By John

Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney has designed Unreal Engine 4 technology to work across all platforms, including the emerging virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) markets. With the company offering its game engine technology for free (with a 5 percent royalty fee on for-profit games), there are new companies using UE4 in both VR and AR. I caught up with Sweeney to discuss how VR and AR will change the game in this exclusive interview. How do you see VR impacting the types of games people will play in the future? New genres will immerge from...

SAN DIEGO – When it comes to Comic-Con, few people have a more hectic schedule than Stan Lee. The head of POW! Entertainment has created some of the biggest super heroes in the world. The Marvel movies based on his creations like Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America have grossed over $6 billion worldwide (and counting). That doesn’t include the countless merchandising off-shoots, including video games. One of Lee’s latest creations is The Guardian Project, which is a new computer-animated TV show and online video game featuring super heroes based on NHL hockey teams. The Carolina Hurricane is...

Editor’s note: This is the fifth in a series of stories taking an in-depth look at the state of the videogame industry in the Triangle. CARY, N.C. – When it came time for Stan Lee and the NHL to create a brand new team of super heroes, they looked no further than Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 3 technology to power the new franchise. The Guardian Project is a transmedia franchise featuring 30 new super heroes, each one built using the same Unreal technology that powers the newly released Bulletstorm and Epic’s Gears of War franchise. While best known to...

Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of reports about the videogame industry in the Triangle with an emphasis on what to expect in 2011. RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – Epic Games is no longer the only game studio in town. While the makers of Unreal Tournament, Gears of War and Bulletstorm are certainly the biggest game developer in the Triangle, there are plenty of studios in the area that focus on big games. Two titles that are sure to propel local studios to the top of the sales charts are EA Sports’ Madden NFL Football for...

Editor’s note: This is the third of a multi-part series from WRAL Tech Wire about the Triangle’s videogame industry and what to expect in 2011. CARY, N.C. – Cliff Bleszinski is the closest thing the video game industry has today to a rock star. He drives a Lamborghini, he announces new games on late night talk shows, and he’s flooded by fans seeking autographs at shows like Comic-Con. This year is shaping up to be “epic” for the most visible face of the Cary-based independent game studio. Epic has a brand new shooter franchise in ”Bulletstorm” launching for PC,...

Editor’s note: This is the second of a multi-part series from WRAL Tech Wire that focuses on what’s ahead for the growing triangle videogame industry in 2011. One of the expected highpoints comes today with the release of “Bulletstorm” from People Can Fly, a subsidiary of Cary-based Epic games. CARY, N.C. – When it comes to the lucrative shooter genre, which includes history-shattering hits like Activision’s Call of Duty titles, Epic Games’ Gears of War games, and Microsoft’s Halo franchise, game studios are basically a boy’s club. But as more female gamers grow up with controllers in their hands,...

Editor’s note: 2011 promises to be a major one for the Research Triangle Park area’s growing videogame industry cluster with Cary-based Epic Games leading the way. Its newest title, “Bullestorm,” hits store shelves on Tuesday. And later this year, “Gears of War 3” will look to build on the more than 10-million copy selling success of the first two franchise hits. WRAL Tech Wire launches a five-part series about Epic and the Triangle game sector today. Part Two: “Bulletstorm” produced with a woman’s touch. Read here. CARY, N.C. – Dr. Michael Capps, president of Epic Games, has worked in...

Editor’s note: John Byrne and Michael Sullivan Trainor are a director and an executive analyst respectively at Technology Business Research. HAMPTON, N.H. – Ericsson’s successful bid for Nortel’s CDMA and LTE assets on July 24, along with the network outsourcing deal announced with Sprint earlier in the month, position Ericsson to become a more formidable competitor in the North American market. Ericsson Trumps Nokia Siemens Ericsson agreed to pay $1.13 billion in cash for Nortel’s CDMA (code division multiple access) and LTE (long term evolution, fourth generation) assets, outbidding Nokia Siemens Networks, which, in its original stalking-horse bid made...

Editor’s note: John Byrne is an analyst with Technology Business Research. HAMPTON, N.H. – While the announcement of Cisco’s Unified Computing System (UCS) on March 16 may not have sent major shockwaves throughout the networking industry, it certainly caused more than a few small tremors. Through previous public statements and less glamorous product and partnership announcements (e.g., Nexus, VMware), the company had made it clear that the datacenter was to be the jumping off point for its unified communications and cloud computing strategies. With the , Cisco appears to be finally putting its money where its mouth is. By...