PS3 Fanboy

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?

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.

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.

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.

Love playing Unreal Tournament 3? Love LEGOs? Then you're going to be thrilled by this bit of news. A talented gamer has created a LEGO-inspired UT3 mod for the PS3 version of the multi-platform shooter.

The coolest part of this mod has got to be watching the LEGO blocks break apart when you fire at them. It would've been equally fun to have the ability to build stuff back up, but that would probably distract players from killing each other like they're suppose to.

Hit the jump for another video clip or, if you're already planning on getting this mod for yourself, you can download it here. Make sure you thank the creator, too!

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.

It was notable late last year the great job Epic did in ensuring Unreal Tournament III hit its promised stateside release before 2007 ended. While seemingly all the attention was focused on North America, gamers in Europe were left on the outside looking in as Epic couldn't nail down a firm release date for the region ... until now.

Eurogamer has learned from Midway that the game will be available on Feb. 22, ending the weeks of impatient waiting from the series' longtime fans. With the mod cooker released and user-created mods now showing up, it looks like European gamers will be in for quite the treat when they finally get their hands on it.

The ever-chatty vice president of Epic, Mark Rein, has posted on the official Unreal Tournament III forums to let us know that they're in the final stages of testing the public code that allows for "cooking" mod code for the PS3. Rein believes that testing should be finished sometime next week and the update can then be immediately released. This will open the flood gates and we will then see a huge amount of user generated content being played on the PS3. We can't wait.

Once the "cooker" is finally released, we at PS3 Fanboy will be running a new feature showcasing the best UTIII mods available for PS3. More on that next week, hopefully!

[Via N4G]

The official PS3 "cooking" program that allows PC mods to work on the PS3 hasn't been released yet. But, that hasn't stopped Epic from taking things into their own hands. They converted Thomas Browett's DM-Shrine and made it available for PS3 play. Feel free to download it here or here.

Unfortunately, the process of getting these levels to your system are a bit cumbersome. Provided you have some external USB memory card/stick (the PSP works well in this situation), you'll be able to transfer the files to your system. Be warned, however. You'll have to follow a specific directory layout in order to get this new level onto your machine. Hopefully, a more elegant in-game solution will be made available in the future.

[Via Joystiq]

We know a lot of you were disappointed to find out that, even though Epic had promised, mods were not made available for the PS3 version of Unreal Tournament III on day one. Apparently they are still waiting on some paperwork from Sony and once that's in people will be able to export their mods for the PS3 version of the game. To tide us over until then, Epic has "cooked" some mods they've picked from the community themselves. The first piece, a map by the name of DM-Shrine, is available right now to play on your PS3.

As if that wasn't enough, Epic is releasing some more user-generated content for download from the modding community. A mutator, some new maps and even a new game type. This should easily keep us busy until modders can "cook" their own content - when that happens we advise that you hold onto something, because we'll be seeing a tidal wave of content being released for us.

Importing content is simply a matter of placing it onto the root directory of a memory stick or USB key, then importing it through the "My Content" section of the "Community" menu. Simple as that. The power of UTIII mods really becomes clear today and we can't wait to see what the modding community comes up with once the exporter is finally released.

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]

A very lucky five people in the UK will be able to see an early version of Unreal Tournament III for PS3. As noted by the semi-official Sony blog, these five members of the public will be some of the first non-gaming media to see the game.

Send your name to blog@threespeech.com if you would like to go in the draw and five names will be selected randomly tomorrow afternoon. Remember, you'll have to make your way to Brimingham, so only those that are in the neighborhood may want to enter.

Wait, Unreal Tournament has a story? When did this happen? One of the big new improvements to this hotly anticipated PS3/PC sequel is the addition of a significant single player story. Fans of Unreal Tournament have long gone without a story. It's not really necessary, especially in light of such advanced multiplayer modes. Regardless, the single player mode should prove a great way of training our ability to gib and get some insane kills.