July 24, 2006 - According to a an official release by Microsoft today, Gears of War may be hitting store shelves as early as of September 2006. The release centered on Megadeth headlining Gigantour, a Microsoft sponsored metal tour hopping across 25 major market venues from early September to mid-October 2006. While no concrete release date was cited, there were some curious comments by Craig Davison, Director of Global Games Marketing for Xbox.

"We're totally jazzed about the partnership between Gigantour 2006 and our forthcoming Xbox 360 blockbuster, 'Gears of War!'" says Davison. "Partnering a music extravaganza like GIGANTOUR with the launch of a mega-hit game like 'Gears of War' captures the excitement around two awesome happenings for fans of music and video games!" Launch? Does he mean Gears of War is launching at the start of, during, or at the end of Gigantour?

In the very same paragraph, Davison mentions Gears of War will be available this holiday season. Still, gamers have to wonder what he meant. When contacted, Microsoft maintained that an official announcement regarding the Gears of War release date has yet to be made.