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As Midway continues to fend off the courts and the government whilst floating in bankruptcy limbo, Edge Online reports that the company is now fighting yet another legal battle, this time over attorney fees in the Epic vs Silicon Knights lawsuit. Yeah, it's been a while since we wrote about that. Quick refresher: Silicon Knights is suing Epic over the "inadequacies" of the Unreal Engine used by licensees, which the developer originally used to craft Too Human before opting to create its own engine instead. As part of the proceedings, subpoenas for Unreal Engine records were issued to licensees, one of which was Midway.

Now, Midway is asking the court to defer all costs of the record review process to Silicon Knights. Additionally, the publisher is asking that certain documents be redacted so that Silicon Knights will not be exposed to any trade secrets. Midway cites its bankruptcy proceedings as preventing it from paying any costs associated with the review, including the hire of attorneys and former Midway employees.

The request resulted in a tit-for-tat between the companies' attorneys, with Silicon Knights responding that Midway's creditors have already approved a monthly expenditure of $35,000 over three months to pay for the review. Silicon Knights' attorneys also state that the company has "taken extraordinary steps" to prevent any "undue burden" on the beleaguered publisher.

This is normally where we would make a Mortal Kombat "Finish Him!" joke but, frankly, our hearts just aren't in it.

Epic Games, developer of the Gears of War series and everyone's favorite jackrabbit franchise, has apparently signed a deal with Metaboli, the European "partner" to digital download services GameTap and Games Planet, reports Develop. The contract solidifies a three-year partnership between Metaboli and Epic, with Epic bringing its entire Unreal series to the table.

It remains unclear whether or not Epic will bring other franchises from its stable to the services but if the ailing economy dictates anything, it's the likelihood of folks selling what they can wherever they can. We contacted Mark Rein, VP of Epic Games, for comment and he told us it's, "Too early to know." It's a certainty we won't see the aforementioned Gears of War franchise though as it's handled by Microsoft. Rein told us, "Microsoft handles Gears of War PC distribution so that would be their deal." Sorry folks!

Epic Games is patching their PS3 online FPS game, Unreal Tournament III, with Trophies and new features.

Epic Games has released the first title update for its action-packed grunt-a-thon, Gears of War 2. The automagically applied patch addresses delays in public matchmaking (particularly for single- and four-player parties), improves the developer's ability to collect match statistics and fixes one non-hilarious issue which prevented some gamers from playing the Gears of War 2 campaign if Xbox Live was unavailable.

Now, about that Imulsion map ...

[Via X3F]

Well, so much for that fancy "platinum" score from Famitsu. Western critics have passed judgment on role-playing epic The Last Remnant, deeming it an intriguing turn-based affair that's unfortunately mired in plodding pacing and abundant technical issues. Did nobody think to send Square Enix the Unreal Engine's instruction manual?

• Gametrailers (80/100): "The Last Remnant is a hard game to judge. A person's enjoyment of it will be directly related to how much they can tolerate persistent graphical issues. If you can get past it, there's a lot to enjoy in the smart design decisions and its unique battle system."
• Gamespot (65/100): "How unfortunate that such a renowned RPG developer has buried a potential classic under a humiliating technical fiasco."
• Eurogamer (60/100): "It's a unique and compelling combat system buried beneath choppy pacing, too much wandering around, disappointing presentation problems and an awful lot of loading, and whether that's worth accepting depends largely on your tolerance or affection for long-winded self-indulgence, and whether you think 40 quid is a reasonable amount to pay for one superb idea cushioned by hours of grinding mediocrity."
• IGN (53/100): "The Last Remnant is a technical mess, but it's also behind the curve in so many ways."

Mark Rein and company will have another memento to share during the office barbeque as Epic has been recognized as the "Top Industry Driven Technology Company of the Year," at least on the Atlantic Seaboard. The accolade was given by the North Carolina Technology Association, or NCTA, as part of the organization's annual NCTA 21 awards ceremony, which applauds technology go-getters in the Tar Heel State.

Other finalists for the award included Parata Systems, PeopleClick and Railinc, companies we imagine lost out due to their flagrant disregard for rag doll physics and courtroom shenanigans.

"His current haircut is short and cowlicked, his bangs twirled up into a tiny moussed horn. He was wearing what in my high school would have been called 'exchange-student jeans'-obviously expensive but slightly the wrong color and of a somehow non-American cut." After a brief period of alarm, thinking someone had stolen and published our romantic Cliff Bleszinski novella, it came to our attention that The New Yorker had posted a lengthy profile on Mr. Gears of War himself.

Packed with biographical information and sensual descriptions of Bleszinksi's earlobes, the article provides an interesting glimpse at a man who has set out to make game design "a little cooler." Check it out and get to know the man responsible for your recently developed chainsaw fetish a little better.

[Thanks, mn]

While nowhere as successful as Gears of War, Epic Games is working on an expansion to their multiplayer shooter, Unreal Tournament III. "We're working together on a major expansion that we expect will excite and grow our UT3 customer base," Epic Games' VP Mark Reins told Gamespot.

No other specifics were provided, such as release date or format (DLC? Expansion pack disc?). Considering the game debuted on the PS3, we're going to keep our eyes peeled for any more info.

[Via Joystiq]

Remember back when Mark Rein let loose somebody was working on Unreal Engine 3 for Wii? Well, we finally know what game will be using it, we guess. Kind of. We don't really know much about the exact game, per se. What game? The one that EA is publishing from Q Entertainment, Resident Evil co-creator Shinji Mikami and the man responsible for one of our most favorite Wii games, Suda51.

Suda says Unreal Engine 3 is a "powerful, easy-to-implement game engine" that is aiding his company to "quickly bring our vision to life." He also added that the "tools and technology" allow him to "create games faster, easier and with less risk." So are we excited? Well, maybe. It's not like the Wii version is mentioned and we would think it should be, considering no title up until now has utilized Unreal Engine 3 technology. But, hey, we'll try to be as optimistic as we can, because we feel confident in the abilities of all involved, to tell the truth.

Now if only we could some information on what this game is ...

It may seem like a stretch, but we're keeping a close eye on every scrap of information surrounding the collaboration with Goichi "Suda51" Suda and Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami (as well as Tetsuya Mizuguchi's Q Entertainment). Publisher Electronic Arts has announced (via press release) that Suda51's studio Grasshopper Manufacture has licensed Epic's Unreal Engine 3 for the multiplatform horror franchise. We're curious what the use of UE3 means for the Wii version of the game, given Epic's non-support of the console.

Unfortunately, what's lacking in the press release is any information about the game itself. Said Epic VP Jay Wilbur, "Grasshopper Manufacture is one of the most daring and innovative studios in the world, and we can't wait to see what they're able to do with Unreal Engine 3." Welcome to the club, buddy.

When you scan the new 360 releases this week, you may feel a sense of déjà vu. "Unreal Tournament III," you will say, "didn't that come out eight months ago?" Fear not, however, for your eyes do not deceive you. The Xbox 360 version of Unreal Tournament III has finally released, bereft of user created content though it may be. Presenting us with another trip back in time is Civilization Revolution, which has players building their ... civilizations from ancient times all the way into the space age. If you haven't given the demo a try, we suggest you do. It's good fun. Finally, we have Beijing Olympics 2008. We're guessing that one involves a lot of button mashing and stick twirling. You'd best prepare for the calluses now.

[Via Joystiq]

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.

Once again, another Unreal Engine-related delay strikes again. The Last Remnant is one of the timed exclusive RPGs from Square Enix on the Xbox 360, but that wasn't because Microsoft shelled out the big bucks. According to an interview with Gamespy, the delay was "mainly for development reasons." The Unreal Engine has been difficult to work with on PS3, and that's been the cause of the delay. "We're developing the game using the middleware Unreal Engine, and the Unreal Engine has a slower development on the PS3 side."

Thankfully, ever since Epic worked on the PS3 with Unreal Tournament III, things have been running more smoothly on Sony's platform. "It was only really workable after Unreal Tournament was published, so this was mainly a development decision."

Square Enix's other PS3 RPG games, Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII, utilize Square Enix's in-house Crystal Tools engine.

[Via NeoGAF]

According to a study recently published in the journal Cyberpsychology & Behavior, the eternal battle of Red vs Blue just got a little more interesting. According to the study, which analyzed matches of Unreal Tournament 2004, the red team is more likely to win than the blue team in online games. In fact, the red team won 55% of the time in the 1347 matches that were studied. We'd like to think it's because the Red team has Sarge leading them to victory, but according to Mihai Moldovan, a neuroscientist who worked on the study, the real reason is "most likely that the color red may act as a psychological distractor for men, possibly because men flush and turn red when they're angry."

When reached for comment, Epic VP Mark Rein stated that red and blue are an entrenched part of the Unreal Tournament series saying, "We don't anticipate any immediate changes to team colors."

[Thanks, Bowie. Via 7th Columnist]