Capcom has announced that Epic's Unreal Engine will be providing the stunning and inevitably shiny visuals for another of its upcoming titles, a new project being developed somewhere in Europe. Keiji Inafune, Mega Managing corporate officer for Capcom, described the technology as "a perfect fit" for the unnamed title, deeming it capable of "ensuring a high-quality game experience." We rather like those.

The developers will also benefit from having "thorough knowledge" of Unreal Engine 3, though if they encounter any problems, they should send an e-mail to the folks working on Capcom's Unreal-powered jetpack-em-up, Dark Void.

Actually ... we only have seven.

But they are new shots from the upcoming Xbox 360 version of Unreal Tournament III! We thought you might like to take a look at 'em before the game's summer release. In case you've forgotten, the Xbox 360 version of Epic's frantic fragfest features five "exclusive" maps, split-screen capabilities and two new characters.

Though we're certain Square Enix's interpretation of words like "final" and "last" differs greatly from ours (o hai Final Fantasy XIX!), we think we're all in the same boat when it comes to "first," as in, "The Last Remnant will launch on the Xbox 360 first." Speaking at a Japanese Xbox 360 press conference (liveblogged by IGN), Square Enix revealed that the Unreal-powered RPG would be arriving on Microsoft's system first this Winter, with the PlayStation 3 version following at a later date.

The Last Remnant is still set to enjoy one of those newfangled worldwide releases, with North America, Europe and Japan receiving the Xbox 360 version simultaneously -- or at least, close to simultaneously.

[Trailer via X3F]

Sega has extended its licensing agreement with Epic Games for use of Unreal Engine 3 with an "unannounced cross-platform title." According to the press release, details of the project will be announced at a later date.

If all this feels like deja vu, that's because it is. Sega's original license was announced in May 2007, except then it was for multiple unannounced projects, details of which were to follow. As of this writing, we still don't know what those titles were, and we couldn't find any news over the last year. Our then-best guess Condemned 2 uses Lithtech Jupiter EX. Universe at War and Sonic Unleashed utilize the Alamo and Hedgehog engines, respectively.

If May 2007 announced multiple unannounced titles, whatever happened to them? Is this a new game or related to the older projects? A Sega representative said that they have no comment to either question at this time. Our new guess? Resident Evil's Shinji Mikami is working on a mystery title for Platinum Games, who now has an extensive publishing deal with Sega. However, we don't know if Sega would have to make a new license deal for a game it's not developing in-house.

The official website for Midway's Unreal-powered, cross-dimensional brawler, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, has posted the first shot of what appears to be Superman's 3D model. As you can see, the developers have managed to capture the Kryptonian's chiseled features, indestructible physique and patriotic pose quite well. So well, in fact, that we're left feeling a little sorry for the mere mortal kombatants.

Epic Games today announced its acquisition of Utah-based Undertow developer, Chair Entertainment Group. Under directors Donald and Geremy Mustard, and CEO Ryan Holmes, Chair Entertainment becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Epic, keeping both its name and "its focus on creating new original game properties which utilize Epic's Unreal Engine technology."

We've placed the full press release, which contains the usual "We're thrilled to buy this awesome company!" and "We're so glad this amazing company bought us!" quotes, after the break. Not specifically mentioned is how the acquisition will affect Chair's Ender's Game projects, if at all. After requesting comment, we were promised an update "as soon as one is available." Funny, we were just about to tell you readers the same thing.

Alright, that's it. Nobody is allowed to describe any aspect of their game as "bigger and better" anymore. Let's try and expand that promotional vocabulary, people. Let's go for, "Hey, my game is greater and grander!" Or perhaps, "My game's online mode is sicker and more substantial!"

That's roughly what Epic designer, CliffyB, had to say about Gears of War 2's cooperative mode when Shacknews asked about four-player action. "We're not announcing anything about co-op at this time, we'll probably get around to it around E3 time, but rest assured, it will be bigger and better," he teased.

On a related note, Bleszinski did tell us that the saw-tastic sequel's multiplayer mode would at least benefit from a party system this time around. "I think that if we were not to have a feature like that, it would probably be a pretty big f*ckup." As for missing out on four-player Locust culling? That would be a bigger and better f*ckup, surely.

Although they have an in-house engine for the Battlefield series (Frostbite), EA DICE has gone with Epic's mega-popular Unreal Engine 3 for the Parkour-inspired Mirror's Edge. According to the development team (via Electronic Arts PR), the reason was that the Mirror's Edge project began early on in Frostbite's development, so they decided to use the more-developed Unreal technology instead.

DICE is also developing "a new lighting solution that truly makes Mirror's Edge stand-out visually." If you haven't had a chance to check out the trailer, do so now. Full statement after the break.

There's still no release date for Unreal Tournament 3 on Xbox 360, but there are some details now on what makes the 360's iteration different from PC and PS3. IGN reports that the Xbox 360 version of UT3 will have five new "exclusive" maps, two new characters and includes two-player splitscreen. It will also contain the free maps available as DLC for the PS3 and PC versions of the game.

Jeff Morris, senior producer at Epic, tells the site he believes UT3 will be a reprieve for those with "tactical shooter fatigue." He stands by the game being an "unabashedly twitch" title. We're expecting more details (maybe even a release date) on the Xbox 360 version of UT3 sometime tomorrow.

Mo' MMO news now, with Guild Wars publisher NCSoft announcing its licensing of Epic's Unreal Engine 3 for use in two upcoming, still unannounced massively multiplayer titles. The company previously incorporated Unreal technology into Lineage II and giant-mech shooter, Exteel. Much like the rest of us, it seems the folks at NCSoft simply can't resist a well structured rendering pipeline.

"Unreal Engine 3 has a well structured rendering pipeline, and its graphical quality is superb thanks to advanced lighting and shadowing systems," said Young-muk Choi, lead programmer for NCsoft's Development Unit. "Tools within the Unreal Editor empower us to instantly produce and optimize our outputs, and we especially love how the engine enables designers to easily prototype concepts without the need for programming." Jay Wilbur, VP of Epic Games, returned the press release back patting by saying, "We expect to be completely wowed by what they do with our latest technology."

So do we, Mr. Wilbur. In fact, it'll take a lot to wow the millions who've already been thoroughly WoW'ed.

Add yet another developer to the Unreal roster. Curt Schilling's 38 Studios has announced (via GameDaily) that it has licensed Epic's Unreal Engine 3 for its MMO project Copernicus. The studio also recently licensed BigWorld's MMO dev tools.

Of course, given the tentative 2010 release, we don't expect to see any thing from the game for a at least another year. For now, all we've really got to think about is how the Mova facial technology would beautify the legendary baseball pitcher's avatar.

Since Gears of War 2's brief GDC teaser offered very little in the way of new information (you know, aside from the confirmed return of chainsaws and vast amounts of testosterone), we now have to resort to box art analysis. Though the art from Microsoft's press site is labeled as "temporary," it should be more than adequate to fuel your imaginary trip to the store to pick it up.

You'll also have to imagine yourself mulling over paying $60 or $70 -- as you'll see in the gallery, the Limited Edition seems very much inevitable.

Did you hear the one about Microsoft buying Unreal Engine developer Epic Games for one billion dollars? The rumor stems from the latest issue of GamePro magazine, and while not flat-out denying the rumor, Epic VP Mark Rein did has some choice words.

In an email to Develop, Rein said, "I have not seen the actual GamePro article but if they're going to make predictions about us selling Epic we would prefer if they started at $2 billion, because we don't want anyone thinking that we're cheap," followed by a smile-inducing emoticon. A more tangible bit of Epic Games speculation is that Gears of War 2 will be unveiled at GDC this week.

[Via X3F]

Subpoenas have been issued to multiple licensees of Unreal Engine 3 to testify in the ongoing litigation between UE3 maker Epic Games and Too Human developer Silicon Knights, according to Shacknews. Though no licensees are specified, developers who use the engine include Electronic Arts, 2K Boston/Australia, SOE, Square Enix, Ubisoft and the U.S. Army.

Said Rein to Shacknews, "I'm leaving the litigation to the lawyers but, if this is the case, I'd like to apologize to any of our licensees who Silicon Knights have inconvenienced." Should license contracts be submitted as unsealed court evidence, there is a chance the licensing fees and other trade secrets could become public record, though Epic's lawyers can move to seal court documents.

In late July, Silicon Knights filed a lawsuit against Epic Games over what it felt was inadequate support for its Unreal Engine 3 that harmed development of Too Human. Epic responded and filed a countersuit. In November, Epic's motion for dismissal was denied.

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.