Want to know if the upcoming Xbox 360 edition of Unreal Tournament 3 will include mod support? The possibility of an Epic game on XBLA or PSN? The studio's thoughts on complaints that the lead characters from Gears of War and UT3 look so much alike?

What about the possible effects of Portal on Gears of War 2? And just what does Epic think of the UE3-powered wet t-shirt contests in Surreal's This Is Vegas? Read on to find out.

Tanya Jessen: We've got a few secret projects that will be talked about I'm sure in the coming time. We love the Unreal franchise and I assure you there's more to come.

The guys are working really hard to continue to support it because this, I mean, Epic wouldn't be Epic without Unreal. This is definitely something that we're continuing to work on and continuing to improve. Read more...

"Quite simply, we aren't doing [mods] for the Xbox 360 version," associate producer Tanya Jessen informed Shacknews. "Xbox is a closed platform. That's the big reason we're not doing it on 360."

That exclusive content encompasses five new maps and two new characters, with Jessen claiming that there are no plans to release that content for the previously released PC and PlayStation 3 editions.

Though Epic VP Mark Rein had previously indicated that Epic might release some mods on the Xbox Live Marketplace, Jessen indicated that nothing has... Read more

If available, more information can be found by clicking on a game's name. Be sure to click through for the complete list, as the full breadth of content is far too meaty to fit in a single front page post.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (PS3, X360) - Fall 2008

Sponsored this time around by hardware manufacturer Intel, the contest offers over $1 million in prizes, with the grand prize being an Unreal Engine 3 license. Other prizes include Intel software development products and Velocity Micro PCs.

"To all you aspiring game developers out there--this is your chance to get in the big leagues," said Epic VP Mark Rein. "We have categories for all kinds of creatively talented people including programmers, artists, 3D modelers, designers and even aspiring film directors."

Rein added: "Unreal Engine 3 is used by many of the industry’s leading game companies, so this is truly a chance to prove your worth and get your foot in the door of the game business while having your work potentially exposed to millions."

Judging will begin this June and end in fall 2009. For more details, check out the official site at www.makesomethingunreal.com.

A PlayStation 3 edition of the map pack will be available as a PlayStation Store download later today.

The milestone was announced by Midway CEO David Zucker in a recent conference call. Sales milestones for both titles account for copies sold across multiple territories on several platforms.

Zelnick noted that while it may seem as though the PC gaming market is slowing, international PC sales continues to be strong in a number of markets.

"As we expected, our European PC sales of Unreal Tournament 3 are outpacing North America and, overall, the title is turning out to a success," Zucker added. "Later this year we are scheduled to launch the Xbox 360 version of Unreal Tournament 3 and expect it to perform equally well."

The CEO went on to say that Pipeworks Software's Rampage: Total Destruction (Wii), originally released in 2006, also broke the one million milestone.

Weighing in at a paltry 2.24 MB, the PC-based tools are available over at FileShack and require the installation of the first UT3 PC patch.

To run on the PS3, the mods must use UnrealScript code with no imported models or sounds. More information on creating and importing PS3 mods can be found over at Epic's official guide.

Though the functionality has not been released to the general public, it has been operational since late December. At that time, developer Epic converted and released a number of user-produced maps and game modes for use with the PS3 version of UT3.

"If all goes well then we should see the update released next week which is what I expect will happen," Epic VP Mark Rein wrote on the developer's official forums. "Obviously the process works, as we put out a few mods before Christmas and people seem to be playing them, but it is the update to the editor that we're testing."

The good news is that Epic is almost ready to release the editor to the public. "We're waiting on some paperwork from Sony that will allow us to release an editor update so mod creators can do this cook process for themselves," Rein wrote in a forum post. "We expect to have that very soon."

Several more user-made pieces of content have been exported to PS3 by Epic then released; check out UT3 FileShack directory for both PS3 and PC versions of warby's DM-Elevation (PC/PS3), Kantham's VCTF-Slax (PC/PS3), Hourence's DM-Krodan (PC/PS3), and Kalcorp's Autoshields mutator (PC/PS3).

For usage instructions, continue on: ... Read more

The report shows Crysis as selling 86,633 units at retail since its November 13 release; the game's potential audience has no doubt been limited by the game's notoriously steep system requirements. Meanwhile, Unreal Tournament III saw considerably flatter sales, tallying 33,995 since its November 19 release. Prior to the release of this data, many gamers had predicted low sales based on the game's sparse player count; at the time of writing, its current online player count is actually below the single-player-oriented Crysis.

It should be noted that Unreal Tournament III in particular released about halfway into the month, with only two full business weeks of availability, though the numbers are undoubtedly lower than publisher Midway and developer Epic expected.

"The PS3 mod tools aren't quite ready yet. We are working through some final legal/release issues," Adams explained. "When it's ready, you will need to download the latest PC patch and another PS3 Mod Tools 'patch' that adds the full PS3 mod support to the PC version." PS3 UT3 mods must be created with the PC version of the game, and can then be exported to PS3 format and transfered on a flash card or USB drive.

The delay in getting the tools out the door may explain why a URL listed in the PS3 game's manual as pertaining to mod support is currently inactive. "We will be posting information soon," it currently reads. "Please check again for more information." When Shacknews checked the URL earlier this week, it was completely inactive.

For more on Unreal Tournament 3 for PS3, check out our retail impressions.

Unusually for a console game, Unreal Tournament 3 on PS3 features support for user-created content; Shacknews recently got some hands-on time with the game and observed the ability to load maps and mods from its central "My Content" menu.

UT3 is already available on PC. The PS3 game will be priced at the standard $59.95.

"We got news last night that Unreal Tournament 3 has been approved by SCEA and has been released to North American manufacturing," said Epic VP Mark Rein on the company forums.

Though no release date has been set, Rein suggests keeping an eye out in mid-December for the anticipated, moddable online shooter.

"Midway has started talking to retailers to figure out exact timing and they will have a formal announcement early next week when everyone is back from the Thanksgiving holiday," continued Rein. "My guess is that Midway will start shipping the title to North American retailers on Monday December 10th and it could show up in stores as early as December 11th but more likely toward the middle of that week."

"We're aware that the UI isn't perfect," Morris wrote. "We're working on numerous improvements and additions to the user interface that will be made available in future updates to UT3."

Most have complained the system of menus lacks usability and resembles a UI designed for console titles. Regarding the upcoming PS3 version, Epic VP Mark Rein recently said it's possible the title could still be retailing this year.