14 DAY TRIAL // Epic Games has once again shared its thoughts on the next generation of consoles and the video games that will arrive for it, this time mentioning that it’s probably better for developers to make new games using the current Unreal Engine 3, not the future fourth generation technology.
Even if Sony or Microsoft are adamant that the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 are here to stay, more and more people are talking about next generation consoles, the PS4 or Xbox 720.
Alongside those consoles, Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 4 is also mentioned, as it will no doubt power games for the future platforms.
According to Epic’s Vice President, Mark Rein, launch games for these new consoles won’t use UE4, as his company is still recommending partners to use the current Unreal Engine 3 tech, largely because it’s still very powerful and easier to work with.
"Samaritan is something you can do right now,” Rein told CVG, in reference to the impressive technical demo we saw last year. “In fact, Unreal Development Kit has all the features that powered Samaritan - every single graphics feature you can do. We could have shown another 30 videos. We have guys doing stuff on high end PCs that are just outside of the gaming space that are really pushing the envelope there. So that to us is pretty exciting - and you can do that now."
This impressive power makes the Unreal Engine 3 a great choice for next generation platforms, at least for the first games that will appear on them.
"UE3 is already available for that sort of stuff. I think if you were going to do a launch title for a future console, UE3 would probably be the way to go.”
Epic’s technology is also great because it can be scaled depending on the platform, so developers, large and small, can easily bring their projects to more platforms.
“Likewise if you were going to do something cross-generational, like Mortal Kombat on PS Vita, Xbox, PS3 and potentially it could be on iPad... that's Unreal. Unreal spans the gamut, it goes from the smallest smartphone platforms up to the highest spec PC you can build and beyond."
Rein concluded by saying that, “The UE4 stuff is very futuristic. UE3 is really the horse for this year."