Epic, the game developer behind Gears of War, is also the company that convinced Microsoft to put 512MB RAM into the Xbox 360 instead of 256MB. Epic claimed Gears of War simply would not function without 512MB RAM. Preston Thorne, Gears of War QA manager has stated multiple times that Gears of War pushes the Xbox 360 to its limits. So the big question in our minds is, is Gears of War really the most-demanding game we will see on the Xbox 360? Is this game the limit for all titles on Microsoft’s second-gen console?
In all of our experiences, we’ve seen consoles get stronger as they progress, so my opinion is no, GoW is not the limit of next-gen gaming for Microsoft. We will see stronger titles as the years progress, and by the time it’s time to switch to a new console, Xbox 360 will have much stronger titles than GoW. Of course, we’re being optimistic. If GoW does end up showing us all the Xbox 360 will be able to do, then it’s time Microsoft starts worrying about Sony’s PlayStation 3.
Gears of War To Push Xbox 360 To Its Max [joystiq]