id brings all-new Doom Resurrection to the iPhone 'next week'

by Christopher Grant { Jun 10th 2009 at 8:15PM }

Sure, the all-new iPhone 3G S was shown off to throngs of drooling consumers on Monday – wowing the geek-set with its newfound OpenGL ES 2.0 support (your lousy iPhone 3G only supports OpenGL ES 1.1!) – but don't expect id Software's just announced title, Doom Resurrection, to be a 3G S-exclusive. Id's John Carmack told VentureBeat that he's "happy with the faster iPhone 3G S" but "he is also focused on making sure that his games run on the widest number of iPhones." Translation: Doom Resurrection won't be 3G S-exclusive. (Speculation: id could make two versions of Resurrection: one 2.0-compatible and another 1.1-compatible).

But, where were we ... oh, yes! Doom Resurrection! This sure sounds like the "graphical tour de force" he promised to bring to the iPhone. Carmack & Co were able to reuse much of DOOM 3's assets (downsized for the iPhone's screen resolution, of course) and get the engine running at 30 frames per second on the latest iPod Touch. Wrapped around that fancy tech, they've built "eight full levels and about five hours of game play" – the future iPhone 3.0 OS release will also enable "peer-to-peer cooperative multiplayer" for some on-the-go Deathmatch.

One of the most notable takeaways from VB's interview: Carmack's assertion that the iPhone is "a real game platform, not a tiny little toy." He explains that "the iPhone should be better in performance than the Nintendo DS and the PlayStation Portable" in raw horsepower "but the truth is you can't exploit it all because of software inefficiencies." We imagine the newly Open GL ES 2.0-compliant iPhones (gallery below) will ameliorate much of Mr. Carmack's concerns. In the interim, check out how far he's gotten on today's hardware when Doom Resurrection shoots the AppStore in the face next week.

Gallery: iPhone 3G S

Tags: Doom, Doom-Resurrection, id-Software, John-Carmack

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Chad Vanderbilt (Moptimus in Disguise) @ Jun 10th 2009 8:23PM

you know, a lot of companies wait AT LEAST 2 YEARS before releasing an updated version of their product.

Maybe thats what makes Apple so innovative....

Sly [PSN SniperChameleon] @ Jun 10th 2009 8:32PM

sony?

KeenCommander @ Jun 10th 2009 9:39PM

Sega tried it too, you see what happened to them...

Sly [PSN SniperChameleon] @ Jun 10th 2009 8:31PM

apple said the highest touch would always have 2x the memory of the highest iphone... so does that mean a 64GB touch is coming in? i would actually buy one if they did that. 32GB doesn't cut it for me.

Chad Vanderbilt (Moptimus in Disguise) @ Jun 10th 2009 8:34PM

sweet balls man, I can barely fill an 8 gb iPod and even then the majority of it is taken up by Podcasts.

Then again, I do have $150 worth of downloads sitting in my shopping cart

Sly [PSN SniperChameleon] @ Jun 10th 2009 8:42PM

my music takes up 9.5GB, TV show episodes take up 19.5GB, 500MB of audiobooks, and like 6GB of podcasts (tons of PS nation and joystiq podcasts). and i need apps after that.

so i really can't buy anything below 64GB.

ill trooper @ Jun 10th 2009 9:02PM

While it's almost always nice to have more storage, I don't know if I really need more than the 16 I have right now.

I have 3-4 movies on my iPhone at any time, 2-3 tv episodes, 2 gigs of photos, and about 5 gigs of music. Truthfully, looking at the amount of media Sly is talking about, if you're really honest with yourself and the amount of time you have during the day, the battery life, you have to admit you can't even get through half of that in three or four days.

Heh @ Jun 10th 2009 9:37PM

only 10GB? My music takes up about 40+GBs. And that's not even mentioning my flak files. ;o

radicaldreamer99 @ Jun 10th 2009 10:00PM

I don't know when Apple "said this", but we do know generally that an updated touch comes out 4-6 months after an updated iPhone, simply because Apple doesn't like draining any of an iPhone launch's energy.

Mr Clickerson @ Jun 10th 2009 11:23PM

I have 16 gigs of music on my Zune right now, and that's not all of it, but I only have about 4,000 songs total. There are a lot of people out there with quite a bit more than me AND care about watching movies and shit.

Sly [PSN SniperChameleon] @ Jun 11th 2009 12:15AM

ill trooper, i know that. i just want to have all my options available. i'm not going to just put it on shuffle while i do random things. if i feel like listening to a certain song, i'll be able to. if i take out stuff, and there's something i want to watch/listen to at a certain time, i wouldn't be able to.

Peter R. @ Jun 11th 2009 12:21AM

A 64Gb ipod touch is exactly what I've been wanting from Apple, cause really, 32GB just doesn't cut it. So, here's to hoping they do release it in the next couple of months.

@ ill trooper

It doesn't matter if you can get through it all in a couple of days or not, It's just extremely convenient to have the majority of your media collection on the Ipod. With more storage you don't have to be constantly re-syncing to change out files for another part your collection.

With all the things the Ipod touch can do, it should at least have 64GB (at least that's what I think). My music collection is about 5GB, add 30GB of video to that, throw in 2GB of audiobooks, two dozen apps, and we're in way pass 32GB.

Forchy @ Jun 10th 2009 8:33PM

Wicked. I've been waiting 4ever ( or umm a few months) to play carmacks iPhone graphics showcase. I hope they have a good control scheme,& lots n lots of options for control types. I can see myself being glued to this game if it's good. N hopefully boot time isn't bad like doom3 on ultra! Maybe we'll get more real games after this. I mean, I love fieldrunners & the more mini game stuff. N games like enigmo. But even the good 1s haven't had a lot of content n just end up replaying levels like in zen bound.

dogmaticatheist @ Jun 10th 2009 8:49PM

My iPhone is the main reason I don't have a DS or PSP.

Misframed @ Jun 11th 2009 10:34AM

My daughter took over my DS and I never had a reason to pick up a PSP.... but now that I have my iPhone, I don't really need either...

Tim @ Jun 10th 2009 9:30PM

Portable deathmatches in this DooM got me sold on an iPhone 3G S.

ecco6t9 @ Jun 10th 2009 9:42PM

It's products like this that make it harder and harder to chose a DS or a PSP over an iPhone.

Bigfoot @ Jun 11th 2009 2:03AM

Here, I'll make it easier for you. Look at the price of a DS or a PSP, then look at the price/monthly fees for an iPhone.

anantha92 @ Jun 11th 2009 9:33AM

Are you seriously calling the iphone a proper gaming device?

Mr Khan @ Jun 10th 2009 10:53PM

This gives a strong clue to their Wii project, since they said it was heavily tied to their iPhone project

Not sure if i care about this, though.

Ratfoot @ Jun 11th 2009 2:06AM

Doom 3 assets on an iPhone?!? I had no idea the 3G S was that powerful.

flameofdoom666 @ Jun 11th 2009 4:09PM

I have four download codes to get Rolando for the iPhone and iTouch for trade. This is the full game and not the demo.

I am seeking downloadables for xbox 360 (arcade games and downloadable content (DLC) is preferred. Also, something like the Wii Speak channel that comes free wit hthe Wii Speak would be something I would consider. Basically- a downloadable for the iPhone, DSi, Wii, 360, or PSP would be good. I don't have a PS3 yet, sorry!

If you have other things for trade, I am willing to consider it as well!

Don't be shy, offer away!

Thanks,
Sean