Epic recently released the above image on the Gears of War 2 official website. If you go to their page and take a look at the huge image in all its glory, you’ll notice there are lines of numbers on the middle dog tag. The guys over at 1Up used their collective brilliance to deduce that the numbers 033-116-117-126-071 are really ASCII values that stand for “ESC-N-O-V-9.”
If you’re anything like me, you can never quite figure out what the hell license plates are supposed to mean. In this case, I think I have it. “ESC-N-O-V-9” probably stands for “Escape November 9.” Using my own brilliant powers of deduction at this point, I take that to mean that Gears of War 2 is probably going to come out November 9 of this year. This shouldn’t exactly be a surprise, as the game was supposed to hit this November anyway.
Regardless, keep in mind that this is a rumor. I’m sure no one’s wrong with this, but you can never be too safe. Chances are the Cliffster will be sure to reveal all at E3 this year anyway.