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Why Robin Makes Batman Better Do you have what it takes to get a review published right here on Kotaku? Ben does, as he circle strafes around the browser-based Quake Live.
id Software’s annual gathering of Quake, Doom and Wolfenstein fans will happen August 13th to August 16th. And it will happen at a new location, the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, Texas.
Quake Live’s open beta is blowing away id Software’s expectations, so much so the developer is considering working on a free, web browser version of Quake Enemy Territories, said id’s Todd Hollenshead.
How live is Quake Live? So Live. But just because it’s live doesn’t mean you can play it. You can register, sure, but after that, you gotta get in line.
Chomping at the bit to play the Quake Live beta? Well, chomp no more, as “the most exciting and energetic multiplayer game on the internet” has gone public, giving Quake aficionados free beta access.
ID Software’s browser-based competitive version of the classic first-person shooter Quake is nearly ready for the public, with the Quake Live open beta kicking off next week.
“E3 this year, in my opinion, it was pretty much disappointing to everybody” id CEO Todd Hollenshead told me early today during an interview. “The press were disappointed, the people I talked to in the industry are disappointed, almost everyone agree that that was the wrong way to do it”.
It’s too early to tell if the shrinking E3 has helped bolster id’s own id-centric annual show QuakeCon. Usually id Software waits until the Saturday of the show to get official attendance numbers.
But Hollenshead is already sure that QuakeCon is the right way to host a gaming conference.
“I think we struck a balance of being vendor supported and still being in touch with the gamers”, he said. “We had over 6,000 hours of volunteer time, that’s like the polar opposite of E3,. which is all about business”.
In fact id Software only officially showed up at E3 as a single announcement during the Electronic Arts press conference. They were there to tell the world that EA would be publishing their upcoming id Tech 5 game, Rage.
And even that had to be modified to fit in with what E3 and its attendees expect from the show.
“We were told you can’t show this stuff because of these five reasons”, Hollenshead said. “Last night (during QuakeCon) we had the bigger, better, more hardcore, not suitable for investor conference (announcement) for Rage and Doom”.
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The PC hasn’t had a great time in the last few years. The latest generation of Xbox and Playstation consoles can rival, and in some cases exceed, its graphics and online capabilities, while the Wii is innovating with peripherals in ways manufacturers such as Razor and Belkin can only dream about.
id Software’s John Carmack hasn’t given up on the old girl, not yet. He’s voiced his opinion of the current state of the platform before, and in a new interview with Shacknews, he reinforces his view:
Yeah, I think that the PC definitely can’t.. we can’t go on making PC games like we used to. The combination of the dominance of the consoles, as far as market forces there, and piracy.. the traditional AAA, media-heavy boxed game that sells for a bunch of money, and goes out on the PC for a single player experience–it’s just not happening. Even if we look at something that had such a push like Crysis, it didn’t really do all that well.
I love the PC, and I’d hate to see it pushed into the background as consoles go from strength to strength. MMOs and online distribution systems like Steam are opening new doors, but I agree with Carmack – more needs to be done.
id Software’s John Carmack and Marty Stratton Talk Quake Live, PC Gaming, and More [Shacknews]
Back in February, Id Software and IGA announced Quake Live, a browser-based ‘freemium’ multiplayer version of the classic shooter. Now that they’ve wet our whistles with a couple of teaser screenshots, their ready to get our hands dirty. Quakelive.com is now accepting email addresses for the upcoming beta test of the game. Remember folks, beta testing isn’t all fun and games.
In-game advertising specialists IGA and id Software have partnered to bring you the next iteration of the classic Quake franchise, Quake Live, and it’s definitely not your normal web-based, free-to-play game. Quake Live will deliver a full community experience, including stat tracking, friends lists, matchmaking, and sponsored tournaments, all within your standard web browser. Integrated with IGA’s proprietary SDK, it is the first title in the company’s “freemium category”, offering premium gaming experiences for free thanks to integrated advertising. “id Software is among the proverbial godfathers of modern gaming and we are thrilled to be working with them on their first title in our ‘freemium’ category,” said Justin Townsend, CEO of IGA Worldwide. “This partnership is only the latest testament to the increasing acceptance of in-game as an effective, measurable advertising medium and a strategic revenue opportunity for publishers and developers.”
