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Carmack: PCs Not Important As Consoles
Every year, QuakeCon is John Carmack’s celebration of his technology and the games that the entire id Software team creates within it.
Tom’s Games had the chance to sit down with John Carmack for a brief chat regarding Rage, id Software’s upcoming game slated for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
While digital distribution is an attractive option for publishers, developers and some gamers, Rage isn’t going to be an ideal candidate for that model. “It will be harder, because this is going to be a larger distribution; we’re at least at two DVDs and on the PC we might choose to be three DVDs to match what the game will look like for the PS3,” said Carmack. “So that makes for a pretty damn big download. I wouldn’t say it’s an optimal game for digital distribution, and I don’t think it’s a high-level strategic question.”
As primarily a developer on the PC, few know the shifts in the industry as well as id Software. Constantly are doom-and-gloom reports about how the PC is falling to the wayside of consoles, some even blaming piracy. Carmack isn’t so convinced: “Well, it’s hard to second guess exactly what the reasons are. You can say piracy. You can say user migration. But the ground truth is just that the sales numbers on the PC are not what they used to be and are not what they are on the consoles.”
Never is the shift from PC to console more abundantly clear than when Carmack asserts, “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.”
Such comments are hard to swallow for die-hard PC gaming faithful, but some may be able to find a little comfort in id Software’s dedicated to the open platform – at least for the foreseeable future.
“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,” Carmack added. “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.”
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Maybe not with the current gen of consoles, but hey could make consoles and PC compatible if they wanted to.
Consoles would be much like a highly optimized PC (sorta are already).
Sony, M$, and others would make these consoles, or just make one together. It could all be compatible is the point.
No medium needs to "die" and everyone could play together (easier).
One one hand it would make piracy easier, but there's other factors that may reduce it as well...
I hope they stick to the PC. I use to be a die hard pirate, till i realized how the industry was being affected by it. Its been almost 4 years since i stopped pirating games and started buying them for the PC. I have no regrets only that the quality is much better and the experience is more thrilling when you actually go out and buy the game. Its like a kid in a candy store, i am for one never going back to pirating, i cannot wait to see what id has in store for the PC.
This would pack some weight if he said this back when doom or doom2 owned the PC gaming market. So yes I guess the PC gaming market has declined for your company. I think valve would need to make this statement at the very least. Point is a 3D shooter are a dime a dozen so do something new. I just about bet blizzard would have a good laugh at even the thought of PC gaming decline. Mr. Carmack create a top notch graphics shooter RPG or MMO and never stop innovation else you will never be number 1 again. Now I read this as Carmack admits PC gaming market is to competitive so they are moving down to the less competitive console market.
Consoles are crap, the hardware that is built in them is already old, c'mon, radeon x1900 (xbox), nvidia 7800 (ps3)? i'm really pissed that even Carmack is thinkig of shifting on consoles...for us power users is even a bigger thrill to optimize a pc and tweak it to the highest edge to get a resonable framerate than to play that games
| SPC : I saw Crysis as a very bad thing for PC gaming. It laid it out so starkly. No matter how much money you spend, no matter how cutting edge your system, it will never be enough. The PC enthusiast is fighting a losing battle against the march of technology. |
Crysis was an aberration. If you go to your local computer store (not a big box store) and spend 500-1000 dollars, which is the same as a console + accessories, you have yourself a PC that can play any game on the market, at full graphics, except for Crysis. Crysis struggles on a 5000 dollar machine, and what most people don't realize is that this is a product of badly optimized engine code. Crysis' performance is very buggy, i.e. some areas with a lot of foliage and NPCs give you a consistent 25 fps (dual core cpu, ati 4850), while other very similar areas drop down to 10 fps. This is completely unacceptable, and does not occur in a game with properly optimized code. Case in point, look out for Crysis Warhead, Far Cry 2, and Fallout 3 to have stunning graphics, while being released a full year after Crysis, and have lower recommended system requirements.
You dont need to spend more money on a PC than a console, you simply need to be better educated about the PC to be able to weigh your options a little better. So it really doesn't help when of the industry's leaders makes statements like this because anyone who ISN'T well educated about a PC will now be even further deterred from even considering it as an gaming alternative. Shame on you John Carmack.
What needs to happen is that, much like the subjects of finance and economics, the nation-wide school curriculum must implement computer studies as a required component. That way, kids will know a little bit about computer parts in general, and might actually start migrating back to the PC, once they realize that a PC has more functionality, better graphics, and a larger selection of games, and game genres.
PC gaming is not dead. But it certainly needs revitalization, and Mr. Carmack, here, isn't helping.
Funny how he forgets consoles for the future. They will ethier have to have so much hardware in it, also the latest hardware, that the prices we see now will be nothing. That or all turn in to some form of the Wii.
Console's must either stop trying to top a computer, become like the Wii or come up with some crazy idea. If companies keep making the consoles more advance they will either have to jack up the price so much or they will have to lose so much for each unit it won't be worth it.
Also SPC only fools spend that much for PC tech. Crysis can be run on a 1000 dollar pc on max graphics. You just have to have to optimize it through settings, or don't expect to run it at very high resolutions at max settings.
I pirate my games, But also buy good ones, Wolfenstein, Doom, Team Fortress 2, Call of Duty 4, Crysis. Well crysis wasnt spectacular but I did buy it. Games that kill the industry, AKA shat such as Jericho, and Turok only get affected because they blame piracy as a way to cope with their lackluster sales. I pirate every game because they dont make demos for it, if they did id say wow this is pretty good ill go out and buy that! AKA company of heroes PC magazine canada august 2006 and went off to buy it because of its kick ass demo!
Crysis maybe ridiculous, but Intel, nvidia and AMD shared the blame as well. AMD didn't put up effective competition, and the end result is high price of gaming components from Intel and nvidia for the whole 2007. Quality CPUs and GPUs are only to be cheaper and more affordable in recent months. By the end of the year, it is possible to spend $600 to build a gaming PC that is twice as fast as the one Tom's team tried to build with
$500 in April.
Strange, half of my post is cut out.
Anyway, console game market is about ten times larger than PC game market, and way more lucrative on per title bases. I don't blame game developing companies and game publishers such as EA and Ubisoft to focus on console. After all, they have to make tonnes of money in order to satisfy their board members and share holders.
However, PC game market is still millions strong, and M$ did a good job with XNA so that porting Xbox game to PC isn't even hard. So, for game copmanies, release a PC version of Xbox game is "why-not" instead of "why". We'll see PC gaming to be revive again.
Can anyone say Doom64? How about running around with a flashlight in Doom 3? Yeah, I'm, going to run out and spend $300+ on a console to play the next wonderful ID game. I don't see any problem with ID developing for consoles, but that when most video games are released they need top-o-the line equipment to play on full settings (Deus-Ex back in the day, UT, Doom3, Far Cry, F.E.A.R, Prey, Crysis, etc...), how good are these games going to be when they're run on 2+ year old console hardware? You can optimize all you want, you can't beat the power of newer equipment. Considering the XBOX runs Windows CE and directX, any improvements made to the 360 would be applicable to the PC. As for the PS3, well, that's a separate development cycle all together.
I'm sorry John, but your skills peaked with Quake III and everything since has been vainglorious crap.
The only thing that saved Doom3 from the dustbin was the exp pack Ressurection of Evil, but that merely showcased the bad lighting, bad skybox, bad triggers, bad physics and bad level design in the id tech 4 engine.
Prey, Quake 4, Quake Wars, enemy territory, I think those are the ony games that use the id tech 4 engine and for good reason, it's boring.
There's a reason Carmack is dissing the PC, he can't handle the new methodology.
I will chime in and agree with Aintry. As well, I wanted to answer some of the responses to my posts.
I am not an idiot. I know quite a bit about PC hardware. Perhaps I am too demanding, but if or when I put together a new PC it has to satisfy a few criteria.
1. 1920x1200 resolution. 1080p is something I want if I am going to spend the money on a monitor.
2. A video card, processor and ram combo that will run new games at reasonable frame rates at 1920x1200 with the detail up and the bells and whistles on. 1:1 pixel mapping is important to me.
Now, I have been called a fool for believing I need to spend 2000 dollars on a new PC. I should mention that price included 500-600 dollars for a monitor, which I refuse to skimp on. Still, that's 1400-1500 for gaming hardware. Yeah, you can probably do it cheaper, but again, I have certain expectations. First, I don't want to hear the thing. I spend more for fans to make sure I can't hear them. Same with power supply. Something I don't have to worry about with my PS3. I need a fast, but quiet hard drive. I had a system put together in Jan/Feb around an E6750 and an 8800GTS. Cost with taxes and shipping was right around 1200. Heck, a copy of Vista alone runs you 120 bucks, which I guess you could save if you were willing to pirate, but I am not.
I got my 37" Sony Bravia for 899. I got my PS3 for 399, and spend about 50 more for HDMI and component video cables (for the cable box). That's 1350, for which I can play games, stream media, watch blu-rays, and enjoy the summer olympics in high def. I already have a laptop that does everything, including streaming media, I need it to do, except gaming. Plus I can carry the laptop with me wherever I go.
Look, I know a lot of you are die hard PC fans. The fact is, the majority of the population is not. People laughed at me when I told them the Wii would outsell the PS3 and XBox 360. They couldn't understand that broader demographic appeal is far more important than power and graphics. Some here can laugh at me for my opinion on the PC vs TV+Console. I say there is far more value to be had in the latter, and there is far broader appeal. You may not like it, but the days of PC only titles, outside MMOs (and that may change eventually) are numbered.
I wish ID would remake Doom and Doom II. Exactly the same game but a refresh of maps and of course incredible graphics. These games were so simple and easy to play compared to newer games which sometimes turn into a task instead of fun. I'm not saying the newer games are bad but I just think the industry needs to get back to the basics of simpler games to draw in more non gamers to make them into gamers. Like Nintendo did with the Wii. When Doom came out most any non gamer could pick it up and be playing in a few minutes. That's just not the case with most of the newer stuff out there today.
| GTO127 : I wish ID would remake Doom and Doom II. Exactly the same game but a refresh of maps and of course incredible graphics. These games were so simple and easy to play compared to newer games which sometimes turn into a task instead of fun. I'm not saying the newer games are bad but I just think the industry needs to get back to the basics of simpler games to draw in more non gamers to make them into gamers. Like Nintendo did with the Wii. When Doom came out most any non gamer could pick it up and be playing in a few minutes. That's just not the case with most of the newer stuff out there today. |
Check out the rest of the interview -- Carmack said he wants to do some Quake remixes at some point. He seemed really enamored with being able to download old NES titles on the Wii, and apparently wants to try something like for old id titles.
Carmack should be on http://menwholooklikeoldlesbians.blogspot.com/
| kami3k : Also Carmack is a joke. I'll listen to companies they know wtf they are doing. Like Valve, EA, etc. They have only praised the PC gaming world. |
Amen to that. John Carmack is just another John Romero. I'll laugh my ass off if Rage turns out to be another Daikatana. The likes of Carmack have gone to the darkside of GREED. They know they make more money with console games due to their proprietary formats. That's why you often see the same damn game retail for less on PC than on consoles. Get a life Carmack. I bet you've never even kissed a girl, or boy for that matter.
Consoles are retarded.
You should never buy one. You are basically buying another handicapped computer with blinders on it just to run your games. They are trying to train you to do this by offering some games only for consoles initially etc. because they know this and realize it will take pressure to get folks to do this (and it works...). If you also own a computer, you should be upset about this. Consoles were OK in the days of Pong and Pac Man when no one had computers... things are different now. We need to bring this train of woe to a screeching halt and turn it around! Stop feeding the corporate beast which wants you retarded and with inferior duplicate hardware. There is no reason everything cannot be on one PC that is highly upgreadeable these days.
| GTO127 : I wish ID would remake Doom and Doom II. Exactly the same game but a refresh of maps and of course incredible graphics. These games were so simple and easy to play compared to newer games which sometimes turn into a task instead of fun. I'm not saying the newer games are bad but I just think the industry needs to get back to the basics of simpler games to draw in more non gamers to make them into gamers. Like Nintendo did with the Wii. When Doom came out most any non gamer could pick it up and be playing in a few minutes. That's just not the case with most of the newer stuff out there today. |
OMG u r right. I would trade in the daunting "tasks" of modern games for larger maps, more scenery interactiveness, and more weapons any day.

well that`s a good thing to hear that they will still be supporting the games for PC.
Because it`s like all these companies go where the big money is made which for now is the console`s.
Really i respect ,ID for this and will continue buying their high quality games , they never dissapoint !!!