PS3 Fanboy

Many of you have been asking us "where is Fat Princess, oh darn it?" Well, looks like it's 2009. First unveiled at E3 this year, the downloadable title earned a lot of buzz (both positive and negative) for its cute, gory, cake-filled concept.

A press release from Epic Games China has officially "announced" the "opening" of Titan Studios, the developer of the upcoming game. There are a few things we're confused by. First, why is Epic Games China opening a studio in Seattle? Last we checked, Seattle wasn't a part of China (unless, that is, the takeover has begun ...). Also, why is the studio being announced now? Maybe that's why Fat Princess is taking so long to develop! The studio wasn't actually official yet!

Titan Studios brings to it developers with experience at companies including Ubisoft, Epic Games, Scion Studios, Blizzard Entertainment and Lionhead Studios. Titan Studios is not only working on Fat Princess, but a number of other Unreal Engine 3 games, including a massively multiplayer online game.

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]

Epic recently leaked some screenshots to generate buzz for the 360 version, but the truth is, no one cares because no one is playing the versions that are already out. With almost 1000 servers, 12,000 player spaces, the game's player rate is about 500 a day. Patches were released to remedy various online problems, coupled with price drops, yet there is no improvement. Fiori lists possible culprits; has Call of Duty 4 replaced UT as the new poster child for FPS? Did Epic abandon the UT franchise for the more lucrative Gears of War? Is PC competitive gaming simply on a decline? Was it bad timing similar to what happened to UT2003?

Though he doesn't arrive at one specific conclusion, Fiori asserts the failure of UT3 comes from the existence of the console versions in his concluding paragraph: "The solution is not the same as it was in the past. PC-centric development meant that patches or even complete rebuilds could be done within a year as in the 2003/2004 situation. The modern multiplatform development cycle makes it virtually impossible." What do you guys think? Is the PS3 and upcoming 360 version to blame for UT3's inability to repeat the success of its predecessors?

In spite of Microsoft's announcement of the XBL community arcade, there's apparently no progress on making Unreal Tournament III mods available on the Xbox 360. In an interview with Joystiq, Epic Games' VP Mark Rein noted that there's still no set release date for the 360 version.

More interesting than that bit of news comes from what Rein has to say about the PS3 version. He acknowledged the current mod system is "less than stellar." The cumbersome process of having to download files to a PC, properly format them on a Memory Stick, and transfer them to the PS3 is certainly an annoying one. Unfortunately, no specific details about what "improvements" will be made, or when they'll be available, have been announced yet. Considering how broken the current system is, we'd like to think that anything is going to be an improvement.

In a massive interview with Gamasutra, Mark Rein sat down to discuss pretty much everything that makes him, him and Epic Games, Epic Games. For the sake of space and your sanity, we'll close the gap on the wide array of questions and focus on Mark Rein's stance on the PSN. It's a good one. The PSN is open-platform, meaning it will allow us to utilize user-generated content.

Rein's thoughts? "It's fantastic! I can't understand why people are so nervous about what Sony... no, Sony's wonderful. When they embrace user-created content, that's what it means to be an open system. That's why we're on PlayStation 3 first -- because they are embracing user-created content." We sure are with Unreal Tournament 3 hitting this December. It'll be very easy to load up the mods from the PC and transfer them onto the PS3 and if it's any indication how future titles will utilize the open platform, then we're in for a treat.

If you can't get enough of the tunes in Unreal Tournament 3, be not disheartened! The official 2-CD soundtrack is getting released by Sumthing Else Music Works. The soundtrack features music by Rom Di Prisco and Jesper Kyd, and will be available on November 20th. You'll get over 150 minutes of only the most hard-hitting electronica and remixes of tunes you've ever heard! Supposedly.

It's good to note that both Di Prisco and Jesper Kyd are new to making game music in the Unreal franchise, but the folks at Epic are pleased with the results. Hopefully, if you give the soundtrack a purchase, you will too.

Another interview took place where Mark Rein, the man behind Epic Games' Unreal Tournament 3, chatted about the PlayStation 3 version of the game as well as some other bits. A lot of the information is redundant, such as keyboard and mouse support and the lack of cross-platform play (unless you own the PC and PS3 versions, you can use your PC as a dedicated server and move all the mods and such from the PC to the PS3).

What Mark hadn't talked about before was the Sixaxis. It will be used, but only to steer the hoverboard and Redeemer. He didn't say if there was an option to turn the controls off, but we'd imagine so. Another thing he mentioned was the reason for the PS3 version's delay. The PS3 version has to go through a lot of certification processes, and those are taking longer than anticipated. Nothing wrong with the code or any difficulties working with the PS3.

There's a lot more information in the interview, especially if you're predominantly a PC gamer. Talks of PhysX ensue and the jargon started to go over our heads. Still, we know our readership isn't solely Sony supporters, thus our heads up to you guys to check out the interview if you're curious about that.

Does it still count as flamebaiting if the one making the claim is responsible for both games? Either way, Mark Rein of Epic Games has expressed how proud he is of Unreal Tournament 3 and really hopes it can still get a release this year in Europe, but probably won't. The game boasts amazing graphics, so amazing he said, "It's a really high end experience that pushes the graphics bar up even higher than Gears of War. There's more polygons, there's more stuff going on, there's more explosions and there's more things happening." Draw your own conclusions.

How about programming difficulties? Rein says such things had no effect on them in the end. "I don't think the PS3 was any more of a challenge than any other new piece of hardware that we've used. Remember, we've been making PC games for years and the PC isn't one platform, it's hundreds of platforms. There's no two PCs that are completely identical in many cases." The game also seems to go at just the right speed for a console, he said, lending itself well to controller ... controls. Though you can still use a keyboard/mouse if you'd like. Which will you guys use?

A big hubbub has been made due to the announcement that Unreal Tournament 3 has gotten delayed into 2008, coinciding with the PC and 360 releases. But has it, really? First up, Mark Rein tried to comment on the delay announcement at the Epic Forums, but apparently Midway had the thread deleted. He's created another thread repeating what he said, which is basically "Midway felt an obligation to its shareholders to let them know about the possibility of a delay. Our goal is still to get the PS3 version of UT3 in stores before the end of 2007. However, we will only ship it once it's ready and is the best game we can deliver."

The good news, he says, is with the extra time the PS3 version will have all the maps the PC version will offer -- so complaining is neither here nor there. You can check out the quote on ThreeSpeech in case Mark's second post gets knocked off the forums again, due to unnecessary flaming on other members' behalf. In any case, the game has not officially been delayed, but it's a warning to expect a delay. For extra dev time, though, we don't really mind. We've got a lot to play this holiday season already.