news-record.com

The much-anticipated "Gears of War 3" video game is one of those rare products that has retailers opening their doors at midnight to satisfy the pent-up demand.

More than 20,000 retailers worldwide plan midnight launches tonight, according to Cary-based Epic Games, the game's creator. That includes more than 800 Best Buy stores across the country.

And if you happen to be in New York this evening, you'll be able to meet with several of the game's developers -- including design director Cliff Bleszinski, whom you may have seen hyping the game on NBC's "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" -- at a big event at the Best Buy Theater in Times Square. Rapper Big Sean will be there. The first several hundred fans in line will even get hands-on "Gears of War 3" experience before it hits the shelves at midnight.

Epic staffers also will be at some Triangle Best Buys handing out swag, spokeswoman Dana Cowley reports.

The launch also will be covered on a special episode of "GameTrailersTV" on Spike TV, starting at 11:30 tonight.

"Gears of War 3" is being introduced as the video game industry is slumping because of the sour economy, increased competition from "casual games" played on mobile devices and a dearth of compelling new titles.

Still, the burning question with "Gears of War 3" is, How big a hit will it be?

The first two chapters have sold more than 13 million games to date, and the upcoming installment has racked up more than a million pre-orders. And a free online "beta" version of the game, which was available for several weeks in the spring, attracted 1.29 million players from 145 countries. The game is being distributed by Microsoft's game unit.

Fans have been itching to get their hands on the game for months. It was originally scheduled to launch last April, but the release date was pushed back.