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UT3 Won't Feature Cross Play Capability

Posted by Zonk on from the stick-to-your-roots dept.

Next Generation is reporting on comments from Epic's Mark Rein, who participated in an IRC chat with some members of the Unreal community recently. In the chat, Rein revealed that Unreal Tournament 3 will not feature the ability for PS3 and PC players to compete on the same servers. Said Rein, "We looked at how this would impact our ability to respond quickly to things happening at internet speed on the PC side of the equation and realized that this would not be in the best interests of our very loyal PC userbase because we would constantly be holding on to updates to wait until they passed cert on the console platform. Our PC fanbase is of ultimate importance to us. They are our bread and butter. We can't let them down or compromise their experience in any way to accommodate cross platform play."

10 of 141 comments (clear)

  1. Re:What?!? by Necreia · · Score: 5, Informative

    PC patches don't require Sony's blessing-- that's the deal with it.

  2. Well, the problem is also by zsouthboy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    That console owners wouldn't have much fun getting owned by people that are playing with kb/mouse - so it also makes sense.

    On the other hand, :(

    1. Re:Well, the problem is also by Mattintosh · · Score: 4, Interesting

      See, I was hoping for some epic battles between the Halo-obsessed frat-boy types on consoles vs. the diehard PC gamer types with the kb/mouse. I would be among the PC crowd bringing down some fire and brimstone upon the console twits.

      It was going to be like a flamewar, only with guns.

      Damn you, Epic! Damn you! (shakes fist)

  3. Console vs PC = bad idea for developers by Delusion_ · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The first time a group of fairly talented console players meet up with a group of fairly talented PC players in a first-person shooter, the limitations of a console controller versus the flexibility of a mouse are going to become painfully obvious.

    When I played Halo on an Xbox (not a lengthy play session, admittedly), it felt like I was playing wearing mittens.

    There's something to be said about having your mouse set almost fast enough for the cursor to register your pulse - because in an FPS, being able to do a quick 360 in midair in a fraction of a second is the difference between getting a kill and being a kill.

    This could lead players to assume that the PC is the platform to be on, much to the detriment of console game sales and rentals.

    I don't have a use for consoles - I dislike the limitations and the controllers have been horrendous since the days of the Atari 2600 and don't care much for the kind of games that consoles do better than PCs, so while I admit I might be short-changing the console side a little, that's my take.

  4. Let's not forget... by Locriology · · Score: 4, Informative

    ...that PS3 UT3 players are not limited to the SIXAXIS controller. So there will still be keyboard-over-controller domination.

  5. Re:What?!? by LinuxGeek · · Score: 4, Informative

    I thought it was more widely known that the PS3 version will support keyboard and mouse play. One of the reasons I finally bought a console for gaming.

    --

    Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. - Mark Twain
  6. EPIC is making the right call on this... by Ang31us · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You're all absolutely correct about mouse versus joystick for aiming and turning.

    The other point to consider is that the entire Unreal series has been heavily modded by the PC gaming community...I recall nude skins and even black skins (invisible in the dark, except for the sniper bullets that fly off you), Simpsons mods, Mario Brothers mods, The Matrix mods, Aliens mods, etc.

    Imagine the Republican uproar in Congress (e.g. Lieberman, McCain, et tu Clinton?) or the Florida courts (Jack Thompson) about little Johnny seeing a nude girl jumping around and shooting him while playing on his console...I say screw that. Keep the kiddies with their consoles locked in the original games and make them pay for mods using the Microsoft pay-for-download model...who cares if those clowns don't get community-based mods? EPIC is going to give us the PC version we want, with no filters or limitations, the way they always have.

  7. The PS3 version is second grade anyway... by rbarreira · · Score: 4, Funny
    The PS3 version will be worse than the PC version anyway, and won't include all the maps:

    http://www.jolt.co.uk/index.php?articleid=9625

    Epic's Mark Rein has now said maps have had to be cut from the PlayStation 3 version because the next-gen system can't handle them.

    Speaking to IGN, Rein commented that the maps not in the PS3 release didn't sit well on the console "because the system didn't have the resources to produce a smooth gameplay experience."


    The PS3 omgpowerhouse looks less and less powerful...
    --

    The AACS key is NOT 0xF606EEFD628B1CA427BEA93A9CA9773F
  8. Thank god! by phorge · · Score: 5, Funny

    At first I read this as 'UT3 Won't Feature Cosplay'.

    If only we could have been so lucky.

  9. Re:What?!? by DarkMantle · · Score: 4, Informative

    OK, I've been following the UT3 development as closely as I can since UT 2004 came out. Now Let me summarize what I've read/heard/watched on several interviews and blogs (with Epic Employees.)

    • Cross platform play is dropped for above stated reason. It works fine in the development lab but Sony must "bless" the patch before release and for the PC once it passes Epics testing it's good.
    • 360 is delayed because of limitations of XBOX Live. On PC and PS3 custom maps can be downloaded from the host server. 360 only allows downloads from Live download servers, so it needs Microsoft's "blessing"
    • Dedicated servers for PS3 will run on any standard PC, so you can host the server on a PC for your friends to play on even if you're PS3 is off. (this should also be true for 360, but was not commented on)
    • The requirements for PC and PS3 dedicated servers has not increased much since UT2Kx, but the map textures and meshes have more detail so more RAM is recommended
    • PS3 version of UT3 will support Keyboard and mouse. (I've not heard about 360 version support)
    • I repeat. Cross platform play works in the dev lab so It's due to patch certifications that they are not allowing it.

    That said, Epic has a history of listening to the community, raise a stink on the forums and they may add it in a patch. Also If you post about the different version restrictions, it's similar to UT2Kx where if I'm running a certain version server, and you have a different client we can't connect, so It is a valid idea.

    If microsoft Live servers weren't so restricted all 3 platforms would launch at the same time. If you're a console gamer and want to make maps, then you will need to buy the PC version as well as your console version. IIRC you will be able to browse UT3 download sites for maps to directly on the PS3, but I may be wrong on that part.

    --
    DarkMantle I been bored, so I started a blog.