why not I guess?

Source: Destructoid

It’s hard to exploit a sport that requires both the body and the mind.  Athletes try steroids and rig the game, but hopefully, and I can’t verify this, the officials on the inside find and prevent further use and even expel them from their respected sports with justice.  A video game is a bit trickier.  You can call playing the Wii using your mind and body to play a game, but for the X-box 360 and games like Gears of War, or Halo, or any competitive action shooter, all of the skill the player possesses is in the fingertips and head of the player.  Hence, it’s not very rare to characterize the best gamer with being in the worst shape.

There are huge differences between Football and Call of Duty, obviously.  The audience for Football sits passively on the couch living in the moment on screen.  CoD is different in that the audience for the game participates in the content.  Apart from not using the body, the gamer uses an incredibly rich repertoire of strategies and skills in their mind within the context of the game causing a huge separation between the best and the worst, much like any other sport.  But, where it’s more difficult to exploit a physical sport, it’s very easy to exploit a virtual one.

Look at Gears of War.  A game pumped up by it’s religious following and dedication to a gritty, blocky, world of grey and blood created by Cliff Blezinski and touted for it’s awesome multi-player, a mode the developers didn’t even think to spend a boat load of time on for the first installment, is the perfect example of exploitation.  Initially, the online world for GoW was new and fresh and everyone was trying to use the skills they’d learned while playing through the campaign in an online mode of a few maps and game types.  But, as the community grew to encompass more people, it also allowed itself to become exploited to the extent that I can’t even turn the game on and have any desire to play it.

People always act like the things that take place in a video game don’t have anything to do with real life events and don’t do anything but make gamers zombies hungry for virtual blood.  Contrarily, a few months into my dedicated run with GoW, I began to lose my drive to play and compete with like-minded individuals and it thoroughly affected my motivation to play any shooter.  Whenever the gamer feels cheated, they honestly feel cheated.  They aren’t hiding their emotion because they’re afraid of becoming embarrassed nor are they living in a dream world where they don’t understand the definition of the word cheated.  I feel the same amount of pain when someone molests a game I enjoy as much as I feel the same amount of pain when someone cuts my change short or has me pick up the tab without knowing it.

The exploitation in GoW goes like this:  4v4, primary weapon Lancer, secondary weapon Shotgun.  Four players spawn and everyone sprints for the best weapons on the map, or the best place to find combat.  One (or all four) player(s) on one team decides that a more effective way to battle their opponents is to hold A, sprint across the map, and run directly into the enemy while they post up on walls and try to strategize.  The enemy, unknowingly because in a real battle no ballsy individual is going to run through an open battlefield with their head down and legitimately expect to survive, is immediately blasted into pieces with the quick flick of the right trigger from the sprinting player and then they repeat the same formula.  Sprint directly at them, R-trigger, sprint towards the next enemy.  Repeat.  It sets the match up so that no matter what weapon you use, you won’t be able to do anything good unless you use the same strategy or if you and your team use explosives and play from a bunker.

Why is this exploitation?  If you can’t tell from my description, the player is using a move in the game but taking the move out of context and bastardizing it so that they achieve the most amount of kills next to their name so that they can win.  They aren’t playing to have fun, they are playing to win.  These same people are the people who never swallow their pride and accept that someone has gotten the best of them.  They look for an out so that they can never accept defeat, but these people live in a fictional world where they get everything they want or everything they can out of something without considering any other option other than self gain.  The fact that this exists within the context of a video game means that it probably transcends into the gamers actual life.  The factors that contribute to this could be many, but the overall point is that physiological habits exhibit themselves through video games which help illuminate the type of player playing the game, as well as how a virtual world can be taken advantage of.  These same people are everywhere, and with video games, they are destroying communities that could flourish as a form of entertainment, communication, and expression.

These issues should be fixed by the development team within the lifespan of the game.  X-box live is a treat for any developer dealing with exploitation and complaints from its community.  However, with GoW 2, I still find the same amount of exploitation.  Not to say that the gamer using a bulldog shotgun technique is necessarily a bad thing, it becomes exploitation when the most effective combat move has a tough time being pulled off due to the utilization of one technique over and over by an enemy player.  It eliminates strategy, and forces gamers to refrain from public games due to the simple yet effective tactics on repeat.  It’s like listening to the Jonas Brothers.  Simple, yet effective.  Exploitation.  Should something like this be perpetuated?

Argument for yes:  Money.  Make a game where people will buy it without looking at anything else and it prints money.  Argument for no:  Considering video games are an outlet of self expression and represent the thought patterns of the gamer, taking advantage of a seemingly untouchable medium fragments the population of people playing the game from those who A.) Fight fire with fire or B.) Only play when they know who they’re playing with or C.) Stop playing completely due to many other games that have eradicated this problem or D.) Abandon video games and focus on more productive hobbies like model airplane construction.

If we can notice the differences between a game printed for money and a game printed for something else, gamers can hopefully take control of their content by opting not to buy a game with a history of exploitation without evolution.  They can instead buy games made for gamers, by gamers.  People who understand that balance and fairness are key to propelling a competitive video game into greatness are the development teams worth keeping an eye out for.  The money will follow if the product can prove itself as balanced and fair.  You probably aren’t surprised that I only play one First-person shooter on a regular basis.  But I’m not an exception to the rule; I find the game I like and the game that doesn’t have problems like blatant exploitation, and put money and energy into it, like everyone should.  Examples:  Call of Duty, (1,2,MW, MW2), Blizzard (WC,SC,WoW,Diablo).

Epic Games’ third person, action/adventure, gore-ridden shooter mozyed its way to Xbox Live today under the hood of the growing catalog of titles available in the Games of Demand section.

Marcus Fenix. Yeah, he's on your TV!

For $19.99 and a seriously hefty 6GB of required hard drive space, the original Gears of War can rest soundly on your hard drive and purr like a kitten instead of screaming like a freight train as your Xbox reads your disc.

Me? Yeah, I still have my 2005 Xbox 360, the one with the 20 GB hard drive. Hooray?

Gears of War on Xbox Live Marketplace

Mike Capps, president of Epic Games, at a panel today at the Tokyo Game Show, revealed the opening of a Japanese branch, and teased it’s “secret” ambitions.

According to Capps, the Tokyo branch will focus “mostly [on] technical support and sales support,” but went on to praise game development in Japan and teased future expansion saying: “we may have secret plans to hire some Japanese game developers too.”

Now, let’s not go crazy here. Gears of War likely won’t ever turn into an RPG, but then again, who knows?

via Kotaku

Microsoft and Epic Games revealed today the Gears of War 2: All Fronts Collection-available on retail shelves, not the digital warehouse of Xbox Live this July jam packed full of goodies.

The All Fronts Collection is first and foremost a brand new SKU with glorious new boxart to soak up the walls of retail outlets worldwide July 28.

For a grand total of $19.99 you’ll get your hands on every piece of DLC for Gears 2 to date, as well as 7 brand new multiplayer maps in what is being called the “Dark Corners” add-on.

But what if you’ve already downloaded all or most of the post-launch DLC?‚  Well, a collectible poster, strategy guide, Xbox Live theme, and commentary from Cliffy B are also packaged in the bundle.

via Kotaku

Nothing says action like the Gears of War franchise and what would the series be without action figures to keep you company on your desk at work?‚  Fear not, for if you’ve missed out on the previous three sets, a fourth batch is on the way.

Epic Games, creators of all things Gears and NECA, who create figures for everything from Twilight to Harry Potter, are unleashing the fourth wave of Gears of War inspired action figures this July; all of which are of the hell-bent Locust breed.

The figures look menacing indeed, enough so to possibly ward off unwanted desk-huggers.‚  Have a look for yourself.

Finally, after weeks of hot anticipation and nearly rusted Lancers, Gears of War fans can entrench themselves in four new frosty regions found in the SnowBlind Map Pack as well as buff their gamerscore with 250 additional, online multiplayer achievements.

Curb stomp your enemies in the dark tunnels of Under Hill, rain down fire from above in GrindYard,‚  speedily traverse the expansive environments of Courtyard, and relive past triumphant glory in the fan requested Gears 1 remake of Fuel Depot.

In addition, as we reported earlier this month, the Gears of War 2 online multiplayer system was revamped and updated on March 24th to more effectively appropriate experience points to gamers, and with the release of SnowBlind, come nine achievements tailored to the new progressive ranking system.

Snowblind Achievements

“Rookie Gear” (10 points): Earn enough multiplayer experience to reach level 5 (Public only).

“Seasoned Gear” (20 points): Earn enough multiplayer experience to reach level 15 (Public only).

“Battle-Tested Gear” (30 points): Earn enough multiplayer experience to reach level 25 (Public only).

“Battle-Hardened Gear” (50 points): Reach level 50 and play a match on each of the four Snowblind Map Pack maps (Public only).

“Veteran Gear” (75 points): Reach level 100 and win a match on each of the four Snowblind Map Pack maps (Public only).

“Never Eat Red Snow” (20 points): Complete waves 1 through 10 on all Snowblind Map Pack maps in Horde (any difficulty).

“Icy Dead People” (25 points): Complete waves 1 through 50 on any Snowblind Map Pack map in Horde (any difficulty).

“Frigid Body Dynamics” (5 points): Play a multiplayer match on each of the four Snowblind Map Pack maps (any mode).

“The Weather Outside Is Lethal” (15 points): Win a multiplayer match on each of the four Snowblind Map Pack maps (any mode).

The Snowblind Map Pack will set you back 800 shiny MS points and is available for download here via Xbox Live web Marketplace.

via Major Nelson + Kotaku

The Gears of War online multiplayer experience can be, at times, somewhat frustrating.‚  Whether it is from trigger happy teammates, obscenity screaming ten year olds, exploited glitches, or flat out unfair skill ranked matches, I am often left irritated and ready to quit.

Epic Games, creators of the Gears of War franchise aim to remedy the situation March 24^th by way of a brand new title update refreshing the multiplayer experience and a week later adding four new and exciting maps to the marketplace available for download March 31^st.

The third title update will not completely eschew the odd “TrueSkill” system; instead it will remain hidden “under the hood” while still creating “the most competitive matches possible.”

Under the new system, players will earn experience points for scoring in public matches, advancing all the way to level 100.‚  In addition to gaining levels and street cred, gamers can unlock a total of 250 Gamerscore via 9 brand spankin’ new multiplayer achievements.

Rod Fergusson, Executive producer at Epic remarked how players did not understand the mechanics of the TrueSkill system and became aggravated by the lack of apparent vertical progression in their rank.

Fergusson went on to say:

So to remedy the issues, we figured we should impose a system where people could earn experience, even if they lost the match they would feel like they’re moving up the ladder. We want them to feel like they’re progressing, gaining levels of experience in multiplayer play. It was really a reward thing to make people feel better about their progression online.

If a new title update doesn’t excite you, because it should, Epic is dropping the third batch of downloadable content for Gears 2 March 31^st with the “Snowblind” map pack containing Grindyard, Under Hill, Courtyard, and a remake of Fuel Depot from the original Gears game.

No indication of pricing for Snowblind has been made, but 800 MS points is also a sure thing.

Hit up the gallery for images of Grindyard and the new experience system.

Full story and interview with Rod Fergusson over at GameSpot UK.

It’s official — Gears of War 2, the long awaited sequel to the 4.5 million-selling blockbuster that practically carried the Xbox 360 for quite some time will be hitting homes this November.

Everyone knew Gears 2 was coming, but everything was purely speculative until this week’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, where Microsoft finally decided to spill the beans.

Providing a climactic ending to an already action packed keynote (mostly dealing with user created content coming to the Xbox Live Arcade), Epic Games Lead Designer Cliff “Cliffy B” Bleszinski took the stage and made the announcement, complete with teaser trailer and fanfare.

To our team the original game was just a tease, the appetizer to the Gears of War characters and new style of gameplay. We were so amped to get to the next chapter, and dig deeper into the universe of this franchise," said Cliff Bleszinski, lead designer for Epic Games. “Gears of War 2 is an even bigger, better, and more badass experience than the first game, and we can’t wait to get it in the hands of eager gamers this November.”

Much like the original, which shipped in November 2006, Gears 2 will be available in a normal edition, along with a special collector’s edition. No details are available on what will be on the collector’s edition.

We all know how much you like to log into Xbox Live and vent your frustrations on random twelve-year olds in Halo, but what if you had the chance to go head-to-head with your favorite celebrity, athlete or musician? Xbox Live’s “Game with Fame” promotion is giving players a chance to do just that and compete with the likes of Marc Ecko, Mike Jones and Jason Giambi.

Recently featured on the “Game with Fame” tour were the multi-platinum alternative rockers, Incubus. The band has released their sixth album Light Grenades after a long hiatus.

Between frags in Xbox 360′s Gears of War, Blast’s Tom Cody had a chance to talk to turntablist Chris Kilmore about life on the road, releasing a new album and how Incubus is embracing technology to grab more fans.

TOM: You guys are taking part in Xbox Live’s “Game with Fame” promotion where fans are getting a chance to take on you and the rest of the band in Xbox 360′s Gears of War. Hows the gaming competition so far?

CHRIS: Pretty good, we logged on at 4:30 and we’ve been beating on some kids. I’m used to playing Halo online, but this is great.

TOM: How does Gears of War stack up to Halo?

CHRIS: I love Halo, it’s my favorite. But, this stacks up pretty close. The graphics are incredible. The way the Xbox controller feels and handles is just perfect.

TOM: As part of the promotion, content from your latest album Light Grenades will be available for free on the Xbox Live marketplace. Do you think embracing new technologies like Xbox Live’s marketplace will help you guys reach out to a larger audience?

CHRIS: I wasn’t really aware of it until I signed on and saw our video up there. I think it’s really cool. You never really know where your audience is coming from, so if someone finds us on here and likes us, that’s great.

TOM: Released on November 28, Light Grenades is the band’s first studio release since 2004. What separates this from your earlier albums?

CHRIS: It was really a growing album. We usually come right off tour and get into the studio. We took some time off to chill. It was cool because we didn’t tour but we all still hung out together.

TOM: So is it going to be another few years until we hear from Incubus again?

CHRIS: No, I think we will get back into our regular process, but you never know. Right now is our time to chill. We’ll see how things go and what the future brings.

TOM: When the new year rolls around, you guys are hitting the road on tour. What do you enjoy more, the process of putting together an album in the studio, or performing live across the country?

CHRIS: I really love both man. You hit the studio and are able to create this music, that is a great feeling. Then playing live is awesome because we can share the music that we spent so much time creating. At the same time, playing live gives me a chance to enjoy the music myself.

TOM: When you guys are on the tour bus traveling, is there any video gaming going on to pass the time?

CHRIS: Of course, Jose and I are always on Xbox. We hook up the boxes on the bus and play multi-player Halo.

TOM: Incubus has come a long way since your first pay to play gig at The Roxy in Hollywood. Where was your favorite live performance of all time?

CHRIS: That’s a hard question man. I could change my mind every day. But, we did play this one festival in Portugal with System of a Down and the Chemical Brothers. There were like 40,000 people there, it was like a riot. When we went on it was almost scary, but awesome.

TOM: Do you have a favorite band that you have toured with?

CHRIS: System of a Down was great. System and Incubus really came up at the same time and experienced some of the same things.

TOM: That’s about all I have for you, thanks a lot for your time. We’ll be looking forward to checking out Incubus when you make it to Boston in a few weeks.