Via Ripten: In an epic interview with GamaSutra's Brandon Sheffield and Christian Nutt, Epic Game's VP and key creator of the Unreal Engine Mark Rein went into detail about Unreal Tournament 3 and other official UE3 licensee titles. Among other useful niblets of information, Mr. Rein highlights the importance of Sony consoles this holiday season, stating, "I think Sony's going to have a good Christmas this year. Games like Unreal Tournament 3 will hopefully get out the door."
» Read More 

In an in-depth new interview with Epic VP Mark Rein, the exec has been discussing Unreal Tournament 3 for PlayStation 3, praising the possibilities for upcoming Home integration and Sony's 'trojan horse' strategy of including Blu-ray in the PS3.
» Read More 

CVG reports:

"A beta version of the UT3 patch is out, and it's awesome for at least two reasons. 1) It fixes lots of complaints we and other UT fans had about the awkward and over-restrictive menu and server browser, and b) it's backwards compatible.

That would be a total no-brainer in any other area of software design, but it's so rare in game patches that I'm actually going to have to explain what it means. It means you can still play with people who don't have the patch. That curious sound is the collective jaws of Valve, DICE and Blizzard hitting the floor."
» Read More 

From Midway:

"Midway Games Inc. and Epic Games today announced that the PlayStation® 3 version of Unreal Tournament 3 is scheduled to ship to retail outlets in North America on December 10th. It is expected to begin arriving in stores in limited quantities the following day, with a U.S. suggested retail price of $59.95."
» Read More 

The first patch fixes a long list of issues in gameplay, AI, demo playback, server browser, user interface, HUD, networking, server administration, maps, campaign/co-op, and modding. See the full article for details.
» Read More 

Any kind of mods created for the PC version, including player created mods and customizations, can be loaded in the PlayStation 3 system which will bring a level of creativity, innovation and replayability not previously seen on home consoles.

All the technology behind the Unreal Engine 3, used in the PC version of the game, is said to be fully optimized for the PlayStation 3 system, which means that the game developers can take full advantage of its power and creativity. With mods and maps already available for the PC version of the game and with others announced, this feature is definitely not just dust in the wind. And it should allow the developers to start working on future releases, too.

The PlayStation 3 Version of Unreal Tournament 3 will be released to North American manufacturing and could show up in stores starting December 11th.The European release will occur later, though, because of some unfinished localization-related tasks. This means that early 2008 (January or February) is the best guess for European UT3 fans regarding the PlayStation 3 release.
» Read More 

22nd Nov, 2007 Oh PS3, you really must work on this tardiness. Youre a strong student with a lot of brains, and you can produce good work when you put your mind to it, but with this persistent lateness youre not only letting us down, but youre letting yourself down too. We know youve only just joined us and that youve had to take some time to settle in, but youre really going to have to start applying yourself from now on. Nagging teacher-speak aside, just what is it with PS3 release ... » Read More

Mark Rein announces in the official Epic Games forum that Unreal Tournament for PS3 has been approved by Sony and gone gold in North America.

Rein says the formal announcement should come early next week, and the game should ship to retailers in North American on Monday, December 10th, and show up in stores as early as December 11th.

For PAL territories, specifically UK and Europe, Epic is still working on localization. Rein estimates the game will ship over there early next year in January or February.
» Read More 

IGN: "The PC version of Unreal Tournament III shipped to retail stores today and is now available for download from Direct2Drive, Epic Games and Midway announced today.

The latest installment in the fast-paced, first-person futuristic shooter franchise uses the Unreal Engine 3 to showcase new environments, weapons and vehicles".
» Read More 

Unprecedented full access to foliage technology for amateur level builders:

Unreal Tournament 3 will be the latest game to feature IDV's SpeedTree foliage middleware ¿ and the first to give exclusive access to the technology to the modding community.
» Read More 

Nov 15, 2007 Epic hasn't even started on the 360 version of Unreal Tournament III yet, reveals company VP Mark Rein. He says Epic intends to finish the PS3 version before shifting focus to 360 "early next year", when we were originally expecting it to be released. It seems Xbox 360 fans will have to wait a lot longer for their deathmatch action due to issues with running user-created mods on the platform. In Rein's words: "The PS3 is an open system, and they embrace user-created content. But ... » Read More

The troublesome user interface featured in the Unreal Tournament III PC multiplayer demo has been a source of contention for many players of the game. In a recent post on the game's offical forums, Epic lead producer Jeff Morris has acknowledged the problem and says updates to the menu system are coming, just probably not before the title's PC release next week.

"We're aware that the UI isn't perfect," Morris wrote. "We're working on numerous improvements and additions to the user interface that will be made available in future updates to UT3."

Most have complained the system of menus lacks usability and resembles a UI designed for console titles. Regarding the upcoming PS3 version, Epic VP Mark Rein recently said it's possible the title could still be retailing this year.
» Read More 

According to a forum post by Epic Games VP Mark Rein, an option will be available on the PS3 version of Unreal Tournament III for installing approximately 3.5 gigs of content on the hard drive:

"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. If you want to free up space you can delete the installed data at any time."
» Read More 

Sumthing Else Music Works announced today that the 2 disc Unreal Tournament 3 soundtrack will be released on November 20th to retail outlets. The soundtrack was written and produced by Need For Speed veteran Rom Di Prisco and the award winning composer of Hitman, Assassin's Creed and Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory - Jesper Kyd.
» Read More 

IGN Entertainment's GameSpy and Epic Games have announced a licensing deal to incorporate GameSpy's multiplayer technology into Epic's Unreal Tournament 3, the next installment in the FPS franchise.

Under the terms of the new agreement, GameSpy's multiplayer technology -- including multiplayer matchmaking, in-game and out-of-game messaging, player statistics, VoIP communication and a leaderboard and ranking system -- will be incorporated into both the PlayStation 3 and PC versions of Unreal Tournament 3.
» Read More 

Epic Games' Mark Rein says that he hopes Unreal Tournament 3 will be released on PlayStation 3 this year but he doesn't think it will make Europe until 2008. "Right now we're very close to a release candidate, and we should have it finished by the end of this week," said Rein. "Then we send it off and it's just a matter of what happens from there. We think there's a very solid shot we'll get out this year - I don't know about Europe. Europe's a problem because the certification process in Europe takes longer."
» Read More 

Nov 9, 2007 When the hell is Unreal Tournament III coming out on PS3? No-one, not even Epic, seems to know, but a 2007 release isn't completely out of the question just yet, according to Vice President of Epic, Mark Rein. UT III was originally scheduled to release in the latter end of this year before Midway said that there's every possibility it could be delayed into next year to ensure it's finished. When a delay is suspected, you can usually be damn sure it'll happen, but Rein says it ... » Read More

PS3 UT3 has better graphics than Gears of War according to Mark Rein, Epic's vice president.

Speaking in an interview with Pro-G at the launch of the PC version of the game, Rein said that he was "really proud" of the PS3 game.

He said: "People are going to be pleasantly surprised. 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, so we're just really pleased with the way the game runs on the PS3."

Rein said that there is "something special" about playing UT3 on the PS3, and that while the speed of the game has been reduced by about 20%, "it feels just right to be playing it with a controller".
» Read More 

With the November release calendar jam-packed with big releases, Sony Computer Entertainment America this morning released its full holiday 2007 lineup of expected games and add-ons for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, and PlayStation 2.
» Read More 

Unreal Tournament 3 will be released in Europe for the PC on 23rd November, Midway confirmed this afternoon ahead of an official launch event in sunny Birmingham tomorrow.

Sadly there's no word on the PS3 version as of yet, with a Midway spokesperson telling Eurogamer that Epic Games calls the shots on that one and we'll know when they decide to tell us.
» Read More