What Makes Red Alert 3 for PS3 the “Ultimate Edition?”

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Hi all, my name is David Seeholzer and I am the Senior Development Director for Command & Conquer Red Alert 3: Ultimate Edition. You might be asking yourself why we are calling it the ‘Ultimate Edition’ of Red Alert 3. I wanted to share some insight into the cool extras and bonus content we are making exclusive for you guys, as well as shed a little light on the development process and our future plans for the title on PS3.

Red Alert 3 Ultimate Edition Screenshot - Soviets vs Empire 1

Red Alert found its humble beginnings over a decade ago on PC and has since seen 2 sequels, several expansion packs, and now, is making its debut on the PS3 console. Fortunately the power of the PS3 and the Blu-ray medium has afforded us some extra luxuries that weren’t available to us previously.

The most noticeable difference you’ll see in the Ultimate Edition on PS3 is an increase the visual quality of the game so that it truly stands up to HD Blu-ray definition. A perfect example of this is what you will see in the game’s water. One of the huge new features you’ll see in Red Alert 3 is an increase in naval warfare and amphibious units. Most strategy games in the past have never paid much attention to navy but we’re bringing it to the center. As such, we paid close attention to detail with it and ensured that we maximized its visual aspects, without penalizing game performance even under the most intense of battles.

Another great thing about the PS3 is its use of Blu-ray. We are taking as much advantage as we can of the extra storage space, cramming it full of exclusive features and in game content, including some exclusive new maps for you wage you and your buddies to skirmish battles on over PSN. There is also a ton of videos, giving you a behind the scenes look at the development of the game and the making of our live-action cinematics, a hallmark of the Command & Conquer series. Red Alert 3 features one of the biggest casts in the history of games, including legends like Tim Curry, George Takei, J.K. Simmons, MMA superstars Randy Couture and Gina Carano and a host of starlets including Jenny McCarthy, Kelly Hu, Autumn Reeser and Gemma Atkinson (speaking of which, my personal favorite extra is a look at the “Women of Red Alert 3” video we’ve included). Our Command & Conquer TV team also produced two episodes of the network’s favorite programs, BattleCast PrimeTime and Command School which are totally dedicated to the Ultimate Edition. And to top it all off, we’ve also included the entire Red Alert 3 soundtrack for your listening pleasure, including the theme song “Hellmarch.”


Red Alert 3 Ultimate Edition Screenshot - Girls of RA3

Red Alert 3 also brings another first to strategy games: a fully co-operative campaign. With the PlayStation Network, you and your friends will be able to play through the entire campaign together. There was a strong effort to make sure that each mission was designed for two commanders working together and in making sure that the experience was engaging and challenging. And with the extra time we were given,we were also able to fine tune and balance each mission specifically for the console to ensure that players have the best experience possible.

Of course all of this doesn’t matter if you don’t have a fun game and one of the most important aspects of a fun RTS is how you control your army. After all, you can’t conquer the battlefield, if you can’t get your tanks in first gear. The dev team here has been working on console RTS since Battle for Middle Earth II on through Tiberium Wars and Kane’s Wrath, all for the Xbox 360. Now we’re proud to be bringing what we think is the smoothest, easiest-to-grasp control set up we have ever designed to the PS3 with the CommandStick 2.0 interface. You’ll be able to easily group units, jump around the battlefield, stage attacks and defenses, and manage their bases, all with a couple flicks of the thumbsticks. Once you get your hands on it, you will be crushing noobs in no time.

Red Alert 3 Ultimate Edition Screenshot - Allies vs Soviets 4

We’re also planning on supporting Red Alert 3: Ultimate Edition through the PlayStation Store and with downloadable content. Even now as we are finishing the game, we have a team hard at work on content packages and live support for the PS3. We plan on releasing multiple map packs through the PS Store; in fact, the first one will be available for free right about the time the game comes out in March. Following that we should have some real cool content for you to download in the future, but for now check out the Red Alert 3 page on the PS Store for the Ultimate Edition Theme and our first sneak peak trailer of the PS3 version.

This is the first classic RTS for the PS3, and the first strategy game that the development team at EA Los Angeles has brought to this console. We are all proud of how it turned out and we can’t wait to hear what you, the fans, think of it. Please send us your comments and leave us feedback, we love hearing from you and your suggestions!

Check us out on the PS Store, or go to www.redalert3.com for more info.

Thanks again fellow Comrades, see you on the Battlefield!

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181 Comments

  • I’m picking this up day one! Thanks for stopping by!

  • Day one guys. Tell Greg this game was destined for the PS3.

  • I cant wait to pick this one up.
    I loved the premier edition for the pc.

  • Anything you can tell us about the DLC with Ric Flair? Whooo

  • Been a C&C fan since 1998! Will definately be picking this baby up first day! ;) ;) ;) RTS for life!

  • Haha, nice content!

  • Thats a great news, the coop campaign is intriguing me

  • I had it on the 360 and loved but but unfortunately had to sell it for the cash. I loved the live action cutscenes (OMG GEMMA ATKINSON). I am defiantly gonna pick this up again. Also, is the poster included like the 360 version ;)

  • Does the game support Trophies?

  • That’s what I’m talking about! I’m a huge Red Alert fan and I can’t wait for this now.
    Also, full co-op online for campaign? Are you guys serious!? Of course you are. Thanks you EA Los Angeles!

    P.S. What’s the expected release date?

  • cool. may look into getting this.

  • Finally! For some reason I’ve been dying for a good RTS. Savage Moon is pretty good. Can’t wait to play this. After Killzone 2 of course

  • In order to play online, will this game require logging into EA or will the online portion be through PSN?

    PS: this does have online play, right?

  • Please can it have KB/M controls?

  • very good, im looking forward to it

  • Nice ,Red Alert 3 team avails
    Fersis DLC LAW : ‘First batch of DLC should be ALWAYS free.’

  • Welcome to the blog and thanks for the info.

  • Meh, I could never get into the Command & Conquer series, I prefer more realistic RTS’s like World in Conflict or Endwar. Even then, I’d rather play the PC versions.

  • This will be my first time playing an RTS, I’ve been a gamer since the early 80s and was never into the genre, until now, consider it SOLD!!! :D

  • this looks great, any chance of a demo before release? graphics look great btw :-)

  • Oh yeah, and the co-op campaign doesn’t interest me at all – the campaign is always the worst part of RTS’s, from my experience at least.

  • Looks good, would of been cooler if there was KB/M control!

  • How easy is it to control really? Is there mouse and keyboard support? Are there trophies?

    Are there any changes between pc and console versions? I know that C&C 3 had less units to control to make it a bit easier on the 360.

    How smooth is the online?

    I’m really looking forward to it, Red Alert 2 was super awesome!

  • Trophies and keyboard/mouse support please!

  • Sick… I just hope Red Alert adapts well to consoles like the new Civilization did… props to this game…

  • Thank you for the “extra” extras! ;P

  • Welcome to the blog, I’m now eagerly awaiting this game and it has nothing to do with the women of Red Alert 3…ok maybe a little bit.

    Heres to March getting here sooner, also will there be trophy support?

  • Wow I will be getting this for sure.

    I have a quick question.

    Will there be keyboard + mouse support and will there be trophies?

  • Oh yeah will there be keyboard and mouse support?

  • if what you say is true, and the game does really take advantage of the ps3, and its extra features, and has a great framerate with no slowdowns and doesnt have a mandatory install, i will buy it

    since games are now 69$ over year, it has to be made for the ps3 and take full advantage of it for me to part with my hard earn money, ports wont do, like bioshock for example…. they didnt even change the triggers…and shooting with the r2 is a sign of a port…. even fear 2… another port…
    i really hope this game is taking advantage of the ps3, i want to buy it

  • I’m not trying to be rude. But it’s getting old when games that SHOULD without question have the OPTION to choose a mouse and keyboard instead of a controller. It’s twice as old since the PS3 has the ability to do so already unlike some consoles. This game for me and my 6 friends is a NO BUY. On top of that Ps3 has lost a sale in every FPS or any game that should use a mouse like RTS’s X6 many many times. Just another PS3 ability that is left unused and cut short of so called Next gen gaming.

  • Yeah, yeah , yeah, enough chit chat. Just give me a date, and I’ll go to my local Game Store to buy it Day One.

  • I’m really considering this as I love RTS games and the C&C series is awesome but for anyone whos played hows the multiplayer? I was never that great at Starcraft since people were ridiculously good at it.

    If the multiplayer is not as hard to get into and do all right then this’ll be a day 1 purchase for me.

    Also kudos on the naval battles. Always one of my favourite parts and always so neglected.

  • So PS3 owners are of lesser importance when it comes to your company games? Playstation 3 owners are getting the game 5 months later after they have been told that the game will not come out on the Playstation 3. So Playstation 3 gamers are getting what exactly? One or two new maps, a soundtrack, and a bunch of videos that I don’t think anyone will care about. I am sorry but that a really S***y job. If you guys were really going to take advantage of the Playstation 3, you would have given the option for full mouse and keyboard support, in-game music and the record feature of the Playstation 3 that allow users to capture videos or images of their session with the game.
    My fellow Playstation 3 owners above me, why do you guys support these kinds of behaviors from developers? Six months ago we didn’t matter and now they come to us with a “ultimate edition” with a few new maps and no new features to take advance of the Playstation 3. The faster you guys see what they are doing, the faster they might start treating us with some kind of respect and release their games on your system on time. Stop give your hard earn money to these developers because it just unfair to you guys because you guys should be treated equally.

  • That said, I do own this game for my PC and have played it on my xbox 360. Great game and you guys did a great job on it. It just wrong to treat Playstation 3 owners the way you guys and other developers (Capcom, Square Enix, and EA to name a few) are doing.

  • I am sooooooooo glad this was not cancelled! must buy day 1 i will pre order from amazon

  • this does look and sound very ULTIMATE! i just hope that its not another shoddy port from the 360… no hang ups, frame issues, tearing, nothing of that nature and you guys have another sale from me. i loved red alert 2 on ps1, looking forward to this one.

    peace,
    Lh

  • Played the game on the PC. It’s garbage. EA really messed up the C&C series. Bring Westwood back and let them develope a REAL C&C game. Also, no keyboard & mouse suppport = FAIL.

  • see… mouse support keybord support, in game music support, all feature the ps3 has..that you people are not using…

    looks like the ps3 gamer is not in your mind after all, it looks more like a desperate move to recoup some of the 640 million dollar loss ea had in the last quarter…and that is what happens when you dont support ps3 gamers but only used them as a last resort

  • I saw the term “X-box 360” on our holy ground. Oh no!

  • Oh hey I’m signed in permanently now! The transition seems to have finished =) Good job Jeff!!

  • Now what would have been cool about this edition of Red Alert, is if they included an option of plug in a mouse and a keyboard for it.

  • @39 HanSolo
    Do you know that sad? EA makes more profit from the Playstation 3 than they do on the Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360. But yet they treats the Playstation 3 gamers like garbage

  • I’m a big C&C fan.. will Mouse n Keyboard be supported?? I think that is a GREAT advantage that you should take about the ps3.

    UT3 did it and it worked pretty good..

  • If you want mouse and keyboard, go play it on a PC.

    Console games use controllers.

    Deal with it.

  • #43 (The Hater2) wrote:
    Do you know that sad? EA makes more profit from the Playstation 3 than they do on the Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360.

    Where’d you get this load of crap? EA games on the 360 outsell the PS3 by a good margin.

  • I’m actualy surprised it took this long for moral outrage to surface… I could have sworn they’d be… swearing at you by comment two. I suppose I’ll just live with the fact that it’s coming out on the PS3 at all, since awhile ago we had heard things quite to the contrary. Just… don’t do it again and we’ll be alright.

  • @46 DaxMontana
    Are you one of those people that think the United States is the only place videos games sells?
    Playstation software sales trash the xbox 360 software sales outside of the United States.

    But since you want proof, here it is
    Quote: “PS3 games account for $139 million in sales. Which is a 969% increase, and is miles ahead of 360 sales, which “only” made the company $81 million.”
    you can google that quote and it will lead you to the article on Kotaku. If i link it, it will take a while for my response.

  • Ultimate edition = keyboard and mouse support.

    Extra videos and multiplayer maps for a full priced late port != Ultimate edition

    The PS3 supports it, I don’t see why not include the option.

  • @48 also dont forget that 360 games get pirated and ps3 games dont, so that is another reason this companies should stick with the ps3 first, but dont…and then get 640 million loss and wonder why… bahh

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