Quake 3 Arena for XBLA is 'very close' to being finished

by Christopher Grant { Feb 25th 2009 at 12:01AM }

Despite being first spotted on the ESRB's leak-prone website nearly two years ago, and officially confirmed at QuakeCon over 18 months ago, id's John Carmack assures us that Pi Studios – developers behind the Xbox Live Arcade release of classic multiplayer shooter Quake 3 Arena – is "actually very close to finishing that up." He didn't identify any specific reasons for the delay, but said that the developer had "different things come up at different times" like having to "shift people onto different projects."

With Quake Live finally opening its doors to the public today, we asked if the two development teams – at both Pi and id Software – shared any insights into updating the FPS staple. Quake Live producer Marty Stratton said they shared "where it's made sense" – think "gameplay changes," "some ... new content," and some "new character skins" but not the newer, "more PC-centric" arenas. If they can get the finished game in front of Microsoft "within a month or two" like Carmack estimates, we may get multiple Quake 3 fixes within the year.

Check back later today for our full interview with id's John Carmack and Marty Stratton.

Tags: id-Software, Pi-Studios, Quake-3-Arena, Quake-Arena, Quake-Arena-Arcade, XBLA

Related From Joystiq

Conundrum: Xbox Live tops 2 million simultaneous users
25 days ago
Carmack: Quake Live on Mac, Linux 'high on my priority list'
285 days ago
Easy Headline Alert: Quake Live public beta is live!
286 days ago

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Mike @ Feb 25th 2009 12:06AM

ZOMG Can't wait can't wait can't wait can't wait!!!

alright, now that I've gotten that out of my system, it's sorta funny how the classics will always hold a special place, even when compared to the Halo's and the Call of Duty's that they come up against.

ImSooFlye @ Feb 25th 2009 12:22AM

hope its good never played a quake game before i kno shame on me

Sean @ Feb 25th 2009 12:28AM

I wish Epic would recreate the original Unreal Tournament for the XBLA.

CaramelZappa @ Feb 25th 2009 1:23AM

It would probably ship with broken multiplayer anyways.

HazyCloud @ Feb 25th 2009 7:42AM

@ CaramelZappa

Zing! +1 for you.

Markoff @ Feb 25th 2009 12:30AM

This will procure the epic I need. I vaguely remember this game, and being OK at it, but I was drinking heavily during that era. Wonder how the joystiq controls will compare to mousie boomshots. Used to Al Capwn people with rockets.

Einhanderkiller @ Feb 25th 2009 12:36AM

If Quake Live is free, what's the point of Quake 3 Arena on XBLA? Quake Live is basically an improved version of Q3A.

DWells55 @ Feb 25th 2009 12:43AM

Exactly what I was thinking. And pretty much any system can run Quake Live.

Covarr @ Feb 25th 2009 1:49AM

I was gonna say the same thing. Quake Live is everything that a Q3A fan could want, as well as without the costy Live account, and without the necessity of using a gamepad.

Premature ejaculation man @ Feb 25th 2009 2:04AM

Maybe people really want to use 1,200MSPoints?
I'm going to bet that'll be the price.

Vcize @ Feb 25th 2009 12:41PM

True, but then again there's something to be said for already being online, seeing a couple friends on and shooting them invites to a game of Quake rather than calling 8 people on the phone and telling them to boot into the game on their computer so you can play.

MuToiD_MaN @ Feb 25th 2009 1:35PM

Heh, make Quake Live for XBLA and let them join the PC servers and get them to see how they're not match for a mouse-and-keyboard setup :)

LordChimp @ Feb 25th 2009 12:41AM

Is this like the one that was on the Dreamcast or was that a different version? I loved the DC version so much.

Mazrael @ Feb 25th 2009 12:58AM

I got quite good on the Dreamcast when I went online.. until the mouse came out.. cheap gits, let alone all the cheaters.. me and my mate blasted a guy in an alcove, who was nicking our flag, with plasma & rockets.. he didn't die.. pft

phinnvr6 @ Feb 25th 2009 1:51AM

Neat but Quake Live completely owns this and it's free. And you get a mouse+keyboard like the game was DESIGNED for. Long live Quake. But this is pointless. Quake Live ftw

Iwa @ Feb 25th 2009 1:59AM

Man I had so much fun with Quake III back in the day. Hopefully they'll include Team Arena with it. Sucks that you won't be able to use custom skins with the game. Nothing beats having Bender frag a Stormtrooper.

kjclock @ Feb 25th 2009 2:28AM

I had no idea this was even in development. With this and BF 1943, XBLA will get my monies. Keep it coming!

Urza @ Feb 25th 2009 3:25AM

I didn't realize they were still working on this..

jynxycat @ Feb 25th 2009 4:47AM

An ACTUAL twitch shooter with a controller ?

pass.

Sangor @ Feb 25th 2009 5:46AM

This kind of game really needs to be played with a mouse and keyboard.

brytdavis @ Feb 25th 2009 6:16AM

OMG, I spent HOURS on my PC play Q3A ... can't wait for it to come to XBL!

sparkster @ Feb 25th 2009 7:02AM

Does anyone know if this (like so much more stuff) will be blocked for German users of the marketplace? I'm asking since the original Q3A never made it past the rating as far as I know and I'm sick of buying american MS points, tunneling all my traffic to get an American IP and then downloading things from the marketplace with reduced speed. (sorry for the whine)

derdaim @ Feb 25th 2009 7:28AM

This game is for those three people whith no PC at all.
Heck, even my mothers old school Geforce 3 machine runs quake live - why should anyone buy this on XBLA?

cheese @ Feb 25th 2009 7:39AM

I think Quake 3 is much too fast a game for controller play. Besides when I got Quake 3 and Unreal Tournament 10 years ago, I beat Quake 3, played a little multiplayer and kept on playing UT for years to come while Q3 collected dust. It's a good game, but people will regret buying it in it's non-native format.