Beyond Unreal and Planet Unreal have Unreal Tournament 3 previews posted, offering hands-on impressions of the game after visiting the Epic offices.

Epic VP Mark Rein issued a short statement late tonight, confirming that a PC beta demo for his company's upcoming shooter Unreal Tournament 3 could be released as early as this week.

"The development team feels they're pretty close to being ready to release this," said Rein on the Epic forums, "so it could come out this week but for safety sake I'd say it should be out within two weeks."

According to Rein, the beta will feature standard online play, as well as an offline instant-action mode, allowing players to face off against the Epic team's oft-touted AI bots.

"The purpose of the Beta Demo is to test the game on a large variety of hardware configurations and get gameplay feedback from the community," he added.

Shacknews is currently attending an Unreal Tournament 3 press event at Epic headquarters in Cary, North Carolina, so be sure to check back later in the week for impressions of the new game "from the makers of Gears of War."

Though the PlayStation 3 version of Unreal Tournament 3 was delayed yesterday, the PC iteration and its optional collector's edition are well on track for a November release. To reaffirm this point, developer Epic Games and publisher Midway have issued a set of minimum and recommended system specs for the PC version and two new screenshots.

On the plus side, the game only asks for 512 MB of RAM and appears compatible with a good number of older video cards. That said, 8 GB of free hard drive space may sound a little extreme to some.

Minimum System Requirements

• Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista
• 2.0+ GHZ Single Core Processor
• 512 MB of System RAM
• NVIDIA 6200+ or ATI Radeon 9600+ Video Card
• 8 GB of Free Hard Drive Space

Recommended System Requirements

• 2.4+ GHZ Dual Core Processor
• 1 GB of System RAM
• NVIDIA 7800GTX+ or ATI x1300+ Video Card
• 8 GB of Free Hard Drive Space

Update: Epic Games VP Mark Rein has chimed in, noting that the delay is a precaution and Epic hopes to ship the PlayStation 3 version of Unreal Tournament 3 by the year's end.

"As a public company, Midway felt an obligation to its shareholders to let them know about the possibility of a delay," Rein posted on Epic's forums. "But our goal is still to get the PS3 version of UT3 in stores before the end of 2007. However, we will only ship it once it’s ready and is the best game we can deliver. The PC version is still on track for a November release."

Rein later noted the game may arrive in December, and as a result of the extra development time, will feature all of the same maps as the PC version.

"Our expected product plan is to release UT3 on PC in November and the PS3 UT3 in Q1 2008," Midway CEO David Zucker told Shacknews in response. Zucker elaborated that the company would ship the PS3 edition earlier if it was done and noted that it has yet to specify details regarding the Xbox 360 release.

Original Story: Previously announced to arrive this November, the PlayStation 3 edition of Epic Games' Unreal Tournament 3 has been delayed until Q1 2008. Publisher Midway revealed the shift today in a financial update, the PC version is unaffected by the change and is still slated for a November release, collector's edition and all.

"While we regret that these delays will cause us to lose some ... Read more

Epic Games has confirmed GameStop's listing of Unreal Tournament 3 Collector's Edition for PC.

As the retailer indicated, the Collector's Edition includes a limited edition tin box, a hardcover art book, and a bonus DVD with more than 10 hours of game mod tutorials, a history of Unreal Tournament video, and a behind the scenes segment. The last Unreal Tournament PC release, Unreal Tournament 2004, featured similar instructional videos in its special edition, which proved to be a major hit amongst the mod community.

Coming in at $59.95--$10 more than the standard version--the PC Collector's Edition of Unreal Tournament 3 will be in stores this November. According to GameStop, the game will arrive on either November 12 or November 19, though such dates are best regarded as speculation prior to publisher confirmation.

The PlayStation 3 iteration of the multiplayer-oriented shooter, which is apparently not receiving the special edition treatment but will support user-created mods, is also set to hit in November. The Xbox 360 version follows later next year.

Much ado has been made about the potential presence of cross-platform play in Epic Games' upcoming multiplayer-heavy shooter Unreal Tournament 3 (PC, PS3, X360). The most likely compatible platforms have been PC and PlayStation 3, as the Xbox 360 version has taken a development backseat and the PS3's approach to network architecture is more conducive to the kind of freedom Epic would want for such a service. PS3, unlike Xbox 360, also supports mouse and keyboard controls, which would allow for a more potentially level playing field between users of the two platforms.

Still, in an IRC chat conducted yesterday featuring numerous members of Epic's UT3 team, Epic VP Mark Rein finally confirmed that the game will not feature cross-platform multiplayer--at least at launch.

"The biggest challenge in doing cross platform play is syncronizing [sic] the builds such that the build on the PC is 100% compatible with the build on the PS3," said Rein. "Unfortunately (or fortunately) when you... Read more

A recent listing on GameStop reveals a collector's edition of Epic's forthcoming Unreal Tournament III will retail alongside the standard version. The limited edition will sell for $10 more than the regular edition at $59.99.

The collector's edition comprises a collector's edition tin, a hardcover book of the game's art, and a bonus DVD. In addition to including more than 10 hours of Unreal Engine 3 Toolkit video tutorials to appease the mod community, the disc has a "History of Unreal Tournament" segment as well as a "Behind the Scenes" portion.

Online purchasers of both collector's and non-collector's versions of the PC game will also get an additional in-game character, the female IronGuard. No collector's editions or bonuses have been revealed for either the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 versions of the game.

Though the GameStop listing gives the PC version of the title a November 12 or 19 release date depending on the edition, Epic has only said the PC and PlayStation 3 games are targeted for a November release, with the Xbox 360 version coming next year.

You can find a Unreal Tournament 3 preview on Computer & Video Games, going hands-on with the multiplayer shooter sequel.

There's a Unreal Tournament 3 preview on IGN, checking the game at GC 2007.

Voodoo Extreme is where you can find an Unreal Tournament 3 Q&A with producer Jeff Morris. Topics include the name change, visuals, bot AI, maps, and use of the hover board.

For a Unreal Tournament 3 Q&A head over to Gameplayer. Producer Jeff Morris talks about the name changes, single player narrative, mod support, the hoverboard and more.

The Xbox 360 version of Epic's Unreal Tournament III may face some challenges due to the smaller capacity of the console's DVD-9 discs, Epic VP Mark Rein indicated at his Edinburg Interactive Festival session.

"We may have fewer maps on the 360 version," Rein admitted when discussing the upcoming shooter in the presence of a GamesIndustry.biz reporter. "[The PlayStation 3's] Blu-ray has definitely given us a lot of legroom."

Microsoft's decision to forgo a higher-capacity storage medium in the Xbox 360 hardware has drawn criticism from certain members of the industry. Some claim that the limitation of about 9 GB of data per DVD restricts developers, whereas the PlayStation 3's Blu-ray discs can hold around 50 GB.

At QuakeCon, id Software announced that the the Xbox 360 edition of its id Tech 5-powered shooter-driving hybrid Rage would arrive on two DVDs while the PlayStation 3 edition will occupy only one Blu-ray disc. The PC ... Read more

Confirming widely held-expectations, Epic Games VP Mark Rein has stated on his company's forums that its PlayStation 3 version of Unreal Tournament 3--also in the works for PC and Xbox 360--will feature the option for players to use mouse and keyboard controls. This is in contrast to the game's Xbox 360 version, which is extremely unlikely to feature that option, given Microsoft's hard stance against allowing developers to use mouse and keyboard for gameplay.

"We are doing it in a way that will be balanced without feeling 'gimped' for either side," wrote Rein. "We'll also allow people to choose whether or not they want to allow mixed controller vs. keyboard/mouse games or not."

During E3, Epic announced that UT3 will release for PS3 and PC this year, with the Xbox 360 game to follow. Today's news adds to an existing desire to make the PS3 game as PC-like as possible; Epic also confirmed that players will be able to load user-made mods onto the PS3 version. Rein recently noted that Epic has had trouble getting that same feature onto the Xbox 360 version of the game, given the closed nature of Xbox Live, but that he hopes it will be somehow possible.

Unreal series creator and developer Epic Games is still hoping to allow user-created content and mods in the upcoming Xbox 360 edition of Unreal Tournament 3 (preview).

During Sony's E3 press conference, the company revealed that the PlayStation 3 would be the only console to receive Epic's highly anticipated entry in the multiplayer-oriented shooter franchise this year. Both the PlayStation 3 and the PC version--also due this fall--will allow players to download and utilize user-created content, which can theoretically range from new maps to entirely new modes and games.

"We didn't want to port it to PS3 and lose all the awesome things about the PC version," Epic producer Tanya Jessen told Shacknews at E3. However, Microsoft's stricter policies regarding the execution of ... Read more

Over at Computer & Video Games you can find a Q&A about the characters in Unreal Tournament 3...wait, there are characters?

Eurogamer's E3 coverage slowly continues with this Unreal Tournament 3 preview, taking in a demonstration of the multiplayer shooter sequel.

During last week's E3 Media & Business Summit, fellow Shacknews editor Chris Remo and I each had the chance to check out Epic Games' Unreal Tournament 3. Arriving this fall, and recently confirmed as a timed exclusive for the PlayStation 3, the highly anticipated shooter looks to make a huge splash on the console scene with its insanely detailed graphics, smooth controls, and most importantly, support for user-created mods. If you're at all a fan of first person shooters, you really should start reading.

Upon seeing Epic Games' Unreal Tournament 3 running on PlayStation 3, the first thing that struck me was the game's ridiculous attention to detail. Everything, from the caulk between bricks to the wood grain of a window frame to the rusted girders on the sides of buildings, has a textured appearance to it, a far cry from the usual flat images slapped on the side of a model. Numerous neon signs of various colors illuminate different portions of the map. Legible traffic signs appear overhead. Trash and old flyers litter the walls and ground.
Keep on reading...

The EVGA website is carrying an interview with Epic programmer Tim Sweeney, asking him about the technology found in Unreal Tournament 3. Thanks Voodoo Extreme.

Beyond Unreal has been updated with a new Unreal Tournament 3 Q&A. Epic Games programmer Steve Polge is asked about platform differences, PC specific features, Translocator changes, new and returning weapons, and the Warfare game type among other things.

German game site PC Games has posted an English language interview with Steve Polge, asking the Epic Games programmer about Articial Intelligence in games.