John Carmack Talks Possible Wii Development, iPhone, 'Doom 4,' More

MTV Multiplayer: id Software's John Carmack gave us an update on the multi-platform development of "Rage" and the company's exclusive iPhone title. He also mentioned that he's in talks to work on an exclusive Wii game. That's right… a Wii game.

During a phone interview yesterday with id Software's John Carmack for the new browser-based "Quake Live" (more about this on Wednesday), we also asked him about the multi-platform development for id's newest intellectual property "Rage." He also talked about his enthusiasm for the iPhone, the possibility of working on a Wii game and what we can expect to hear about "Doom 4" this year.

MTV Multiplayer: Have you resolved the disc space issue with the Xbox 360 version?

Carmack: It is multiple discs. We think that it's going to cram onto two discs right now. We've been spending a lot of effort on an extra compression method for it, and profiling where we can cut on that. We haven't made a final call yet about whether we would actually compress things differently for the PS3, which could have a little bit higher quality. But there's a lot of picky issues on that where the smaller we make it on disc, the faster it loads and other benefits like that. So if we get it to look decent on the 360 on two discs, we'll probably leave it with that data set on the PS3, but we won't make that decision final for another six months or so.

[Nineball2112]

Cram onto 2 discs? That doesn't sound good. ;-)

And doesn't this... "So if we get it to look decent on the 360 on two discs, we'll probably leave it with that data set on the PS3"

confirm that the Xbox 360 is the limiting factor in multiplayer games? At least on THIS multiplayer game it is...

[Voiceofreason]

If the 360 is the limiting factor why does GTA4 run at 720p on 360 and 640p on PS3? Why do 99% of games look and run better on 360 if it is the limiting factor? I dont own either console so the fanboy excuse wont cut it. This isnt my opinion but the opinions of most reviewers. Why does a 9 gig game run fine on 360 but need to be on the Blu ray disc multiple times along with installing 5 gigs of the game to the hard drive if PS3 is superior?

[Nineball2112]

See Pwnsause's response in the Open Zone.

That about sums it up, I believe.

[Blademask]

A. "where usually the PS3 becomes the sticky point in terms of [being] a little bit slower on the graphics, you’ve got a little bit of less memory to deal with but a little bit more processing power. So you kind of have to balance the things between all of that."

B."So you kind of have to balance the things between all of that. But our important fundamental decisions do have to be made around what’s going to work on the console, even though people with the very highest end PCs might have a system with a couple times the processing power of what a console has. We can’t do anything specifically focused towards that that would be in any way detrimental to the rest of the market." <-- This is great so people can understand why multiplats aren't made to be enhanced on platforms.

C.[the 360 version]"It is multiple discs. We think that it’s going to cram onto two discs right now. We’ve been spending a lot of effort on an extra compression method for it, and profiling where we can cut on that.We haven’t made a final call yet about whether we would actually compress things differently for the PS3, which could have a little bit higher quality. But there’s a lot of picky issues on that where the smaller we make it on disc, the faster it loads and other benefits like that. So if we get it to look decent on the 360 on two discs, we’ll probably leave it with that data set on the PS3, but we won’t make that decision final for another six months or so."

LoL, this is classic. This is why multiplatform development makes compromises when developing, these guys aren't trying to max out PC rigs, or Max out SPU's, they are trying to get the all versions looking decent with the 360 being the lowest common denominator.Multiplats aren't for hardware power, never were, never will be. Argue all you want.

How does it feel to know your games you pay $60.00 for could be better, but not at the sake of making one version look better than another?

http://multiplayerblog.mtv....

GTA4 wasn't optimized to run on a PS3, it was optimized to run on a 360 without a HDD. When you optimize for the PS3 you get COD4/DeadSpace/Mirrors Edge/ Killzone 2/ Uncharted/ Gran Turismo Prologue / Metal Gear Solid 4/ Little Big Planet/ Motorstorm 2 etc to name a few. And games that run in higher resolutions without installs required that stream load as well.

[pwnsause]

"If the 360 is the limiting factor why does GTA4 run at 720p on 360 and 640p on PS3? Why do 99% of games look and run better on 360 if it is the limiting factor? I dont own either console so the fanboy excuse wont cut it. This isnt my opinion but the opinions of most reviewers. Why does a 9 gig game run fine on 360 but need to be on the Blu ray disc multiple times along with installing 5 gigs of the game to the hard drive if PS3 is superior?"

Because most of those games you are talking about lead on the 360. Why don't you play Burnout on the PS3 and compare to the 360 version. PS3 version is the lead version BTW.

[PS360WII]

Mmmm Doom 4 and Rage :) can't wait for those games. Neat that they are working hard on the iPhone! Will be fun to hear what that secret game is and hopefully Carmack does work on a Wii title. He plays it often so why not make a game for it ;)

[TriforceLightning]

Probably will be entry level FPS.Soon your Mom and Dad will be owning you online.

[SinnedNogara]

http://revoeyes.blogspot.co...

How about porting Doom 3 to the Wii (Xbox version). With motion controls, Wii Speaks, and the original two Doom games on the disc a great game could come out of it!!