Eurogamer writes: "Level design hotspot 3D Buzz has decided to run its very own map-making competition for Unreal Tournament 3.

It aims to give beginners a shot at the big time by disallowing any custom content such as home-grown textures, models, and all that. The only bits you can use come as standard with the level editor.

Star prize is an impressive bounty of USD 1000, a PlayStation 3, plus an Epic-autographed copy of the game.

Better still, silky-haired Epic poster-child Cliff Bleszinski will do a video review of your level. As will the 3D Buzz team. Runners-up get a PS3 and an autographed game.

The very first contest is to design a deathmatch arena, and you must keep a work-in-progress diary on the 3D Buzz forum."
» Read More 

These two character mods are really great (and pretty humerus). Check them out in the download section.

* Bomberman
* The Peanut Butter Jelly Banana
» Read More 

Welcome to the Rumour mill, VideoGamer.com's run-down of the big rumours currently doing the rounds in the video game industry. Every week they'll hunt down the juiciest stories and give their opinion on how legit they are. So, whether you want the ridiculous or the plausible, read on.

Movies and TV coming to PS3

The Rumour: Downloadable TV shows and full-length movies will be available on the PlayStation Store for the PlayStation 3 this summer.

Verdict: Sony isn't likely to sit back and let Microsoft mop up the downloadable content market. According to the LA Times Sony will offer premium content video this summer, and it makes perfect sense. While Sony is pushing Blu-ray hard as a point of difference to the Xbox 360, the PS3 currently doesn't have an option for the rental market - presumably what the download service would offer.

Plausibility rating: 4/5
» Read More 

Well Cliffy B. Has just unbanned "EpicJon" from the UTIII forums along with giving an update to the whole incident.... According to cliffy the maps are most likely a coincidence since the new map is a remake of Koos Galleon and goes on to say that in the past they've not only given credit to map creators but also paid them for their maps if they were officially released in Epic's games. Also don't forget that the User created map was only released about a month -> a month and a half ago.... a map that was made for an official release from Epic would have been in development far longer then that.

"Not just "with permission" but we've actually gone out and paid folks to license their maps when we've included them in one of our bonus packs or within one of our games.

I've got to catch a plane early in the morning but I told Jon we'll look into it and get him a response in the next day or two."
» Read More 

A recent story has popped up about a user created map on UTIII suppository being stolen by Epic and added to the 360 version of UTIII do out later this year, however besides the actual Setting of the map the 2 maps are nothing alike, here's several screen shots proving the actual Layout and even textures of the maps are not even remotely similar.
» Read More 

"I'm sure many of you already seen the new UT3 360 trailer, but what most of you don't know is that one of the maps shown there ( DM-ArcticShipment ) is actually a user created map done by a member that goes by EpicJon on the Epic Forums.

The map, while not being exactly the same, is a blatant rip off, it's a cargo boat, in the middle of the Artic ocean, with snow falling and with icebergs on the background. When EpicJon posted about his discontent in the Epic Forums he got banned and his thread deleted..."
» Read More 

Talking to OXM at the Midway Gamers Day in Las Vegas, Epic president Mark Rein confirmed that the best mods will be available to players of the Xbox 360 version of Unreal Tournament 3, although details are still being worked out. "We know some of these great mods are going to play a role on Xbox 360, even if we have to get some people and bring them over ourselves," he said. "We'll figure it out."
» Read More 

OXM writes: "OXM took a cheeky picture of the achievements screen for Unreal Tournament 3, allowing you the first ever glimpse at how to grab gamerscore from Midway's FPS.

You can see the achievements in the attached picture (viewable at the source), with the Lock And Load achievement unlocked after we completed Chapter 1 of the storyline - essentially the tutorial mission for the game.

The achievements shown are:

# Lock and load
# Soldier's blood
# Does not compute
# Not in Kansas anymore
# Just business
# Bag of bolts

There are 50 achievements in total for Unreal Tournament 3 and as you might expect, a heavy handful of them are spread across multiplayer as well as single player."
» Read More 

Midway announced today that the Xbox 360 would finally be receiving Unreal Tournament 3 this summer. Unreal Tournament 3 will come with some new content, featuring two new characters and five new expansive maps. Aside from some minor additions, the game will come with split screen capability for multiplayer; this will be an Xbox 360 exclusive feature, so if you don't have Xbox Live you can still enjoy multiplayer fun.
» Read More 

PS3 owners can forget about split-screen coming to Unreal Tournament 3, Mark Rein has told VideoGamer.com.

Speaking to VideoGamer.com at the official unveiling of the Xbox 360 version of the game in Las Vegas this week, Rein said that PS3 owners "should be happy" with the inclusion of user generated mod support.

When asked if split-screen will ever come to the PS3 version of UT3, Rein replied: "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."

Rein did, however, reveal that Epic hopes to "make some improvements" with mod support on PS3 "some time down the road", although he didn't want to commit to specifics.
» Read More 

UT3 on Xbox 360 will have better graphics than on PS3, Epic chief Mark Rein has hinted.

Speaking to VideoGamer.com at the game's official unveiling in Las Vegas this week, Rein said that because Epic has spent more time on the 360 version compared with the PS3 version of the game it had benefited from more optimisation, and said that gamers "can draw your own conclusions from that".
» Read More 

Epic Games has finally opened up on the Xbox 360 version of Unreal Tournament III, which is set to ship with exclusive maps and characters that the PC and PS3 versions didn't get.Although it still doesn't have a firm release date, Epic confirmed at Midway's Gamers Day that the 360 version will contain five exclusive maps, two new characters and it will also include a two player split-screen mode.It looks like the PS3's ... » Read More

Ripten: Unreal Tournament 3 for the Xbox 360 is coming this Summer (June 30th in the States and unannounced in Europe) and it looks like loyal Microsoft fans will be getting five exclusive maps, two new characters, and split-screen action for two players. Unfortunately for 360 users, this bonus content doesn't really mean diddly.
» Read More 

It may have taken a little while longer than the rest of the pack, but Epic Games' other franchise is on its way to Xbox 360 soon. A release date hasn't yet been announced, but you can be sure that the extra time is going to good use. The Xbox 360 release will contain five new exclusive maps those other platforms didn't get, two new characters and will include two player splitscreen action. All that and it also sports all of the downloadable content that Epic has created for the PS3 and PC.
» Read More 

A skilled modeler at the Epic Community is working on a model of Old Snake from Kojima's Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for Epic's Unreal Tournament III.
» Read More 

Epic boss Mark Rein has told videogaming247 that the company does know a release date for Unreal Tournament 3 on Xbox 360, but you're going to have to wait a little longer to get it.

"We do, but I don't think we put it out yet," said Rein when asked if the SKU had a release date. "It's kind of a when it's done thing. We have an idea of when it's coming. We have a big Midway Gamer's Day next week, in fact, in Las Vegas, where Midway's invited a whole bunch of people to come and play the game. I'm sure after that happens you'll see lots of impressions of the game."
» Read More 

From the article:

''Responding to a thread on the official Epic Games forums regarding a rumored May release for the Xbox 360 version of Unreal Tournament III, Epic's Mark Rein responded that no release date has been set.''
» Read More 

Videogamer writes: "While Unreal Tournament 3 on PS3 has finally hit UK streets, the Xbox 360 version is still shrouded in mystery - or so we thought.

On our busy commute home this evening we spotted a review for the Xbox 360 version in thelondonpaper, the popular London-based free evening newspaper that those annoying men and women in purple jackets force on you as you barge your way through five billion other commuters on Oxford Street".
» Read More 

In an interview with Joystiq, Epic Games' VP Mark Rein told them that there's no progress with Microsoft on making UT3 mods work with Xbox Live. One would think Microsoft would be more open to community content given the recent Xbox Live Community announcement, but Rein noted that the system is different. Rein said the Xbox 360 version has no set release date.

Conversely, Rein did acknowledge the current PS3 mod system is less than stellar and told Joystiq to expect improvements coming soon.
» Read More 

Epic Games plan to demonstrate the latest Unreal Engine 3 features at this year's Game Developers Conference next month. The presentation will run on the half hour for each day of the show.

The Epic folks will also be speaking at two sessions:

"Automating Regression Discovery: Finding the Wrenches in the GEARS OF WAR," will be presented by Martin Sweitzer, programmer, Epic Games. This intermediate-level lecture, to be held Wednesday, February 20, 12:00-12:30, in West Hall Room 3004, will be geared toward programmers, although production and management may also benefit from the talk.

"UNREAL TOURNAMENT 3 Postmortem: ULTRA KILL!" will be led by Dr. Michael Capps, president, and Jeff Morris, producer, Epic Games. This postmortem, to be held Friday, February 22, 2:30-3:00 p.m., in West Hall Room 2001/2003, will cater to all developers, regardless of experience.
» Read More