The next version of Unreal Engine won’t be out before 2014 but it will be worth the wait, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney claimed.
“I spend about 60 percent of my time every day doing research work that's aimed at our next generation engine and the next generation of consoles,” he said.
“This is technology that won't see the light of day until probably around 2014, but focusing on that horizon enables me to do some really cool things that just aren't practical today, but soon will be.”
Sweeney then explained his belief that the biggest challenge and opportunity facing graphics engines in the near future is dealing with multiple CPUs.
“Once you have 20 cores, you can't easily say this one is going to be for animation and this one is going to be for details on the face of the character, because all these parameters change dynamically as different things come on screen and load as you shift from scene to scene,” he explained.
“The big challenge will be redesigning our engine and our workload so that we scale more of these different computer tasks between CPU cores seamlessly in real-time and dynamically so that you're always getting the maximum computing power out with the engine, regardless of what sort of work you're doing.”
Aliens: Colonial Marines will feature a story driven single-player mode and an all-new four player co-op mode allowing players to share the chilling experience with three friends. In co-op mode, each player will assume the persona of a Colonial Marine and have a distinct role to play in the completion of every mission. Additionally, more multiplayer modes will be revealed later in the year that will complete the Aliens video game experience.
There’s nothing official from SEGA, but it looks like this might be the new trailer for Gearbox’s Aliens: Colonial Marines, below. It has come skittering out of the darkness on YouTube, but there’s a good chance SEGA will set the flamethrowers on it if this is a leak.
Two new trailers for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine-inspired free-to-play MMO, Star Trek: Infinite Space. They’re both game footage pieces, showing space combat in the game’s 2.5D engine as well as (quite briefly) some of the walking around on stations stuff.
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As rumoured, there really is a new Counter-Strike coming. And it’s not some side-project: this sounds like a major sequel-come-relaunch of Counter-Strike for a new generation of manshoot fans. Valve have just solemnly and officially declared its existence to the world – Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, aka CS: GO, is indeed its war-lovin’ name. It will feature new maps, modes, weapons, characters and social gaming features such as matchmaking and leaderboards, on top of assorted updates to tried and tested stuff like de_dust.
It’s due on PC and consoles. Which, I think, means this is Valve looking Call of Duty square in the eye and telling it to step outside.
Not too many details beyond that, but here’s a quote from Valve’s Doug Lombardi:
“Counter-Strike took the gaming industry by surprise when the unlikely MOD became the most played online PC action game in the world almost immediately after its release in August 1999. “For the past 12 years, it has continued to be one of the most-played games in the world, headline competitive gaming tournaments and selling over 25 million units worldwide across the franchise. CS: GO promises to expand on CS’ award-winning gameplay and deliver it to gamers on the PC as well as the next gen consoles and the Mac.”
Valve are recruiting Hidden Path Entertainment for CS:GO, who you’ll know from the rather good tower defence game Defense Grid: The Awakening.
It’s due in 2012, and the world will get to clap eyes on it at PAX Prime and the Eurogamer Expo later this year.
This, in essence, is Counter-Strike 3, and the first news of it this morning was a huge surprise. It is, it’s safe to say, going to be enormous – but will it be free to play as TF2 now is and Dota 2 is rumoured to be? Mysteries!
There’s a Steam store URL with, basically, this information in a different format, but keep an eye on it for updates.
Spotted by the NeoGAF forum, the patent shows the controller will feature an in-built microphone and speaker, as well as flash memory. It's worth noting that the Wii controller also boasted a small amount of flash memory and so it doesn't necessarily mean you'll be able to store a significant amount of data on the Wii U pad.
The patent also suggests the controller will feature a magnetometer, likely similar to that found in the PS Move, which is used for calibration, and it appears to have a built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery.
Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto has confirmed that Wii U players will only be able to use one of the new touch-screen controllers per system, although additional Wii Remotes will be supported.
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said following the console's unveiling in June that the company's attempting to position the Wii U controller as "the TV remote of the future".
Gearbox co-founder and chief creative officer Brian Martel has told IGN that:
"We've got the [Aliens: Colonial Marines] engine running on the Wii U, and as far as the console goes, you're going to see textures at a resolution that you haven't seen on the current generation," said Martel.
Martel says the studio is still "finding out what kind of final tech specs the Wii U is going to have." "But we like the system a lot," he added: "We think it's going to be a really cool stop-gap in between this generation and the next generation. We think it's really smart of Nintendo, and the fact that as a platform it's a lot more capable for hardcore first-person shooter-style gaming - for us that's fantastic."
"But the thing we're most excited about is: what can we do with the controller? So the obvious thing for us is that we can do the motion tracker on the controller screen, or the sentry gun information - all that kind of stuff. That stuff is really sexy for us. Getting the information off the screen and onto this device is a fantastic idea, right? So can we have a HUD-less environment? Yeah, probably. That would be fantastic, right?"
Aliens: Colonial Marines will be released spring 2012 for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. The Wii U version will presumably follow later in the year.
The Legend of Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma has warned that the Wii U Zelda tech demo, shown at this year's E3, is not necessarily what to expect from the inevitable Wii U title.
"You probably remember that when we introduced the GameCube, we showed a somewhat realistic Zelda demo," Aonuma said.
"And what we actually created was the cel-shaded Wind Waker. So when we show a graphic demo, people think, 'Oh, this is what the next Zelda will look like,' but that's not necessarily the case."
Wind Waker turned out to be both critically and commercially successful, but when the first images of the game were revealed, fans were decidedly worried. Aonuma is making sure that this mistake isn't made again.
With the Zelda team currently hard at work on Skyward Sword, which is due to be released later this year, another team were responsible for putting together the tech demo.
"We talked to each other a lot about several elements, one of which was, 'How exactly will the HD graphics work?' In doing concepts for that … we used Zelda assets quite often to examine, OK, how real will we make this look?"
Despite the short amount of time it took to develop, Nintendo has said that the Zelda Wii U demo is not possible on other consoles, and is reason to believe Nintendo will have no issues creating top end high definition games for its new console.
Nintendo faces a massive task in educating consumers about what exactly its upcoming Wii successor, the Wii U, is capable of, Katsuya Eguchi, game designer and manager at Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development has told Edge magazine.
Asked if Nintendo faces similar challenges posed by the 3DS, in communicating the Wii U's unique qualities, Eguchi said: "You're absolutely right, those are just some of the huge challenges ahead of us - getting people to really understand what Wii U can offer.
"We have some experiences here right now - with 'Chase Mii' and 'Shield Pose' - and we have a great opportunity to give people time to play the games, so we'll take advantage of expos, conferences and in-store demos, but we really want people to understand how the TV screen and controller screen interact and how that changes the experience. And we've come up with a variety of uses. But you're right, we can't explain them all, and I don't even think we've thought of them all. I'm sure there are many uses that haven't been thought of yet."
The game is due for release next spring (on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC), but Gearbox only received the development hardware for Wii U a couple of months before E3, the studio has revealed
Brian Burleson explained. "We didn't get the hardware for the Wii U until a couple of months ago, and we've been working on it since,"
"The software, it's pretty easy to work on, so that makes things a lot easier. When you already have something working, especially on the Unreal Engine, it's a pretty basic, straightforward port at that point. Unreal makes it easier to do that, for sure."
Burleson refused to be drawn on details of the Wii U game, but added that Gearbox is aiming to produce a similar experience across all supported platforms.
"It's too early too early to talk about the specifics on that [Wii U functionality], because we've just got things working," he explained. "We'll talk more about what that's going to be and what's going on in the future. But the goal is always to make it... for all the platforms to be the same.
"It really sucks to have a game be nerfed on one platform, or missing a feature on one platform. So the goal is always to make we're fully-featured, and that everything is the same experience."
But Burleson expressed confidence in Gearbox's work on the platform so far.
"It [the game] runs on the console, and you can do some really cool stuff with it. We'll talk more about that in the future, but just think about the possibilities."
The Nintendo Wii U UK release date is pencilled in for April 2012.
Wii U UK price
Pricing is yet to be announced. But the fear is that, with the new controller, it may be a little too high.
Wii U is a Full HD, 1080p console
The new console will be fully HD compatible unlike its predecessor.
EA boss John Riccitiello says that Wii U is "stunning breakthrough" which "speaks directly to EA sports games" and boasts "brilliant HD graphics."
"Imagine a shooter like Battlefield with jaw-dropping graphics and smooth animations from the Frostbite engine, brought to you on a Nintendo system with that brilliant controller… We can't wait to see EA games on this new system."
Wii U has a touchscreen controller
The controller for the Wii U is, as was rumoured a 6.2-inch touchscreen tablet that also features an accelerometer and gyroscope for motion control, dual analogue sticks, rumble feedback, a D-pad, a front-facing camera, triggers and shoulder buttons, start/select/home buttons and a microphone.
Each Wii U console will come with a new controller and can also use up to four additional Wii Remote or Wii Remote Plus controllers. The system is also backward compatible and can play all Wii games and use all Wii accessories.
Can Nintendo disrupt the market – just as they did with the original Wii controller - yet again? Wii U processor According to IBM, Nintendo's Wii U is powered by a custom 45nm multi-core Power processor with embedded DRAM.
Says the company: "IBM's embedded dynamic random access memory will help deliver a thrilling new game experience to Nintendo fans. The new memory technology, a key element of the new Power microprocessor that IBM is building for the Nintendo Wii U console, can triple the amount of memory contained on a single chip, making for extreme game play."
Wii U graphics Wii U's graphics carry on the ATI heritage of the Wii, with a custom AMD Radeon HD GPU reports Kotaku.
Wii U specifications and connectivity It appears the original Wii's Gamecube controller compatibility will be binned. while there will be four USB 2.0 ports under that hatch/at the rear and there will still be an SD card slot. There will also be some internal storage, though you'll be able to boost that by plugging in an external drive. And, as befits an HD console, there will be HDMI on board in addition to S-Video and component. Also expect 802.11n Wi-Fi.
Wii U disc format We know Wii U will be backwards compatible with all past Wii games, but we don't know if there will be any upscaling - or indeed whether the unit will boast a Blu-ray or DVD drive. You can play games solely on the Wii U touchscreen controller Nintendo president Satoru Iwata agrees that the first Wii U demo video "may have answered some questions, but it probably raised several others, too.
But the key concept is clear – Nintendo hopes that you will be able to transfer the game you are playing on a TV screen in your home to the local screen, should you wish to play alone in your bedroom or study - perhaps if someone else needs the TV.
"Up until now, home console games had to occupy the TV screen in order to be played. But, the new controller for Wii U with 6.2-inch screen means you won't need to give up your gameplay when someone else comes in the room and wants to watch a TV program." Demos show that you can move your game from the TV to the screen in your hand almost immediately.
Games can also make use of both screens - there's an ace video of this in action where a girl is using the controller as the tee in a golf game while using a standard Wiimote to actually swing - it's at 3m30s.
So in single-player games the new controller can display information on its screen that does not appear on the TV, while the information and viewpoint can also change in the new controller based on the orientation of its gyroscope.
In multiplayer games the player using the new controller can have a different experience than those looking at the TV.
Wii U does video calling and more
It also looks like you will be able to make video-calls on the Wii U control pad, using its front-facing camera. Plus, you will be able to share your content such as your holiday pictures and home videos from your local controller to the main television with ease.
Wii U is fully backwards compatible with kit and games
Wii U is fully backwards compatible, which means that you can play all of your current Wii games on the system and use your Wii Fit or any other accessories you currently use with it.
But Wii U's controller is not a standalone handheld console
The controller needs to be tethered to the Wii U console to function - it isn't a PlayStation Vita competitor.
Wii U games will be plentiful "Wii U was created so that the widest variety of games can be supported," says Nintendo. "That means those aimed at experienced controllers that can use circle controllers using both their hands, plus those games that can be intuitively played without the need for any buttons."
Games design guru Shigeru Miyamoto says of Nintendo's new home console: "More than anything I'm really looking forward to new styles of play... There are so many we're just trying to decide where to begin."
Nintendo announced new content based on its own franchises such as Mario and Zelda, but more interestingly,says Adam Hartley, "is that EA, Ubisoft, Sega and lots of other third party games developers were showing off new adult-themed, hardcore games that they are making for Nintendo's Wii U."
Graphically, many of the games look on par with new AAA-titles on PS3 or Xbox 360. Hardcore favourites such as Tekken, Assassin's Creed, Batman Arkham City and Ghost Recon Online were also demonstrated.
Clearly, Nintendo aims to push Wii U to the hardcore crowd as well as to the casual market it has so successfully won over with Wii.
Beautiful.
"EA boss John Riccitiello took to the Nintendo stage to tell the crowd that: 'Over the years I've made E3 appearances with several console partners, but never before with Nintendo.'"
Adam Bunker from T3 has managed to get a preview of the console that's set hit shelves in 2012. Although Bunker was impressed with the Nintendo Wii U, he was worried that the new controller – which features a 6.5-inch screen – is going to be too pricey.
"The games we played were fun, but the whole thing seemed like a bit of an effort to hide the fact that additional 'new' controllers will clearly be pretty expensive and that offline, 4-player Metroid where each player has their own will be an unlikely home setup for most as a result," said Bunker.
"It's also fairly obvious that, considering the processing power and the impressiveness of the inbuilt screen, the controller will be a power-hungry beast that'll do doubt need some fairly frequent charging."
Bundles of potential These niggles aside, the Nintendo Wii U offers a great gaming experience. As Bunker noted: "We have to say that we were impressed. While it's odd that the display on the new controller doesn't boast the same 3D tech as found on the Nintendo 3DS - a point they refused to comment on - it's still vivid and bright, despite not offering the 'HD Experience' that Ninty is so proud of bringing to your TV." Things like the motion control were said to be "seamless" and the Nintendo Wii U is set to be a "hugely powerful console with bundles of potential". The Nintendo Wii U UK release date is pencilled in for April 2012, with pricing to be announced.
We’ve seen a lot of awesome console mods in our day but this one probably takes the cake for most ‘most over-the-top mod.’ It's liquid cooled Nintendo Wii! Why? We're not sure, either. Housed in a custom built case fashioned out of CNC-milled aluminum, this isn’t the same Wii you’ve got stuffed inside your entertainment center. Two years in the making, Bit-tech forum member Angel OD (also known as Martin Nielsen) finally finished the wall-mounted, liquid-cooled "Wii UNlimited Edition" this past Saturday and posted an abundance of pictures for his fellow forum members to drool over.
The case-mod features side-panels etched with the traditional Wii logo (probably so people can tell what the heck it is because it doesn’t look anything like a Wii), two 22cm cooling reservoirs, a digital thermometer up top and exposed mechanics.
Nielson didn’t mention the cost of this project and we’re kind of afraid to ask. Let’s just leave it at ‘more than the Wii itself,’ shall we?
