KOEI's katana dipped in the firey waters of Epic-gate (Updated: Bonus headline!)

Mark Rein's response:

“The bottom line is that making great games is hard work. There is no magic cure-all that completely hides the complexity of making world-class high-performance games on complex computing systems. We’re making huge strides toward making the engine fast on next-gen platforms and you can’t expect us to get that done overnight.”

“Our engine is not a launch-title technology. If you want to make launch titles you take your previous-gen engine and upgrade. If you want to make stunning true next-gen games like Gears of War and Unreal Tournament 3 (which people who license our engine generally often aspire to) you have to accept that it takes time to learn the intricacies of the systems.”

So, who exactly is right and who exactly is wrong in this whole muddy batch of shenanigans? It is of course impossible for we outsiders to truly have a firm opinion, but I have to say that not everything's black-and-white in life. I don't believe Epic is The Devil, deliberately screwing over its competition and ripping the last shreds of food from the mouths of starving African babies. That said, there have been a few complaints made against Epic's level of support for its product and I do feel that customer relations might be a problem for the company.

Rein is right to suggest that the Unreal Engine isn't a magic box of tricks that will make your game, provide a night of lustful congress and cook you breakfast in the morning, but at the same time, his statement almost gives credence to the idea that Epic just dumps the product on your doorstep and says "Here you go, now you figure it out." 

This is naturally nought but wild conjecture from a man who is not a developer and I wouldn't present my thoughts on this subject as anything but. One thing I am sure of though, is that Too Human is thoroughly boned now, especially if Silicon Knights is going to spend its time in a courtroom instead of the development grindstone.