Microsoft and Epic are puffing their chests out with pride over the 2 million copies of Gears of War 2 that sold during the game’s launch weekend, but did anyone else notice that said companies seemed to have stacked the deck in their favor with unusually gracious giveaways?  When was the last time you bought an honest-to-god triple A game on launch day and got a free Xbox Live 1600 Points Card or a remote control tank?  You didn’t see MGM handing out free popcorn and soda to people who went to see Quantum of Solace this weekend did you?  Microsoft wanted this game to sell well at launch, and thanks in part to the free gifts, it did.  

Foolishly, the free Gears 2 launch gift I chose was the Remote Control Centaur Tank that Best Buy was handing out.  The tank looks pretty good, but its performance is awful.  With brand new batteries, the thing can barely roll on a completely flat, hard surface.  It’s junk as a toy, but decent as something that sits on a shelf.  Here’s hoping that when Microsoft brainstorms on the free Gears of War 3 launch gift, they focus on form and abandon any kind of function.