@Sylar: Bungie needed to get bought out to even stay alive...

Not to steer this comment thread into a dissection of the history of Bungie Software, but this is just wrong. Are you familiar with Blizzard's Battle.net? Bungie had an online system far superior to Blizzard's (at the time) for Myth I & II, and as I recall there were many thousands of people playing on there for a few years, and that was just one game. Oni, Myth 3, many other games were in development by Bungie before the MS deal went down, most if not all of which would have been on store shelves and selling probably before Halo even came out if MS had never gotten involved. In fact, I think its fairly safe to say that without MS buying bungie they would still be doing PC/Mac games and not consoles at all.

DaiMacculate

What the hell is Octomber?

okenny :)

What would this do to Mass Effect 2? I doubt bioware would just go and change engines in the sequel. There has been a lot of speculation of Mass Effect 2 going to the PS3, but would it be able to if MS does buy Epic. Would they allow bioware to use the engine on a PS3 game?

gamadaya

What would this mean for Silicon Knights v. Epic Games?

CyberSkull

.......please let this be a joke.

HoxtonHero

All companies have been buying devs, Sony bought the one that made Motorstorm not long ago and when you consider MS has been acquiring more (Rare, Lionhead, maybe epic) that's just becasue they are new so they will look to getting exclusive games and devs on there side for the long term success of the Xbox brand. Considering they let bungie go it only makes sense to try and get another dev to help pick up the slack. It's a good move since it would also cover Gears 2 and 3 as exclusives. I don't really mind if it happens or not though (only have an Xbox 360 at the moment too).

-Sigil-

@Sylar: Keep in mind that Epic games doesn't get to make the choice, it comes down to Mark Rein. If he decides he wants to take a $1 billion payday and walk away from Epic then its pretty much settled.

DaftDethMonkey

Ugh.

I hope not.

Epic has too much talent to be stuck under the wing of MS.

weasl

@avi_66:

I totally agree, if the gaming industry collapses it would be MS to blame:P

Q80

I don't think this is likely, I'm sure Epic is just fine on their own.

WolfGod

This is good news for Ubisoft, They're new engine (From Assassins Creed) may be worth more to license if this is true.

flukielukie

@sadkermit: great point as M$ said they would steer clear of all the legal dispute. Seems stupid for them to buy a company that is being sued/is suing a company M$ are distributing for. More likely that they would wait until the legal crap dies down before buying Epic.

el_rezzo

Holy shit, lets hope not.

Seven Is Darker

This is retarded. This is EXACTLY what people thought Microsoft would do when it entered the console market.

.endejas.

I don't really believe this is going to happen. Bungie needed to get bought out to even stay alive, but Epic is doing very well for themselves with the combination of software sales and Unreal Engine licensing. Microsoft may stand to gain a lot if it does happen, though, and they don't interfera too much with Epic's projects. A lot of Japanese developers have been using the Unreal Engine lately and Microsoft could get more of them on board with their platforms (XBOX 360 and Games for Windows) if they wish to keep using the Unreal Engine. Still, though it's likely that Microsoft will attempt to buy Epic, I sincerely doubt Epic will sell.

Sylar

That's not true! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!

rdj

Let's get UT3 on the 360 first, then worry about buy-outs.

PsycheDiver

There is no demotivational poster to express the failure that would be Microsoft buying Epic.

Generico

This could be true, if you look at one of Microsoft's core strategies for developing consoles, they are very serious about making life easier for developers. This would be a huge addition to their arsenal of development tools and a real loss to Sony.

Soldrak

@Gunhaver: So Master Chief loses the ability to jump but gains some type of chain-bladed weapon in Halo 4? Sweet!

Seriously though, I agree if you're gonna go out and get a good group of FPS devs to do Halo 4, you could do alot worse than Epic.

DaiMacculate

It'd be logical, Epic would replace Bungie--allowing Bungie to move on from Halo to making those quirky indie games they've always wanted to do. Halo would be in capable hands if Cliffy and Mark took it over.

Gunhaver

@GorbyGipper: Well you don't have to. What I was trying to say is that when you buy something, then go for the physical copy of it. Nothing beats an Original.

Candlejack

Just release Gears 2 with a near perfect, unbreakable 360 360 and I'm sold. I perfer the 360 controller for shooters anyway.

goldwings

I think its pretty funny. I just bought a PS3 in January, already had a 360 and I think its a good move on MS part. Stupid PS Fanboys keep screaming about how Sony is a monster corporation and MS doesn't understand how powerful they are. I've tried before to tell them that MS could own Sony and a country if they wanted to, MS has enough cash to sell the Xbox brand at a loss forever. All Fanboys are stupid.

bigd7387

Did anybody else here think "We'll see what President Obama's justice department thinks of this idea" and then have to shiver involuntarily at the mere prospect of a Justice Department willing to stand up to MS and stop it from consuming yet another software company this way? Leave aside the likelihood (infintesimally small) that this would get turned over, even happens, or that Barack is going to be half as radical a change as he says, I just got really excited for a moment that maybe, just maybe, somebody might develop the stones to stop MS from killing Epic and others in the future.

Please return to your regular pro MS/Anti MS sniping, thats all I had to say ;)

DaiMacculate

@Candlejack:

Yeah, but I'm not down with stealing music, movies, etc. If the IP owners or whoever should be making money off of their effort is giving it away, great. If they expect money and I'm skirting the system because I don't want to pay...we'll, I'm just not okay with that.

I'm personally fine with taking being charged with backing-up my own collection of media. I used to feel the need for physical media but my iPod, in-car MP3 support, PC networked to my entertainment center, and Live Arcade/Wii Ware (we'll see if MS and Nintendo make the love last by making their downloads easily transferred to future consoles, I doubt it), I've gotten over my attachment to a disc.

Different strokes, is all.

@lifeinthefridge:
So suddenly Sony's first-parties don't cut it?

Quality studio or not, Gurilla is a big name.

SOCOM is a big franchise for Sony, too. I'd rather play GR1 than any SOCOM, R6, or GRAW title released over the last 4 years, but nonetheless, SOCOM isn't something to sneeze at.

Besides, we weren't discussing the quality of first-party line-ups, just this strange perception that MS has to bail itself out by buying independant studios while Sony doesn't.

GorbyGipper

@sauvage:

You've got me confused. What are you replying to?

manjikengo

@manjikengo: Too many people accessing the site Im guessing.

Witzbold

@manjikengo: just under 1%!

sauvage

@LittleBigPlaneteer: Not conspiracy, I'd say fact!

sauvage

this would like destroy gaming as we know it D: or at least be a few steps away from it. unreal engine becoming a 360/pc exclusive. and then microsoft would probably go and buy EA/activision

naxik

@GorbyGipper: Yes...it is very much a reality. For free and on the Internet.

I won't pay for digital media, ever. When I buy a movie, game or anything, I want a physical copy of it.

@Irenicus-the one and only: Well I did play the special edition :P So I wouldn't know. *muffles Irenicus

@manjikengo: Same GPU and RAM here :) The 8800GT is a monster.

Candlejack

@manjikengo: Thats it, me and Raiden will go to another party, Snake will come with us, if he wants ;)

Irenicus-the one and only

@lifeinthefridge: uh...i believe he said sony bought them out with the big green meanie fanboys hate to admit that fuels sonys greed also.

manjikengo

@exkon: I think he means spiritually. I think Halo3 for a surefire flagship game was a huge disappointment in how unrisky it was in most areas. MS was wise to keep a tight reign on their main IP and not be too risky, but speaking as a gamer I was disappointed.

And I think everyone is happier now that Bungie is back in control of themselves. Bungie will still make games for MS (probably exclusively for the foreseeable future) and Bungie now has the freedom I want them to have.

Ehardergardens

@GorbyGipper:

I find it laughable you even mention developers like zipper, Gurilla, and Sigil. It's no wonder Sony didn't need to buy out those companys considering...

Zipper: Created the Socom Series and only 1 and 2 were decent online experiences at best. 3 was completely bloated with vehicles and the series is terrible now.

Guirila: Made Killzone 1...

Sigil: Vangaurd...Nuff said

lifeinthefridge

@Irenicus-the one and only: yeah you start out as snake. he lands on the tanker with the new metal gear rays in them and he finds out ocelot, who has now been taken over by liquid snakes hand is still alive.

After that, you then get a "present day" bullshit thingy and you're not snake. you're some douchebag raiden.

After a while you find out snake is going by the name pliskin and you fight vamp, fat man and all kinda of crap on the oil rig. The president dies of something like foxdie and you find johnny in the crapper with diarreha.

Anyway, you end up on top of metal gear arsenal and fight solidus snake who was the shittier clone of big boss.

manjikengo

@Irenicus-the one and only: I think I liked the raiden part more anyway, maybe thats why I remember that the most :P Damn raiden haters :(

Irenicus-the one and only

@Candlejack:

That's what it takes on my 360. I kick off the download, grab a drink and toss some popcorn in the microwave, and it's ready to play.

It looks a bit lesser than broadcast sports through the cable and sat providers I've used and better than the movies on the HD channels.

I'm not saying that Live Marketplace is the end-all for movies. The selection has too many goofy modern horror movies, though it has some really good films too. What I am saying as that the idea of downloading rentals is very much a reality. I haven't downloaded anything from CinemaNow or other online services, yet. But with Netflix looking at the online world for distribution, I'm more than a little weary of just buying a new DVD player.

GorbyGipper

@manjikengo: I could have sworn I play oil rig first... because after you play raiden well for the longest you get back to Snake, then you finish it and get the coolest ending ever and you think the world is all controlled by some secret men behind the curtains and el presidente is a puppet, not news but lol

And then second was stepping on the boat, oil tanker or whatever, and there you fight samurai jack and revolver man. Bah, it was so many years ago, maybe you are correct. I never played any special edition, just PAL version, MGS3 I played the special though but it came out as normal here as an apology for the delay :)

Irenicus-the one and only

Good for MS, bad for gamers. Somehow I doubt MS would be terribly interested in funding future engine development and just want them to churn out games. Also means they could attempt to shift the UT engine to be vista only. Im not even sure the buyout would be a good move for Epic, i mean..they would lose money in the long term.

Murrytmds

Take 2 would be much better but I guess Epic would be much cheaper.

Spartan1308

@manjikengo: For me too :( I think the fish have attracted shark!

Irenicus-the one and only

Seems like a natural choice to me.

CaptLtrl

@Irenicus-the one and only: first half is snake. 2nd half is raiden.

1 half is tanker, 2nd half is oil rig.

The special edition allowed you to play snake all the way through.

manjikengo

what's wrong with the comments and articles? they keep disappearing.

manjikengo

@Candlejack: I swear thats the first half lol Am I going insane??? Is it not submarine first a la raiden, I'm talking about original mgs2 not some special edition. So thats the first half, second is Snake damn it, on the big boat, or was it all intertwined? Now I'm confused, don't remember. Anyway, all MGS2 is fucking great! *muffles Candle jack

@movingtarget: All the WAY!

Irenicus-the one and only

@Candlejack: *cough*oblivion*cough*

I know where you're coming from.

My old compute actually could handle visuals better than the 360 and ps3 from what i've seen so far. Well, It can output it. It couldn't run bioshock for more than 10 minutes without crashing.

3.2 ghz, 512 mbs ati x1600 pro and 1 gb ram.

I've now got a 2.66ghz intel core 2 duo, 2gbs ram and the 512 nvidia 8800 gt.

manjikengo

Hmmm...

Not too sure what to feel about this...

Witzbold

Oh. God. No.

Jest

do it microsoft buy um!

lifeinthefridge

@Huxle:

UT 2004 was a much better game than UT3 as far as online play goes.

movingtarget

@GorbyGipper: Hah. Five minutes? Do you know that 1080p Blu-Ray movies are encoded at bitrates that bloat the files up to 25-50GB at ease? Even with my 1.6MB/s connection a file like that takes forever. Streaming is as good as impossible.

Candlejack

@comedy: they didn't own the franchise anyway.

Detha

@manjikengo:

My mistake. :P

GorbyGipper

I doubt it.

Eman311

@manjikengo: Exactly. It could have been a generic brand for all I care (which it probably is anyway).

At least then we wouldn't have to put up with playing certain RPGs on the PC because the amount of RAM is too small in these systems to allow a port or only provide stuttering crap gameplay.

Candlejack

NOOOO! Jesus, can Microsoft be fucking greedy enough? Don't do it Epic, you're the better company. Those assholes giving rimjobs to Bill Gates just want to break you down and steal the secret formula to UTIII

Huxle

@manjikengo:

Oddly enough, though, I'd own a PS3 already if it didn't have a Blu-Ray player. Now that it does and Blu-Ray is looking like the standard format for high def DVDs, I'm watching, waiting, and considering a PS3. I'd rather do the download thing, personally. Waiting 5 minutes for a movie to be ready on Live is easier than going to the video store. Though I buy VERY FEW movies. I rent most and buy only one or two a year tops.

GorbyGipper

@gamadaya: You really think that MS will beat Sony "this time around"? lol I'm sorry man, but right now MS is struggling in the US with the Wii and ps3 this month, they already falled behind in Europe and Japan is not worth mentioning.

I don't doubt for a sec that they can win the whole thing, but this round this gen, sorry, besides Sony has a Portable device atm too and a PS2 that sold better then the 360 worldwide now. Sony is also a rich company, I'd bet my money that Sony would pump in money longer then MS would to take over home console gaming especially because Sony already made profit on it and been in the business much longer.

But yeah, it is their strategy, buy or break ;) The buy part is universal, the break is part is reserved for some companies, still many of them.

Irenicus-the one and only

@Candlejack: I would have gone with 1 gb. Shits so cheap. Even 2 years ago it was cheap as hell.

manjikengo

dammit...so much for gears on ps3

SolidOni_ds

Epic+Next Halo Game=Win

movingtarget

@GorbyGipper:

LOL NO. Those studios owe their success to Sony, so they owe it to Sony to make exclusive titles for the Ps3.

manjikengo

And this is why I hate Microsoft. Buy Epic won't sellout, they're kickass people.

Voteforme2020

@Irenicus-the one and only: Nah, I hated the second half. The Raiden half.

@manjikengo: If you ask me, even 512MB of main system memory are pathetic for a next-gen console - which neither PS3 nor Xbox360 can call their own. Yup, quite cheap.

@GorbyGipper: The UE3 is fine on the PS3, if it has to be...which I hope it doesn't too often...well anyway, yea, it runs perfectly good on the PS3. Just look at UT3. A game which is not on the 360 by the way. :)

Sony has been working hard with Epic to get the engine working properly. Not that it's worth the time and effort because the engine is nothing special anymore and should be overthrown by the end of this year. Heck we are already seeing games from 2007 not using the UE3 engine that look way better than anything it could spit out. Such as Uncharted and R&C. So there's really no big fuss about UE3 anymore. It's old meat.

Candlejack

@JackTretton:

How is it that some of you fail to realize that Sony didn't grow their internal studios with water, sunshine and a pinch of love?

Zipper, Guerrilla, Incognito, Naughty Dog, Sigil...weren't they all bought by evil capitolist Satan marks?

GorbyGipper

@slomo788:

"LOL NO BLU-RAY PLAYER"

Wow....that would have been terrible. The ps3 would have been much cheaper and perhaps would have come out the same year as the xbox and would have out sold it 10:1.

manjikengo

Jeeze, not sure if this is a good thing.

ReyDEEEEZY

I've gotta say my first reaction was "son of a bitch!"

I mean, I know Microsoft, not unlike Google, thinks that success is best found by buying everything in sight and hoping that you've thrown enough money around to actually make a sucess, but I really don't want to see Epic in the hands of Microsoft, what with the Unreal Engine powering so many games. Not to mention that Epic itself would become Microsoft's bitch, seeing as they lost Bungie. I mean, what would that mean for the future of Unreal Tournament games on other platforms? Most notably the Playstation 3 and beyond? No, no, no this is just bad news all around.

MykalBloom

@manjikengo: Now imagine those fanboys with half the RAM? One of the weapons of fanboys against the PS3 is the RAM! Imagine a 360 with no Gears, no Bioshock, no Mass Effect, no Halo3, alone against all these enraged fanboys... It would not have survived a month. Unless Sony also got lazy and cut something out of the PS3 too. This gen would suck!

slomo788

This is why I think MS will beat Sony this time around. They just aren't afraid to spend money to get exclusive rights. In fact, that's been there buisiness strategy for over 2 decades. I'm surprised Sony hasn't figured it out yet.

gamadaya

@invadrzim: Yes because they surely "killed" Bungie.

MS is not like EA.

exkon

@bobtheduck: He's saying the 360 would have shipped with 256 rather than 512. Making it a terrible computer gaming system.

ugh l2read

manjikengo

@slomo788: I agree.

The hdd standard though, would have eliminated fanboys using "lol no hdd standard" as an excuse.

manjikengo

I'm calling BS on this one. Epic makes a ton of money from licensing out the unreal engine, plus they have Sony AND Microsoft begging them for games.

Also Epic can't be that foolish. All they have to do is look how unhappy Bungie was under Microsoft's Corporate umbrella and see that the grass certainly isn't greener on the other side. If Microsoft couldn't keep their #1 developer happy chances are that the folks at Epic wouldn't be too happy either.

If this rumour does turn out to be true, I would expect several of Epic's top developers to jump ship (a la Rare). Basically if the talent doesn't stay you are paying for the Caompany's brand name and the IPS. Without the talent though it really doesn't matter.

Bones_Jackson

@Irenicus-the one and only: But Phil is cool! And so much more popular!

slomo788

@baked ham: This man speaks the truth.

SrslyGuise

@slomo788: Once again, another lie... The 360 doesn't have double ram, they both have the same ram (512) it's just allocated differently, allowing MS to say "PS3 only has 256 megs of ram."

bobtheduck

@baked ham:

I wouldn't entirely disagree until you lumped Bioshock in there. That's like saying the PS3 has nothing worth playing and citing Uncharted. Not a good move.

The bottom line, though, is that UE is behind a lot of big games. I think there are better engines out there, but this one is VERY popular right now. Just thinking about how some of these games would move forward is interesting. Would they consider the cost and ease of use of UE worth foregoing a PS3 version for (assuming the engine starts working a bit better on the PS3)? Would they drop UE if it could only be used for 360 titles?

I still think that IF this rumor proves true, the big changes would be 1) future Epic games Windows/360 exclusive and 2) MS pulling in more cash by licensing UE for development across a variety of platforms.

Buying up Epic only to make UE an internal or MS platform-only engine seems boneheaded....but I'm just a fan, so I may well be missing quite a bit of information.

GorbyGipper

@slomo788: Thats obvious, hes hot! What! You don't think so?

Irenicus-the one and only

@Irenicus-the one and only: Then again, why would someone want to pass for Jack Tretton? Phil maybe but why Jack?

slomo788

@manjikengo: I don't think he will answer for anything. He probably has no clue on what's going on in Japan or NA right now. Also,I think double RAM is much better than HDD standard. The latter don't influence graphics (directly) and can be EASILY corrected.

slomo788

@manjikengo: lol, I can't agree with you at all about MGS2 :D
But it would be boring if we all agreed on stuff. And I'm pretty sure thats not him, if he was reading or even commenting on Kotaku which I highly doubt he would be using an alias.

ARe there any rules on Kotaku against using celebrity names?

Irenicus-the one and only

Very large corporations are the plague to artistic outlets. Big money comes in and kills the spirit and the freedom. Oh well. Cant wait for my fastfood games, just like everything else in these greedy fucking world.

invictus

Meh, yeah wiki got him at 59 billion. Maybe the times or whatever it was back in the late 90s i read got it wrong.

manjikengo

@Raziel3333:

59? How? Last time I heard his worth it was still more than bruneis gdp.

I don't suppose he finally died and the 90% of his weatlh was given to charities?

manjikengo

@bobtheduck: I didn't think there was any dedicated servers to shut down on UT3 for PS3? btw, MS+monopoly has always been and always will be. It is a business practise for them, not that they are alone. Intel was just raided in the EU for intance.

Irenicus-the one and only

@manjikengo: Um... The payoff for Viacom was proven. The supposed payoff for Warner was not. It was a guess by a lot of people, but never proven.

bobtheduck

@slomo788: No, if he is then Jack better fucking answer for all the bullshit from Sony.@Irenicus-the one and only:

I loved playing dmc4 with nero. he was actually a good substitute for Dante. Raiden was just some angst ridden bitch who found out rose was preggo.

Iunno. game pissed me off the last 40 minutes. I actually turned off my console at 2 am when campbell told me i had been playing too long.

manjikengo

@manjikengo: could of sworn it was only 59 billion now lol.

If Epic allows this its just another proof that mircosoft's only tatic of beating down people is buying out companies and monopolizing areas. but hey wouldn't surprise me.

Raziel3333

@JackTretton: Yes you can, if you are wise enough to use to money to have the competition assasinated :P

Irenicus-the one and only

Does this mean all the multiplat games with Unreal Engine 3 would be 360 only, and they'll shut down the servers for UTIII on the PS3?

Excuse my language here, but if this is true, FUCK MICROSOFT... That's a fucking monopoly. I hope they burn for this if it's true.

bobtheduck

@JackTretton: Uh, MS wasn't sending checks out. Toshiba was.

It cost sony 500 million for warner. I think the gizmodo article said it was like, 120 that toshiba offered warner.

manjikengo

@JackTretton: Seriously man, are you the real Tretton (the Sony guy)?

@manjikengo: I know right? It would basically be the original XBox with a more advanced Live.

slomo788

@manjikengo: Meh, I loved it :)

I guess it is something similar to dante nero dmc4 stuff. You were a fan of MGS1 and loved Snake too much to play something else? I liked it anyway, and even if you were a Snake fan it wasn't even close to as bad as Halo2 was with chief, now alien, now chief again. I loved the whole game thru and thru, it even felt like 2 games in one, with the stories and playing raiden.

@musicgangATL: Stop! In the name of love!

Irenicus-the one and only

@manjikengo: It;s kind of a double edged sword. Guess we can all blame Epic for making microsoft to not have the Hdd come standard.

Thus fucking up mass effect.

manjikengo

When microsoft is challenged they use money to buy themselves a leadway but unfortunately just like HDDVD you cant always buy yourself victory.

JackTretton

@slomo788: Thank you. Clears up questions. Good thing they "wasted" that 1 billion huh.

Btw, what's 1 billion to a company thats owned by someone worth 95 billion?

manjikengo

@Irenicus-the one and only: Well you're definitely right about that. The Engine will save the company a lot of time in development. Unsure about the money aspect. I don't know how much it costs to license the Unreal engine. Companies like Infinity Ward have been using modified versions of the same engine for the past few iterations of their game, so I can't imagine it costs them an exorbitant amount to spruce it up for each new release. And Resistance 2, for instance, will use a spruced up version of the Resistance engine. I'm sure there is going to be a lot of work put into changing the engine, but they don't have to build it from the ground up like they did for the first game.

At this point, though, there a number of games on the PS3 that utilize quality engines that could be licensed out in lieu of the Unreal 3 engine if Microsoft acquires Epic and starts ramping up the licensing fees.

baked ham

As long as Gears 2 is still sick, who cares.

angryNick

@manjikengo:
[www.computerandvideogames.com]

slomo788

one company, i could care less... Sony has PLENTY of first party games as-is.

Akmed

@baked ham:

Lost odyssey for instance. We all found out it can produce blues and all shades and hues. Kinda like Blendi -pens.

It's more of a design choice, rather than the engine. Browns and Greys are better for stuff like shootans.

manjikengo

@manjikengo:
[www.gamepro.com]

slomo788

@manjikengo:
[www.1up.com]

slomo788

M$ is poor now and bill gates would be angry. bill gives money (charity) away instead.

dexterr

No way.

Lain

With all the revenue coming in from UE3 licensing fees, would Epic really want to except a buy-out? Even if Microsoft brought in some heavy money... I mean, Epic's not even public, right?

ABigSmall

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-t that much of a problem considering I have a 360 anyways :). Still, I dont get why companies must try to out do each other by buying another one. I hope this isn't true, just cause.

bertfallen

@slomo788: ..........

Do what 1 billion for an extra 256 mbs of ram? Find that article please.

manjikengo

@manjikengo: You can add Oblivion to that list, and despite CoD4 not being exclusive, it's still one of the system's best games.

And I think they all have a lot of graphical features that bear similarity to one another. I own and play all of the games I mentioned. I enjoy them all, most of them are spectacular games due to their superior design and implementation, but I don't believe that the Unreal Engine is inherently better than any other proprietary engine being used like the ones for the games I mentioned.

All of the UE3 games I've played have similar aspects to them. If you look at games like Mass Effect & Gears of War, I think there is a lot more similarity there, in all forms of aesthetic, than there similarities between Uncharted & Gears of War (and I'm not talking about gameplay mechanics, because the UE3 has showed itself capable of implementation with a variety of genres).

baked ham

Totally a rumor join Microsoft and churn out endless copies of Gears of War, I don't think so. Isn't Gamepro the same magazine that had a bogus article last time?

Volomon

@SrslyGuise: Really, who cares about the Crytek Engine. Shit sucks. Why aren't more developers licensing from Euphoria?

manjikengo

now the unreal engine sucks all of a sudden????..lmao u guys bug me out...please keep going by al means dont let me stop u

musicgangATL

@manjikengo: I think it costed them an extra bil because Epic demanded that they double the RAM of the 360. Wouldn't pu my hand in fire, but I'm sure I read this story.

slomo788

@Irenicus-the one and only:

How could anyone hate "2 years ago on the hudson river"?

meh, i got the quote wrong but whatever. the moment it switched to raiden, I puked in my mouth every 5 minutes.

manjikengo

Really, who cares about the Unreal Engine. Shit sucks. Why aren't more developers licensing from Crytek?

SrslyGuise

really m$ should top messing the gaming industry...
Back at 98/99 Epic was a cool innovative company and now it's gonna be like Rare,making games each year following schedules and m$ plans in order to make moneyfor them...
nothing new from Epic then if this go on...
If this go on nothing new from anyone btw :)

steliosco

I don't think Epic would sell.. well, unless their entire act of integrity is just an act.

otimus

To control the one engine...
well I guess they will get another "Yahoo" from Epic ;)

Garo

@manjikengo: I thought most hated the first half? meh, I loved all MGS2, everything. I never got all the hate, MGS2 was fucking amazing. ANd MGS4 will be the same, so far nothing speaks for it turning into crap or less then great. Unless you never liked MGS.

Irenicus-the one and only

theres no conceivable reason for EPIC to ever accept any off from MS. Itd not like they're hurting for cash.

I really hope this is just a rumor. MS would absolutly kill EPIC

invadrzim

Wait, if MS did buy Epic would they own Unreal Engine 3. Holy crap, Unreal powers like 1/4th of the games on Xbox 360/PS3. If so then this is HUGE as it gets, if not its still big but still that engine powers so many games. Personally I hope so because a lot less developers will use it, making games graphics a little different from one another.

Iz1ck

You might see a bit of gloom and doom if this rumor does come to pass. I wouldn't worry about it, because the industry will adjust and all will be well again.

Take a trip into the wayback machine with me: EA bought Render Ware a few years ago. Back then Render Ware was running almost every third party game at the time (and a couple first party games as well). Lots of dev teams panicked. EA assured unbiased support for the current AND next-gen version of Render Ware.

Jump back to today and check your "now-gen" game boxes. Outside of anything from an EA studio I bet you won't see a Render Ware logo (last time I remember seeing RW was in Black by Criterion). Why no more Render Ware? Maybe none of the independent dev teams, or rival publishers, wanted EA in control of the foundation of their games.

If MS buys Epic they better not count all that royalty money first. The industry will just move on to the NEXT big thing, rather than be in the control of just one company.

crashlanding

Most likely any financial transactions will just be for Gears exclusivity.

Rususeruru

@baked ham: I'm curious to know if buying UE3 engine has shortened the time it took these companies to make the games or atleast saved them some money instead of hiring their own people to do it. Bioshock and Gears of war + Mass Effect does stand out does it not? Not that it looks "better" then the competition, but I mean in terms of looking unique. They all seem to share the same bugs and glitches though.

Irenicus-the one and only

@baked ham: Dude, they don't "all have the same graphical appearance" And cod4, last time I checked wasn't just a ps3 game.

Also, how can you even say mgs4 is the best ps3 game yet? What if it sucks donkey turd like the last half of mgs2?

manjikengo

If they did acquire Epic (doubtful) it would be to do a run of the Gears IP and maybe 1 or 2 others as exclusives for a while, then eventually spin them off again with MS owning some of the Epic property and getting cash off the top. I seriously doubt this will happen, Epic's response to the Gears2 stuff made it seem like they weren't terribly interesting in going exclusive for anyone. But hey where there's money to be made...

Rususeruru

Seriously doubt this Epic makes enough well more then enough on there own

Ruisu

After losing so many exclusive second party developers, it's about time they make a major acquisition since Rare. Sony has been buying a lot of developers.

reptile168

@king0v10GU: Ha that'd be a sight to see. And how does one shove their foot up the anus of a corporation exactly?

TearsandScreams

Microsoft lacks the capacity to manage studios. they should work to court 3rd parties and improve the XBL network...

Only nintendo truly thrives with their first party studios... Microsoft should invest time in what they are good at. XBL needs dedicated servers and more features.

magic_envelope

@LittleBigPlaneteer: The best PS3 games don't even use the Unreal engine. Metal Gear Solid 4, Resistance, Call of Duty 4, Ratchet & Clank, Warhawk, Uncharted, etc. etc. All use proprietary engines. Unreal Engine can suck a fuck for all I care. They all have that same graphical appearance. Mass Effect, Unreal Tournament III, Gears of War, Rainbow Six, Lost Odyssey, Bioshock... all great games, but nothing really spectacular about their play mechanics or graphical prowess that I haven't seen done just as good or better with other engines.

baked ham

@Erwin: You clicked it too :P

@Collapse The Control: Whats scary is that you actually want them to own everything. Still getting good dividends?

@PaulHunter: Oh snap, I did not realise that, good point. It must all be a bunch of BS.

Irenicus-the one and only

I seriously hope not... Not because of the consoles, the engine works well on them, the problem is with the quality of the games on the PC with this engine...

QC8472

@slomo788:

Gears of War didn't cost MS 1 billion. That's stupid money reserved for class action lawsuits, and business takeovers. Not exclusivities and licensing rights.

manjikengo

April issue

say no more.

cohenjor

You made me 'click the GDC 08 red Kotaku fish! All I got was the smell but no pussy :( I hope GDC releases some megatons, I... WE deserve it!

Irenicus-the one and only

This from the same magazine that claimed they had the world exclusive scoop on GOW2?

PaulHunter

eh....

1 billion? Thats crazy. Thats what Vivendi bought out Activision for, minus 3 billion. Good lord.

Unreal and Gears must be insane properties.

manjikengo

Oooh! Special GDC 08 Kotaku Pointing Fish Tag! Awesome!
I wonder what's behind it.

Erwin

@gibfather:

I'm iffy on Epic. I loved UT and Gears was an overrated single-player and multiplayer game, though it offered OUTSTANDING co-op. UT3 hasn't done much to gather my attention and I couldn't see myself paying more than $30 for it when it hits 360.

The curious thing about the rumor is the engine, not the games.

GorbyGipper

@TinyLightning: Epic the next Bungie? I don't think so, they don't have the refinement Bungie does. GoW was good, solid game play, but it didn't bring anything new to the table like Halo did thrice over. Unreal tourney is an awesome series but never had the wildfire fan base Halo managed.

Absent Blue

@gibfather: I don't have an Xbox, but as a PC gamer with a 60GB PS3 I am disappointed with Epic. As I posted above they have done worse, not better recently. Now that's an opinion, so I am not saying that this is fact. I do like the UE3, but the texture popping as well as the antialiasing issues are bothersome.

homernoy

Speculation from the editor of the same magazine that printed the "OH GOD GEARS 2 INFO" ([kotaku.com]). Don't believe this trash until it actually happens.

Dorphat the Insomniac

Really seems possible, really hope it doesn't happen.

Dragonzigg

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! No Gears of War 3 for my PS3!!! DAMN YOU MICROSOFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

soundgarden

It might make sense for MS, but I don't see it happening personally unless EPIC is in some kind of financial situation no one knows about.

crazyscreenwriter

if those sons of bishes do this I will personally shove my foot up M$ ass too the point where they will have the aftertaste of AFJ in their mouth

king0v10GU

UE3 wouldn't really be much of a loss for non-Microsoft operating systems and other gaming platforms. There's plenty of other middleware to fill the gap, id Tech 5 etc.

GUNJAM

Go Microsoft GO!
BUY EVERYTHING!

Collapse The Control

Is it me, or prior to this rumor, lots of xbox fans were hating on Epic and degrading the games they released. Now...all of a sudden, they're all for it because it will make MS the dominant force and bring tears of joys to their eyes. Strange.

gibfather

i really doubt it

mossberg

@aka Bitter:

If I recall correctly, Epic owns the IP, MS had dibs on a sequal.

GorbyGipper

@PATSCRU:

Eh, Epic recently stated that they're focused on consoles for the forseeabale future.

GorbyGipper

@LittleBigPlaneteer:

Yep, locking that engine up as MS-only would be kissing boatloads of cash goodbye. Besides, MS makes money off of Blu-Ray, no?

If there wasn't an Unreal Engine for PS3, someone else would take their place (Crytek, maybe...Hell, it might be a stretch, but I'm sure Bungie could use some extra cashflow being all alone out there and they have a great engine).

MS might game a short advantage over Sony in terms of middleware, but someone would eventually fill the void with something good, as good, or better. Then MS would have only MAYBE stunted Sony a little...PROBABLY alienated some developers by taking away a licensed tool...and DEFINATELY be missing out on some paydays.

I'd assume, at least.

GorbyGipper

oh gawd i hope not

GreenCard200

I can only see this happening if there's an exception so that Epic can continue to license the Unreal engine.

t0yrobo

Doesn't Microsoft already own the IP on Gears?

I can't imagine Microsoft purchasing Epic for something they already own. Unreal Engine 3 and it successor, well that's another story....

aka Bitter

@MasterOfPastures:

Konami isn't for sale. They aren't sellouts.

SavageSalad

Might be the right time for Epic to consider it. After the big ball of mediocrity that was UT3 it looks like they are slipping a bit.

Cell9song

@PATSCRU: Im afraid so, son. Get the shotgun. Your PC has rabbies. It's time you became a man.

MasterOfPastures

@Maximus9 "How long can a Gears franchise last? Two more iterations (2 and 3?) before petering out/having to wrap up like Halo? Is 1 billion really worth 2 more iterations? I think not.":

It is not just for Gears. If Microsoft is looking into this it is most likely to get the Unreal engine and just cockblock all the multiplatform titles using it.

mx5

DADDY NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! is valve the last fortress of PC gaming?

PATSCRU

Microsoft is here to destroy the gaming market with their crazy takeovers with the hard cash they have.

avi_66

@Sparx88:How do you think Sony acquired all they have? Do you think all of these hollywood studios that Sony ownes were given to them?

My point is all companies do this and I get tired of reading the same shit about M$ and Sony delay station and Wii is for casual gamers or little kids etc.... It gets old the millionth time you hear it.

I know you were probably being funny, but it is just a rumor at this point.

homernoy

Meh, lost hope in Epic after that sub par release of UT3. Spent 2 years waiting for it and it turns out to be a consolfied cash-in, with bad PC support and limited options.

Use to be a understanding company that really delivered to the gaming community. They already lost their soul to $$ , and judging by Mark Rein's interviews they are turning out no better than MS, EA, etc. So i see no difference this would make.

Lokku

@Setzer IIDX:

I dunno....Infinity Ward's COD series, while really fun, is pretty much Doom with reinforcements. Monster closets, insanely transparent trigger points, very little in the way of AI or enemy variety....

Gears never struck me as having Halo quality enemy AI, even on Insane, if I recall correctly, they just seemed to do more damage and be more aggressive. They didn't feel nearly as smart as a Legendary Brute. Even so, the kind of package they have, single, co-op, deathmatch....seems like a nice replacement for the Halo titles. It's got the selling power, the generic hero, the variety of modes.

I just don't know how long IW will be able to coat mediocre gameplay with sweet, sweet polish and get away with it. I really enjoyed COD4, but it has crap for replay value (aside from online, of course).

GorbyGipper

@WTFpeople:

If they scare away Sony, it'd hardly be worth the investment. I mean part of the reason for acquiring Epic is to make tons of money off the engine. They need Sony games to use it to rake in as much profit as possible. It'd be stupid, if not illegal to hike up licensing fees for competitors.

LittleBigPlaneteer

I don't think Epic is very happy with GamePro lately

Struct09

I see badness for multiplatform games in the future. The Unreal engine is one of the most widely used game engines out there. If Microsoft buys it, they buy the engine. They buy the engine, they may be able to decide who they are selling it to; ie only to those who agree to make it 360 exclusive.

Them and their buying power is scary. It's like EA buying up the NBA, NFL, and any other sport that strikes their fancy.

PapaBear434

@krunkjuice: I meant at once. UT3 is a year older than Resistance 2. I loved Resistance: Fall of Man, but it's nowhere near UT3 in terms of pushing the PS3 hardware. Resistance 2 focuses on graphics, online and co-op (there's probably more to it). But no other game has mods and m/k support so far.

slomo788

EPIC is such a important dev because of UE.

make such a basic building block of game development a 360/pc exclusive would be a big kick in the face for mutilplat game developers.

niall077

@Maximus9:
Maybe we should judge the IP's life after more than one game, eh?

Erwin

@Maximus9: You're missing out on the whole "ownership of Unreal Engine" thing.

mind in rewind

I really hope not. EPIC is one the first developer to do things right in regards to FPS, Consoles, and user developed content. Microsoft will bury them in XBOX live so you can kiss your user created maps, mods, and mutators goodbye. They directly or indirectly see user created content at odds with their XBL marketplace. This will kill the good things that Epic did with UT3 and consoles (PS3 specifically) which was putting pressure on MS to open up Live for one of it's most glaring flaws.

FlimFlaminus

yeesh!

subterfunk

It seems odd that they would even consider buying Epic right now with the potentially huge lawsuit happining.

mind in rewind

Here's to hoping not.

*Takes a shot*

Narynan

sounds untrue.im sure Epic is happy just licensing their engine and making a few games here n there.

pandafresh

How long can a Gears franchise last? Two more iterations (2 and 3?) before petering out/having to wrap up like Halo? Is 1 billion really worth 2 more iterations? I think not. UT3 hasn't set the world on fire either and I don't see any big new franchises on the horizon from Epic.

Maximus9

I don't think much of Epic anymore. I can see why Microsoft might want to purchase them due to Gears and the UE3 itself, but I don't like their recent games for the most part, and I haven't seen anything coming up that I am really interested in.

homernoy

Checkmate :)

If this happens all Unreal Engine 3 games currently under development for the PS3 will be allowed to finish. All future works are basically f'ed; they'd either have to prove that they have be using it before the acquisition, pay a hefty toll (forcing people to use other engines) or both.

Hey Microsoft, Crytek studios!

WTFpeople

Blah.

logicaldefense

@slomo788: You need to look up Resistance 2. It puts UT3 to shame as far as pushing the PS3 hardware.

krunkjuice

Typical MS attitude, if you can't beat it, buy it

Sparx88

I'm more a Bungie guy than an Epic guy, but Gears would fit the gap that Halo left as well as any franchise...

GorbyGipper

SAY IT AIN'T SO!!!!

FLYBOY611

sounds very unlikely but I'm no expert.

RafiRAF

WOW!..

SpuddOner

@jkh13: That's exactly it! But Carmack hates it also. Only the guys at Epic know how to deal with it, and UT3 is the first game that touches a little bit of all the advantages of the PS3 at once: gorgeous graphics, mods, m/k, rumble+motion sensing, online with 16 people and huge, numerous maps. FUUUUCK!

slomo788

@Candlejack: I wanna get mad, but then I just tried out UT3 :(

Nah, it could be a great thing, I'm not sure if 1billion is to little or too much, anyone with a clue? Also, what would happen with the Epic VS SK lawsuit? hmm

Irenicus-the one and only

@Setzer IIDX: IW isn't independent, they're owned by Activision. Sony couldn't buy them even if they wanted to.

Stormrider

Deep down, like super deep. Something tells me that MS shouldn't. They should try to fix stuff, before buying.

It's like a credit card. You don't want to buy a bunch of stuff, see the bill. Then go out and buy more. Cause in the end you'll just have a bunch to pay back.

Sailorcancer

ah awesome reporiting from Gamepro, the same magazine which has the first exclusive Gears of War 2 news...oh wait...

magnus_mcmanus

Yeah looks like Epic is going to be making Halo 4: Start Another Fight. Sounds crazy but just wait...

JustJake

Well, lets all keep in mind that this is Gamepro we're talking about here... They did advertise a Gears of War 2 preview/first look thing and it turned out to talk about the first game, followed by some speculation.

Mini-Boss

Heh...that'd mix two mediocre gamestudios together.

Yeah I said it *SHIELD*

Candlejack

@slomo788:

Newell pretty much hates the PS3 so that just leaves Carmack in your situation :)

jkh13

@MajorMcMuffin: Symbolic payment :P

Omnidum

$1 bill. Hmm. I think it's something like 500 grand to license UE3 for your game. I don't see it going down that cheap if it ever actually goes down

kidko

In other news, Sony has plans to purchase Infinity Ward for One Hundred BILLION dollars. /drevil

Srsly though, I'd be after buying IW over Epic. I'd say they're the next big thing.

Setzer IIDX

I hope they will be using that wisely.

Omnidum

The games epic like to make are the games Xbox users l