So is it just me, or is Epic chasing Unity3d now?

First with the free indie version, now with future paid iPhone development version.

Granted, I think they should consider Unity 3D a real threat... it's just fun to watch the big boys chase behind the little guy.

I would say that they're plugging any holes more than chasing Unity. Unity is a drop in the pond in comparison and everything Epic has done thus far ensures that UE will be the defacto game engine used in AAA production for years to come. If anything I think Unity should be quivering in their boots since everything Epic has done this far seriously errodes the the business plan that Unity had set out for itself.

@L Foz

Well, yes, UE3 has a much larger and much more serious market share, but I think you're underestimating Unity.

I'm seeing more and more serious developers looking at Unity 3D and choosing it over heavy expensive engines like UE3. Things are changing in the game development scene and I see Unity going in the right direction.

iPhone would be great for more games like Shadow Complex (with an interface redesign where the game could be played with one finger - the best control scheme for iPhone games imo). Wouldn't be surprised if they did develop something to release.

Mike i think you really need to do a better evaluation of your engines. Unity is a AA engine for Indie and small teams. It is in the same league as Torque3d, Shiva3D, Leadworks and many others that target Indie developers and small development teams. It's early support for the iPhone was key to it's success thus far. There was a void in the mobile 3D engine market that Unity filled with merit.

Now that the iPhone is a real platform, big players will dedicate the R&D to create the development tools and it's up to Unity to survive in a much more competitive mobile 3d engine market.

To compare Unity feature wise with AAA engines like UE3 (over 150 AAA games released), Gamebryo (over 100 AAA games released), CryEngine and others is ridiculous. The advanced feature set is simply not there, and the free Indie version is a crippled version of the product, no serious project would use it for development.

For any serious project development the Unity route is not free, and not the least expensive in it's league. Also, the licensing model requires you to pay a fee for each platform.

That's an odd choice on Epic's part: they seem to have prioritised iPhone support over Wii support. Surely Epic's customers would want Wii-360-PS3 more than iPhone-360-PS3?

I guess this is just down to the 3GS having programmable shader support, where the Wii doesn't.

@Craig
yeah, you're right, that's why it's only the 3gs and not the 3g.

I'm afraid the 3g is going to be forgotten very quickly.

also, Unreal engine is for Men! not girls and their wiis! :)

@Matt: Haha, wrong! Unreal Engine is for badasses (Gears should have a "badassness" bar for sure).

The part I don't get is, I'm developing for Unity, for Windows, cause I'm a lone designer learning programming. I'd need a big team to develop for the UE, and of course I"d go for it if I had. I made levels for UT3 and the UEd is awesome, the system, the Kismet, the Material Editor... But I can't work a full game alone, and in the pace I can do in Unity. I don't expect the technical differences between Unity and UE really show in the iPhone, but I see them in the development fase.

Jokes apart, I'm going to get a Wii soon (my 360 I never ever play since I bought it), there are some games I wanna try there, beggining with Muramasa.

Being able to work fast using Unreal is the same as being able to work fast using Unity, if that's what you're comfortable doing. I could be making a game that required a team for Unity, and likewise I'm making a game myself using Unreal 3. It all depends on what you're going for and how much prior experience you have with the toolset.

@Alexander; Great points! It really does depend on the platform, time-to-market and experiences of your team. Personally, I love the UT3 tools, though Unity3D has iPhone support now. Still, they both have (or probably will have, in Epic's case) some limitations due to the lesser capabilities of the iPhone. So, for example, you have to roll-your-own terrain in Unity3D. As a sole developer, cost is my big issue and it will be interesting to see what the price and features for the iPhone will be for the Unreal Engine.

@Luis; When you get that Wii, check out Okami.