This is a surprising headline, bearing in mind Epic’s own Mark Rein has previously gone on record stating the exact opposite. That doesn’t appear to have phased Ubisoft though, who not only claim that the Unreal Engine can run on a 3DS, but that they have actually managed it.
Splinter Cell 3DS producer, Fabrice Cuny, had the following to say:
“The 3DS is powerful, and we are able to run the Unreal engine on this console, which is pretty impressive for a handheld machine, and the 3D doesn’t affect the performance (thanks to my amazing programmers). The architecture is different compared to a Wii or some other platforms that we had to work with here at Ubisoft Montreal.
The 3DS can be much more comparable to a platform between a DSi and a Wii. We are able to create games anywhere from a puzzle game to very high-end game such as Splinter Cell 3D. The tools on the 3DS were brand new, and with every development phase, we had some tools with bugs and crashes. But with version after version, Nintendo provided us a set of tools and the support to help us debug and optimize the game.”
Whilst it obviously won’t be able to go toe to toe with the NGP, it’s nice to hear that there is a bit of grunt under that shiny bonnet. We look forward to see what the 3DS is really capable of once the initial wave of launch games and ports have passed.
tonycawley
This really does surprise me. Though the unreal engine is now looking and feeling dated, this at least shows the 3ds to have considerably more power than the dsi. My Mrs is definitely getting one for her birthday, even if it is a blatant Indian gift.
KeRaSh
Depends on what device you are looking at. On the iPhone it certainly looks nice compared to other games.
DrNate86
I asked this a while ago but can’t remember where or to who so apologies if you read this and think, “Hey, I answered that already!”
Is the 3DS graphically more powerful than the old PSP? Even though it’s newer, for some reason I still presumed the PSP would have nicer graphics.
DrNate86
If I had read the 3DS article above this before hand I would know the answer it seems! Silly me reading news in chronological order.
Dan Lee
It’s a shame the NGP put the 3DS in the shade so soon in terms of power, as from what I’ve seen it can easily squeeze out Gamecube graphics. And anyone who’s played Resi 4 or Metal Gear Solid Twin Snakes knows that’s not bad at all.