The two never backtrack on CliffyB's original statement, but they do express their fervent support for the PC Gaming Alliance -- a sentiment which will hopefully cause anti-console gamers to dismantle any ballistic weaponry they may have pointed at Cliffy's residence. We do so want a Gears of War 3.
Having tired of rubbing actual elbows with fellow teammates, Epic Games' always verbose VP Mark Rein has confessed that he and his squad of developers have "pretty much run out of space" in the company's North Carolina base of operations, and that plans are well underway for an expansion to "at least" double the facility's current size. According to a report by North Carolina's News Observer, the devs coughed up a cool $1.57 million for the new office space, which will be positioned on a five-acre lot adjacent to Epic's current 31,000-square foot HQ.
Headcount at Epic currently stands at 94, with current growth of around one new employee a month expected to continue for the next couple of years. So with all of this added space, will the developers get to spread out, and maybe quit knocking over each others' Mt. Dew as they reach for their mouse? Unlikely, as the report notes that the new facility will instead be largely used to house the numerous play testers that visit Epic, rather than have to rent out space down the street. We understand the need completely, though until the devs get additional space of their own we'd suggest judicious application of lids.
PS3 owners can put their fears to rest: It looks likes you are going to get your hands on Unreal Tournament 3before year's end. Epic's Mark Rein has just posted on the company's official forums: "We got news last night that Unreal Tournament 3 has been approved by SCEA and has been released to North American manufacturing."
Now, the big question is when you or Santa (wink!) will be able to get your hot/gloved hands on it. Rein says Midway will have a formal announcement early next week, but he guessed they "will start shipping the title to North American retailers on Monday December 10th and it could show up in stores as early as December 11th, but more likely toward the middle of that week."
Rein still isn't sure about PAL territories because of some localization issues. His best guess is that the the game will ship there in January or February.
We had a spot of confusion yesterday when Epic's Mark Rein was quoted in one piece as saying work hadn't started on the Unreal Tournament III 360 version. Meanwhile, another site was reporting that they'd already played it on 360. Now, Rein has explained to us that it's not that work on the 360 version hasn't started yet, it's just that it's on hold.
"What I probably should have said was 'start working on it again.' We had the game up and running on all three platforms up until last spring. In fact Official Xbox Magazine came out and played the game for a great cover story they did on it. We stopped working on the 360 version so we could concentrate our efforts on shipping the various PC and PS3 versions. Once we get those out of the way, and take some time to enjoy the holidays with our friends and families, we'll start working on the 360 version again. There's still a decent bit of work to do. For example we have simple LAN play but no Xbox Live implementation yet and we need to work with Microsoft to figure out how to accommodate mods on their platform."
So take heart, 360 owners. While it may still be a while until you get your hands on the game, the wait won't be quite as excruciating as you thought.
You think it's easy sitting around all day blogging about video games? Not so, sir. Take today for example. First we see this interview with Mark Rein, wherein he says that work on Unreal Tournament III's 360 version won't even begin until next year. "Wow, that's interesting," we think, and we start dashing out a post for you to enjoy.
But then we get a tip from a reader leading us to Australian site Gameplayer, which previewed the game. Specifically, he told us to check out Page 3, wherein the site says it previewed the game ... on the 360. "So what should I do?" you wonder. Well, the answer is obvious: Email Mark Rein for clarification, of course. But shouldn't you have a post up about it while you wait to hear back so no one is in the dark? Yes, of course you should. So, there you have it.
[Update: We just got the following note from Mark Rein: "What I probably should have said was 'start working on it again'. We had the game up and running on all three platforms up until last spring. In fact Official Xbox Magazine came out and played the game for a great cover story they did on it. We stopped working on the 360 version so we could concentrate our efforts on shipping the various PC and PS3 versions. Once we get those out of the way, and take some time to enjoy the holidays with our friends and families, we'll start working on the 360 version again. There's still a decent bit of work to do. For example we have simple LAN play but no Xbox Live implementation yet and we need to work with Microsoft to figure out how to accommodate mods on their platform."]
PS3 players hoping to test their Unreal Tournament 3skills against PC players (read: get their clocks cleaned) will be out of luck according to Epic's Mark Rein. In an IRC chat yesterday, Rein wrote, "The biggest challenge in doing cross platform play is syncronizing [sic] the builds such that the build on the PC is 100% compatible with the build on the PS3."
The good news is that the PC-PS3 divide may not be a permanent one. Rein said that the feature is one that could be considered after the game is released. But, unfortunately, he says that even at that point "the likelihood is small." Though it's a cool feature, we still want to know ... is it something you guys care about?
Though traditionally a controlling mother when it comes to its infant Xbox Live online service, Microsoft hinted today at easing up its sweaty-palmed handholding. Speaking at Gamefest 2007 (via 1UP), the company discussed the Xbox Live Server Platform (XLSP) that companies can use to deliver content, provided they take full responsibility for monitoring the content.
When suggested that one might use this to create a PC level editor that would make games for an Xbox 360 title, Microsoft Software Design Engineer Zsolt Mathe said, "Even though nobody has done that, I would highly recommend that."
Epic Games Vice President Mark Rein had previously stated that Xbox Live's resistance to user-created maps and mods was responsible in part to the delay of the Unreal Tournament 3 for Xbox 360. Looks like XLSP will be the system that expedites the version release.
The catch is that Microsoft must approve the game maker to use XLSP. We imagine it's kind of like the film Chasing Liberty, where the President of the US gives his over-protected daughter extra freedom to travel Europe with an undercover secret service agent constantly keeping watch. In this adaptation, Microsoft is played by the reliable Stark Sands, Mark Rein is captured brilliantly by the venerable and lovable Mandy Moore and XLSP is portrayed by the hunky Matthew Goode ... what? It was a good film, don't look at us like that!
Much like a psychotic chainsaw killer, Epic vice president Mark Rein has expressed satisfaction with being given more room to store all those legs. While talking up first-person fragger Unreal Tournament 3 at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival, Rein praised the PlayStation 3 disc format's large storage capacity, noting that "we may have fewer maps on the 360 version...Blu-ray has definitely given us a lot of legroom."
Of course, as Xbox 360 developers are wont to do, Rein applied some damage control on the Epic Games forums, explaining how disappointed he was that "folks on the internet treat any positive thing we say about one platform as some sort of critique of another platform." While ruling out the possibility of two DVDs for the eventual Xbox 360 version of Unreal Tournament 3, Rein suggested that online downloads and hard drives could sort out glaring content deficiencies between platforms.
And before you ask about mod support for Microsoft's console: "We just don't have all the answers today and it isn't our chief priority at this very moment because we already have our hands completely full shipping UT3 on PC and PS3 as well as shipping Gears of War on PC."
[Thanks, Anonymous]
Read -- "EIF: Rein's a Blu-ray fan" (GamesIndustry.Biz) Read -- Is the 360 version limited?
Mark Rein, Vice President of Epic, was kind enough to sit down and chat with us at the Develop Conference in Brighton. During this fairly lengthy talk we discuss, among other things, UT3's performance on the PS3 the Unreal Engine's development and how that relates to other licensees. Find the full interview after the break.
How long will it be before a fully optimised PS3 version of Unreal Engine 3 is released to developers?
It's constantly being released to developers. How it works is, when you license Unreal Engine 3 you get access to our development server where we do all of our source control. So you can see everything that we put into this server. It's completely transparent to licensees.
What we do then is, and I'm guessing here as I'm not directly involved with this, but about once a month we'll put a build through quality assurance testing. This is then an approved build, or a "blessed" build as we call them. We advise our licensees that they might find a specific bug fix on our development server, but if you want something that's gone through testing you have to wait and use a "blessed" build.
Sony's timed exclusive with Unreal Tournament 3 looks to have happened in part thanks to Microsoft. According to Epic Games' Mark Rein (via CVG), unresolved issues with downloadable user mods on the Xbox 360 led the developer to delay the shooter until "some time after the new year." Rein also confirmed this news to Joystiq in an interview to be published tomorrow.
Because of the closed nature of the Xbox Live network, setting up a system for PC users to share mods with Xbox 360 users would be challenging, especially since there is no cross-platform connectivity via Microsoft's Games for Windows Live. "And Microsoft's got a very busy Christmas schedule... We just couldn't get enough attention from them to solve that problem," he told MCV.
"Worst case scenario would be Epic bringing popular mods onto the 360 and putting them through the certification process," Rein told us. "Because that's the way it works today. Or selling them in Marketplace, or convincing Microsoft to let us give some away for free," he said.
"That's the worst case scenario. Hopefully it will be better than that, but we know nothing yet about how that's going to work and that's why we're totally concentrating on the PS3 right now, in terms of consoles," he said.
More Marcus, more Dom, more Brumak! Mark Rein, VP of Epic, says to EuroGamer that the PC version of mega-hit Gears of War adds "about 20 percent extra." Rein also reaffirmed that the extra PC content, like the Brumak fight, will not be making it onto the Xbox 360 due to changes in the "codebase." OK, who wants to take the first crack at: "Even Epic can't get their own engine to do what they want? Har, har."
Gears of War on PC will have added level content, multiplayer maps, game modes and a game editor. Now, where to find the extra money for upgrading your PC to run the game smoothly? On the bright side, you could always just play with your Gears of War dolls, which we're sure will be a lot cheaper than upgrading a PC. Gears of War on PC is expected this fall.
Xbox 360 users who want to shoot up their PC counterparts in UnrealTournament 3 are out of luck -- Epic vice president Mark Rein has confirmed on the developer's forums that the first-person shooter will not use Games For Windows Live and will therefore not feature cross-platform play between Microsoft's console and the PC.
Rein said that they have not decided about cross-platform play between PC and the PlayStation 3. "We're not 100% sure that users want that feature but if we get time we'll play around with it and see how it works," he said. Sony's console will have the ability to share PC mods, so the the logistics of PC vs. PS3 play shouldn't be too hard.
No release date has been given but Unreal Tournament 3 has been confirmed as a timed exclusive for the PS3.
At this rate, it's becoming difficult not to play Cliffy B's roadie-running extravaganza. During an interview with Game Head's Geoff Keighley, Epic VP Mark Rein revealed that Gears of War is in development for Mac OS X, along with Unreal Tournament 3. This news follows Epic's E3 announcement that Gears is in development for PC, with additional features not seen in the Xbox 360 version.
No development details or release dates were mentioned. Given the casual nature of this announcement, however, one can assume that both Gears and UT3 will be ported from the PC to OS X using Cider, rather than being developed natively. No love for PowerPC users; though it might be time to consider that Intel-based Apple you've been eyeing ...
[Update: It appears these are coming to the Mac natively, not through the magic of Cider, according to this comment from MacSoft's Ryan Gordon: "And no, neither game is using Cider." Impressive. Thanks for the link, David!]
Perhaps tired of complaints that all of the Gears of Wargametypes are too similar, Epic has struck back with a new one that's just about as different as different gets: Golf. The only problem? You'll probably never get to play it.
Games Radar has the full story from Mark Rein in an upcoming issue of Edge magazine. Eager to prove to a Korean publisher that Unreal Engine 3 is about more than shooting people until they die from it, the team at Epic spent a day transforming Gears into golfing game that used the game's grenade mechanics to aim and swing and featured Marcus Fenix as the man behind the clubs. One of the levels from Gears even got it's landscape reworked to make it more of a course. It all sounds intriguing, too bad we'll never see it.
"Cinderella story. Outta nowhere. A former greenskeeper space marine, now, about to become the Masters champion. It looks like a mirac... It's in the hole! It's in the hole! It's in the hole!"
If you already suspected that "Annex," the new Gears of War gametype, was a highfalutin name for King of the Hill, this 1UP preview and video will do very little to change your mind. But, if said preview is any indication, it could become "the definitive way to play Gears online," so who really cares what it's called? When they're not heaping on the praise for Annex, 1UP also discloses some tweaks coming with this update (like increased fire for the Lancer) and in the future (four new maps with titles like "Subway" and "Bullet Marsh").
The big question now is exactly when the free update will be available to us commoners. The 1UP piece says we can expect it this week, a hope echoed by Epic's Mark Rein yesterday. But plans have been changed before, if memory serves.
