14 DAY TRIAL // 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 game has been approved by Sony Computer Entertainment America and the shipping will start on Monday, December 10th. 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.
Any kind of mods created for the PC version, including player created mods and customizations, can be loaded in the PlayStation 3 system as well. "We're extremely excited about this and we feel this will bring a level of creativity, innovation and replayability not previously seen on home consoles", said Mark Rein, vice-president of Epic Games.
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.
Unofficial rumors about the Xbox 360 version of the Unreal Tournament 3 are beginning to surface now that the PlayStation version is completed, but there are still no official statements regarding this - it's no more than a community request yet. However, having in mind a recent declaration made by the CEO of SCEA, Jack Tretton, where he stated his happiness that gamers will be able to enjoy UT3 only on a Playstation system, makes it hard to believe any of these rumors are true. But, in the end, it's all fair in love and gaming!