As Bob Dylan once wrote, “The times they are a-changin'” and id Software may be ready to change with these times. They’re talking at Quake Con about both DOOM 4 and their next title Rage (a first person shooter car driving game) both utilizing the same engine, the Tech 5 engine, and being developed simultaneously.
Now, this doesn’t mean you’ll have dual release games but it shows that id Software is ready to work on more than a single project at the same time, a big step for them. Although they’re usually working a big engine while finishing up a title to run on such an engine, they’ve got two titles in the works. This is very unlike the little FPS company but it shows they’re ready to meet the challenge of a larger industry.
When the original DOOM arrived there was nothing to compete against them and through the years and into Quake their competition was light years behind. Developers like Epic Games, Bungie and other first-person-shooter genre developers have proven themselves in the industry with many titles and sequels while id releases, seemingly, one game every five years.
For a company with only one or two franchise titles they do take a long time to release another game. This may be due to their engine licensing, no longer under the “Quake” engine name and sticking with its own independant naming convention like ID Tech 4 and ID Tech 5, they’re showing us the company is about engine design seperate from any demos or game prototypes they provide to show off the engine.
To many gamers DOOM 3 was more of a prototype to show people how far graphics have advanced in the last twenty years. Many folks were excited to play but grew bored when they realized it was very much like DOOM 2 but with a graphic revamp. Nostalgia only goes so far before you realize the story and depth behind games like Half-Life, Unreal and Halo have far exceeded a extreme graphical FPS gaming.
It’s time for id to grow from their roots and expand into many game genre’s and build out new independent properties (like Rage) to show the industry they’re not just a one-hit wonder with a huge fan base.
But, you can’t argue with a huge fan base. They’ve got a full conference to show off their stuff, not even Electronic Arts has that!
(Thanks, 1up)
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@PSvita loosing weight
I am not sure this is necessary. Especially since I hear this is more of a step back for the Vita. PSP needed a slim version because the original was chunky and had loading time issues. Is there anything so wrong with the Vita that needs fixing? Especially in UK? For me it’s a problem because I wanted to buy a Vita as it’s gotten quite cheap here. The new version will play havoc with local prices. I am not sure how this will play out.
@First the manuals. Now this.
I agree with Paul. The industry is not ready for discless consoles. And not just because people like hard copies. Major concern is that it requires a system of digital game sales on consoles that will actually work. At the moment, a digital game release costs almost twice the price of a hard copy. £60 for a new PS3 title from their online store as opposed to £40 for a disc. I am not OK with that. If digital stores were along the lines of Steam, this would work well. Otherwise it would just kill the used games market and force us to buy games at extortionate prices. On the account of the disc less Xbox I say meh. It will be an alternative that no one will buy. It will be seen as lacking compared to the standard Xbox one.
@Rescuscitation of the walking dead
The heads of Nintendo took a pay cut because it’s their fault Nintendo tanked. No one else’s. In my opinion they should have stuck the whole management crew into a space cannon and shot them to Alpha Centauri. The stubborn old fools will only damage the company further of they stay in power. This restructuring move should have happened a year ago. Instead Nintendo carried on as usual and sunk itself even further. Now it’s in dire straits and needs extreme measures. I hope that Disney buys Nintendo and makes Satoru Iwata work in one of their parks in a Micky Mouse suit. He deserves it.
@QOTW
Has to be Crysis. The game took a nosedive once the aliens started shooting everyone but the ending was of the shelf action movie crap. “A gigantic alien mothership is attacking. I wish we had a super mega ultimate secret weapon to shoot it down. Oh wait, it’s right over here.” Worst part was that the ending suggested that everything you just did was pointless and you have to go back to the island to “roll credits”.
Great Episode guys.
@Kotor II: I am with Jordan and I didn’t notice that it was unfinished, only that I was an overpowered character destroying everything in my path. I also didn’t find Kria impressive, just seemed like another whiney character who didn’t get their way and is taking it out on everyone else.
@Miner49er: I loved that you guys mentioned this game, I played it as a child and I had forgotten it’s name! I also played Jumpman Junior along with that one.
@Chocobo Tamagotchi: There was in fact a companion App game for FF8 on the Pocketstation. You played sd the Chocobo who got to fight monsters and collect treasure so it wasn’t too bad. It never came to America though.
@Black Isle: Speaking of Baldur’s Gate what do you guys think the chances are of getting the Baldur’s Gate 3 Beamdog is supposed to be working on? Did the Enhanced Editions do well enough?
@Facebook games: I find the whole Pay to win game mechanic to be very weak. More a ploy to milk customers of as much money as possible and give poor gameplay in return. I used to play Backyard monsters and it would constantly have stopping moments while I had to wait hours or days for things to finish building. It really can take the wind out of your sails to want to play. All the while giving the message “Save on resources by spending real money!” When I keep getting THOSE messages that tells me they don’t have any real game here just bait for you to click the Pay to Win. There was no real consequence to losing you could always easily recover. There just isn’t any challenge for these casual games.
Another example of a terrible Pay to win game is StarTrexels which has giant pay walls preventing you from going forward until you either spend HOURS collecting enough Dilithium or pay $15 to go to the next area.
So to answer Paul’s possibly rhetorical question, Yes I would rather pay for a 50-60 dollar game then deal with the Pay to Win crap.
At least Paul’s game Pinsanity sounds nice if you can actually win physical Pins and you are supporting our Olympic team.
@QotW: Best unfinished game would have to be Minecraft since they are still working on it.