Flamethrowers are sort of the Holy Grail of shooter game design -- nobody can quite get them right. What's the secret to designing a good flamethrower?

Fire, water, and hair are the hardest things to do -- anything organic, really. That's why you see so many crates in video games! We've made a really beautiful flamethrower, but I'm not going to lie and say you can set the environment on fire. We're not that kind of game -- we don't want players burning down the levels! It's a fun weapon because it's powerful, and messes up your enemy's view. It's also great for blind-firing, one of our core mechanics, because you can totally burn enemies while staying safe.

Why no demo or beta for Gears 2?

A beta is like hooking up with a girl just to say, "yeah, I f*cked her." I know that sounds crude, but it's the honest-to-God truth. Once you play a beta, you can check it off your list -- you can say, "yeah, I played it." Then you might not feel motivated to get that initial cherry popping from the proper, final game.

Honestly, we could make a demo, but Gears of War 2 wouldn't be out until February of 2009 [if we did]. That stuff takes times to put together.