Shack: Any comment on the similarities between Gears of War lead Marcus Fenix and the main protagonist of UT3?

Tanya Jessen: We have a small team of amazing artists. I don't think that [any similarity] was intentional.

Most of us look would look at it and be like, "They don't look anything alike." But people definitely had some stuff to say about that. We have a specific design that comes through based on the story, and then the artists concept based on that. Then it's modeled exactly based on the concept art.

We were just trying to make the coolest looking badass character that we could, really.

It's really interesting seeing the comparison between Gears and UT, because to us, it's like comparing apples to oranges--the gameplay, the speed, the weapons, the use of HUD, all of these things.

We just went over 100 employees last week, so we're really small. Literally ten of those employees are in QA. People can wear lots of different hats. It's kinda like one big happy family. Maybe dysfunctional, but...

Shack: Well, you do have creator Cliff "CliffyB" Bleszinsk promising that the enemies in Gears 2 will make those of the original look like baby pandas.

Tanya Jessen: We are so excited that we're starting to get more press about Gears 2. All the stuff that we've been tucking under our hats, just waiting to explode onto the market. So much good stuff in store.

Of course, whoever's working on a game is never gonna say, "Oh yeah, that crap is bad." But there is some really awesome stuff in store for Gears fans.

Shack: Any plans for a Gears of War 2 demo?

Tanya Jessen: No, no plans for a demo.

The reason being that it's been such a fast turnaround. A two year production cycle, for a game of this caliber, is really short. Our focus is always on putting out the best possible game we can.

Whenever you do a demo, you have to basically ship a whole separate product. As far as our plans after we ship, I can't really speak to that.

Shack: What about an Unreal Tournament 3 demo for 360?

Tanya Jessen: No plans right now. There's definitely potential for one once the game ships.

Shack: Unreal Engine 3 has even made its way to Xbox Live Arcade in the form of Chair Entertainment's Undertow. Does Epic have plans to produce smaller Xbox Live Arcade or PlayStation Network titles, or will it continue to focus on big blockbuster games?

Tanya Jessen: Right now, our focus is on blockbusters. We want to focus on what we do best.

I'm not ruling out the possibility of anything. We do have quite a few people at Epic who are passionate about the casual games space and XBLA space. So who knows?

But right now, definitely our focus is on UT and Gears.

Shack: You know, if UT2K4 was released on XBLA...

Tanya Jessen: Hey, it was just released on Steam.

Shack: I know. I rebought it even though I still my original DVD, just because it's so much easier to install from Steam.

Tanya Jessen: You know what's funny is, I play most of my shooters on Xbox 360 because I am an achievement whore, but I always buy them on Steam anyways.

I think I've purchased Half-Life 2 at least four times by now. I played it all over again on 360. It's the third time I've beat Half-Life 2.

Shack: And to think I considered myself lucky to beat all of the HL2 games once.

Tanya Jessen: Team Fortress 2 and Portal, they're great. Portal was a big hit at the office.

Shack: Does that mean that Gears of War 2 will feature a sarcastic robotic companion?

Tanya Jessen: That's Cliff's territory. He has a universe to uphold.

Shack: A universe that includes cake?

Tanya Jessen: How can you not have a universe that includes cake, really? How is that possible? You have to have cake.

He does have a plushie companion cube though. He brought it to my office and [dangled it] in front of my face. They sold out for a little while. As soon as they got the new stock in, he bought immediately, and as soon as it came in, he brought it to my office.

Keep reading for nostalgic reminiscing of the old PC market, some of Epic's favorite UT3 mods, and the possibility of more community map packs.