Occasionally you’ll come across the mention of Crytek, the company that’s developing the CryEngine 3 (CE3). You will hear more in the near future. CE3 is being hailed the next-gen gaming engine which quite possibly is making the likes of DICE, with the Frostbite engine, uncomfortable in the nether regions of their orifices... OFFICES, I mean.

For you and me, the average punter, CE3 means wicked graphics that brings the visual experience equal to the medium to high PC settings, unparalleled interaction with the environment and the ‘unfortunate’ necessity of having to have ANOTHER go at the missus to get a spanking new up-sized HD Sony Bravia. Good luck with that!

For the game developers, CE3 is even cooler. The engine gives developers the ability to design and test at the same time. You can have a tester sitting next to a designer and create awesomeness real time. Building a bridge? Well, the tester can be standing at one end of the bridge in the ‘sandbox’, the designer can be building the bridge real time just pixel-feet away from the tester who’s busting at the seams waiting on the weapons testing for the game and not just spending hours standing on the edge of a pixel-ravines with their rapidly depleting maturity reserves helping resist the urge not to just jump... again.

Also, the game developers can design cross-platform games all at once...*cough cough DICE cough*. That will get games from the ‘I have a dream’ stage, to the ‘flicking your missus the credit card to sod off’ stage in much less time.

Crytek got miffed at the mention of ‘serious gaming’ as opposed to console and PC gaming. ‘Serious gaming’ - (apparently) - are simulators and design work. Carl Jones, Director of Global CE Business Development said in an interview to Edge-Online, “People have noticed their million-pound simulators don’t look as good as their son’s Xbox graphics, and we can help”.

Personally, I can imagine – (wet dream, imagine) - the military using CE with tactics and environmental preparation training. That’s would be a good tussle between Codemasters and Sony’s EGO Engine as used in the coming Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising. Sweet looking thing too. Less than a month to go!

CE3 is going to stretch the limits of the PS3 and the current Xbox variations. Next-gen consoles are anticipated and Crytek are the crew that I reckon will have a head start. Some suggest next-gen will start appearing around 2012 - just in time for the Apocalypse!

First game off the rank though is Crysis 2 for PC, Xbox, and PS3 as probably what you should consider as a teaser for the potential of CE3 - will it be CE3.1, or will it be CE4 when the ‘Xbox 720’ and the ‘PS4’ arrive?

Either way, the ‘teen years’ of this century are the ones to count sleeps to.

Rumours are the ‘Xbox 720’ will arrive before the next-gen Playstation. Sources suggest that we should expect Crysis 2 sometime between lunch and stumps, 2010. If the next Xbox is due before the ‘PS4’ it’s entirely possible they may stretch the game release out towards the advent of the new, and more capable Xbox that may arrive sometime in 2011 instead of a half arsed shot at the current consoles. That wouldn’t do Playstation fans any favours, but it wouldn’t surprise me and it would make an enticing new Xbox package.

Either way, expect to hear ALOT more about CE3 in the coming couple of months...