Update: Shacknews has further clarification.

…Or so id Software lead designer Tim Willits says. We already heard Carmack echo similar statements in the past, nothing quite like this:

“I wouldn’t say the overall story was changed in any way in order to fit on the Xbox 360 version,” Willits said, “but how the player experiences Rage’s story has been altered.” Unfortunately, that means the experience has been altered across all platforms. This is one of the first signs we’ve received of the 360’s older DVD media showing its age, but we expect some fans won’t be terribly pleased that it’s affecting other versions of the game as well.

Amazing if this is really the case. It just goes to show how influential the Xbox 360 is this generation. Or perhaps it just shows how idiotic id Software is. Gimping the PS3 version is understandable since it is a console, but the PC version as well? What are they on? Oh, that’s right, it’s because consoles come before PCs now.

Another one of them cage rattling interviews with John Carmack. I love his candidness. His latest quotable comment is this:

We still think the PC is a market worth supporting, but we’re not making decision around the PC. It’s probably more of the junior partner in the cross-platform strategy, although obviously, our day-to-day development is predominately on the PC.

I’m not surprised at all. He’s just reacting to the market conditions. PC die hards will probably be upset over this, but Mr. Carmack assures us that he’ll continue to support the PC platform:

We certainly expect Rage and the Doom project on the PC. We’re contractually obligated to have Rage on the PC, and I would be stunned if we did not do Doom 4 for the PC. It would just be wrong. Even if it was a marginal business case, we would still do it because it’s the right thing to do.

Put down your pitchforks, folks. id Software is not abandoning you.

For more reasons to get riled up, read the full interview from Tom’s Games.

It was hinted at before, but now John Carmack made it official: Doom 4 is coming. It will use the id Tech 5 engine as well, but it will look better than Rage since they’ve made the concious decision to reduce the number of frames per second from 60 to 30.

That’s all we got so far.

Two RAGE screens. Nothing too spectacular, but it’s a whole new level of real-time brown rendering.

Enjoy!

If that off-screen low resolution extended version of the E3 Wolfenstein trailer didn’t whet your appetite, perhaps these screenshots will? I resized them for mortal standards.

Enjoy.

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…Microsoft reduces the third DVD licensing fee? That’s pretty damn ridiculous. How much does it cost to include a third DVD? Apparently, it’s enough for John Carmack to be vocal about the possiblity of an inferior Xbox 360 version.

Obviously, Microsoft won’t let this kind of triviality hurt their game, so I’m guessing they’ll bend to Carmack’s wishes — just like how they accomodated for Capcom’s Bionic Commando: Rearmed and SSF2T:HDR.

At this point in time, RAGE will come on two DVDs for the Xbox 360 version and on a single Blu-ray disc for the PS3 version. As for the Mac and PC versions? They’ll be distributed via multiple DVDs and via a single Blu-ray disc. Digital distribution is unlikely at this time.

Meanwhile, gawk at this awesome trailer:

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Update: Trailer now available!

Electronic Art’s press conference wasn’t filled with fireworks, but there was one noticeable piece of news: id Software is leaving Activision for Electronic Arts. Their first product together will be the id Tech 5 based game called RAGE.

Not many details, but there was a trailer which we can’t see yet.

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How is it that this old engine still manages to creep up onto frontpages? It’s nearly ten years old, but it’s still a cherished piece of benchmarking software — stressing web browsers and mobile devices.

Games Radar snipped a piece of PC Gamer’s interview with John Carmack and his upcoming project, Quake Live. Not a lot of new details, though. It’s more like reassurrance. At least they provided some screenshots. That’s Quake III for sure.

As an actual benchmark, NVIDIA decided to showcase their new “smaller than a dime” NVIDIA Tegra 600 GPU running Quake III as well. Check it out. That’s impressive. Imagine an iPhone 2 or any other handheld with that chip?

Surprising. Doom 4? On id Tech 5? I guess I should be excited, but after their last outing, I’m not too sure. Doom 3 was alright, but it was terribly flawed. The space marine sub-genre spawned from Doom, so it’ll be interesting to see why id Software will conjure up. Doom 4 will take place on Earth. As for release date? Since they’ve just begun hiring more people, I doubt the project is very far along. (BTW, where’s Rage?)

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What is this? Spam?! No, just some stuff you may like to sign up for.

1. First up, GTAIV fans should register to the “Rockstar Social Club“. Cool kids are there.
2. Next, the Quake Live beta test which will allow you to test out id Software’s web based Quake 3 re-release.
3. Finally, check out the Mythos website to sign up for the upcoming beta.

Meanwhile, I’m still trying to create my Konami and Game ID’s for the Metal Gear Online Premiere Beta.