Gears of War 3 Gold Lancer, Hammerburst rewards for early play

We've got just over a week before the Gears of War 3 launch, so it seems like an apt time for Epic Games to lay out the launch events you can expect next Tuesday. First off, if you get into a match on Xbox Live within the first week, you'll get gold multiplayer weapon skins for the Lancer and Hammerburst.

The "Golden Wings Week" rewards count for anyone who plays a match on XBL between September 20 and 26, and is sponsored by the US Air Force.

Gears of War 3

Other launch events include midnight sales at various retail locations, including a launch event in New York City, and the ability to win a Gears-themed chopper from the show American Chopper. The two episodes that feature the building of the bike will air tonight and next Monday on Discovery.

"This is by far the biggest, most polished, and most ambitious game we've ever made," said Epic's Cliff Bleszinski in the announcement. "I've been lucky enough to work on some big games throughout my career, but Gears of War 3 represents a crowning achievement for our team, and we can't wait to share it with fans next Tuesday."

You'll see some other people toting around gilded weapons, of course; the beta gave out about 234,000 Gold Retro Lancers, out of a whopping 1.29 million participants. If you already know you're going to squeeze every drop out of your Gears 3 experience, you can save a little money with the Season Pass.