Tagged: epic

Gears of War Sells BIG

There was no doubt Gears of War would be big, but sometimes ‘big’ is often an understatement: Microsoft has announced that Epic Games‘ shooter has sold 2 million copies worldwide (half of it in the US) since its launch on November 7. This success was testified by the fact that the game toppled Halo 2 as the most played multiplayer game on Xbox Live, with 1 million unique users having logged on.

Free content is in the pipeline for the game as well, so Gears of War gamers can look forward to more action sometime soon.

Gears of War to Get Free Content

No doubt one of the older PC game developers around, Epic has disclosed that it plans on offering free content to Gears of War gamers, as they have done on the PC for so many years. During a backstage interview during the SpikeTV VGAs, the Epic guys stated their pledge for free content through Xbox Live and that they have been working on it long before the game was launched. No details could be extracted.

Watch the new Chainsaw Massacre Movie, then Massacre Aliens in Gears of War

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning PosterHoping to attract movie-goers as well as gamers, Microsoft and New Line have partnered together to offer advance screenings of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning followed by the chance to play Gears of War. This chance is being offered in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco, with all events taking place on October 4 in unspecified AMC Theatres.

To sign up for a ticket, head on over to the Match Made in Hell promotional site. However, the announcements were quick to point out that the receipt of a ticket does not guarantee admission; tickets will be entertained on a first-come, first-serve basis. The other condition is that guests will have to be at least 17 years of age.

Crimecraft MMOG Announced

Increasing Unreal Engine 3‘s popularity even further, Vogster Entertainment announced that it has licensed the game engine to develop next-gen MMOG Crimecraft. Well, what exactly is Crimecraft? “It [Crimecraft] is going to shake the global video game industry with its innovative features and characters actions,” says Arseniy Nazarenko, the game’s producer. “Vogster has set upon an ambitious game-development course and are preparing to launch Crimecraft, our own unique and exciting MMO game, in 2008.”

There you have it! Oh yeah, the game is multiplatform, too.

Tim Sweeney on Cell, UT2007 PS3; Koei Having Problems with Unreal Engine

The Tokyo Game Show this year saw Epic’s Tim Sweeney speak on various topics including the challenges of multi-core processors and PS3’s Cell processor, as well as some new details on Unreal Tournament 2007 for the aforementioned console.

Sweeney talked specifically about the difficulties of programming for multi-core processors, saying that it takes “about twice the effort and development cost” for these processors when compared to a single-threaded one. IBM, Sony and Toshiba’s custom-developed Cell processor is no different: the PS3 Cell chip “required about 5 times as much cost and development time than single-core.” He also said that the complex Cell architecture “introduces some economic difficulty for developers.” The Xbox 360 processor wasn’t part of the discussion.

However, he was full of praise for Sony when it came to the company’s open network scheme for the PS3’s online service. “Enlightened business model” were the exact words he used to describe the console’s online capabilities, as opposed to Microsoft’s closed platform Xbox Live which seems to be “quite negative toward user-created content” as the company has encountered.

Having praised PS3’s online network, he then proceeded to mention that users will be able to create Unreal Tournament 2007 levels and mods on the PC and play them on the PS3. After noting that the mod community was an “essential part” of the company’s success, he said that the company would love to transfer this mod community over to consoles, letting modders and mappers create content on their computers and then have them distributed online, as well as on the PS3.

As for Unreal Tournament 2007‘s release date? Epic’s Jay Wilbur disclosed that they plan on shipping the game to PC and PS3 in Q2 or early Q3 2007.

In related news, Kotaku reports that Koei‘s Fatal Inertia, initially pegged as a launch title for the PS3, has been delayed to Winter 2006. The company cites problems with the Unreal Engine 3, though they do mention that they being helped by both Sony and Epic on this. When asked about multiplayer by the site’s editor, the game’s producer said that he was “dreading this question,” as they’ve been having issues with their middleware platform. As noted by Kotaku, it seems that multiplayer is planned, but not set on stone yet.

The report also discloses that both Fatal Inertia and i, the company’s new PS3 title, will be in 720p, with the former making use of the console’s tilt controller. Koei also indicated that they are in discussions with Microsoft to bring over the titles to Xbox 360.

Microsoft Signs Epic Deal

Looking to hit the mainstream market real hard, Microsoft announced that it has teamed up with Epic Records to make available a full year of exclusive artist content and high-definition video downloads free via Xbox Live. Only available to Xbox 360 owners, the “Artist of the Month” program will offer music videos via the Xbox Live marketplace, as well as exclusive interviews and “Game with Fame” sessions that will let players go up against the artists themselves.

British singer-songwriter Natasha Bedingfield will be the first artist to invade Xbox Live this month. Her “Unwritten” music video is currently offered on the broadband network, and a sweepstakes later this month will award a winner the opportunity to go up against her during a “Game with Fame” session next month.