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This time of year is usually one of peace and safe comfort for just about everyone. The same can't be said for the land of Quake Live, where id Software has injected some Yuletide spirit into the browser-based frag-em-up's usual industrial surroundings. For two weeks, players can enjoy a Christmas-themed remake of Team Arena map "Distant Screams," now named "Silent Night."

This update doesn't add particularly festive weapons to the mix, but the fresh coat of winter wonderland paint is certainly welcome. Nothing tops off the Christmas spirit tank like a little rocket play beneath giant candy canes and a star-filled sky, after all.

[Via CVG]

Android and Me points out some ports of popular id games were once available on your snazzy superphone, including Quake, Wolfenstein and Doom. They didn't last long, however, as Zenimax has managed to get the games pulled from Google's Android Market service due to copyright infringement.

It's only natural for ZeniMax to want to get the titles pulled and doubly so if the publisher is thinking about releasing id's classics on the platform, though that's just speculation on our part based on id's readiness to work on the competing iPhone platform. Head past the break to check out some footage of what you missed out on, courtesy of the unofficial Android version of Doom.

We've asked ZeniMax to comment on any commercial plans for these titles on Android and to clarify the nature of Doom's open source codebase and why it was included in this takedown request.

[Update: A ZeniMax spokesperson got back to use, writing: "We did issue a DMCA takedown notice to the Android store to remove the unofficial Doom, Wolfenstein and Quake games as they contain our trademarks and copyrighted assets, including graphics, artwork, storylines and audio. Open source relates to the underlying engine source code, not to a game's content, trademarks and assets, all of which remain proprietary. If the game was a total conversion and did not use any of our trademarks or assets, that would be fine. But none of our data can be repackaged and nobody is authorized to make a Doom, Wolfenstein or Quake product."]


[Via Game Politics]

In a tersely worded press release, ZeniMax Media – parent company of Fallout 3-dev Bethesda Softworks and, as of June, FPS hall-of-famer id Software – has "announced today that it has picked up the publishing rights for Rage, the video game under development at id Software." First announced in July 2008 during Electronic Arts' E3 press conference, Rage was to be published under EA's successful EA Partners program, home to other major titles from outside developers, like Rock Band, Left 4 Dead 2, and Brutal Legend.

Unlike ZeniMax's other development studio, Bethesda, id Software will not be self-publishing Rage; instead, "Rage will be published by Bethesda Softworks," the press release states. It concludes, "As a result, Electronic Arts Inc. ... will not be involved in the sales and marketing of Rage. The ongoing development of Rage is unaffected by this development."

With EA out of the picture and publishing duties for Rage in ZeniMax's hands, the partnership between the two companies can finally be consummated without having to wait for Doom 4, or whatever's next in the Wolfenstein franchise. Ah, love.

id Software's John Carmack estimates that the iPhone version of iconic first-person shooter Doom took "maybe six weeks of serious work" to come together. Borrowing time -- and an artist -- the prolific programmer managed to assemble a port that, according to a recent VentureBeat interview, "plays great on every iPod Touch and iPhone ever made." But what if he focused effort on the iPhone 3GS, the latest and more powerful variant of Apple's killer app-platform?

"I think we could do the real Xbox Doom 3 game on a 3GS if we targeted it exclusively," Carmack notes. "That is pushing it a bit. You could probably get that kind of visual fidelity." And here we thought portable devices were only good for recording spooky audio logs and unlocking doors within exploding barrel research laboratories.

Doom is one of the most influential games in history, and at least some of that credit has to go to the iconic cover, which features an aesthetic that's still pervasive in the industry a decade-and-a-half later. The man responsible for that image, artist Don Ivan Punchatz, has passed away. He was 73.

Though Punchatz created cover art for numerous books and magazines, ranging from Playboy and National Geographic to Boys Life and Newsweek, what we'll always remember is the lone space marine with the curiously exposed abdomen facing off against the legions of Hell. Our best wishes to his family and friends.

[Via BigDownload]

An electronic device isn't a game machine these days until it passes the crucial "Does it run Doom" test. John Carmack has been hard at work on Doom Classic, an official port of id Software's groundbreaking FPS for iPhone, and now he reports that it's been submitted to Apple for approval, only four months after Carmack said it would be ready. Soon – provided Apple gives the okay to a tour of Hell – we'll be swiping and tilting our way to a symphony of exploding barrels.

Doom Classic should support wi-fi multiplayer upon its release, with Bluetooth to follow if it's not already implemented. At least, that's what Carmack said earlier this year.

Though the PC version of Wolfenstein has been out for nearly two months now, the game's been persistently affected by a number of minor bugs. Nothing really huge, mind you -- just a handful of game-crashing, save file-corrupting, SecuROM-breaking errors which are capable of completely crippling your enjoyment of the title. Like we said, no biggie.

Fortunately, id Software recently released patch 1.11 for the title, which is designed to fix all of the above bugs, effectively restoring your Nazi-massacring experience. Sadly, the patch doesn't include a fix for the glitch which prevents Robo-Hitler from spawning at any point in the game. What gives, guys?

[Thanks, Merrick.]

When the NPD released its figures for August, we noticed Wolfenstein was absent from the top-sellers list. Sure, the title was only available for purchase during a few days of August (it released August 21 on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC), but one of those versions had to have sold more than Fossil Fighters, which was in tenth place on the sales chart with 92,000 sold, right? Gamespot says, no.

Apparently, id's resurrected shooter only sold 106,000 across all platforms -- 59,000 units on Xbox 360, 30,000 on PS3 and 16,000 on PC. In other words, the PS2 version of Madden alone outsold combined sales of Wolfenstein. Disappointing, for sure, since you must have really been hoping to get your money back.

Those of you looking to throw down in a challenging series of class-based WWII shootouts should be on the look out on Wolfenstein multiplayer tonight. From 6PM (that's now!) to 8PM EDT developers from Raven Software -- the ones that are left, we assume -- and id Software will be on hand to battle for glory against Xbox Live Gold members in another rousing session of Game with Developers.

Unlike the last GwD event, gamers don't have to pre-purchase content in order to play with the game's development team! Well, unless you count the game itself. Which, technically, we guess you have to.

Though we heard about a planned follow-up to the gravity-twisting Prey way back in March of 2008, things have been quiet on the game ever since. Now, according to filings found by superannuation, Bethesda parent company Zenimax has acquired the rights to the series.

Does this mean that id Software, which was recently acquired by Bethesda, is collaborating with the publisher on an incredible, post-apocalyptic open-world game filled with Native Americans and disturbingly vaginal doors? Yes. Yes, that's exactly what it means. But you didn't hear it from us.

I've come to expect a certain modicum of brevity in games played on my iPhone. Games like Doom Resurrection and Worms proved problematic, taking far too long to get into and out of games, or simply pushing my little 3G's processor to the limit (and being choppy as a result). Meanwhile, smaller titles like Drop7 and Baseball Slugger: Home Run Race 3D excel due to their size.

Wolfenstein RPG shocked me in this respect. I thoroughly enjoyed the deeper experience that the RPG elements offered (a leveling system and well-rewarded exploration), while save-anywhere functionality and short load times encourage quick gameplay sessions. In so many words, it offers the best of both worlds: a deep experience with jump in/jump out functionality.

Despite our best intentions, we at Joystiq have been pretty lax about sinking the hours we thought we would into the browser-based Quake Live. But perhaps we'll be more dilligent about it now that the whole gang can get involved. Via the game's forums, id announced Tuesday that support had been added to the game for Linux and Mac users

Currently, Mac players are limited to playing through Safari, though id says that the Firefox/Mac combo will soon be a workable configuration.

[Via Big Download]

There was a major design element in Doom 3 that a lot of players took issue with -- and no, we're not talking about the protagonist's inability to hold a firearm and a source of illumination at the same time. The element was the game's enemy spawning mechanic, which would make baddies appear when the player reaches set points in the level -- a practice which has since been nicknamed "monster closets." Fortunately, it seems id's next angrily-named project won't feature this oft-harangued spawning system.

In a recent interview with 1UP, Rage lead designer Matt Hooper explained that enemies in a certain section of the game's demo will be "doing whatever they're supposed to be doing. If they're supposed to be defending against you coming there, they'll be doing that. If they're just tinkering or having a conversation they'll do that." Sounds like id's AI has actual motivation now. Well, motivation beyond "scare the crap out of then murder space marines," anyway.