In late February, id Software launched Quake Live, a browser-based free-to-play remake of Quake III Arena. Currently in open beta, the service will be entirely ad-supported when it goes live later this year--or at least that's the hope of Todd Hollenshead, id's CEO.
Todd Hollenshead.
While turning a shooter from 1999 into a profitable business using 2009 cloud computing is ambitious, it's just one of the many projects on id's plate. The Texan developer is also hard at work on Rage, a postapocalyptic action game that blends racing and shooting with a dash of role-playing. First revealed at QuakeCon 2007, the all-new property will be published by Electronic Arts instead of id's traditional publishing partner, Activision.
Though remarkable for its graphics, Rage is also noteworthy because it will be the first game that id will develop internally for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Mac, and PC. Indeed, Hollenshead told GameSpot that id's technology chief, John Carmack, considers the 360 the game's "primary platform." Such sentiments are surprising, coming from one of the minds that put PC gaming on the map in the 1990s with the original Doom and Quake series.
id's new embrace of multiplatform development is just one part of how it is adjusting to the game industry's rapidly changing landscape. To learn more about the legendary studio's thoughts on its games, the id Tech 5 engine, the Wii's effect on the market, and what surprises id has in store for E3 this year, GameSpot recently sat down with Hollenshead in an upscale San Francisco drinking establishment. Steve Nix, id's director of business development, also popped in for a round.
MULTIPLATFORM AND PC PITFALLS
GS: Now, id was a huge pioneer for PC gaming. But when you announced Rage, it was the first time you guys announced development of a game in-house for the PS3, 360, and PC.
TH: Yeah, multiplatform.
GS: So do you guys still consider yourself first and foremost a PC developer?
TH: Well, actually it's been a fundamental, sort of philosophical shift at the company, is that we really have transitioned from, first and foremost, a PC developer to a multiplatform developer. And so when John [Carmack] developed id Tech 5 (see below), it really was targeted from the initiation as a multiplatform technology solution.
Now, there's no question that our roots are in PC gaming. And when I play a first-person shooter, keyboard and mouse is the configuration that I want to play on. I'm devoting my gaming time right now on the PC to Quake Live. I like a little Rock Band on the console, to be honest about it. But we feel like, in terms of your triple-A, big-budget, big-market title, that you really have to be cross-platform to be successful, unless you're a first party.
So as an independent developer, we feel like we have to be on all the relevant platforms. So we don't really view ourselves as PC first. I think I would say that John says that probably the primary development platform for Rage is actually the 360.
GS: OK. Now, how do you see the PC landscape changing in the next couple of years? Do you see it becoming almost all digital downloads?
id developed its last game, Doom 3, solely for the PC. Vicarious Visions later ported it to the original Xbox.
TH: Well, I think that's an interesting question. I don't know really where it's going to go. But there's a few problems you have in PC gaming right now that cause friction in the marketplace. Piracy is a big problem. And I've gone on and on about that, so I don't think I need to underscore what the issue there is.
The other thing is, is that retailers are more focused on consoles than they are on the PC platform, primarily, I think, because Microsoft is campaigning for the 360, probably to some extent to the expense of Windows-based games. Even though they have their whole Games for Windows initiative today, it's a lot less than it was a year ago. Clearly the 360 is where their big bet is. And, of course, Sony could care less about the PC.
So retailers are devoting less shelf space to PC games than they were in the past, and there's more emphasis on the consoles. And, to get the big huge marketing budgets behind games you need to make them a huge success. If you're on PC, there's World of Warcraft, the Sims--and there's everything else, if you're not multiplatform.
So the question is, what is the solution? If you do an end run around retail, and you deliver it all digitally, is that going to be the solution? Are you going to deliver it through a browser, like Quake Live? Is it going to be a different market? Are you going to do microtransactions? I think the jury's out on all that.
I do believe that for PC games to be successful independently, as our experiment with Quake Live is, I think you have to do something a little bit different. I mean, you have to think about what your market is and where you're going and what you can deliver. Because even though they may have had critical success, games that have been PC-only haven't achieved the same sales success as titles of similar quality in the past would have achieved.
So, yeah, I think that the PC market is in a period of transition. And ultimately what it's going to shake out to be, we're finding out. That's why we're doing things like the grand experiment with Quake Live, to find out if it's going to be viable.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Sequel in the Works
GSC Game World's first-person shooter S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl is getting a sequel, according to a transcription of a Russian interview with president Sergey Grigorovitch. Blue's cites two different websites that have provided rough English transcripts of the interview, which apparently does confirm that a full sequel to the original game is in development.
Additionally, Grigorovitch goes on to say that there is an add-on for the original game also coming this autumn, which will go by the name of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat.
However, in an online conference* earlier this week, Grigorovitch was asked whether the April 2009 calendar featuring the words 'Call of Pripyat' in Russian was an April Fools' joke.
He replied* that this was not a joke and would be the name of the second expansion. He added* that this new expansion will be released later this year. Furthermore, a full S.T.A.L.K.E.R. title is also in development, although there's currently no information on when we will hear more about this.
While this news has yet to be confirmed by western sources, it is very likely that GSC Game World's plans for these two additions to the series will be unveiled at E3 2009.
Painkiller: Resurrection Revealed
April 9, 2009 - This weekend marks the fifth anniversary of the original Painkiller's release. The hellish game took a decidedly old school approach to the first-person shooter genre, focusing on the straightforward running and shooting of early shooters like Quake and Doom. But though the gameplay was a definite throwback, the polished graphics and the immense scale of the bosses were firmly rooted in the next generation of gaming. Today JoWood and Homegrown Games are announcing a brand new sequel in the Painkiller series, Painkiller: Resurrection, and we've got the first exclusive details.
If you've ever played a Painkiller game, this setting is no great mystery to you.
The player takes on the role of Wild Bill Sherman, a CIA assassin who works for highly placed members of the government. Though he can claim to be doing some good in the world by ridding it of weapon smugglers and drug lords, his missions to assassinate his employers' political rivals are a bit less morally ambiguous and even a killer-for-hire has to have some principles.
The opening of the game shows Wild Bill in front of a church planting C4 charges on a parked car. After he wires the explosive the car's ignition, he retreats to the other side of the street to wait for his target. He soon spots him, coming down the street in his high-priced suit and followed by his hulking bodyguards. Just as the target approaches the car, Bill notices a school bus slowing down and approaching a stop just beside the car.
Knowing that killing this man will cause the death of several innocent people, Bill suffers a crisis of conscience and begins to race towards the car, screaming out a warning. But it's all too late. His mark turns the key in the ignition and the C4 goes off. The massive explosion throws Bill across the street and he dies there in the road.
Then the game begins.
The Painkiller is a weapon with many different uses.
The player, after a brief moment of tumbled confusion, finds himself standing in a scene eerily similar to the one he just left. The old church is still in front of him, but it's run down now, and oddly out of proportion. In fact, the whole world has a dark and mysterious sort of atmosphere and it's up to the player to figure out where he is and, eventually, how to escape from the world he's in. As he explores the area, he'll come across a few health packs and the eponymous Painkiller.
If you've ever played a Painkiller game, this setting is no great mystery to you.
The player takes on the role of Wild Bill Sherman, a CIA assassin who works for highly placed members of the government. Though he can claim to be doing some good in the world by ridding it of weapon smugglers and drug lords, his missions to assassinate his employers' political rivals are a bit less morally ambiguous and even a killer-for-hire has to have some principles.
The opening of the game shows Wild Bill in front of a church planting C4 charges on a parked car. After he wires the explosive the car's ignition, he retreats to the other side of the street to wait for his target. He soon spots him, coming down the street in his high-priced suit and followed by his hulking bodyguards. Just as the target approaches the car, Bill notices a school bus slowing down and approaching a stop just beside the car.
Knowing that killing this man will cause the death of several innocent people, Bill suffers a crisis of conscience and begins to race towards the car, screaming out a warning. But it's all too late. His mark turns the key in the ignition and the C4 goes off. The massive explosion throws Bill across the street and he dies there in the road.
Then the game begins.
The Painkiller is a weapon with many different uses.
The player, after a brief moment of tumbled confusion, finds himself standing in a scene eerily similar to the one he just left. The old church is still in front of him, but it's run down now, and oddly out of proportion. In fact, the whole world has a dark and mysterious sort of atmosphere and it's up to the player to figure out where he is and, eventually, how to escape from the world he's in. As he explores the area, he'll come across a few health packs and the eponymous Painkiller.
The Painkiller weapon is one of the stars of the series, so it's no shock that Wild Bill would get his hands on it right away. The main fire mode activates spinning blades that chew through enemies at close range. The secondary fire option sends the blades spinning out from the weapon, damaging enemies in its path. From there the weapon can either fire energy beams in the direction of the blades, or activate the secondary fire again to recall the blades and use them for melee attacks. Soon enough, the Painkiller's unique applications will be put to the test as Wild Bill is set upon by a number of monsters and demons. At first, the player is fighting purely out of an instinct to stay alive but as the game unfolds, the ba
ttles will take on a new purpose and new layers of meaning.
Fallout MMO are producator
Interplay Entertainment announced that it signed a deal to fund independent studio Masthead Studios for the development of its massively multiplayer online game code-named Project V13, which is widely speculated to be an MMORPG set in the Fallout world.
Interplay's team has been working on the game's design and development since 2007, and will now work with Bulgarian-based Masthead to complete the project. Project V13 will use proprietary tools and MMOG technology that was originally developed for Masthead's Earthrise MMORPG, due for PCs in the second half of 2009.
Though Fallout 3 developer and publisher Bethesda acquired the Fallout franchise from Interplay in 2004, the latter can still license the rights to the development of an MMO thanks to a clause in their agreement. The Project V13 name seems to reference the Vault 13 starting point in the original Fallout game, and Chris Taylor, the lead designer for the first title, is the lead systems designer for this project.
"We are looking forward to turning the vision of our game designers into a compelling online gaming experience," says Interplay chairman and CEO Herve Caen. "The planning and design completed for Project: V13 thus far, combined with Masthead's resources, tools, and growing team of dedicated MMOG developers, will bring this unique game to reality."
Masthead Studios president Atanas Atanasov adds, "This arrangement is ideal because it leverages the technology our professionals have specifically built for advanced massively multiplayer online games into what we expect will be a groundbreaking Interplay gaming title."
Pentru cei care nu stiu engleza :
Interplay's team has been working on the game's design and development since 2007, and will now work with Bulgarian-based Masthead to complete the project. Project V13 will use proprietary tools and MMOG technology that was originally developed for Masthead's Earthrise MMORPG, due for PCs in the second half of 2009.
Though Fallout 3 developer and publisher Bethesda acquired the Fallout franchise from Interplay in 2004, the latter can still license the rights to the development of an MMO thanks to a clause in their agreement. The Project V13 name seems to reference the Vault 13 starting point in the original Fallout game, and Chris Taylor, the lead designer for the first title, is the lead systems designer for this project.
"We are looking forward to turning the vision of our game designers into a compelling online gaming experience," says Interplay chairman and CEO Herve Caen. "The planning and design completed for Project: V13 thus far, combined with Masthead's resources, tools, and growing team of dedicated MMOG developers, will bring this unique game to reality."
Masthead Studios president Atanas Atanasov adds, "This arrangement is ideal because it leverages the technology our professionals have specifically built for advanced massively multiplayer online games into what we expect will be a groundbreaking Interplay gaming title."
Pentru cei care nu stiu engleza :
De câţiva ani Interplay încearcă să strângă fonduri pentru a pune în practică proiectul V13, numele de cod pentru MMO-ul plasat în universul Fallout, şi acum se pare că au reuşit. Recent Interplay a semnat un acord cu producătorul bulgar Masthead Studios, ce lucrează momentan la MMO-ul Earthrise, pentru a realiza proiectul V13.
Jocul va fi construit pe baza uneltelor create de Masthead, iar printre cei implicaţi la proiect se află oameni precum Chris Taylor, nu cel care a creat Total Anihilation, lead designer al primului titlu din seria Fallout. Informaţii suplimentare despre joc nu există la ora actuală, nici un an aproximativ în care va fi lansat, dar spre sfârşitul acestui an va fi lansat Earthrise, un joc ce probabil va da câteva indicii despre lucruri la care ar trebui să ne aşteptăm să apară în MMO-ul Fallout.
Fast and Furios 4
Vin Diesel and Paul Walker reteam for the ultimate chapter of the franchise built on speed—Fast and Furious. Heading back to the streets where it all began, they rejoin Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster to blast muscle, tuner and exotic cars across Los Angeles and floor through the Mexican desert in the new high-octane action-thriller.
When a crime brings them back to L.A., fugitive ex-con Dom Toretto (Diesel) reignites his feud with agent Brian O’Conner (Walker). But as they are forced to confront a shared enemy, Dom and Brian must give in to an uncertain new trust if they hope to outmanuever him. And from convoy heists to precision tunnel crawls across international lines, two men will find the best way to get revenge: push the limits of what’s possible behind the wheel.
Shadow of the Colossus Movie in Development
One of the most beloved games of the PlayStation 2 may be on its way to the big screen, reports Variety. Shadow of the Colossus has been picked up by Sony Pictures with Kevin Misher producing. His name is credited for The Scorpion King, The Interpreter, and the upcoming Dune.
Now for the (potentially) bad news. The script is being written by Justin Marks, who you may remember wrote Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. That movie was an unfortunate dud, but we can hope that it was just a fluke. Marks has a big task ahead of him, making a feature-length movie out of a game with minimal dialogue and very few speaking characters. The report claims that minor characters from the game may take a larger role. And of course, Variety reminds us that the path from studio to screen is a long one, and anything can happen in-between. We'll keep an eye out for this one and hope for the best.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Uncaged Edition)
Release Date: 01.05.2009
X-Men Origins: Wolverine is an action-adventure featuring a true-to-character Wolverine gameplay experience that takes gamers through and beyond the movie's storyline. Set in a variety of vivid real-world locales, the title challenges players to hone their animal instinct as they uncover hidden dangers, hunt and destroy enemies, and take on seemingly insurmountable situations while discovering the truth about Wolverine's tragic past. With razor-sharp adamantium claws unsheathed, the future X-Man enacts lightning-quick combat, evasive maneuvers, in-depth combo attacks, and an array of brutal finishing moves. Wolverine doesn't just deliver massive damage, either – he also takes it, thanks to his mutant regenerative power that heals him in real time right before the player's eyes.
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