My job as designer of Gears of War is, well, more or less done. I can't speak to the status of gold or shipping but those of you familiar with development know that at a certain point you've just got to let your baby get on the school bus and hope for the best.
The days of shipping a game and hopping on a plane for someplace warm to get the heck away are long gone. I've got a busy few weeks ahead of me filled with promotional events; a pair of them in everyone's favorite town of LA. Microsoft knows they're not launching a game anymore, ever since the smash of Halo 2 I think they've realized that they're launching entertainment itself. It's not just a game, it's a

ing EVENT.
Let the hype machine burn into overdrive!