Epic focusing on console titles News

Moah Space Mahrines!

Cliffy B rocks! I said in some other random comments PC sucks and I got berated. Cheers Cliff!

Whatever, just make your games for the PS3 then so I can use a keyboard and mouse to play them. Or swear at Microsoft a lot until they let you use a keyboard and mouse on their console.

pclulz

Cooking Mama Lolz!

This gen really killled the PC. With the quality of graphics we have on PS3/360, what moron is seriously going to invest mega bucks in high end PCs and keep on upgrading?

Couch and thumbsticks FTW

He's just pissed off because UT3 did not sell on the PC.

There's no "I" in "team", Cliffy.

Great decision. PC gaming is dying with a super console like 360 availaible for a rather small amount of cash.

seems reactionary. Did UT3 offer anything new? The PC crowd are quite discerning.

Displacement mapped crotchguards?

"Did UT3 offer anything new?"

Nothing at all. More of the same, and some of it done worse infact.

For me, the PC is kind of the secondary part of what we're doing

It shows, UTIII is poo compared to the original.

You should never forget where you came from, Mr.CliffyB...

Micorosoft are responsible for the current pc gaming mess because of Vista.

Pc gaming itself is not as expensive as people make out. **IF** you already have a pc (as people with a broadband connection generally do) then the additional cost of a decent mid range graphics card and a bit of RAM is not expensive compared. But you do need to know what you are doing which is why the casual market do not embrace it.

Unfortunately Microsoft have pushed a unfinished o/s with no compelling features on the marketplace.

If Vista was not drm crippled and 64 but only then the PC would have been in a position to be way beyond the current gen consoles within 2 years. Ah well.

Doesn't PC gaming die ever year?

Ouch! I know UT3 didn't sell well but it must have really bombed for them to abandon the PC!

Fucking Cooking Mama would be a massive seller, surely? She's kinda hot.

PCgamersarequitediscerninglol

they are, less framerate gives time to discern more

How very short sighted of EPIC. The players who put them where they are today won't forget this, I hope it blows up in their faces, Gears was cool, UT3 on PS3 is 'cool' but frankly they are nothing compared to the legacy and goodwill built up by communites around the original Unreal, UT, UT2k3 and the engine/mapping scene.

The reason UT3 was so poorly received on PC (even though I liked the gameplay) was precisely BECAUSE it was obvious their focus lay with the consoles (just like most of the other UE3 licencess it seems - esp 2k with bioshockinggame pc version).

Well, sure go where the gold is but don't come crawling back the the 'always present' PC market when you realise what twat's you've been. Oh joy - the future of First Person Shooters curtailed to work primarily with dual sticks, how's that for fucking progression! duh.

And yes the PC has been dying for years and still manages to get almost every decent big game going, for less with better control (for FPS anyway). Racers and fighters are generally more at home on consoles, FPS will always be better on PC and that's not just the control issue (yes I know you can hook up m/kb to ps3 etc).

Oh and Cliffy B once gave me feedback on one of my maps and was quite insulting, I still like him thanks to the Unreal/UT games of the past but this is a real kick in the teeth for the Unreal fanatics.

@spaceace > I got 150fps average on FULL quality in UT3 @ 1440x900 + 2xAA on my 8800gtx, how is that 'less framerate' than 30fps console version with reduced res and graphical quality? jesus there are so many biased idiots about. (i'm not, I've owned a 360 for the last 18 months till it died finally, and I'm seriously thinking of getting a PS3 for the exclusives, mainly GT5 and also as BluRay player now it's safely won) - My ds keeps me happy in between all of that. :)

I'm with sharpfish. My 8800gtx PC kicks the crap out of both consoles and i own a 360 + PS3. The bottom line is that console games = massive revenue. Never write off the PC though.

lol thanks mate you just made my day

Great decision. PC gaming is dying with a super console like 360 availaible for a rather small amount of cash.

I don't know how many times I've heard that, even from my own mouth, and yet it's still not dead. Someone might wanna tell Blizzard to stop earning money, "Haven't you heard? PC gaming is dying, we need to jump ship pronto!". Meanwhile, Mr. Peck walks around the server room issuing his final orders, "Shut these off, shut these all off."

It's also worth pointing out that by the time you've bought all your games and peripherals for the "cheap" 360, the price will have shot up a huge amount. So long as you don't jump on every piece of hardware that comes out, I find the price of PC gaming very comparable over the life span of a console.

By the way, I own both a gaming PC and consoles. I play console games on the consoles and PC games on the PC. I don't like PC games on consoles, especially on a controller, and console games tend to be pants on PC.

Doesn't PC gaming die ever year?

Supposedly has been every year since about 1988, yeah. Yet, here we are.

I'm trying to think of something Epic did that I cared about. Uh, UT 2004 was quite good; only for Red Orchestra though...er...ummm...well, I guess their engines are quite nice maybe?
Oh well, bon voyage Cliffy. You'll be missed I, um, guess.

” My girlfriend brought me to this metalcore show — Killswitch Engage was phenomenal and All That Remains. I realized, you know what? That’s the target audience for what I do. And I’m okay with that. I don’t want to win over their little college sister, because that’s not the kind of game I do."

Well i'm out of Cliff's target audience then. This comment speaks volumes.

@Lexx87

Actually I think you'll find that Unreal tourney on PC flopped big time. It's not PC that's the problem, it's Epic re-hasing their old game again and again. People finally got fed up of it. Dispite the graphics, unreal has zero tactical play and people have simply moved on from the jumpy shooty era of Halo and Unreal. COD4 unseating halo 3, rainbow vegas, gears and even ghost recon all being in the top section of the most played list on live is pretty much proof of that.

We want games where your skill and not some random jumping is what determines how well you do.

I wish someone would make "Fucking Cooking Mama", starring Nigella Lawson, for preference.

Won't anybody think of the mice?

and keyboards?

Shouldn't there be a huge fight here about control methods?

>"You should never forget where you came from, Mr.CliffyB... "

He came from a PC O_O?

CliffyPC?

Well this sounds just like Carmack when Doom 3 seemingly underperformed.

These devs seem to think that just because they made a game, its automaticaly awesome. Doom 3 didnt sell great because it wasnt very good! Although Carmack blames piracy, because, thats the only possible reason right?!

Same for Epic, I didnt buy Gears because it was repetitive and the fun wore off after about 5 mins on 360. I played the UT3 demo for about 10 minutes, and in the light of new shooters, it just wasnt up to scratch. It felt ancient and tired, and not in a nostalgic way.

I owned a 360 for about 6 months and sold it in the end, as I just couldnt find anything worth playing on it. I bought Gears, not because I thought it looked good, but there simply wasnt any choice out there! Which I think is where a lot of console sales come from. The choice of games to choose from is miniscule comparted to the PC, and when devs like Epic make a game that fails to compete, they start blubbing like babies, throw a rock (which misses) and go crying back to the their mommies who cuddle them and reassure them that they're the greatest.

Well, if Gears and UT3 is what Epic are offering these days, then I'm not even remotely bothered if they become console only, be gone already, and stop whinig! Oh, and take your horrible texture streamin engine with you please.

@agparrot

We could have a massive war about control methods but with UT3 you can play it with mice and keyboard or pad on both PS3 and PC, so theres no difference really, pick your format and pick which ever control system you want as well.

@ Cliffy B

This is about the most stupid thing I have ever heard.

Did he heard about Crysis? Starcraft 2? Neverwinter Nights 2?

Just because Epic can/wont put the effort in making agmes people will actually buy on the PC, doenst mean it can be done. Further more has he ever considered that games like WOW and The Sims are just more fun? Its like people saying that only crap/childish games sell on the Wii. Is not that their are crap or that they are childish is that they are fun, and maybe if you got of your high horse and realized people dont like just shooetrs and FPS games, you wouldnt sound like such a raving fanboy.

A lot of angry PC-people here...

fuck it gonna play mass effect when it comes out on the PC

well said Nylkran

Im a 95% console gamer myself i do have a pc but it needs upgrading again, i cant really see why they would make the decision not to make PC games anymore, they have a multiplatform engine, for the most part all they have to do it click compile for PC and build the assets. Its not like there is 3rd party to go through like Microsoft or Sony either, for the sales they will get on PC even if they are poor, would sureley be more money than it would cost them to do a build on the PC platform.

We do PC conversion with our cross platform engine and they there probably is a 2-3 weeks exrta work in makeing the PC version, PC sales would have to be incredibly low not to make it worth the effort.

What a dick. Boo-hoo Cliffy, so you're latest game didn't make you oodles of cash, c'mon. The PC gaming market is strong, and evolving, just look at Steam, I don't see Valve complaining. Cooking Mama?! Have you seen Xbox Live Arcade per chance? There's enough crap on there too, Cliff.

Not like Gears of War was actually that good, just had a massive advertising campaign, and that (yes italics again! Really pushing the boat out here) song.

P.s I own a PS3 and Xbox 360 so I am not an angry PC gamer, I love games whatever platform they're on. Just don't like CB's comments as it's clearly all about making money to him (does he speak for all of Epic?) now.

"He's just pissed off because UT3 did not sell on the PC." etc

The developers are not (just) pissed off that they are not selling well.

Like Infinity Ward with CoD4 - what they are pissed off with is seeing how many people are playing the game against how many legitimate copies have been sold (obviously that only includes viewing those online - millions more won't be logging in with the games).

Most people I know offset the huge investment of a PC gaming rig by never actually paying for ANY software - trying to recoup the cost back with each illegitimate download/carboot purcahse. Sometimes it's people "tricking" their other half - who doesn't have a clue whats inside the PC - and said half may go mad at seeing how much would be spent on games - but thats nowhere near a good enough excuse in my book.

I have no doubt far more than 4.5 million PC owners have UT3 installed on their HD.

Thing is with these consoles you have near PC quality graphics on big HDTV displays sat proudly in the front room linked up to surround sound. AND here's the best bit - everyone has the SAME system, nobody bitch whining about someone having better FPS etc etc etc, no or very little hacking i.e. no super shitty "aim bot".

Console gaming is enjoying a moment of rude health and I am finally enjoying playing FPS games with a pad again, who'd have guessed?

Different strokes for different folk, if they only prefer to play on PC as it is certainly can be more comfortable, familar and say prefer keyboard/mouse for playing most games as opposited to gamepad which can be limited.

The rages at consoles or only at X360 is in my view misdirected, you cannot make them disappear! We should accept that a good number of people are buying them and the people making the games are in this to make money. So whatever the reason for lowering sales of games on PC, games being too console-centric, simply poor games or piracy, at the end of day them devs need to make money. There are a lot of free games on PC and cheaper way of getting games ie via Steam than retail.

Astounded at a comment that X360 have no good games at all? That is a pretty strong statement unless the person only interested in a certain genre and that is only available on PC and not so much on X360? We know that most games on X360 is also available on PC (more so than also being available on PS3) and currently there are only a few true exclusives tied to each platform that are not available elsewhere. Much fewer than the last gen due to the expensive business and the need to recoup costs.

"disarray"lol
cliffycopter

It's sad to see one of the original big PC devlopers turn their backs on the system, but the fact is Epic haven't made a decent PC game since Unreal Tournament in 1999 (unless you count the other Unreals, which were really more of the same).

It seems they are more interested in selling engines now, and I assume they will still be licensing those engines out to PC developers. They will be missed, but more out of a sense of nostalgia rather than mourning any holes in the PC's release schedules.

God you know what's really sad - how people get all excited when people lay into something that isn't their system of choice.

I can understand if you all prefer your 360 but why the fuck should that make you happy when a certain dev isn't happy with the PC? It's just pathetic.

Anyway, we've heard this for years and its complete bollocks as we know (Crysis already sold over 1 million? PC gaming is dying lolomg).

LOL at Epic, Next time try making original And/or FUN games cause re texturing unreal tournement (a la EA) is not going to get you maney sales on PC.

Like Factor 5, if your game dosn't sell, just change platforms and blame everyone else.

Psst: Epic, here's a secret, Your last good game was Unreal tournement from 1999.... stop remaking it!

The man does this for a living, can he be blamed for wanting to be payed for his work? Console games sell, especialy the (oh my god! so american! so retarded) shooters. Would you like to earn a lot less for your work? I would whine too.

ha! try mac "gaming"... now that's disarray...

This gen really killled the PC. With the quality of graphics we have on PS3/360, what moron is seriously going to invest mega bucks in high end PCs and keep on upgrading?

Wow, even for the comments section, this is a particularly idiotic post. Congratulations!

Didn't see that one - my ignore list is doing its job! Hurray!

Some console gamers actually think they can compete with the pc graphically? Lollercaust.

/cue "lol pc nerds who cares about graphics"
/points at Wii comments threads

@ katsumoto and others

"Some console gamers actually think they can compete with the pc graphically? Lollercaust."

Show me where, for under £300, someone can purchase a decent pc, with Gears/CoD4/Drake's Fortune quality graphics - that is 99% GUARANTEED to run those games at HDTV resolutions with a decent framerate.

Oh yeah and because this is NOT just about graphics, the PC setup must be easy to use, require basically no upgrading in 6 months' time for the majority of games released on it and be easily playable from a living room-type location.

Oh, that's right - all of you hardcore PC gamers forget one thing; PEOPLE ARE DIFFERENT AND HAVE DIFFERENT PRIORITIES!

Of course even a £600 machine could wipe the floor with a 360 and PS3 - but there'll be some games in the near future it struggles with, because the architecture isn't locked down, whereas devs can optimise and tweak the hell out of console versions.

Also, almost no PC games available on consoles have split-screen support, making friday night gatherings somewhat difficult.

As has been mentioned before, if everyone has the same architecture, then there can be no (justified) complaints of 'But your machine is better' or 'Hax!'

Some folks like the ease and convenience of just getting home, popping the disc in the drive and playing - no installation required, no config tweaks, no messing around with texture settings, volumetrics and anti-aliasing in an attempt to get a decent frame-rate.

But, whatever, go on with your "Consoles? Pfft. Those are for whiny little children. A REAL man would spend four days trying to rebuild his machine before even ripping off the shrink-wrap!" opinions.

'We want games where your skill and not some random jumping is what determines how well you do.'

Yes, we do. However neither Unreal, Halo, or quake rely on 'random jumping' to achieve success. What is this current obsession wtih thinking that just because the current wave of 'tactical' shooters have a bit more complexity, they are suddenly a million times more skilled based. It's nonsense, sorry. Thank god for games like warsow, proving that some people still do realize this.

I think you missed the point somewhat. I wasn't talking about sitting on sofas and splitscreen support and all the usual. I was talking about how, when people slam the pc, they refer to us as "nerds" who only care about graphics, and then go on to slam for the Wii for having "ps2 visuals".

I don't think your "you must spend 600 quid" thing is really relevant to what we're talking about. And btw with your "lol all pc gamers upgrade their system every 6 months" spiel you're just as bad as you make us out to be, with our supposed "lol all console gamers are thick as shit" attitude, i.e. generalising. I was making a specific comment, you are making a very general one.

P.s., if you need to upgrade your pc every 6 months then you obviously just bought a really awful pc :P! I've upgraded my setup twice since 2002. Obviously hefty overhauls both times, but thats it. Twice.

But you just said "Some console gamers actually think they can compete with the pc graphically? Lollercaust." yes?

Therefore, the implication is that you think:

1. Consoles cannot possibly compete with PCs in terms of graphics.
2. Anyone who thinks the quality of graphics on consoles can be compared to those on PC is some kind of idiot - inferred from the overall patronising tone of the comment.

Also, where, please did I say "You must spend 600 quid"? Did I say MUST? Did I say FORCED? Or maybe you are putting words into my mouth, reading things that you want to read.

I said that for a direct and fair comparison between a PC and a console, then a PC that cost under £300 and wouldn't require significant upgrading within 6 months (seeing as a £300 PC would likely have to skimp in some areas) - by comparison, I can pretty much say for certain that in 6 months' time, 360 and PS3 graphics will still be roughly on par with high-end PC games (especially DirectX 9 games). Seems a pretty reasonable point to me, to say that if the PC crowd are going to spit on the console crowd, then they should come up with evidence to support their opinions.