Epic shows off Unreal Engine 3 running on iPhone / iPod touch
By Donald Melanson 
posted December 22nd 2009 12:21PM
posted December 22nd 2009 12:21PM
There's certainly plenty of good looking iPhone games available these days, but things could be about to get quite a bit more interesting, as Epic has now demonstrated its Unreal Engine 3 (the same one used for games like Gears of War 2) running on the iPhone 3GS and 3rd gen iPod touch to our friend Anand Shimpi of AnandTech. Unfortunately, it hasn't also announced any games or licensees that will be using the engine, but it seems like it has at least managed to get it running remarkably well on the hardware -- albeit in a somewhat limited demo, as you can see in the video after the break. What's more, Epic also reportedly said that it would be showing off the engine running on "another mobile platform entirely" at CES next month, but didn't drop any further hints besides that. Video after the break, and hit the read link for the full scoop.
@iroq d mullet
I have no problem making phone calls on my iPhone. You keep rocking dat mullet nub!!
Charlie Murphy!
Someone will create a steering wheel with a iPhone/Pod doc, then a controller with an iphone doc plug so you have "buttons"... though I'm waiting for the missile with the iPhone doc on it...
Anybody else thinking about this going to Android, and what that would mean for the Odroid?
I take this as proof that 90% of graphic slowdowns in PC and console games alike are due to shoddy programming.
The video is unavailable for some reason.
Ohhhh, so that's why Steve Jobs didn't put a fucking camera in it...
Pretty cool!
Feels clumsy, especially when you have to turn and shoot using the same thumb, also the thumb blocks your view. I prefer a key pad and index button any day.
Go Epic Go! But who cares about Gears???? Give us Unreal Tournament back please.
Unreal Engine 3 on iPhone/Touch? Good. First person shooters on iPhone/Touch? Very, very bad.
That secret platform is probably Zune HD.
Oh and that screenshot looks really, really good. I have to say it is sharper and higher res than most PSP games...I may just get an iPhone when the new one comes out at WWDC
This would work beautifully on the Pandora - it's got practically the same hardware as the iPhone3GS (meaning porting would be a cinch), and it's got the full array of gaming controls that would be needed to do justice to a handheld FPS. Too bad it's not going to happen... :(
Have fun playing with your fingers all over the screen. Why in the world would they waste their time making this game for the iPhone? OK, I do know why (a large amount of morons will buy it), but it's still so stupid. Other platforms have those really old, lame, complicated, physical things called buttons, and you know what? They work pretty darn well for video games, since, you know, they aren't right in the middle of the screen. I think Apple's ultimate goal is to vanquish all physical interaction with your phone. In the future, phone calls on the iPhone will be made and answered simply by staring and drooling at the phone. If you drool out of the left of your mouth, answer. If you drool out of the right, ignore. It will be revolutionary and everyone will own one.
@sonicyoof
Have you even played a good game on the iPhone? N.O.V.A and Modern Combat Sandstorm - while there's a learning curve - work really well and this is coming from someone that owns and plays games on the PS3 and XBOX 360.
The motion controls are usually placed off to the side or corners and do not interfere with the camera. It blocks off as much of the screen as a HUD or weapons switch image usually does on a game.
They can put Unreal Engine 3 on the iPhone but not Adobe Flash.
Darnit Apple, stop with the inconsistencies.
@AndrewS all of this WinMo 6.5 bashing is getting old. do you actually own a win mo device that puts you through that much pain?
and if you actually want change for the WinMo OS, (provided that Bill Gates would actually comment on Engadget) do you think it makes sense to ask Bill Gates? You do realize there's a huge amount of teams in Microsoft, each responsible for WinMo, Windows, Microsoft Office, ...don't you think it'd make more sense to send a few constructive suggestions to the WinMo team?
sorry for the rant, just sick of WinMo bashing as though everyone here is the leading expert on OS Architecture and software development
Holy flux!
@HighestRanked
haha that's rough,
the jaguar even looked like a toilet, especially with the Jaguar CD add-on
no matter how good the controls get in these games, I still see them being inferior for two reasons: using the screen as a trackpad for aiming is more accurate and intuitive than a second virtual analogue stick, and you have to sacrifice either your movement thumb or aiming thumb to shoot.
A few shooters have come close, Duke Nukem 3D is a decent one, but they just keep reinforcing the fact that it's just not built for shooers.
Good thing the UE3 engine is utilized for things other than FPSs I guess
These advances are great, but controlling complex games on the iPhone/touch just isn't there yet -
It's not even that big of an advance, the engine itself is scalable. Reduce the rez to iphone screen size, reduce all assets (texture/models/sounds) to be within guidelines and you have an engine thats smooth on a mobile phone.
@Bill Gates
lets say Symbian, Maemo, and Blackberry are out for obvious reasons, my best bet would actually be what's coming from Palm than Google or Microsoft. Not only because Palm's also closed source, but they actually are planning to license the similar graphics core for the Pre soon, where as most of the manufacturers (mainly being HTC) for WinMo and Android don't, even when they have it
that part about the other mobile platform reminded me of the rumors about that tegra 2 based ds sucessor
Its also very possible that they could just be talking about the zune hd
Fire up the flux capacitator!!
every finger crossed for Zune HD,that'd be crazy.
Another mobile platform huh... I doubt it will be Andriod or WebOS, Either Maemo or more likely WinMo.
Looks pretty good, and gameplay looks solid. UT on the iPhone, how cool is that?!