No UT3 for the Wii

Just days ago, Unreal fans and owners of a Nintendo Wii were waiting anxiously for the big day when Unreal Tournament 3 (or UT 2007 as some may still call it) was to be launched. Well folks, your waiting is over because it's not tailored for the console's performance. Not that they didn't want to, but as the guys at Epic said, their engine is "simply not designed for Nintendo's hardware," and it appears that the 360 and the PS3 manage the high-definition graphics the Unreal Engine's technology implies. Is this "unreal" or what?

Of course, Mark Rein at Epic tries to reassure fans that all is not lost and lets us believe that they're trying to "gradually crack that nut," working with a third-party technology. Rein's actual statement is pretty formal and doesn't leave much room for interpretation, creating a blurry image of the game's coming on the Wii: "It's definitely a challenge to convince Japanese developers to work with a third-party technology like ours. But Square Enix, they're the granddaddy. I'm hoping that'll be pulling the stopper out of the drain, and we'll gradually crack that nut. We've been looking to hire somebody in Japan, to be our representative there."

If my memory serves me right, I recall Epic working on UT3 for its launch on the Wii as a sure thing, not mentioning any problems in the course of action. Now Rein wants us to believe that a "certain" problem has just emerged and it's just not possible anymore? Not likely, problems of such magnitude can be seen from the beginning and the only conclusion would be that Epic wasn't entirely honest with us.

Anyway, remember, a Wii version of UT3 is still possible if a third-party technology comes their way and Epic agrees to take them aboard.