Unreal Engine 3 Ported to the iPhone 3GS

[Nick Hesson]

AnandTech has reported that Epic Games has ported their Unreal Engine 3 game engine, the same one that runs games like Gears of Wars 2, over to the iPhone 3GS and third generation iPod Touch. At first you might think, "I bet its laggy and crap", but as you'll see in the demonstration, its actually pretty damn impressive.

The demo is both playable and has a flythrough. It’s using a modified Unreal Tournament level previously shown off at GDC. A virtual thumbstick on the left side of the screen controls your movement, while tracking your thumb in the lower right corner of the screen controls the camera. Just tap the screen to shoot. Mark said this is a tech test bed and they’re experimenting with several different control schemes including ones with tilt...

..It requires OpenGL ES 2.0, so the iPhone 2G and 3G won’t work, nor will the older iPod Touch models. It doesn’t really matter though, this is just a starting point...

Give it another 3-5 years and we'll see smartphones that are outperforming the Xbox 360's current power, which means some kick *** mobile games in the future.

Read more over at AandTech

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[iPhonesPwn]

This looks great. Can't wait to play some Halo on my iPhone eventually.

[RonHC]

"..Doesnt work on iPhone 3g...."

F**K

[hevey]

I cant wait for this to produce some awesome games

[unison999]

no matter how well it runs on the 3GS/iTouch 3gen, without a proper controller to me it is absolutely waste of time.
Need a company make a proper controller for this, without it I am not buying any game that runs on this.

[ExileTEAM]

no matter how well it runs on the 3GS/iTouch 3gen, without a proper controller to me it is absolutely waste of time.
Need a company make a proper controller for this, without it I am not buying any game that runs on this.

or any game that runs on any other engine. Like u say, unless they have a good controller like XBOX or PS these games will never be good.

[Treeml]

Lets not forget, that the iphone has no BUTTONS!!!

I don't care what any paid reviewer will tell you, playing a fps on the iphone without any buttons, is annoying and frustrating at best, and unplayable at worst.

It doesn't matter how many new and creative methods developers come up with, these games simply don't work without some sort of analogue stick, and REAL buttons. Apart from the fact that you are covering up your screen when you are clicking on bad guys to shoot.

It's almost like we love the iphone so much we are blinded to this VERY BIG LIMITATION, the emperor has no clothes on on people, and he is carrying an iphone between is butt cheeks......

[PlatoTheForms]

Give it another 3-5 years and we'll see smartphones that are outperforming the Xbox 360's current power,

No, I don't think this will happen because it is not necessary. The resolutions are so small for a smart phone with a 4 inch screen that 1st gen xbox technology is enough to look good in a phone.

[iLaw-One]

I hope the iphone remains without buttons...that's partly what sets it apart from the impostors...and I certainly don't think it'll take long before games on the iphone start outperforming the dedicated gaming consoles...

[unison999]

It just need to add a bluetooth controller... something sleek and small, that goes into cover like that bluetooth ear piece case.
God knows how much processing power this will suck up and kill the battery, will need an external battery pack just to keep the game running build all 3 into 1 would be great.

[iPhoneApps]

I hope the iphone remains without buttons...that's partly what sets it apart from the impostors...and I certainly don't think it'll take long before games on the iphone start outperforming the dedicated gaming consoles...

Without button and joysticks it will never happen. You obviously are not a gamer.

[Cory Gillmore]

Lets not forget, that the iphone has no BUTTONS!!!

I don't care what any paid reviewer will tell you, playing a fps on the iphone without any buttons, is annoying and frustrating at best, and unplayable at worst.

It doesn't matter how many new and creative methods developers come up with, these games simply don't work without some sort of analogue stick, and REAL buttons. Apart from the fact that you are covering up your screen when you are clicking on bad guys to shoot.

It's almost like we love the iphone so much we are blinded to this VERY BIG LIMITATION, the emperor has no clothes on on people, and he is carrying an iphone between is butt cheeks......

I don't know what you're talking about. Have you ever even tried playing one of the recent FPSs for the iDevices? NOVA, Sandstorm? Guess not, because these games prove that an enjoyable fps experience can be had on the iDevices. And if you can't have an enjoyable fps experience, maybe you just suck at games in general? Ever think of that?

[Treeml]

@ Cory, lets not make it personal, You obviously have a very different definition of enjoyable, then the majority of the population, you might be mixing up the word "enjoyable" with "annoying", an easy adjective to mistake if english is not your first language, which I am assuming is the case for you.

In saying that you are obviously not a gamer (well not a good one anyway). I can tell you I don't suck at games, not that it matters, but I would pwn your *** in any FPS game (with buttons) you can throw at me.

Have you ever thought that perhaps you just have little girly fingers?

[stlcaddie]

Let's stick to the topic!

[plcrules]

No, I don't think this will happen because it is not necessary. The resolutions are so small for a smart phone with a 4 inch screen that 1st gen xbox technology is enough to look good in a phone.

it would matter if u think of it as a portable game console imagine hookin ur iphone up 2 a tv and having a bluetooth controller playing a game u downloaded on ur way home

now that the future i c

[Cory Gillmore]

@ Cory, lets not make it personal, You obviously have a very different definition of enjoyable, then the majority of the population, you might be mixing up the word "enjoyable" with "annoying", an easy adjective to mistake if english is not your first language, which I am assuming is the case for you.

In saying that you are obviously not a gamer (well not a good one anyway). I can tell you I don't suck at games, not that it matters, but I would pwn your *** in any FPS game (with buttons) you can throw at me.

Have you ever thought that perhaps you just have little girly fingers?

Treeml, let's not act like children. I'm just saying that myself and many other people enjoy FPSs on the idevices. Sorry that I insulted your gaming ability. I certainly wouldn't want you to "pwn my ***". Oh and by the way, it's "THAN" the majority of the population. Not "THEN". Funny, how in the same run-on sentence, you imply that I can't speak English while at the same time showing everyone that you can barely speak it yourself. Cheers

[rhekt]

no matter how well it runs on the 3GS/iTouch 3gen, without a proper controller to me it is absolutely waste of time.
Need a company make a proper controller for this, without it I am not buying any game that runs on this.

what you are looking for i believe is this controller i found on the internet. they are calling it the PSP i think...;]

[Cory Gillmore]

^^ Good one. Lol. Tbh, I would buy a controller add-on for the iPhone. I think some good could come of it. But I really don't believe it's absolutely necessary to be able to enjoy any particular genre of game. That said, I would still love to see one.

[Treeml]

Nice work Cory, I am sure your community college professor would be proud. I wonder how many times you read the post before you picked up on that error.

Even funnier that you decided to define it as a run on sentence. Demonstrating your limited ability to grasp the nuance's of the language as well. Good work! FIY a run-on sentence is a sentence that really has TWO sentences (or complete ideas) INCORRECTLY combined into one. (normally without the use of punctuation).

There is an interesting study that was recently completed, showing iphone owners displaying a Stockholm syndrome type of attitude, I think your venomous flaming of my first post, attacking me as if someone had insulted your family member, shows you almost certainly fit into this study. Apart from the clear immaturity you also display by nit-picking a post for grammatical errors, in order to wrestle back some form of superiority, and therefore perceived power.

It's a phone, it has serious limitations as a gaming device, why is this so hard for you to accept?

[Mista Brothason]

"Never argue with a fool because from far away people can't tell who's who"

The iPhone has the potential to do some revolutionary things but not everything always will live up to everyone's expectations, clearly.

10 years ago emulating a 3rd or 4th gen console on a hand held device was VERY impressive. These days it's 5th gen console that's in the works for our iDevices. Give it 3 years - 2 if you're lucky and you'll have your ultimate PDA that does what a MBP could do and possibly even more. Even then, when you have it, you'll still want what's in your living room in the palm of your hand all over again... I know I will