This entire story with the Gears of War 2 Map Packs in South Africa have been a bit of a complete bummer for all of us. While we can assure you that we are still hard at work with our mission to try and get map codes to all South Africans, regardless of the odds, something very interesting (and not good) has arisen. A lot of South Africans have been buying map pack codes from various different sources so that they can all join in the flashback fun. A friend of mine (Let's call him "Bartleby") bought a code this weekend and was incredibly disappointed to get home and find out that the availability of the downloadable maps has come to an end. Just like the issue that we had with the first Gears of War, our IP's are now being blocked, meaning that they are no longer accessible to anyone in this country. We have previously posted up a very clever way to get around the restrictions but either way, it's still not good news to hear. Please know that we are still working on getting answers with regards to the map codes but for now we ask you to all sit tight until we can get you anymore solid information.

While a lot of us are still hurting from the sting of not receiving the map pack codes in South Africa, a few images have popped up on Flickr that show someone playing Gears of War 2 on a never-before-seen multiplayer map. The new map looks to be some sort of take on the whole sunken-city idea and could be one of many that are already in the works as DLC. Once again, there is no way to tell if us South Africans will even have any access to them, so maybe we shouldn't get our hopes up. Pics after the jump. [Thanks to Poddle for the tip] You check the full gallery by clicking here.

I really hope that I get proven wrong on this one because if I don't, it will be a pretty sad piece of news for us South Africans. As you all know, a few South Africans have been able to get their hands on copies of Gears of War 2 a few days early. I got the chance to speak to someone who has already gotten a copy and has played a sneaky multiplayer session with a few other of the lucky folks who got it early as well. The problem is that none of them could find the "Flashback Map Pack" code in their Gears of War 2 boxes. Say it ain't so. More after the jump. While there is a small chance that the early copies didn't have the codes, I very highly doubt that there is any difference between those copies and the ones that will be available on Friday. If this is true, it may mean that South Africans are going to completely miss out on the recreated maps from the original Gears of War. The truth is that South Africa isn't officially supported for Xbox Live but one would think that because we get the same stock as Europe, we would have the codes packaged in. At this point I am just sincerely hoping that the guys I spoke to were just hopelessly blind and couldn't find the codes that are actually there. Problem is that it isn't really likely. If we are lucky, the maps will become available over Xbox Live to everyone after a short while, even though a lot of South Africans will need to resort to special measures to bypass the region block on all of the Gears of War 2 content.