Crytek’s CryENGINE has always been a fine looking game engine, but it’s been missing one thing. In case you haven’t guessed, that thing is 3D. We’re not sure anyone was really pushing for this, but at GDC 2010, Crytek will be showing off their new CryENGINE 3 with stereoscopic 3D.

The new engine is reputed to be near photorealism in its rendering. Crytek also plans to give developers a new tool called LiveCreate. This feature will allow game designers to work on, and play their CryENGINE 3 game for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 platforms at the same time.

Nvidia has also made some noise about the coming age of 3D, saying that 3D will be “all pervasive”. Some estimates peg the number of 3D enabled games in 2010 as high as 50. We don’t know if this whole 3D thing will take off, but CryENGINE 3 will probably still be really pretty in 2D. Are you waiting with bated breath for 3D gaming to hit the mainstream?

Microsoft's Kodu game-development tool is now no longer restricted to the Xbox 360. Kodu's journey to the PC was not entirely a walk in the park for its developers as they had to do some serious work to make it compatible with the keyboard-mouse combo. The tool is supposed to be ridiculously easy even for kids, allowing them the opportunity to channelize their creativity in an enjoyable manner. It is available as a technical preview at this point in time. Microsoft researcher Matt MacLaurin is credited with the development of Kodu. The former Apple employee is currently part of Microsoft's Fuse Labs. He got the idea of creating Kodu in 2006, when he sensed his three-year-old daughter's interest in computers.

Image Credit : Wired

The Unreal Engine 3 has been at the heart of several of the biggest games of the last few years. Titles include Gears of War, Bioshock, and Borderlands. Now Epic Games is announcing the release of a free non-commercial version of the Unreal Development Kit, powered by Unreal 3.

The dev kit is available for download right this very minute at the official site. This isn’t some stripped down version of the engine either. According to Epic, “UDK contains all the most recently added features and technological enhancements, including many that have yet to be seen in an Unreal Engine game. Furthermore, Epic Games will release ongoing, upgraded builds of UDK for free.”

The UDK can be used to create mods for existing games, as well as standalone products. San Diego based Psyonix Studios used the UDK to create a proof of concept game in two months with only two individuals. The game is called Whizzle, and it’s actually pretty neat for what is essentially a tech demo. It’s always nice to see companies giving something away for free.