In fact, we’ll probably see a PS3.5 instead.

Personally, that doesn’t make me the least bit sad since I can’t see me buying a brand new [really expensive] system every couple of years. The $600 I paid for my 20GB Ps3 was painful to pay – though worth it – and the thought of paying that again anytime soon makes me a bit sick to my stomach.

Another thing to consider is how much it costs to create new game engines and systems and games to go with those engines and the new hardware.

So, I’m happy about this little announcement. You?

Image|Amazon and Amy Tucker

Post from: EveryJoe

PlayStation 3.5 before PS4

If you’re as cheap as I am, then you’re probably holding off on that PC upgrade for years. A couple of months ago, I probably would’ve said that despite the age of my current rig, it has yet to disappoint. While it can still manage to run Mass Effect, I noticed that I can only install a couple of games on my hard drive because of space restrictions.

Are the size of current games really growing? I decided to do a little more digging.

I looked at the games installed on my hard drive. What do Gears of War, Bioshock, and Mass Effect have in common? Yes, they’re “shooters,” but not in the strictest sense. Notice anything else?

The three games are all powered by Unreal Engine 3. Interestingly, each game consumes almost 10GB of hard disk space. Gears of War gets 9.96GB, Mass Effect eats up 9.87GB, and Bioshock in the neighborhood of 8GB.

In comparison, Clive Barker’s Jericho, another current shooter, requires a mere 2GB of space. Jericho and Gears both came out in November 2007.

What is up with Unreal Engine 3, Epic? Why can’t you be like other developers and design a game that can look as purdy and manage to stay smaller than 5GB? Are you turning into Microsoft? Can’t you trim your humongous engine? Who knows, maybe your games would run much smoother in older systems, translating to even better sales.

To be fair, Mass Effect is running quite well in my aging PC, which doesn’t meet the RPG/shooter’s minimum system requirements. However, my PC can also run Gears of War handily at medium detail settings. Strangely, my rig is having a more difficult time running Mass Effect even if both games use the same engine.

Bottom line: Cliffy B. and company should try a bit harder to optimize their game engine. Yes, it’s already running relatively well, but I believe it could get even better. Games may have to be delayed a bit, but trimming Unreal Engine 3 to around half its original size would do wonders to performance and even sales.

Image of Mass Effect for the PC is courtesy of EA.

Post from: EveryJoe

Rant: Unreal Engine 3 games eat up too much space

Notice anything odd about the video? The Crytek visuals look like the original Oblivion graphics. That’s what you download tech demo video from YouTube. FYI: The video was created by a modder who transferred the Oblivion assets straight into Crytek’s engine.

Interestingly, it looks like CryEngine is having some difficulty rendering a level the size of the Imperial City. Textures and other details pop in abruptly as if it were Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction for the PS2. One torch light seemed to appear suddenly when the camera is already too close (move the video to 3:23).

For what it’s worth, I’m positive that the video would look breathtaking when recorded in better detail. I can only imagine what the Imperial City would look like with real-time lighting. Now if only Fallout 3 would use the same game engine.

Update: YouTube took out the video, unfortunately. This is probably due to copyright issues with either games. Fortunately, a GameTrailers user was able to snag a copy of the video. Enjoy.

Source: Kotaku

Post from: EveryJoe

See Oblivion rendered in the CryEngine

The main differences between the two? For starters, the CryEngine 2 ad uses computer graphics. Another thing: CryEngine 2 rendered pots instead of balls in real time. If you don’t remember the Bravia ad or you just haven’t seen it before, watch the clip below:

Now watch the CryEngine 2 video again and wipe that drool off your face (I know I did). Looks like this video blows Valve’s aging Source engine out of the water. I wonder how Unreal Engine 3 stacks up against Crytek’s.

Source: Codamon

Post from: EveryJoe

CryEngine 2 “imitates” Sony Bravia ad

If you know your shooter history, then you’re aware that the Unreal Engine has always been primarily for the PC. When Tim Sweeney, the creator and founder of Epic Games, suddenly says otherwise, then you just might see hell freezing over.

That’s right; the next edition of Unreal Engine (version 4 if you’re keeping count) is aimed at consoles.

“Version 4 will exclusively target the next console generation, Microsoft’s successor for the Xbox 360, Sony’s successor for the PlayStation 3 – and if Nintendo ships a machine with similar hardware specs, then that also. PCs will follow after that.”

Then again, if you’re a PC gamer for the past few years, then you may have noticed that the console love has already been happening since the beginning of the millennium.

It’s tough to be a PC gamer in this day and age, unless you have an unlimited source of funds for your l33t gaming rig. You have only to thank Halo and its offspring’s commercial success for Epic to worship console gaming’s feet.

Image for Unreal Engine 3 is courtesy of Midway Games.

Post from: EveryJoe

Next Unreal Engine is aimed at consoles first, PCs last

Here’s something that would leave you thinking: Epic Games announced that its Unreal Engine 3 will be used for unannounced games in development by 2K Games, the publisher of recent bestseller Bioshock.

As you know, Bioshock uses a modified version of the Unreal Engine 3, so this news doesn’t come as a surprise at all. However, the most perplexing part of this tidbit is about those “unannounced games in development.”

What are those games?

You mean aside from rumors of Bioshock making its way to the PS3, 2K is coming out with another game that uses Unreal Engine 3? I guess they are.

Remember when we discovered that 2K Boston/Irrational Games is looking for PS3 programmers? Perhaps Irrational are the developers tapped by 2K to work on these unannounced games, and that said games are going to be multiplatform.

Whatever the case, we’re all looking forward to hearing more about these unannounced games. When 2K Boston is in charge, good things happen.

Post from: EveryJoe

2K Games licenses Unreal Engine 3

I’m not very impressed with this latest trailer, especially when you compare this to the previous video. Up-close, the animals don’t look very realistic. The African plains, however, should be an intriguing battlefield.

Perhaps this trailer would look better without the film filter, which fools with the lighting significantly. If you still have any doubts on how fantastic Far Cry 2 would look, watch the older trailer below.

If you’ve always wanted to be an arsonist in a video game, look no further.

Post from: EveryJoe

Far Cry 2’s latest trailer isn’t impressive

Beast, Illuminate’s global illumination system, will allow the Epic engine to have more realistic lighting. This system takes into account not only the light that comes directly from a light source, but also cases where light rays from the same source are reflected by other surfaces.

Under the terms of the agreement, Illuminate Labs will join Epic’s partners program, and its technology will be available to any publishers or developers that license Unreal Engine 3.

Beast is also a platform-independent baker that uses the FBX file format, which allows users to add baking functionality to 3D asset creation tools. The new Beast features include:

• Global Illumination baking;
• Skylights from HDR images;
• Baked soft shadows with transparency.

With all these new effects, how does it affect the average PC? Not very good, I’m afraid. Such lighting would take more computations to generate, making things more difficult if you have a year-old rig or video card. If you want to see this new eye candy in all its glory, focus your attention on future games that will use Unreal Engine 3.

Post from: EveryJoe

More eye candy making its way to Unreal Engine 3