Sequels for "Gears of War", "Blue Dragon", and "DOA"

There's been some exciting news on the sequel front for Xbox 360 gamers over the last few days.

Dead or Alive 5:

First, Tecmo's "Team Ninja" head and Dead or Alive fighting game creator Tomonobu Itagaki said work is underway for Dead or Alive 5 (DOA5):

"I've already started writing the basics for DOA5. I cannot talk about it but the opening scene has already been determined in my head."

Please please please don't make Dead or Alive Extreme 2's jiggle physics part of the next entry.

Blue Dragon Sequel:

Then, Mistwalker game studio president Hironobu Sakaguchi said work is already underway for a Blue Dragon sequel. That game isn't scheduled to release in Japan until next month and in the U.S. in "2007". This (along with Lost Odyssey) is one of the most anticipated games in the Japanese market, and Blue Dragon is credited with selling roughly 100,000 Xbox 360s in Japan by itself (which is good, because while the U.S. sees about 50,000 Xbox 360s sold per week, Xbox Japan's busiest week of the Tokyo Game Show saw 997 consoles moving; no, not 997 thousand, just 997). As an aside, Blue Dragon will be the first multi-game-disc title, with three discs and between 40 and 50 hours of gameplay (which includes the side quests). Huh, looks like there is a contender for games on the HD DVD format.

Gears of War Trilogy:

But the biggest news is Microsoft/Epic Games newly released franchise, Gears of War, looks to have two sequels planned. Despite game designer CliffyB standing firm that a good way to tank a series is to aim for a trilogy out of the gate, Microsoft's Corporate VP of Global Marketing for their Interactive Entertainment Business unit seems to have confirmed the franchise is planned as a trilogy.

In an interview with GameDaily, and talking about the "Mad World" TV add for Gears, Jeff Bell said,

"The goal of this ad is to establish Marcus Fenix as the hero of the Gears of War trilogy."

That's not a surprise (hey, there are even action figures in the works), but I'm struck by how the timing is really smart portfolio management on Microsoft's part.

Halo 3 will ship next year, and finish that trilogy (and the freaking unfinished Halo 2 game), and Microsoft (publishing both series) is overlapping the last of one trilogy with the first of another. Plus, the Halo universe will then spin off into other games (the Halo Wars RTS and Peter Jackson's "thing" -- probably an MMOish entry), and other license-ables (comic books starting in January, and I'm still waiting for "Master Chief CrappaGrenade" breakfast cereal).

Smart move, M$. Smart move. And a great game, to boot.