PS3 Fanboy

We can't help but wonder why Epic has decided to patch up Unreal Tournament 3 so late in the day, but they've done just that. The patch fixes a long list of problems, including AI issues, stability problems and other tweaks and improvements. It should be live by now -- simply place your UT3 disc in the PS3 drive and it will ask you to update. Of course, that's assuming you're still playing the game. Are you? If so, you probably won't be for long, what with WipEout HD (among plenty of other stuff) arriving tomorrow and Blu-ray releases ramping up from here til Christmas. Still, a free patch is a free patch.

[Thanks silverwolf761]

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?

Unreal Tournament III on PS3 is made even better thanks to an active mod community. UT2D-SuperMario_Beta1 revives the classic NES game, Super Mario Bros. through its use of nostalgic 2D decorations. This mod already works on the PS3, but according to the devs, "decent stock sounds" are upcoming for the game. Check it out here.

[Thanks, JRod!]

The tardy Xbox 360 version of Unreal Tournament III comes with a few features missing from the PS3 original. The most notable new feature is split-screen multiplayer. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like this will come as a downloadable patch any time soon. Epic's Mark Rein told videogamer.com "I don't think so, because this is what's in this (the Xbox 360 version) game. I think it would be a big job to go back and retrofit that game for split-screen. I just don't think we have the resources to do that unfortunately."

"We heard from the PS3 guys they really wanted split-screen. Maybe if we'd spent eight more months on the game like we have here," he added. Of course, the PS3 version of UT3 will still sport a key feature the Xbox 360 version will never see: unrestricted access to fan-created mods.

For one reason or another, Epic's PS3-early Unreal Tournament III never found the success of its previous titles, like Gears of War. Midway is giving the multiplayer FPS another chance at retail, with a rather significant price drop. Originally $60, the game is now a mere $40 new at game retailers, such as amazon.com and GameStop.

With a recently released free map pack and a growing collection of user-generated mods, there's never been a better time to jump into the UT community. Hopefully, this price drop will give the game the attention it never received at launch.

[Via GT Forums]

It's not much of a deal, but if you want to pay "last-gen" prices for "next-gen" games, then you might finally bite the bullet and get Unreal Tournament 3 for this slightly discounted price. If you think about all the fun you'll have when it comes to mods, then you're pretty set when it comes to convincing yourself. It's definitely a good game to add to your PS3 library, so we're just tipping you off on what might be the eight bucks off you needed.

It's all very well being able to play as Master Chief or Marcus Fenix in Unreal Tournament 3, but what about Nintendo fans? Who can they play as? Thankfully, one skillful modder has created a Samus Aran character model to placate the UTIII playing Nintendo mob. The model itself looks excellent and we can't wait to try it out. You can find more information as well as links to the mod (cooked for the PS3, naturally) at ut3mod.com. Go check it out and let us know what you think.

It was only a matter of time until the Unreal Tournament III community started building some truly spectacular mods for use on PS3. This Master Chief suit, for example, looks just as good (if not better) than his model in Halo 3. Check out (and download) Master Chief, and other characters from Gears of War and Final Fantasy here.

[Via Digg]

We don't know about you, but we've had trouble going back to Unreal Tournament 3 for online play due to the broken VOIP feature. It really is a game-killer. Thankfully, a new post on the official Epic forums lets us know that the upcoming Unreal Tournament 3 patch for the PS3 will fix these issues -- and much, much more. Check out the full patch list after the break to find out exactly what's included.

The patch will affect US versions of the game more than the European version as the latter had many of these fixes added to the retail version, thanks to the two month delay. Notable fixes include the VOIP feature (so important, it's worth mentioning twice), mod adding/downloading (we're assuming this means we can have more than one mod on our memory stick at once?) and plenty more miscellaneous features. For the full list check after the break.

Unreal Tournament III finally gets released in the US tomorrow and one of its developers, Art Production Manager Chris Mielke, has posted some tips on the PlayStation.Blog. So if you're picking the game up at any point, make sure you take note of Chris' advice. While the main bulk of his post is a walkthrough of the level "Suspense" he also includes some random pearls of wisdom. Check out the blog post and try to osmose as much information as you can in readiness of tomorrow.

We love the idea of developers coming online and giving tips about their upcoming titles. We've seen this before with "things to try" lists for demos and would be happy to see the trend continue. Not that there are many other games coming for the rest of the year - which is fine by us. We're swamped with all the great releases over the last two months.

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.

Mark Rein has once again kept his word. After saying that we'd receive Unreal Tournament 3 before the year ends, last week, Rein proclaimed the game would be in stores as early as Dec. 11. Today, Midway confirmed that as it announced the game will be shipping to retailers on Dec. 10.

After the unfortunate delays of The Orange Box and Haze, it's great that we'll have a decent FPS to look forward to this holiday season. We're pretty confident that, unlike EA and Valve, Epic will ensure its game runs as smoothly as possible on the PS3.

It seems Epic's Mark Rein has remained true to his word that the PS3 version of Unreal Tournament 3 would release before the end of the year in North America as he announced the game has gone gold and is now in the hands of North American manufacturing.

Although an exact release date probably won't be set until next week, Rein did say the game will hit shelves early next month. "My guess is that Midway will start shipping the title to North American retailers on Monday December 10, and it could show up in stores as early as December 11, but more likely toward the middle of that week," he said in a statement.

"I think PS3 owners are going to really enjoy UT3 this holiday so make sure you get it on your shopping list!" he said. While this is welcomed news for North American PS3 owners, we're sorry to say but our European friends will still have to wait until January or February for the newest entry into the series.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

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This weekend, we're focusing on Epic Game's upcoming PS3 title Unreal Tournament III.

If you so choose, you can play Midway's upcoming Unreal Tournament III with some data cached on your drive. It'll take a pretty sizable chunk: 3.5 gigs worth of data. According to Mark Rein, this will shave just a few seconds off of the already-brief load times, and is meant for the hardcore that'll undoubtedly play the game nonstop. "Yes there is an install option which places a bunch of the commonly used content on your hard drive to speed up loading and texture streaming times a bit. It does not install everything - you still have to put the disc in the drive to run the game. The install is absolutely not essential. The game runs just fine from the Bluray and load times aren't bad but if you're going to play the game a lot, and you've got an extra 3.5Gb on your hard drive, then you might as well do the install because the few seconds you save here and there will add up over time."

[Via N4G]