Topic: Epic's Rein: '3DS Unlikely to Run Unreal Engine'

[NWR_DrewMG]

The Epic chief theorizes that the Nintendo 3DS falls below the Unreal Engine minimum specifications.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/24220

Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games, said today that he believes that the Nintendo 3DS will not be able to run the Unreal Engine 3, making the handheld system incapable of running games using the popular engine.

Rein stated that unless the 3DS exceeded his suspected specifications, there would be no games from Epic on the handheld, nor would there be any games running the engine provided by Epic.  In contrast, Epic developed a version of the Unreal Engine 3 for Apple's iOS platform and released Epic Citadel tech demo in September of 2010.

Although no firm specifications have been given for the Nintendo 3DS, early rumors have suggested that the system would be significantly more powerful than the Nintendo DSi, closer in line to the Sony PSP.  Rein stated that Epic does not have a system in-house and when they receive confirmation of the system specifications, they would re-evaluate the possibility of development on the 3DS.

[Ian Sane]

I don't think this matters as much for a portable.  But the Wii 2 should be able to run this.  It's a popular engine a lot of devs use and if you want their support you have to have the hardware to use the engine.

But realistically Western devs are using this engine and Western devs don't usually support portables very well.  Maybe that could change but in general Western third parties release shovelware on portables so the priority should be that the next Nintendo console can support this.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Where's the direct quote?

"No. It's below our [minimum specifications], from what we can tell. We don't have a 3DS, so there's no way for us to verify that, but everything we've been led to believe is that it's below our min-spec. You couldn't do a game that looks like [Epic Citadel] on it, for example. Like I said, we really don't know enough about it to make a formal comment, but I think if they considered that our engine would be good on it, they would have probably talked to us about it."

They sure are saying alot for not knowing enough to comment and being unable verify since they have never touched the machine....

Sounds to me like someone got their feeling hurt (just enough to sound a little bitter) that Nintendo wasn't banging on their door in the middle of the night months ago to personally hand them a dev kit and beg for support.

[jimwood27]

not sure why anyone asks this guy or anyone from Epic about a Nintendo platform.  even if the tech was there (seemingly all that company cares about), they still would not have any interest in making games for a Nintendo platform.  I have seen other quotes from this Rein guy completely disregarding Nintendo and what they do so no surprise he is poo-pooing the 3DS even without having one.

[Captain N the Game Master]

Come on Mark Rein, you can't even get Unreal engine games to run on PS3...

[Kytim89]

I was hoping for a Bullet Storm and Gears of War portable game. Bummer!

[Peachylala]

Sounds to me like someone got their feeling hurt (just enough to sound a little bitter) that Nintendo wasn't banging on their door in the middle of the night months ago to personally hand them a dev kit and beg for support.

Considering the fact that all they ever do is bitch about Nintendo, methinks Nintendo shrugging them off is a big well deserved "Well **** you too Epic".

I was hoping for a Bullet Storm and Gears of War portable game. Bummer!

Yes, the 3DS needs over-rated third person shooters that are not that great to begin with.

:T

[Stogi]

*Yawn*

This isn't surprising.

[Caliban]

More like Unreal Engine can't handle stereoscopic 3D.

And who gives a **** anyway. Their loss. Just look at how good Street Fighter, and Resident Evil look on the 3DS, so who's to say that other developers won't license MT Framework.

[Dirk Temporo]

Yes, the 3DS needs over-rated third person shooters that are not that great to begin with.

:T

Yeah, we know. You don't like it so everybody else is wrong.

Anyway, is this idiot really trying to tell us that UE3 can be run on the iPhone but NOT on a system that displays 3D graphics without the need for glasses, while at the same time, in FIRST-GENERATION GAMES, delivers graphics comparable in quality to a late-generation original Xbox games?

I mean really. Epic has been going straight downhill since they released Gears of War. UT3 was a joke of a game. It had half the content at launch as both the original UT and 2004.

[TJ Spyke]

Rein is a jackass. He's always saying BS about Nintendo, probably because he is jealous that Nintendo systems have succeded without his companies engines.

[Guitar Smasher]

Rein's still butthurt that the Wii became dominant, without embracing HD graphics.  There were a lot of these types in the industry for the first few years of Wii, but most of them have since gotten over it, or at least learned to keep quiet.

And before anyone jumps on me for jumping to judgment, he's the one who's making conclusions based on guesses.  He's the only one I've heard claim that the 3DS is anything less than capable of what devs want.

[Hyrulian Guard]

Does that matter really?  An awesome engine will
be made and people will license a game engine designed
for the handheld.
Occationally, someone shoves a mic in mark Riens
face to get his anti - Nintendo thoughts.
When he is developing for the platform,
what he thinks will then be relivant.

[Peachylala]

Yeah, we know. You don't like it so everybody else is wrong.

Oh yes, and while I'm at it I'm currently enjoying Sin & Punishment 2 more then the first Gears Of War.
 

And before anyone jumps on me for jumping to judgment, he's the one who's making conclusions based on guesses.

They don't like money?
 

[Dirk Temporo]

I actually talked to my friend who previous to the release of Gears of War and the general downfall of Epic, was a huge Epic fanboy.

What he was telling me is that Unreal Engine 3 was designed from the ground up in several different sections to run on each of the systems it's currently on (360, PS3, iPhone). What he was saying is that since the engine is designed so specifically for each platform, that in order to port it to a completely new system, they would likely have to develop it again from the ground up for the new system.

It seems to make a reasonable amount of sense to me, and in the end still results in more or less the same thing, which is Mark Rein crapping on Nintendo again and not wanting to spend the resources getting it done.

EDIT: Oh yeah, he also mentioned how they're probably pooling most of their resources into finishing Unreal Engine 4. Makes me wonder if they'll put it on Nintendo's new system. I get the feeling the answer would be no, regardless of how powerful it is.

[Killer_Man_Jaro]

Ai yi yi. Why can't Epic simply develop games that don't run on the Unreal 3 engine? It's not a requirement for them to use it with every single game they make, it's just dumb pride.

I wouldn't lose any sleep if they end up not supporting the 3DS; the kinds of games they are known for do not jive with my tastes.

[KDR_11k]

Epic isn't in it for the games, they're primarily an engine maker these days.