[iPhone] Epic shows off Unreal Engine 3 running on iPhone / iPod touch

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Epic shows off Unreal Engine 3 running on iPhone / iPod touch

There's certainly plenty of good looking iPhone games available these days, but things could be about to get quite a bit more interesting, as Epic has now demonstrated its Unreal Engine 3 (the same one used for games like Gears of War 2) running on the iPhone 3GS and 3rd gen iPod touch. Unfortunately, it hasn't also announced any games or licensees that will be using the engine, but it seems like it has at least managed to get it running remarkably well on the hardware -- albeit in a somewhat limited demo, as you can see in the video after the break. What's more, Epic also reportedly said that it would be showing off the engine running on "another mobile platform entirely" at CES next month, but didn't drop any further hints besides that.

News source: Engadget

[master2k27]

looks very fiddly, i don't think touch screen games wont never be big

[+jamesyfx Subscriber²]

I can't believe how much effort software companies are putting into the iPhone/iPod Touch. It's really something.

If only they paid this much attention to OS X. ;]

[deletedxyz]

I can't believe how much effort software companies are putting into the iPhone/iPod Touch. It's really something.

If only they paid this much attention to OS X. ;]

It's the money. Millions of people bought the iPhone and the top apps are games. Hundreds of thousands are willing to buy apps for a lot of money. In fact, GPS software which retails for $60-$100 are among the top paid apps.

[SMELTN]

LMAO that is pretty true james. Its funny how there are CRAP for games on the actually Mac OS platform, yet all these big name companies are stepping up fast and making games for the iPhone. I must say though it looks pretty nice, can't wait to see an actual game from this.

Master2k27 I used to be like you, I used to say that touch screen games suck, but then I got an iPhone 3GS about 2+ months ago and started playing them. They work JUST like using a controller. Everything works as it should and pressing buttons and moving the "joystick" works perfect. I have been playing N.O.V.A. lately and it works extremely well for a FPS, and even has a Multiplayer side.

This coming from a person who hates playing console games, yet surprisingly I am enjoying playing games on the iPhone. I honestly think we are only seeing the beginning of the smart phone for gaming with this. It makes a TON of sense and we live in a world were people do not want to carry 3 or 4 different devices around, they want 1 device to do everything for them. I know I do. So its only going to get better. Pretty soon we are going to have Nvidia branded smartphones with Geforce 8800's+ pushing them bad boys.

[neocongirl]

360 games on my iphone, awesome

[_neutrino Veteran]

the few FPS games i have played on the iPhone/iPod touch were horrible to control.

[error404ts]

looks very fiddly, i don't think touch screen games wont never be big

Your triple negative just made my head explode :shiftyninja:

I'm pretty amazed that the graphics look as good as they do on whatever game that is. Very smooth.

[Jase]

the few FPS games i have played on the iPhone/iPod touch were horrible to control.

Get N.O.V.A - Thank me later (Y)

back to topic, HOLY CRAP!

[SimplySchizo]

any game requiring some sort of 360 degree d-pad is fail on these things. sure its playable, but inconsistent.

[Xero]

I can't believe how much effort software companies are putting into the iPhone/iPod Touch. It's really something.

If only they paid this much attention to OS X. ;]

Theres like 4 or 5x more users with iPhones/iPod touches that those owning macs. It's no surprise that they focus on that instead. Plus iPhone/iPod touch users are very prone to purchasing Apps, whereas Desktops don't care as much or bootleg them. It makes sense that they get so much attention. Would would be smart is if some hardware developer created special case that added extra external buttons. Then licensed it to developers to make their games work with it. I love gaming on it, but just tapping the screen is bothering me.

[John Freeman]

Not that im going to play any fps on iphone, but that just shows how amazing ue3 is. Or in other words - holy crap! :o

[+jamesyfx Subscriber²]

I hear news that jailbroken iPhones have some software available that will allow a Bluetooth keyboard to work with it.

So.. Maybe in the future.. Bluetooth Controllers for iPhone? :p

[Shadrack]

Wow, that demo video looks fantastic. Holy Crap! is right, Freeman.

I hear news that jailbroken iPhones have some software available that will allow a Bluetooth keyboard to work with it.

So.. Maybe in the future.. Bluetooth Controllers for iPhone? :p

It would be nice to have a controller that plugged into the iPhone/iPod Touch for some of these titles, for sure. I'd buy one if it were good.

I had a Bluetooth controller for my PocketPC (2003 edition) a number of years ago and it was terrible. So very laggy. I can't remember the company, but I think it was from Korea.

If there is a Bluetooth controller, I hope that Apple designs it and not some 3rd party. I want a standard not a new market where everyone makes their own iPhone controller. Like how the XBox 360 controller standardized what was expected for PC gamepads.

[Ayepecks]

I hope the other platform is Tegra -- give us something a bit more powerful and good lookin'!

[Denis W. Veteran]

Is that a mobile version of UT3? Looks a heck of a lot like the link gun.

[notuptome2004]

berfore anyone says FPS crappy on iPhone/iPod T got some games for ya oh and including 1 racing game that is hailed as the best mobile racer ever

http://www.idsoftware.com/doom-resurrection/

http://www.idsoftware.com/doom-classic/

http://www.idsoftware.com/wolfenstein-3d-classic-platinum/

http://www.firemint.com/realracing/index.html

[SMELTN]

I absolutely LOVE Real Racing. But ANY racing game on the iPhone works GREAT!! But I do agree its a lot easier to play a racing game with the accelerometer than it is a FPS.

[nhozemphtekh]

Unreal Engine is much more than just FPS, forget about them. they can make any type of game with it.

[notuptome2004]

I absolutely LOVE Real Racing. But ANY racing game on the iPhone works GREAT!! But I do agree its a lot easier to play a racing game with the accelerometer than it is a FPS.

now question how would you rate the graphics and also the features of real racing compared to high end console or even last gen console system

[Ji@nBing]

Nice!! The iPhone has shown that it's a pretty powerful little device. Some of the latest games (N.O.V.A., ect...) have shown that it's capable of almost Gamecube quality graphics. Looking forward to what games they will come up with.

[Vice]

The main issue with games on the iPhone is the controls. For some games like physics, puzzles, 2D drop down games or spacial games the iPhone works great. But for things like Racing and FPS it doesn't work so well. The lack of physical buttons really detracts from the experience. Most if not all of the Racing and FPS games require you to always keep at-least 1 or 2 fingers on the screen and sometimes in unusual places which cover the screen making it difficult to see the action at times.

I would say overall my experience with gaming on the iPhone is positive but only when playing games actually designed with the iPhones hardware in mind from the beginning. A good example of bad controls is the recent Driver game which has been ported from the Playstation 1 to the iPhone. I think its a 400MB download and most of the reviews mention how the games great .. except for the controls that are 'all over the place' Apple need to fix this by selling some kind of tight hugging cradle that the phone can sit in that gives us a normal dpad and an analogue stick with some action buttons.

[Ji@nBing]

The main issue with games on the iPhone is the controls. For some games like physics, puzzles, 2D drop down games or spacial games the iPhone works great. But for things like Racing and FPS it doesn't work so well. The lack of physical buttons really detracts from the experience. Most if not all of the Racing and FPS games require you to always keep at-least 1 or 2 fingers on the screen and sometimes in unusual places which cover the screen making it difficult to see the action at times.

I would say overall my experience with gaming on the iPhone is positive but only when playing games actually designed with the iPhones hardware in mind from the beginning. A good example of bad controls is the recent Driver game which has been ported from the Playstation 1 to the iPhone. I think its a 400MB download and most of the reviews mention how the games great .. except for the controls that are 'all over the place' Apple need to fix this by selling some kind of tight hugging cradle that the phone can sit in that gives us a normal dpad and an analogue stick with some action buttons.

I can somewhat agree with that. You know Apple will never allow it though because it won't "look" good and that's all they care about. I do however find they are starting to get the controls right. Both N.O.V.A. and NFS Shift work quite well IMO.

[DigitalE]

Amazing what mobile devices can do these days.

Apple need to fix this by selling some kind of tight hugging cradle that the phone can sit in that gives us a normal dpad and an analogue stick with some action buttons.

You know Apple will never allow it though because it won't "look" good and that's all they care about.

There's nothing stopping third-party developers from creating a game controller addon and writing some sort of open software library using the dock connector API that other developers can implement in games. I have no idea why nobody has yet.

[carmatic]

any game requiring some sort of 360 degree d-pad is fail on these things. sure its playable, but inconsistent.

your forgetting about the touch screen... it doesnt need to be a d-pad, it can be any 2d interface... wheels, sliders, trackballs, etc.... consistency is probably still an isssue unless they have it really tweaked properly...