NGP receives Havok and Unreal 3 support
Physics and engine tools sign up for Sony's new handheld
Sony's tentatively titled Next Generation Portable received a boost last night in the form of official support from two of the largest gaming software platforms around: Havok and Unreal Engine 3.
Havok's physics engine has is an almost ubiquitous feature in most genres, and the company's animation products are also gaining ground. The provider also announced in November that it would be creating a lower-priced SDK for its products for smaller developers.
"Havok's suite of tools and targeted optimization for NGP will ensure that developers have best-of-breed production solutions on SCE's exciting new platform," said Havok MD David Coghlan. His firm's "long history" of working with Sony has resulted in a number of launch titles utilising Havok technology.
Epic' Unreal Engine 3 was apparently first demonstrated to Sony executives on the NGP in January, with a full suite of lighting, particle effects and animations functioning. Again, several launch titles are said to be using the technology.
"NGP raises the bar for the performance of handheld platforms with its multi-core GPU and shader-based, multi-core CPU," said Epic VP Mark Rein. "This makes Unreal Engine 3 a particularly advantageous fit for NGP."
The two companies are the latest to show support for the handheld, which has previously attracted backing from Blitz, Audiokinect and NaturalMotion.