UT3 was in development when GOW was being made (or did UT3 take less than a year?)
2 years is long enough to make a quality sequal if your a quality company. Could GOW2 fold? Sure. But there ARE lots of titles out there to take the heat off of GOW2 - NG2, Alan Wake, BK3, and Halo Wars are all very big titles between GTAIV and GOW2.
Secondly, I don't think the writer of the article even REMEMBERS 2006. 2006 was the year of Gears of War. Every news writer kept stating that Gears was the Halo killer, and was hyped beyond all end, and the game was great. Epic knows how not to fold under pressure.
Do I care one iota about GOW2? No. Do I think it'll beat GOW1's rating score? No. They aren't doing enough to match it in terms of new content. GOW2 will be GOW1 + lots of addons. Will that be a bad thing? No. But I don't think GOW2 has to be genre-redefining yet again to be a solid, great title. Oblivion and Halo 3 were 2 titles that (in many ways) lived in the shadow of their predicessor, but were still great titles in their own right.
Back from the dead, I'm afraid.
