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id Software library gets Steamed
The rumors are true: id Software titles are coming to Steam. According to a press release from Valve, starting today you will be able to download titles from the Quake, Doom, HeXen, Woflenstein and (huzzah!) Commander Keen series. More than 20 titles will be available; additionally, many of the franchises will be available as packages with a 10% discount for purchasing en masse. We've printed the full list after the break.
Rumor: id to go with Steam [update 1]
Update: This news has been confirmed.The latest murmurings from this weekend's QuakeCon suggest that id Software will be announcing a deal with Valve to distribute titles via Steam. Quakecon is currently going strong and lasts until August 5. Should such a deal surface, it'd be interesting to see game engine competitors working together for distribution. However, since Half-Life was developed using a modified version of id's Quake engine, it's as if the Circle of Life is coming together.Other rumors from QuakeCon include a return to the Commander Keen franchise as a flagpole for their id Tech 5 engine ... okay, we just made that up, but we can dream, right?
id says new game's genre won't be a shock
Though you might have had some fun imagining what an id-made cart racer would be like when you saw the dune buggies and zeppelins of their WWDC demo of id Tech 5, the company is trying to pull fans back to earth a bit in a new interview with Shacknews. "We're always looking to broaden the gameplay, but people aren't going to be shocked. You shouldn't expect an RTS or a fighting game or something, [laughs]" said id director of business development Steve Nix. "People are going to like what they see, but it's not going to be shocking." God, and we were so close to pre-ordering Flaming Disembodied Head Hero. Well, at least QuakeCon starts this week. Hopefully we'll have some answers soon. (Psst -- We'd put our money on first person shooter. Don't tell anyone.)[Via CVG]
A BlizzCon packing list
Elizabeth's guide about what to bring and what not to bring onto the show floor at BlizzCon was helpful, but if you only brought what she suggested, you'd show up naked and without your ID. Those of us packing right now to travel across the country and spend the weekend in Anaheim need a little more guidance than that!And so we've put together a checklist, so you can make sure that from the second you leave your hometown to the second you return, you're well equipped for everything you need to make this BlizzCon perfect. The checklist, perfect for cutting, pasting, and printing as you pack, starts right after the jump.
id Software announces Orcs & Elves DS, Orcs & Elves II
During the hullabaloo of E3, id Software and Electronic Arts announced a sequel to their popular first-person RPG cell phone title, Orcs & Elves. Cleverly dubbed Orcs & Elves II, the sequel returns to mobile phones where it will undoubtedly be met by gamers clamoring for something, anything, decent to play on their phones. With some serious accolades for the original Orcs & Elves and DOOM RPG, id's latest will surely be welcomed. But what about those of us that prefer to play our games on, you know, game consoles? They've also announced the release of the original Orcs & Elves for Nintendo's money-printing DS handheld. "Orcs & Elves was a perfect fit for the DS. We were able to take excellent advantage of the 3D hardware and unique user input capabilities, and expand the game to include a lot of wonderful features that we just couldn't fit on the cell phones," said id's John Carmack when he wasn't building rockets. Both are scheduled for release this holiday season.
Five things Apple can do to bring gamers back
Apple is releasing games for the iPod. EA and id show up at the WWDC keynote. And the rumors say Nintendo may team with Apple for the iPhone. All signs point to an Apple that seriously wants to reenter the gaming market, an arena that has been dominated by PCs and consoles for quite some time. But exactly how can they do it?They're doing some of the right things already, and we can expect them to do more in the future. But here's five suggestions (or predictions, if you will) about what Apple can do to attract gamers back to the Cult of Mac.1) Put (even more) games on iTunes. Steam is a nice digital distribution system, and Xbox Live Arcade is a better one. But no one has done digital distribution like Apple has with iTunes-- first music, and now movies and television shows. What they need to do is add games to the software, and even go so far as to create a kind of "iTunes Arcade," where you can buy games for your iPod, your iPhone, your Mac or MacBook, and even your Apple TV. And I'm not talking dinky downloads like Lost-- I'm talking EA's Madden, Need for Speed, and even Battlefield 2142. Run patches and updates through there as well (EA's Link might not like that, but it hasn't been successful enough that they wouldn't consider joining iTunes if asked), use CoverFlow as a cool browsing and launching interface, and you've got the key not only to a solid revenue system, but also a promotion and distribution channel.
Nokia phone plus industrial design lecturer begets frankenhandset
Turkish industrial design lecturer Mehmet Erkök has taken a few Nokia handsets and morphed them into works of art by adding and removing bits of the original housing and keys to create new (and arguably better) handsets in the process. While we may not quite get the new aesthetic, we can appreciate the need to get under the hood of gadgets to see what makes them tick and then reassemble them with leftover beads, bits of colored plastic, and larger earpieces. If you can pick out what models these handsets may have once been, drop us a line; a before/after comparison would be fun to do.
Watch the id Tech 5 WWDC demo, drown in its shininess
While EA is busy wrapping their software in Cider, promising a quick and easy way to achieve Mac OS X compatibility, id Software is creating a new multiplatform game engine that will run natively on Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and, whaddya know, Mac OS X. id Tech 5, first unveiled at yesterday's WWDC conference, is id's fifth generation 3D engine -- see the revisionist name changes here -- and it's notably not being built with Microsoft's DirectX 10.Before everyone starts complaining about the palpable layer of polyurethane coating every surface in the demo, consider Carmack's claim that if he had four more days, the demo would be twice as smooth. That's just it, Mr. Carmack, it's already too smooth. But we know it's early so we'll just study this video until we get to see more (like your special Mac-related announcement) at E3. If you'd rather avoid the embedded YouTube shakycam footage, you can watch Apple's much nicer streaming version of the 2007 WWDC keynote (jump ahead to 11:30).
EA, id back gaming on the Mac
Well how about that. Not a few days after I announce that I'm going to be posting news about gaming on the Mac, we get the biggest announcement about exactly that since Bungie released Marathon: EA and id both showed up at the WWDC Keynote yesterday to promote 3D gaming on Apple's computers.id went so far as to announce and show a new game engine called "id tech 5" (usually engines are named after games, but apparently we're in uncharted territory here), and EA came on stage to say it was going to start selling its most popular franchises, including Need for Speed Carbon, which has never been seen on the Mac before. Apple Insider points out that this isn't necessarily what we were hoping for (that is, games running natively and uber fast in OS X)-- instead, the EA games will be wrapped in Transgaming's Cider engine, which means the games will have to run on Intel-only Macs.Tuncer Deniz, who's been covering Mac gaming for a long time at Inside Mac Games, says this is both good... and bad (figures, right?). It's good because EA using Cider means we'll see Mac versions come out faster. But it's bad because whatever EA expects to sell of these games, it's probably not as much as they want to. Still, id's engine looks pretty-- if gaming is going to make a comeback on the machine we love, this is as good a chance as it'll ever have.
id Software debuts new engine at Apple conference
Just minutes ago, during Engadget's liveblogging of Steve Jobs' WWDC keynote, id Software had the first public debut of their newest technology. While they're not showing off what the new IP is just yet, they were showing off the technology that will power it and, in what we think is a first for id, the engine won't be named after the game it was built for. Instead, the technology is called "id Tech 5," perhaps a reference to a fifth generation graphics engine (we're losing count; Wolfenstein, DOOM, Quake, Quake II, Quake III, and DOOM 3)? Carmack introduced the technology, saying, "So the last couple of years at id we've been working in secrecy on next-gen tech and a game for it ... this is the first time we're showing anything we've done on it publicly." He describes the demo happening on screen: "What we've got here is the entire world with unique textures, 20GB of textures covering this track. They can go in and look at the world and, say, change the color of the mountaintop, or carve their name into the rock. They can change as much as they want on surfaces with no impact on the game."Carmack finished off the tease saying, "We're going to be showing on a Mac, PC, PS3, and Xbox at E3, we'll have another Mac announcement at E3." Wow, talk about multiplatform. Check out some pics of the id Tech 5 demo from Engadget after the break.
Id has new IP, keep wishing for that Cmdr. Keen remake
Id Software is working on a new game ... and it's not Doom, Quake, Wolfenstein or even Commander Keen related -- it's new. According to Id's CEO Todd Hollenshead the company is finishing off Enemy Territory: Quake Wars and moving onto this new game with a new engine developed by John Carmack. Hollenshead told GI.biz, "It is a new Id brand with an all-new John Carmack engine and I think that when we show it to people, once again they'll see, just like they saw when we first showed Doom 3, that John Carmack still has a lot of magic left." Hollenshead said they aren't ready to talk or show anything of the new concept. He says they like to play show and tell when they announce a game and they're just not ready to get in front of the class just yet. Hopefully we'll get something before or right around when Enemy Territory ships for PC, and then for PS3 and Xbox 360, later this year.
Quake plays like a dream on the DS
When the first version of Quake DS was released by coder Simon Hall, we all saw his ambition. However, the first version of the game was not able to match that ambition, instead providing us with a slower, uglier version of Quake on our DS. Well, we're glad to report this is not the case any longer, as the second version of his project has released, offering up a slew of improvements. Of course, if you want to play this, you're going to need a flash card for your DS, along with a copy of Quake for your PC (supports retail and shareware).For a full breakdown on what's new, head past the post break.[Thanks, wraggster!]
Sidekick iD reviewed
A Sidekick for the low price of $99 is enough to get any Danger fan excited -- but just what do you give up in exchange for the price break? That's precisely what T-Mobile is about to push out the door to give the cash-starved (and the frugal) among us a taste of the older, higher end Sidekick 3. LAPTOP Magazine had the chance to sit down and put the iD through its paces, pointing out the glaring lack of MP3 playback, camera, Bluetooth, and expandable memory. On the flipside, though, what's left is still Sidekick through and through: a messaging focus, mobile web surfing and the typical Hiptop form factor that makes voice calling just a tad awkward. More is lacking in the iD, though -- the lack of even 2.5G EDGE data is going to make serious surfing an exercise in frustration. Are there any old-school GPRS fans out there still? We thought not, but there probably are a few Sidekick-for-$100 fans. All told, LAPTOP was digging the myFaves integration (you're next, Sidekick 3 users) but found the nixed features a little tough to swallow, suggesting folks might be better served saving up a little extra coin for the 3 or a Motorola Q to get mobile multimedia done right.
Quake III Team Arena on XBLA?
The ESRB is becoming a better resource for leaking Xbox Live Arcade titles than we could have dreamed. This time, it's an entry for Quake III: Team Arena. Granted, the Xbox 360 is not short on shooters, but Quake III is one of the best. Quake III provided some great multiplayer thrills back in tha' day, and it would be a perfect addition to Xbox Live Arcade, especially at a budget price. Quake III is graphically more sophisticated than most XBLA titles, so it's a safe bet that the game will utilize the new 150MB size limit.Would you buy Quake III for Xbox Live Arcade, or do you have enough shooters already? Frankly, we miss good old fashioned rocket jumping, so we're willing to give it a try.[Via Joystiq]
id software showing some cautious Wii interest
In an interview with GameDaily, id Software's Director of Business Development Steve Nix spoke a little about the Wii. While he had nothing but praise for what the Wii is doing to grow the gaming market, he also remarked that id's latest works couldn't perform on the less powerful console. He didn't close off any chance of the company's franchises appearing on the console, however; Nix said that "some" of their brands could show up on the Wii, even though "there's just not a lot of horsepower there." While Nix indicated that these might be "older technology," don't expect a rough port if any of id's games make a Wii showing. He was careful to stress the care id Software will take if they do work on a Wii title. As they are cautiously interested, so are we cautiously optimistic about id on Wii.
McDoCoMo: McDonald's and NTT DoCoMo team up for payments
This is great use of cell technology -- we need this at Starbacks, like, yesterday... essentially, DoCoMo's FeliCa-based "Osaifu-Keitai" e-wallet service allows users to purchase goodies by just swiping their cell phone over a special reading device; no need to remember PINs and passwords or having to dig cash out of your pocket. A new deal struck between the two corporate giants gets Mickey D's into marketing Osaifu-Keitai based services, including the use of DoCoMo's "iD" platform for paying for those delicious McRibs and Chicken Selects. The companies will also be launching some sort of membership club this fall that'll presumably give special benefits for folks whipping out their phones instead of their cash or plastic. As long as we can keep splatter ketchup off our gorgeous SO903iTVs, we're cool.
Quake DS conversion released
It's been a while since we heard about the homebrew DS port of Quake. But now the coder, Simon Hall, has emerged from his Tower of Porting Ordeals and made his work available for public consumption! If you have a DS flash card and a copy of Quake for the PC (shareware or full version!) then in just a few short minutes you could be on your way to playing a flat-shaded, slow, imperfectly-emulated, but still undeniably Quakey Quake! We are willing to cut them some slack on the technical issues, since the release is still a work in progress, and the fact that it works at all is keen. They've also added touchscreen camera control and the ability to toggle god mode with the R button! We have great memories of playing multiplayer Quake at one of those pay-by-the-hour LAN gaming centers at our 16th birthday party. We also have great memories of playing our DS earlier today. Seeing the two come together is just blissful. We love the ingenuity of the homebrew community. We're going to crank up the Nine Inch Nails and get to installing.[Thanks, wraggster!]
Sonic fingerprinting could safeguard masterpieces, detect fakes
We know, we're suckers for cheesy art, but we give props where props are due for the well designed, masterfully engineered pieces as well. While we doubt the Digital Stag is atop any thief's list of things to swipe, there's a decent chance the Italian funeral urn Cratere dei Niobidi is. This urn spurned (ahem) a restorer and a geophysicist to envision sonic tomography as a means to protecting authentic works of art and giving museums and art buyers alike a way to spot fakes. The system works by attaching a network of sensors in and around the artifact, and when tapped with a rubber hammer, computer software can record the sonic fingerprint that will only match up with the original. Additionally, the waves could inform restorers if a segment of a structure is weaker than the eye can tell, giving them extra time to build reinforcements on ancient buildings, walls, etc. The chance of such a system ever being used outside of highly trafficked museums, however, is slim, primarily due to the $19,000 to $26,000 price range that the system falls in, not to mention the "trained staff" (read: loyal and innocent) required to run it.
Orcs & Elves to take arms on the DS
During an interview, id's John Carmack drops a bomb on us all, revealing that the company's game Orcs & Elves is headed to the DS. For those unaware, Orcs & Elves is one of the company's recent projects in the cell phone gaming community. John hopes that the game can be improved on Nintendo's handheld and is hoping "to do a DS game version of Orcs and Elves, moving over and enhancing the cell phone game on there, which would be our first real direct entry back into the Nintendo world."Many of Nintendo's loyal had bad things to say about the guy and his company, and for good reason. However, the prospect of getting a Doom game on the DS is something we can get behind. What about you guys? Think that Orcs & Elves on the DS is something that noone will care about or enjoy?
X06: Two new Halo projects announced (w/ Peter Jackson!)
The most awkward moment of today's X06 press briefing may also have been the most profound. We are of course talking about the moment that Peter Jackson took the stage to massive applause. While PJ -- we call him PJ -- looked a little nervous talking in front of so many people, what he announced could turn out to be one of the biggest announcements for the video game industry this year.
