UTIII (360) Starting in 2008, Xbox 360 Turning into PC

[Texas Speed]

Well, it's not really turning into a PC, but it's getting there, and Epic will help it out. X3F (http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2007/11/15/epic-not-starting-on-360-utiii-until-2008/) has some comments made by Mark Rein about the 360 version of UTIII. First, good news for the community as a whole:

So our job, when we finish the PS3 version, and we've taken a little break, is to sit down with Microsoft and to figure out how we can do Mods on their system.

User content over Live may never reach PC standards, but it'll try. Now for a, "I think the release date might slip," kind of statement:

Epic bigwig Mark Rein admitted that work on the Xbox 360 version of Unreal Tournament III had not yet begun. When asked about whether or not we'd ever see the 360 version, Rein responded that it was definitely on the way, and reiterated that finding a way to incorporate user created mods was causing the hold up.... Rein was then asked when the 360 version might be ready and responded, "We won't even start working on it until early next year."

If Epic finds a good way to incorporate mods, that is more important than the actual game.

[iHap]

A console...is literally a PC.

[PathMaster]

I thought they had begun work on this already? Although I imagine a port is not as hard as a full game from scratch. Here is to hoping for mods.

[bean19]

We may need some more news guidelines?

This story is about Epic working with Microsoft to come up with a plan for user-created content for the Xbox 360. That should be the headline - turning into the Xbox 360 is the kind of attention-grabbing headline we hate on sites like Destructoid. Plus, this is interesting enough on it's own.

Great that you added the second bit about it potentially slipping as that is equally newsworthy, but not necessarily worth another post.

Not trying to pick on you Texas Speed, but instead of discussing this news, you are going to get a LOT of comments about the headline instead of the subject, and this is really cool news.

-----

It is really good that Epic is working with Microsoft on this. UT2K4 was excellent about delivering user-created content and if the Xbox gains similar features, it will definitely enhance the system's value AND our willingness to buy $60 games that absolutely require replayability at that price point.

Annoying that they haven't even started on it, but I plan to get UT3 on the PC anyway TBH. I'm a big UT fan and even a strong console game wouldn't feel right to me. However, I do want it to gain more of a following, so this is exciting.

[CaptStu]

Will anyone really care?

[iHap]

Will anyone really care?

SDF is gonna have a field day about this...

[jadkins555]

Will anyone really care?

I don't care about UT3 or mods. I remember playing UT on the PC and all the servers running crappy maps and other stupid mutators. All I ever ended up doing was filtering for pure servers.

UT has never been big on consoles, why should it be now?

[Gorvi]

Mods could be cool, mods could be a waste of time. I'd say it probably depends on the mod in question.

Wait. What? Oh, right, this is the internet. Right. Sorry.

Man, who wants mods anyway? They suck, all they'll do is fuck up the game. Assholes.

[rein]

SDF is gonna have a field day about this...
Why? It's been discussed before. I was not able to follow the link because I am at work but both items mentioned in the news post is fairly old news.

[karak]

Ug. This game dropped off the radar long ago for me.

[bean19]

I don't care about UT3 or mods. I remember playing UT on the PC and all the servers running crappy maps and other stupid mutators. All I ever ended up doing was filtering for pure servers.

UT has never been big on consoles, why should it be now?

Admittedly, some of the user-content was not that great (never cared for RPG servers that basically had normal weapons vs. spawned mobs, but you got progressively more powerful and admins or friends of admins were ridiculous). The idea was fun, but I never found anyone playing one correctly.

However, some of the mutators and some of the full mods were excellent. What they didn't do well was allowing you to find the quality things within the game engine. You had to research them on exterior fan sites, and this honestly lead to many great mods not being played as much as they should have been. There was an incredible CS-like game set in Neo-Tokyo that never had any players. . . beautiful-clean graphics and great weapons. I played maybe 5 rounds of it with about 4 people. . . probably the best game I never really got to play.

[Krom]

They'll find some way to charge you for them.

[Xerxes]

You should of misquoted Mark Rein. He probably would of came to correct you and give us even more of "the scoop."
http://www.candyfavorites.com/pi/candy%20scoop.jpg

[UnderHero5]

He's been saying this same thing since they announced custom content for the PS3.
They've been talking to MS about it the entire time. This is news to you guys?

[Zecon]

wow it's amazing how little epic cares about the xbox crowd, with this and the whole Gears of War screw over. Mark Rein is a douche, with the insane xbox360 attach rate and large install base you think they might want to make some money off of it, but no, they are more concerned about getting it onto the PS3 (since it seems to be selling boatloads, in Marks mind at least). Maybe epic is afraid of all the better games that are being released on xbox this Xmas. Anyway, Maybe I'll look inbto this game if they ever get their lazy asses working on it.

[Chang3]

At the risk of sounding like a n00b, whats mods?

[bKangy]

At the risk of sounding like a n00b, whats mods?

The day EvAv died :P

[NationalKato]

At the risk of sounding like a n00b, whats mods?

User-made modifications (mods) of game maps and game characteristics. On a PC, this can be any aspect of the game from maps, sounds, AI, etc. In order for this to be robust - and why the PC is the main source of mods - the developer needs to release the source code to the public.

Games like Counter Strike and Team Fortress started out as mods. Oblivion has a full range of mods that change the game, the graphics, or nearly any other aspect.

[Yeti2005]

I think it's impressive Epic has gotten mods to work on consoles. I still don't know how they'll handle issues with memory (i.e. a mod on a PC can obviously take up a lot more memory than one on the PS3 or 360).

Also be prepared for a huge mainstream media backlash when some asshat creates a porn mod and puts it on his PS3 (or 360 next year). The ESRB will have to change the rating to AO or some other garbage.

[eth3rton]

Will anyone really care?

Was just gonna post this exact same statement. Anyone that cares about the mods will pick up the PC version.

[rein]

wow it's amazing how little epic cares about the xbox crowd, with this and the whole Gears of War screw over. Mark Rein is a douche, with the insane xbox360 attach rate and large install base you think they might want to make some money off of it, but no, they are more concerned about getting it onto the PS3 (since it seems to be selling boatloads, in Marks mind at least). Maybe epic is afraid of all the better games that are being released on xbox this Xmas. Anyway, Maybe I'll look inbto this game if they ever get their lazy asses working on it.

Protip - You should read the article before posting. :rolleyes:

[Telefrog]

wow it's amazing how little epic cares about the xbox crowd, with this and the whole Gears of War screw over. Mark Rein is a douche, with the insane xbox360 attach rate and large install base you think they might want to make some money off of it, but no, they are more concerned about getting it onto the PS3 (since it seems to be selling boatloads, in Marks mind at least). Maybe epic is afraid of all the better games that are being released on xbox this Xmas. Anyway, Maybe I'll look inbto this game if they ever get their lazy asses working on it.

WTF?!

Did Mark Rein pee in your soup? How is this not a positive news post? UT3 for 360 confirmed. Epic and MS in discussions about getting mods to work. Rein said Epic is committed to getting the experience right. Okay, there's the news about a (sorta) delay, although they never gave a date before.

I look at it this way, while the PC version is going to have to be massively patched (see posts about UI issues) and the PS3 version will likely get a patch or two as well, by the time this comes to the 360 it should be in great shape.

[karak]

by the time this comes to the 360 it should be in great shape.
And past tendencies would point to it probably running better on the 360 as well. Sigh.

[Serapth]

You know what, having a gateway in the middle that posted the best and most popular PC mods on the 360 would probrably be a better system. THats the thing with mods, there are hundreds of them, and 98% are crap. Not to mention, having one source for downloading means less missing wave files and other BS.

As to Mark Reins comments. Bullshit. No way a company like Epic writes a game like UT3 without coding for the 360 at the same time. Especially when they are using their own middleware platform, which should make the difference almost trivial. It should take days to maybe weeks to port over. The delay is most likely contract based.

[Telefrog]

As to Mark Reins comments. Bullshit. No way a company like Epic writes a game like UT3 without coding for the 360 at the same time. Especially when they are using their own middleware platform, which should make the difference almost trivial. It should take days to maybe weeks to port over. The delay is most likely contract based.

I'm sure part of the delay is due to Mark's explanation; that Epic and MS are discussing ways to get DLC to work. Other then that, yeah, I'm sure the delay is mostly contractually in origin.

I'm pretty sure that Sony is leaning on them hard to get this game out before the end of the year. (I suspect it's the motivation for shooting out the PC version with the crappy console UI now, rather than waiting to fix it.)

[TrackZero]

Since I know you're reading this,

Hi Mark!

[Kamalot]

This news brings with it the exciting prospect of user-created mods on the 360, not just for Unreal Tournament 3, but for other titles as well.

[Serapth]

This news brings with it the exciting prospect of user-created mods on the 360, not just for Unreal Tournament 3, but for other titles as well.

Whats bullshit is, this was promised ages ago. Remember how micrortansactions were going to allow people to create their own paint schemes on windows and sell them on Live. Or create maps and mods to their favorite games?

This is one area MS has disappointed me.

[Telefrog]

Whats bullshit is, this was promised ages ago. Remember how micrortansactions were going to allow people to create their own paint schemes on windows and sell them on Live. Or create maps and mods to their favorite games?

This is one area MS has disappointed me.

I think that all went out the window along with the Live Anywhere idea when MS figured out how much money could be made in the Marketplace.

Remember those pie in the sky demos of using your PC to draw livery art for Forza 2 cars, or using your cell phone to play Bejeweled off your Live account? Dead as the dodo.

[51|RandoM]

Also be prepared for a huge mainstream media backlash when some asshat creates a porn mod and puts it on his PS3 (or 360 next year). The ESRB will have to change the rating to AO or some other garbage.

Not really. If you go back and look at the times that the ESRB did that they did it because the content was already in the shipping product.

If there is a sex mode in UT3 that can be unlocked by a mod, then yeah, the ESRB would do something. But if the mod adds the content itself the ESRB won't do anything, nor should they.

The "Hot Coffee" sex minigame shipped with GTA:SA. The content, the artwork, the minigame, etc. was already there. Then Rockstar made it much worse by lying about it. The mod that allows access to it? That mod changes a single bit in a configuration file. Only a single bit. A zero gets flipped to a 1, or vice versa and suddenly you have a sex minigame.

That fiasco wasn't about censorship, it wasn't about what people should or should be able to see/do in a videogame, it was about Rockstar lying to the ESRB not once, but twice.

Oh, and to the douchebag who said Epic doesn't care: my money is on exactly the opposite being the real issue with delays on 360. When you have to continually wage war with Microsoft just to do the "right thing", the right things you've become famous for over on the PC platform it is all about caring, caring about your product and your audience.

[Serapth]

I think that all went out the window along with the Live Anywhere idea when MS figured out how much money could be made in the Marketplace.

Remember those pie in the sky demos of using your PC to draw livery art for Forza 2 cars, or using your cell phone to play Bejeweled off your Live account? Dead as the dodo.

Is that formally dead? I was looking forward to some Geometry wars on my cell! :(

[Evil Avatar]

The 360 version hasn't even started? Where do we get those "Fail" pictures?

[Xerxes]

The 360 version hasn't even started? Where do we get those "Fail" pictures?
Google Image, search fail.

http://www.except.nl/overig/uploads/kittens/fail.jpg

[Chainblast]

Will anyone really care?

Some will I'm sure. I think it really depends when UT3 on 360 releases and what other multi-player FPS games there are available when it does.

[PrivateJohn]

Thank you. There are enough quality FPS on the market now, it's blessing in disguise actually. Epic does not need to flood the 360 market with more FPS.

Now i have Orange box, Halo 3, Cod4 and i am not bored of the games yet.

[Zecon]

WTF?!

Did Mark Rein pee in your soup? How is this not a positive news post? UT3 for 360 confirmed. Epic and MS in discussions about getting mods to work. Rein said Epic is committed to getting the experience right. Okay, there's the news about a (sorta) delay, although they never gave a date before.

I look at it this way, while the PC version is going to have to be massively patched (see posts about UI issues) and the PS3 version will likely get a patch or two as well, by the time this comes to the 360 it should be in great shape.

I just don't see how the 360 OS and windows differ so much as to not build them both at the same time. I realize that the PS3 is important, but for a PC game to be a higher priority on the PS3 just pisses me off, they already announced that they were going to build a 360 version, but now it comes out that they havent even gotten around to it yet. By the time it comes out on 360, it will already be played out. I'm not spending the money upgrading my PC or on a PS3 just because Epic is too busy orally pleasing Sony to give a damn about the Xbox crowd.

[Xerxes]

PS3 needs UT3. Epic probably best stick itself in the dead months of Spring. Could make a decent splash then. People are damn near tapped already.

[TheFlyingOrc]

Not really. If you go back and look at the times that the ESRB did that they did it because the content was already in the shipping product.

If there is a sex mode in UT3 that can be unlocked by a mod, then yeah, the ESRB would do something. But if the mod adds the content itself the ESRB won't do anything, nor should they.

The "Hot Coffee" sex minigame shipped with GTA:SA. The content, the artwork, the minigame, etc. was already there. Then Rockstar made it much worse by lying about it. The mod that allows access to it? That mod changes a single bit in a configuration file. Only a single bit. A zero gets flipped to a 1, or vice versa and suddenly you have a sex minigame.

That fiasco wasn't about censorship, it wasn't about what people should or should be able to see/do in a videogame, it was about Rockstar lying to the ESRB not once, but twice.

Oh, and to the douchebag who said Epic doesn't care: my money is on exactly the opposite being the real issue with delays on 360. When you have to continually wage war with Microsoft just to do the "right thing", the right things you've become famous for over on the PC platform it is all about caring, caring about your product and your audience.

Well, I disagree that somebody won't flip out over a user-created mod, although you described the Hot Coffee thing quite well.

When Hot Coffee was first discovered, Jack Thompson originally tried to put a stop to mods. Now, does this make any sense? No. It would be like telling people they can't write fanfiction (they SHOULDN'T, but they should be allowed to). If something like this comes to something as mainstream as a console, you had better believe that somebody will flip out, although they might not get any real media traction.

[Sl1pstream]

That's right, Epic doesn't care about the 360 and Midway, the publisher for UT3, has nothing to say about it. They just sit back and watch them ignore the 360 while Mark Rein points and laughs at "the Xbox crowd". Because they hate "the Xbox crowd'.

[Xerxes]

Epic fail

http://www.gdargaud.net/Humor/Pics/DoingItWrong.jpg
Caught you Evil...

[Johan]

I cannot understand why anyone would want to play a game that offers the opportunity of PC-mods on a console rather than on a PC.

Some games are, in my mind, just better on the PC, including RTSs, RPGs like NWN, BG, Morrowind/Oblivion and FPSs that offer heavy potential for mods, like Unreal Tournament.

I just have no desire to play such games on a platform (console) that will undeniably gimp the feature set that would be available on another platform (PC).

[Xerxes]

I cannot understand why anyone would want to play a game that offers the opportunity of PC-mods on a console.

Some games are, in my mind, just better on the PC, including RTSs, RPGs like NWN, BG, Morrowind/Oblivion and FPSs that offer heavy potential for mods, like Unreal Tournament.

I just have no desire to play such games on a platform (console) that will undeniably gimp the feature set that would be available on another platform (PC).

Didn't you make a thread looking for games like BG2 on consoles?

[oldjadedgamer]

Was just gonna post this exact same statement. Anyone that cares about the mods will pick up the PC version.

Considering you need a PC to even create any of the mods for PS3, I agree with this. I have way too many FPS games to deal with right now, they could delay this until next Christmas and it still would barely be on my radar.

[Phanto]

Mods or not mods people still like the games obviously mods sometimes can give you an extra fun time or can give you an extra crap time that depend on the mod and fi you like it.

[Texas Speed]

We may need some more news guidelines?

This story is about Epic working with Microsoft to come up with a plan for user-created content for the Xbox 360. That should be the headline - turning into the Xbox 360 is the kind of attention-grabbing headline we hate on sites like Destructoid. Plus, this is interesting enough on it's own.

Great that you added the second bit about it potentially slipping as that is equally newsworthy, but not necessarily worth another post.

Not trying to pick on you Texas Speed, but instead of discussing this news, you are going to get a LOT of comments about the headline instead of the subject, and this is really cool news.

Not trying to pick on you bean19, but there's not a whole hell of alot of comments about my headline. The story (if you follow the link) was that UTIII for 360 might be getting (severly) delayed. I emphased the mod part because I felt it was more important. And headlines are supposed to be "attention grabbing." At least I didn't put "Boobies, boobies, boobies (and UTII)."

I know this added nothing to the discusion, but it bothered me.

[Johan]

Didn't you make a thread looking for games like BG2 on consoles?

No.

I made a thread looking for "top-down, hack-and-slash, third-person, loot collecting" games.

Baldur's Gate on the console and Baldur's Gate on the PC have one thing in common; the letters in the name.

The Thread you are referring to. (http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38679)

The OP:

Baldur's Gate is best enjoyed on the PC. This I know, from firsthand experience, so please don't try to persuade me; I'm already persuaded. However, I also played Baldur's Gate and BG II on the original Xbox (II is BC with the 360, I is not, which is a shame, as I is better). Terribly different from PC, but still tons of fun.

I wonder if anyone knows of a game that has the same essential style of gameplay; top-down visual angle, third-person, some RPG-style elements of leveling up and collecting increasingly better loot...a hack-and-slash button mashing loot collector RPG. I LOVE it.

[beefyjr]

Man, who wants mods anyway? They suck, all they'll do is fuck up the game. Assholes.

QFT..... :D

[agentgray]

QFT..... :D

Wasn't Portal initially a mod?

That game sucked. :rolleyes:

[Yeti2005]

Not really. If you go back and look at the times that the ESRB did that they did it because the content was already in the shipping product.

If there is a sex mode in UT3 that can be unlocked by a mod, then yeah, the ESRB would do something. But if the mod adds the content itself the ESRB won't do anything, nor should they.

The "Hot Coffee" sex minigame shipped with GTA:SA. The content, the artwork, the minigame, etc. was already there. Then Rockstar made it much worse by lying about it. The mod that allows access to it? That mod changes a single bit in a configuration file. Only a single bit. A zero gets flipped to a 1, or vice versa and suddenly you have a sex minigame.

That fiasco wasn't about censorship, it wasn't about what people should or should be able to see/do in a videogame, it was about Rockstar lying to the ESRB not once, but twice...


You're right about Hot Coffee but the Oblivion topless mod was just someone taking flesh color paint on the model. This caused the PC version to have "nudity" included in the content description. I think you're being naive if you don't think some politician won't flip over some UT mod and puts pressure on the ESRB.

[51|RandoM]

Well, I disagree that somebody won't flip out over a user-created mod, although you described the Hot Coffee thing quite well.

When Hot Coffee was first discovered, Jack Thompson originally tried to put a stop to mods. Now, does this make any sense? No. It would be like telling people they can't write fanfiction (they SHOULDN'T, but they should be allowed to). If something like this comes to something as mainstream as a console, you had better believe that somebody will flip out, although they might not get any real media traction.

I didn't say "somebody" wouldn't flip out, I was specifically talking about how the ESRB would react.

My statements do not apply to Jack Thompson, but you must be thinking the PS3 is going to succeed if you think Jack Thompson would target it, after all he functions in roughly the same way as a virus writer, targeting the largest platforms to generate the largest impact. ;)

...and hey, at the end of the day I'm not going to let flakes like Jack Thompson worry me, especially not when it comes to be able to play mods. You guys are really reaching to try to stretch this as a bad thing, lol. You would be doing just the opposite if the 360 wasn't the red-headed stepchild in this scenario.

[Mr.Green]

Wasn't Portal initially a mod?

No .

[im.thatoneguy]

SOooooo...

They haven't started yet.
They aren't going to start until they talk to microsoft.
They haven't tried to talk to Microsoft about it yet.
It's microsoft's fault they're behind schedule--Wait... what?

Let me rephrase what he meant to say.

"We'll get around to it when we feel like it and quite honestly we've had higher priority things to think about and we don't feel like it yet. We'll get around to it later. Hey you got GOW right? Give us a break."

[MosBen]

Why are there people that still can't grasp that, sad though it may be, there are people who have an interest in *all* types of games and modifications that might be made to them, but don't have either the money, the desire, the technical prowess, or all of the above to maintain a gaming PC. I myself don't have a deep interest in mods (having played far to many mediocre mods in college), but I might download a couple here and there if they're available on Live and are well reviewed. The computer I'm using now is a three year old laptop that wasn't top of the line when I bought it. It also has a hard drive almost completely full of things I don't want to delete. This is not a PC that I'm going to play UT3 on, but I have a 360 where I might be interested in doing so. Maybe after I pay down my crushing student loan debt I'll be able to get a PC for this kind of thing, but until then I'll welcome the option to download mods on my 360.

[DarkDaY]

I love me some mods, I love me some ut, but this is one game I will not...NOT, play on my 360, might try it out, but this is pc only for me.
It will be nice for me to have my reason to upgrade my pc to monstrous proportions.

Cant wait.

[Beelzebud]

Wasn't Portal initially a mod?

That game sucked. :rolleyes:

Yeah it used the Quake 2 engine. Then there was those crappy mods like Team Fortress, Counter-Strike, Natural Selection, Jailbreak, Red Orchestra, Day of Defeat, Quake CTF, and a bunch of other stupid shit.

[KingGorilla]

A console...is literally a PC.

Well, more like a Mac. Proprietary watered down bullshit to give a standardized and simplistic experience.

Also, I have said it before. Mark Rein and Epic have an uphill battle in promoting PC style expansion of UT3 with mods and map packs, for free.

[Mark Rein]

Joystiq asked me about this tonight and here's what I replied:

What I probably should have said was "start working on it again". We had the game up and running on all three platforms up until last spring. In fact Official Xbox Magazine came out and played the game for a great cover story they did on it. We stopped working on the 360 version so we could concentrate our efforts on shipping the various PC and PS3 versions. Once we get those out of the way, and take some time to enjoy the holidays with our friends and families, we'll start working on the 360 version again. There's still a decent bit of work to do. For example we have simple LAN play but no Xbox Live implementation yet and we need to work with Microsoft to figure out how to accommodate mods on their platform.

[DarkDaY]

Well, more like a Mac. Proprietary watered down bullshit to give a standardized and simplistic experience.

Also, I have said it before. Mark Rein and Epic have an uphill battle in promoting PC style expansion of UT3 with mods and map packs, for free.
i really do feel sorry for you.
Im assuming you own one of the three consoles right?
If you do you border on hypocrisy

I love my pc and my pc gaming expereicences more than anything, yet ill be damed if i will ever knock consoles as they have brought so many insanely great experiecnces that the pc could never.
With out the mass penetration that the "bullshit standardized simplistic" machines allow devs to bring us, I would have missed out on so much, as would we have all.
Pc gaming AND console gaming is but one thing.....gaming.

Sometimes I miss read your name and think your the siaris of pc in here.
Its all good though, I am taking a break from assassins creed.
btw, reviews and nit pickers be damed, this is a game I was going to skip, bought it tonight on a whim as it was staring me in my face, and shit is it amazing.

oopps though, its on a simplistic console, and cause of that it will probably sell a shit load spawning a sequel, perhaps a few crappy knock offs and some evolution. :eek:

[Micasa]

Joystiq asked me about this tonight and here's what I replied:

What I probably should have said was "start working on it again". We had the game up and running on all three platforms up until last spring. In fact Official Xbox Magazine came out and played the game for a great cover story they did on it. We stopped working on the 360 version so we could concentrate our efforts on shipping the various PC and PS3 versions. Once we get those out of the way, and take some time to enjoy the holidays with our friends and families, we'll start working on the 360 version again. There's still a decent bit of work to do. For example we have simple LAN play but no Xbox Live implementation yet and we need to work with Microsoft to figure out how to accommodate mods on their platform.

I was wondering about that, since I recall reading OXM's discussions about the version they played for the 360.

Don't you look at the sales of recent PS3 exclusive games and get chills though? :p

[Micasa]

Man, who wants mods anyway? They suck, all they do is fuck up the forums. Assholes.

QFT DON'T BAN ME!

[Rotting]

SDF is gonna have a field day about this...

MDF will as well.

[Rotting]

I don't care about UT3 or mods. I remember playing UT on the PC and all the servers running crappy maps and other stupid mutators. All I ever ended up doing was filtering for pure servers.

UT has never been big on consoles, why should it be now?

I rest my case.

[Kamalot]

Always a pleasure Mark. :D

[Morratut]

I'm not bothered about mods on console. Only 2 mods i've played and loved. CounterStrike and Desert Combat. Most mods are garbage anyway.

It won't be missed though on 360. Already a lot of great shooters on 360 at the moment.

[Serapth]

We stopped working on the 360 version so we could concentrate our efforts on shipping the various PC and PS3 versions.

Why is it companys will never explain *why*. I mean, there is no logical reason for Epic to make a multiplatform game and not target the X360. So, obviously there was an exclusive agreement in place.

Mark is not going to confirm that as for some reasons this subject seems to be taboo. What I am asking, which Mark can probrably answer, is... do such exclusive contracts sometimes contain conditions that you can't talk about the contract?

[KingGorilla]

The flood of shooters on the 360 this fall is enough of a reason for me as to why UT3 is not urgent on the 360. I also accept the point that they are worried about mod implementation with the live service.

[beefyjr]

The flood of shooters on the 360 this fall is enough of a reason for me as to why UT3 is not urgent on the 360. I also accept the point that they are worried about mod implementation with the live service.
QFT. Why release this year when Halo 3 is still dominating multiplayer, and CoD4 and Orange Box are having big showings as well? Next year looks a lot less crowded for them. I know that I'm interested in the game, but if it shipped this year I wouldn't buy it. I already have three multiplayer FPSes that I'm bouncing back and forth with, I don't need another one right now. I'd rather have something new and fresh to look forward to next year, when there aren't such a ridiculous amount of games.

[Greeble]

Why is it companys will never explain *why*. I mean, there is no logical reason for Epic to make a multiplatform game and not target the X360. So, obviously there was an exclusive agreement in place.

Mark is not going to confirm that as for some reasons this subject seems to be taboo. What I am asking, which Mark can probrably answer, is... do such exclusive contracts sometimes contain conditions that you can't talk about the contract?

They are targeting the 360, they are just working on the PC and PS3 first. Relax dude. This makes a lot of sense if you think about it.

1. PC version should come first. Will probably sell best on PC also easiest to release patches for and work out any kinks. Give modders more time to work on things.

2. Epic probably makes more money licensing the unreal engine than the game itself. Its already been wildly successful with its engine on the 360, but its PS3 version up until now has sucked. They want to improve their PS3 engine so that it will be the engine of choice on that console as well.
(Especially since ps3 development is tough having a well tuned engine would be great for developers.)

3. Now is a bad time to launch a predominantly online FPS game on the 360 with Halo3 still being "fresh". Haven't you read the articles about Halo3 dampening other game sales released at around the same time?

[MacD]

Now that I know you're reading this, mr. Rein; any chance of releasing the Marcus Phoenix skeleton in a 3dsmax or any other format so we can hook up our own custom characters into Gears of War?

[reimomo]

At the risk of sounding like a n00b, whats mods?

This is proof (if anyone needed it) that the days of user created mods driving popularity of a game are dead and gone. Who cares if you can put your UT4 mod on xbox-whatever. Its going to look like shit because it wasnt made by 50 professional artists, and no one will play it.

[KingGorilla]

This is proof (if anyone needed it) that the days of user created mods driving popularity of a game are dead and gone. Who cares if you can put your UT4 mod on xbox-whatever. Its going to look like shit because it wasnt made by 50 professional artists, and no one will play it.

Or that the console kiddies have no clue what they are talking about.

[reimomo]

Or that the console kiddies have no clue what they are talking about.

Name one mod in the last 2 years that had a significant effect on the sale/popularity of a game? Complexity has gone up, budgets have gone up, and tools do not (and likely will not) exist that allow amateurs to create original content that is on par with professional stuff. 5-7 years ago, the desert combat mod for BF1942 was more popular than the original game. I don't see how that could ever happen again.

[KingGorilla]

Portal, you are wrong, goodbye now.

[oldjadedgamer]

As a 360 owner, I have a message for Mark Rein:

Please take your time with this game on 360. Release it whenever you are ready, there are so many other titles right now that I want to buy but have no time for them. Please release your game during the summer when no one else has games out because I'll have time and money to give to your game.

Thank you,

OldJadedGamer

[Xerxes]

Why is it companys will never explain *why*. I mean, there is no logical reason for Epic to make a multiplatform game and not target the X360. So, obviously there was an exclusive agreement in place.

Mark is not going to confirm that as for some reasons this subject seems to be taboo. What I am asking, which Mark can probrably answer, is... do such exclusive contracts sometimes contain conditions that you can't talk about the contract?

He said something about the Live code. I reckon they can just modify something out of the GoW net code. I figure things like that mean after their break it'll be easier to bring that one up. They are also trying to bring mods to the Live game. Epic/Midway are also probably having to spend more time than normal getting MS to play ball.

Not to mention, the hits in terms of shooters on 360. PC is the the established fan based. The PS3 needs whatever pretty games it can get it's hands on. 360 is a filled plate. I know some people say it's better to come out in the holidays than in the dead months. For some games it's true, but remember Ninja Gaiden. Came out in like February. Didn't stop the game from selling it's fair share of copies.

[KingGorilla]

As I think about this, maybe the delay is so that they can incorporate the massive online 40+ person battles that makes UT what it is. Those who have tried the demo/beta on the PC and managed to negotiate the menus have seen huge maps, gigantic vehicles.

[bean19]

Wasn't Portal initially a mod?

That game sucked. :rolleyes:

It wasn't, but Counter-Strike was.

[Disgustipated]

Actually, Portal WAS initially a mod. Valve ate up the dev team that made the concept.

Also: I'll fight Mark Rein anyday in UT and whoop his ass.

[Micasa]

Portal, you are wrong, goodbye now.

It doesn't really count as a mod when the team is taken in by Valve and given the support they need to create a full-featured game out of it. Taking the .00001% of mods that happens to and using it to represent all mods is just ridiculous.

[KingGorilla]

I was never speaking about all mods. A mod is like any other game, some suck, some are good, and a rare few are great. The good ones far outnumber the bad ones, and the great ones live on for decades.