Last week laid the groundwork for what promises to be at the very least a confusing E3, with a number of familiar faces jumping ship in favor of the uncertain waters below. However, the news of who would and would not be attending the show this July got a bit hazy with regards to talk of developer id Software, with conflicting reports painting the Doom masterminds as both planning to attend and turning their backs on the annual event.
Rather than seek the wisdom of the office Magic 8-Ball, we turned to id co-owner and CEO Todd Hollenshead, who conceded uncertainty with regards to the company's E3 plans. Admitted the exec in an email: "Actually, we haven't determined in what capacity we'll be attending E3 (if any), so everyone is wrong." Interestingly, his response echoed that of our own prognosticating orb, which replied simply "Reply hazy, try again."
In a new interview with Ain't It Cool News, Roger Avary – the recently announced writer/director of the Return to Castle Wolfenstein Oscar contender – talks about the process of adapting a video game to the big screen ("it's a bit of an uphill climb"), the character of BJ Blazkowicz ("he is not racist or an anti-Semite"), and casting the role ("all one needs to do is look at the box art on the Return to Castle Wolfenstein game and you can see who I see in my mind for the role.")
Well, we looked at that box art and, unless they're casting a lapel pin in the role of Nazi-killing machine BJ Blazkowicz, we'll assume he means the RtCW: Tides of War box art pictured above. Nevertheless, we're having a tough time seeing precisely who Avary has in mind. We've crossed our eyes; stood away from the screen; nothing. Maybe generi-tough guy Jason Statham? Or sensitive tough guy Ben Affleck? Our vote is for aging tough guy, Bruce Willis. He practically has Nazi-killer written all over him.
Not to be outdone by another prominent first-person shooter with a new metallic finish, id Software's Enemy Territory: Quake Wars has gone gold. According to the press release, the game will invade Europe and Australia first on September 28, followed by North America four days later (October 2).
Though not mentioned, we're expecting the game to also be released via Steam much like the rest of id's catalog. No word on its impending release for Mac (being handled by Aspyr), Xbox 360 (Nerve Software) or the PlayStation 3 (Activision Foster City).
Even though we couldn't liveblog the QuakeCon keynote, that didn't mean we weren't taking notes. It's Sunday, the final day of this giant BYOC (bring-your-own-computer) LAN party organized by volunteers right in id's backyard: Dallas, TX. Want to see how things went down on Friday night, when they announced Rage, their first game built using the id Tech 5 engine? Or how about the status of the next Wolfenstein game (hint: they're making one). Or how about John Carmack's thoughts on cell phone game development (if anyone can get us excited ...).
6:10pm - We're all filing in.
6:17pm - Todd Hollenshead takes the stage. Sponsor thanks; QuakeCon 2008 date is already set! (July 31 - August 3, 2008). He announces that the Enemy Territory: Quake Wars beta is open to all attendees both at the BYOC LAN, and as a downloadable beta once you get home. (The crowd goes wild). An October 2nd ship date is already set for ET: QW so mark those calendars.
6:24pm - OMG! Wolfenstein news! A new game is in development! ... and that's it. We already knew that much. No other news, just the teaser. Thanks for nothing, id!
During its QuakeCon 2007 press conference, id Software announced plans to form a second development team tasked with creating Quake Zero, an updated, possibly sugar-free version of Quake 3: Arena. The 'Zero' in the title refers to the game's price tag -- it'll be made available for free (supported by advertising dollars, natch) and playable in web browsers for PC and Mac, reports Shacknews.
Said id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead, "We appreciate what you guys have done over the years in building the popularity of [Quake 3]. "We also like 'free.'" We'll keep you informed as to when you can expect to play Quake Free, er, Zero.
The finest railgun in the business will be making its way to Xbox Live Arcade as id announcesQuake Arena for Microsoft's download service. Previously, this release was merely a rumor fueled by a surprise listing on the ESRB website, so it's great to finally have an official word to go on.
Unveiled in June at Apple's WWDC conference, id Software's new IP has been finally given a proper identity at QuakeCon 2007 -- and it's not Return to Quoom 3D. Shacknews reports that Rage, the first game to be built upon the id Tech 5 graphics engine, will feature a strong driving element through expansive outdoor environments, in addition to the frenzied firing of unnecessarily large weapons that gamers have come to expect from the developer. Speaking at a QuakeCon keynote, id co-founder and programmer John Carmack noted, "Everybody knows we're going to do a good job with the run and gun action stuff...but we are branching out."
Carmack did not specify which platforms he'd be unleashing the Rage upon, but explained that the game and its obscenely large textures would be shipping on two DVD discs (day and night cycles confirmed!) and one Blu-ray disc. We reckon that implies the same platforms id targeted for their new engine at the WWDC conference, namely PS3, Xbox 360, PC and Mac. We'll be sure to let you know once platforms have been officially designated.
The PC version of id Software's Enemy Territory: Quake Wars is coming to Europe on Friday, September 28 and to North America on Tuesday, October 2, according to an announcement made at Quakecon. The public beta is still going strong, but the final product is now just two months away.
Though previously announced that the game is also coming to home consoles, no details or information have been given. We wonder if this will be made available on Steam.
The rumors are true: id Software titles are coming to Steam. According to a press release from Valve, starting today you will be able to download titles from the Quake, Doom, HeXen, Woflenstein and (huzzah!) Commander Keen series.
More than 20 titles will be available; additionally, many of the franchises will be available as packages with a 10% discount for purchasing en masse. We've printed the full list after the break.
Just minutes before he takes the stage, along with John Carmack, to deliver the QuakeCon keynote address, we bring you our E3 interview with Todd Hollenshead, CEO of id Software. We had a chance to ask him about id Tech 5 and id's future in engine licensing, that new IP they keep talking about (and will be showing off any minute now), the Games for Windows initiative, their announcement of a Nintendo DS game, and more.
You guys have been laying low for a while.
Laying low, but busy.
I'm quite certain. At WWDC you guys come back out swinging, and I'd like to find out what your goal was there.
Probably a good discussion of that would start with all of the projects that we're working on that are sort of announced just so you get up to speed. And I think some of these things, people forget this is actually id working on this stuff.
You guys are working with Splash Damage and Nerve over here and then you've got ...
That stuff is all going on at id too, because we have internal resources that are devoted to that. For example, the guy who is programming all of the AI bot work for PC, 360, and PS3 is actually an id employee and he's devoted full time to the project. Of course, Kevin McCloud is the executive producer for id so he's overseeing not only the Splash Damage work but also others. So there's a significant amount of id effort that goes into a project like Enemy Territory because we're working hand in hand with all of the developers, and Activision trying to coordinate stuff.
It's resources and managerial?
Managerial? I guess it depends on how you define that word. It's design input, it's working with Activision and Splash Damage to make sure the workflow stuff that is set up is something we think is achievable and doable and is working towards the right direction. So, yeah, there is a lot of what ends up being management but not like what I would call production management work. Nobody is sitting down and going, "I've got twenty people and this person is working this many hours on this little thing and he needs to be done with that by Thursday at noon."
The latest murmurings from this weekend's QuakeCon suggest that id Software will be announcing a deal with Valve to distribute titles via Steam. Quakecon is currently going strong and lasts until August 5.
Should such a deal surface, it'd be interesting to see game engine competitors working together for distribution. However, since Half-Life was developed using a modified version of id's Quake engine, it's as if the Circle of Life is coming together.
Other rumors from QuakeCon include a return to the Commander Keen franchise as a flagpole for their id Tech 5 engine ... okay, we just made that up, but we can dream, right?
Smack dab in the middle of QuakeCon, Variety brings news that Silent Hill movie producer Samuel Hadida has secured the movie rights to id Software's Return to Castle Wolfenstein, with Silent Hill writer Roger Avary tapped to both write and direct the new project. Avary said, "I've been playing the character of B.J. Blazkowicz since the epic Wolfenstein 3D first bruised my brain and have ever since wanted to bring his adventures to life on the bigscreen." We're not doctors, but we're quite certain a significant amount of cranial bruising would be necessary before considering the story of B.J. Blazkowicz well-suited for the silver screen.
Of course, solid details on the next Wolfenstein game have been holed up in a bunker for years and tonight's QuakeCon keynote by John Carmack and Todd Hollenshead is as good a place as any to unveil new details. Just sayin' ...
During the hullabaloo of E3, id Software and Electronic Arts announced a sequel to their popular first-person RPG cell phone title, Orcs & Elves. Cleverly dubbed Orcs & Elves II, the sequel returns to mobile phones where it will undoubtedly be met by gamers clamoring for something, anything, decent to play on their phones. With some serious accolades for the original Orcs & Elves and DOOM RPG, id's latest will surely be welcomed.
But what about those of us that prefer to play our games on, you know, game consoles? They've also announced the release of the original Orcs & Elves for Nintendo's money-printing DS handheld. "Orcs & Elves was a perfect fit for the DS. We were able to take excellent advantage of the 3D hardware and unique user input capabilities, and expand the game to include a lot of wonderful features that we just couldn't fit on the cell phones," said id's John Carmack when he wasn't building rockets. Both are scheduled for release this holiday season.
The community site for Enemy Territory: QuakeWars has announced that it plans on doing a public beta of the game soon; no start date has been given, but license keys will start to be given out "in the middle of this week."
There will be 60,000 slots available and only one map for testing -- Sewers, according to a dev blog post, which is said to feature "an interesting mix of outdoor and indoor, vehicle and infantry combat, deployables and counter-deployables and good old-fashioned FPS combat." It's likely the map with the most possible situations for bug-testing. All slots will go to FilePlanet users, with half of the slots set aside for those who pay for the premium subscription.
The post makes it very clear that this is not a demo. "If you want to just play a game for free you may find it a frustrating experience," it said. It also cautions that the beta will be taking data about your hardware configuration, "so you shouldn't apply unless you're comfortable with that."
While EA is busy wrapping their software in Cider, promising a quick and easy way to achieve Mac OS X compatibility, id Software is creating a new multiplatform game engine that will run natively on Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and, whaddya know, Mac OS X. id Tech 5, first unveiled at yesterday's WWDC conference, is id's fifth generation 3D engine -- see the revisionist name changes here -- and it's notably not being built with Microsoft's DirectX 10.
Before everyone starts complaining about the palpable layer of polyurethane coating every surface in the demo, consider Carmack's claim that if he had four more days, the demo would be twice as smooth. That's just it, Mr. Carmack, it's already too smooth. But we know it's early so we'll just study this video until we get to see more (like your special Mac-related announcement) at E3.
If you'd rather avoid the embedded YouTube shakycam footage, you can watch Apple's much nicer streaming version of the 2007 WWDC keynote (jump ahead to 11:30).
Last week laid the groundwork for what promises to be at the very least a confusing E3, with a number of familiar faces jumping ship in favor of the uncertain waters below. However, the news of who would and would not be attending the show this July got a bit hazy with regards to talk of developer id Software, with conflicting reports painting the Doom masterminds as both planning to attend and turning their backs on the annual event.
Just minutes before he takes the stage, along with John Carmack, to deliver the QuakeCon keynote address, we bring you our E3 interview with Todd Hollenshead, CEO of id Software. We had a chance to ask him about 
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