Future Shop just got in touch to say they're cancelling the festivities surrounding tonight's midnight launch of Gears Of War 2 in Toronto and Vancouver, out of respect for the friends and family of teen gamer Brandon Crisp. Future Shop stores will still be opening at midnight to sell the game (except in Quebec and bylaw-bound Sudbury, Ont.), there just won't be any of the planned hoopla at the flagship stores in T-dot and Van.

There's still a media and Xbox fan community launch event going on tonight in Toronto (and possibly similar events in other cities); I'll be headed there myself in about an hour. But I guess a public spectacle around the release of a popular multiplayer video game so soon after the Brandon Crisp tragedy didn't sit well with Future Shop, who said the decision was made by the company and their "vendor partner", ie. Microsoft. Who, not coincidentally, had been cooperating with police in the search for Brandon, and had offered a reward for information about his whereabouts.

It's unfortunate that the launch of Gears 2 tonight won't be as big a spectacle as was planned, but it was probably the right thing to do. Agree? Disagree?