Comic-Con shaping up as an Epic event

SAN DIEGO — Epic Games has become a staple in the games industry, but with the success of “Gears of War” and its cross-media expansions, Comic-Con has become a major marketing avenue for the new Xbox 360 game, the forthcoming book by best-seller Karen Traviss, and for Cliff Bleszinski, design director of the Cary, N.C.-based studio.

Bleszinski is taking part in two Microsoft panels this weekend. He’ll serve as moderator for the Xbox Live Hollywood director panel, “Horror Meets Comedy Xbox Original Short Film Pilots.” Bleszinski will be featured alongside Hollywood directors James Wan (“Saw,” “Death Sentence”), David Slade (“30 Days of Night,” “Hard Candy”), James Gunn and Lucky McKee (“May,” “The Woods”), Andrew Douglas (“The Amityville Horror”) and Marcus Nispel (“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “Friday the 13th”).

Launching this fall on Xbox Live, these original comedy shorts from famous horror directors is part of a new wave of original content from Microsoft. The panel will introduce new trailers and clips from these short films, which will be available for free exclusively on Xbox 360 at launch, before migrating to MSN and Zune, and then later to more mainstream digital distribution networks like iTunes.com down the road.

“Just as Cliff Bleszinski brings his unique vision to Gears of War, we want to provide Hollywood directors with a new avenue to express themselves and tackle projects that TV and movie studios might not be interested in,” said Scott Nocas, group product manager of Xbox Live Programming. “Horror films and movies are the most popular genres on Xbox Live Video Marketplace, so having horror directors create comedy pilots seemed like the perfect fit.”

Bleszinski will also be featured on the “Xbox 360 Gears of War Showcase” panel, which takes place Saturday at 3:30 pm Pacific Time. Bleszinski will be joined by comic writer Joshua Ortega and novelist Karen Traviss to discuss upcoming expansions of the game franchise, including the new Del Rey novel and the new DC Comic series.

For those who aren’t amongst the 125,000 Comic-Con International 2008 attendees, Microsoft is offering “Bringing Comic-Con Home” on Xbox LIVE through Sunday, so anyone can get a behind-the-scenes look at all of the action. The Xbox 360 team will be covering every inch of the show floor with daily coverage on Inside Xbox and Xbox.com, as well as MSN and Zune Marketplace so fans will be able to download these panels and watch them in high definition in their living rooms or on their PCs.

Bleszinski and Ortega will be autographing Gears of War 2 posters on Saturday, and other Epic-related giveaways includes two limited edition Xbox 360 consoles featuring custom artwork by Brandon Badeaux from the upcoming Gears of War comic book.

Other Gears of War Comic-Con tie-ins include collectibles from NECA. Show attendees will also get a first look at the new prototype figures of General RAAM and the Gears of War 2 Locust Flame Grenadier enemy, as well as a full-size electronic Lancer Assault Rifle toy replica. Additionally, NECA will have the original Gears of War Series 1 (Marcus Fenix, Augustus Cole, Locust Sniper and Locust Drone), and Series 2 (Dominic Santiago, Damon Baird, and two Locust Theron Guards with and without their trademark red helmets) 7” action figure sets on display at Comic-Con.

DC Comics’ WildStorm Productions is promoting the new Gears of War comic, which debuts in October and features a storyline that bridges the central events of the two videogames. The series involves comic writer Ortega and artist Liam Sharp, and is the inspiration for artist Brandon Badeaux’s 20 Gears of War custom Xbox 360 consoles – two of which will be given away to fans at Comic-Con. And Random House is promoting Ballantine Books trilogy of Gears of War novels, which launch October 28 and focuses on The Battle of Aspho Fields.

In addition to the Gears of War content, Xbox Live will be covering major Hollywood press events at the show, so gamers can get a front seat view of the action without standing in the long lines and trying to navigate through the thousands of costumed fans who flood San Diego every summer.