Mark Rein has dismissed the rumor that Legendary Pictures is looking to acquire Epic Games as "just another rumor."

Whew. I thought I was looking at a whole new generation of bad video game movie adaptations.

If you enjoyed the last Nordic Game conference and are looking forward to this year's event, we've got some news for you. Quite a number of big name speakers will be sharing their thoughts at the Business and Production part of the program. To find out who will at the event, head on over to the full article.

It's been said before that the Nintendo Wii won't be getting its own port of Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3. Well, it looks like things have changed, and the Wii looks to be rocking the engine in the future, after all. Thing is, though, Epic itself won't be the one bringing the engine to the console. In a recent interview with Kikizo, Epic Games VP Mark Rein revealed a few details about Unreal Engine 3's upcoming debut on the Wii. More at the full article.

In an interview with Epic Games VP Mark Rein during the Tokyo Game Show, he talks about the Gears of War franchise: the sequel, the PC version and about the possibility of going multi-platform (aside from the PC of course). Short version: the PC version is coming soon, and it won't be going cross-platform.

As for the sequel to Gears of War, he's pretty coy about the whole thing. He doesn't reveal or deny its development, preferring to talk more about the PC version. The PC version, he says, will also have some new content including five new chapters and new multiplayer maps.

Unfortunately it doesn't look like the game will be appearing on the PS3 - as he explains, Microsoft is the publisher of the game so we probably won't see that happening anytime soon - or the Wii. Because of Epic Games' drive for high end graphics, the Wii simply isn't the optimal platform for their engine.

Post-GDC brought both awards and rumors to Epic Games and it's undoubtedly über successful X360 shooter, Gears of War. And inasmuch as they are quick to accept the award, so are they quick to attend to the gossip travelling through the grapevine.

First off, yes, Gears of War will definitely come to the PC at some point in the future. But as their studio isn't large enough to handle a whole bunch of projects all at the same time, they would have to give priority to Unreal Tournament III first. Then when that's done, maybe that's when the wheels can start fully rollin' for Gears of War on PC.

Secondly, no, Unreal Engine 3 unfortunately won't be used in Wii games. Not that they have anything against the Wii, hence the absence of their support for it. It's just that... well, it's gonna be really difficult to squeeze in the technology on to Nintendo's next-gen. However, Mark Rein is certain that "one of our licensees will at some point squeeze it down into the Wii, the way Ubisoft squeezed Unreal Engine II into the PSP."

We'll see where the wind blows. You never know, they just might change their minds in the future. Maybe.

With Epic Games riding high on the success of Gears of War, growing anticipation for the next installment in their Unreal Tournament franchise, and news that Square Enix will be using Unreal Engine 3, we guess it was only a matter of time until the "Unreal Engine on the Wii" question was asked. In a recent interview with Wired News, Mark Rein was asked that exact question. Those who are hoping for it to become a reality will be disappointed with the answer, though.

WN: It's also tough to ignore the success of the Wii at this point. Do you guys have any plans to be in that space?

Rein: Hey, we're in that space! Red Steel, Splinter Cell -- those use our previous engine technology. But it's not in our plans to bring Unreal Engine 3 to the Wii. It's really designed for next-gen, high-definition.

There you have it folks. Make what you will of Rein's last statement, but right now, no Unreal Engine 3 for the Wii.

 Wired News managed to get to talk to Epic VP Mark Rein about the success of the Unreal Engine 3. Two things stand out in that interview. First off, when asked about Epic's plans for developing content for the Wii, Rein had this to say:

Hey, we're in that space! Red Steel, Splinter Cell -- those use our previous engine technology. But it's not in our plans to bring Unreal Engine 3 to the Wii. It's really designed for next-gen, high-definition.

Second, when asked about the difficulty involved in getting Japanese developers to work with third-part engines, he said (there's a job opening in there, somewhere):

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.

It's really hard to find somebody who speaks really good English, knows our technology well, is native Japanese, has an engineering background, can answer complex questions. We're looking; the job's open.

To close this, we'll leave you folks something to chew on. Here's Rein's take on the negative rep that the PS3 is getting.

I don't understand all this crazy negative backlash toward PlayStation 3. It's like, people aren't happy that there aren't enough machines, and then they're not happy that there are? Get over it! You want to be able to buy the damn thing!

Yeah, we're just bummed about the price, that's all. Oh, that, and that we're going to have to wait a bit until we get to play to really, really good stuff. Thank the gods for virtua fighters and chimera.

Between Gears of War on the one end and Unreal Tournament 3 on the other - not to mention Square Enix - Mark Rein (vice president of Epic Games) must be one jolly soul. Very jolly, very happy, one interview with GameInformer during Midway Games' Day 2007 is all you need to see why. Hey, he describes himself as "Mr. Optimism," and that's bound to be a good thing.

For example, when GI asks him, and we quote, "Do you think Sony is in trouble?" Rein replies, and we quote, "No, god, no. Somebody asked me that earlier, and I was like, 'What a ridiculous question.'" And it's not just because he feels confident about UT3's chances on the PS3 - which is why Epic Games is also looking to move copies of UT3 for the 360, too.

"So as long as people are willing to pay the price for the machine - and I’m sure lots of people are - I think they're hopefully in a good situation." If you ask him, PlayStation Network works fine, the games are of "high quality," and he thinks Sony's gonna be fine. Hey, he likes Resistance and is looking forward to MotorStorm.

And the Wii, for that matter. It seems that comments he made on the Wii and its games may have been misunderstood. Replying to impressions that he may have said some negative things about the Wii, he replied:

It wasn't a statement about the Wii itself, it was about the games that will come out for it and how people will bring games on it that are just there because of the controller, and I wasn't exactly wrong, was I?... I always said, "Nintendo will make great games." And, sure enough, Wii Sports is frickin' awesome. So I think they'll do well, too. I bought Wario—it's fun, I like the games they made for it.

If Mark were to make an essay on today's attitudes, it might be on the ugliness of negativity. "I've really noticed this over the last couple of years. It's really turned a corner from positivity to negativity, and it's overwhelming sometimes. It makes you want to kill yourself." He may have been misunderstood as (overly) critical in the past, but when you hear this guy heap critical praise for all three consoles, it kinda makes you realize what a big heart he actually has. He's one honest fellow, and he's well-known for his honest assessments about Epic Games.

Anyway, on to the other important stuff.

• For PC owners, Unreal 3 will support D3D10 right out of the box. Don't worry about future-proofing your rig, though: Mark says elsewhere that Epic will continue supporting Windows XP for quite some time to come.
• Too early for Epic to talk about Xbox-PC multiplayer or Windows Live-specific plans. (We're wondering, with THREE platforms running UT3... er...)
• Because GI asked - again - the question. No immediate plans to bring Gears to PC. To clarify: it will run on a PC, no problem there, it's just a question of "when." And "when" ain't now. Also, Epic's busy supporting Gears, so no word on potential sequels for now.

 

This was supposed to be quick one. No quotes like "a picture paints as thousand words" or anything like that. But more than just simply amazing, the picture above is quite intriguing. There's really no telling the lengths fans are willing to go to for their beloved games. Call of Duty 3 (X360, PS3, Wii), as we have just seen, is no exception.

CoD 3 has always been pitted against Epic Games' Gears of War. Maybe it's because the two are from the same genre. Or maybe the rivalry sprouted from the engines the two games have? In all fairness to Activision, their title came out first. If our memory serves us right, the first title of the series came out during the later period of 2003. GoW, on the other hand, has only been around for weeks.

Also, we would like to see how far GoW would go. It was mentioned a couple of weeks ago, by no less than Mark Rein himself, that they are willing to make sequels as long as fans want it. On the other hand, there has been hushed talks circulating about CoD 4 even this early.

Oh well, we reckon that this is just a friendly competition. We wonder if GoW fans have some mice stories or pictures to show like the ones above. These are, after all, for the love of the game.

Buy: [Call of Duty 3 for Xbox 360]
Buy: [Call of Duty 3 for PS3]
Buy: [Call of Duty 3 for Wii]