Jazz Jackrabbit
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Cliff Bleszinski quits Epic Games, leaves us with an Unreal feeling
Fall must be the season for sea changes in the game industry. Just weeks after BioWare's founders retired, key Epic Games veteran and Design Director Cliff Bleszinski (known to many as just CliffyB) is hanging up his hat. He simply describes it as taking a "much needed break," which makes sense when you see his development experience: he joined Epic's crew with Dare to Dream Volume One in 1993 and has nurtured virtually every major (and often minor) game franchise at the company since, including the Jazz Jackrabbit platformers, untold numbers of games in the Unreal line and most recently the Gears of War series. Bleszinski hasn't said where he's headed next, although it's hard to imagine him switching professions like the two BioWare doctors -- for many, he's synonymous with certain eras of first- and third-person shooters. Wherever he goes, we wish him the best of success.
Epic Games gives away soundtrack retrospective for 20th anniversary
Epic Games has turned 20 years old, and to celebrate the company is giving away a free album of tunes from its games over the past two decades. You can pick up the tracks from the official blog right now. The set includes everything from the Main Theme of Unreal and the Menu Song of Jazz Jackrabbit, all the way up to tracks from Infinity Blade 2 and Gears of War 3.And what, you might ask, did they include as a bonus track? Perhaps the pinnacle of Epic Games' musical gifts to the world at large? It's the Cole Train Rap from the first Gears of War, of course. Woo baby! Bring it on sucka! Etc.
UDK out for iOS, Epic demonstrates with Jazz Jackrabbit [update: video!]
The December update for the Unreal Development Kit is available, adding support for development of iOS games in Unreal Engine 3. To help you get started, the latest version includes the full source code for Epic Citadel (along with another new castle map), so you can figure out how those impressive medieval landscapes came to be. To further prove what's possible with the engine, Epic put together a technically impressive twin-stick shooter starring none other than Jazz Jackrabbit, star of Cliff Bleszinski's 1994 side-scroller of the same name. Check out screenshots of this proof-of-concept game in our gallery. Epic told Joystiq that it's currently just a demonstration; the company doesn't have plans to release it. [Update: There's now a tutorial video featuring the Jazz Jackrabbit game, and a "sizzle" video for UDK, after the break.]%Gallery-111515%
Epic and Metaboli ink deal, Unreal series heading to GameTap
Epic Games, developer of the Gears of War series and everyone's favorite jackrabbit franchise, has apparently signed a deal with Metaboli, the European "partner" to digital download services GameTap and Games Planet, reports Develop. The contract solidifies a three-year partnership between Metaboli and Epic, with Epic bringing its entire Unreal series to the table. It remains unclear whether or not Epic will bring other franchises from its stable to the services but if the ailing economy dictates anything, it's the likelihood of folks selling what they can wherever they can. We contacted Mark Rein, VP of Epic Games, for comment and he told us it's, "Too early to know." It's a certainty we won't see the aforementioned Gears of War franchise though as it's handled by Microsoft. Rein told us, "Microsoft handles Gears of War PC distribution so that would be their deal." Sorry folks!
Fanboy Roundup: web-browsing, UMD-skimping, Mac users
Nintendo thinks, "Hey, maybe a web browser on the DS would be swell." Sounds good to DS Fanboy, so long as they don't have to use that Pokemon stylus! PSP Fanboy explains, "UMDs are already overpriced, we're just trying to save a couple bucks, so get off our backs!" Meanwhile, in Xbox 360 Fanboy-land, they laud community efforts to pick up where Microsoft left off with the 3rd-party additions of DivX and Mac support. Don't touch that stylus, here are the Fanboy highlights for the week:DS FanboyNintendo considering DS web browser?A very disturbing Pokemon stylusDS Lite: Just the facts!PSP FanboyMe & My Katamari sorta kinda statesideJazz Jackrabbit ported to PSPAmazon.com offers cheap UMD dealXbox 360 FanboyXBMC hacker introduces Transcode 360Connect360 connects your Mac to your 360Peter Jackson visits Bungie, talks shop
