Id's Rage coming to iPhone, kills Xbox and PS2 games

[Matthew DeCarlo]

John Carmack of id Software surprised attendees of QuakeCon today by announcing an iOS version of the developer's upcoming shooter, Rage. The respected programmer whipped out an iPhone 4 on stage and showed it powering a scaled-down tech demo of Rage, running at 60 frames-per-second featuring the id Tech 5 engine with "all of the megatexture goodness" and advanced lighting.

Carmack went on to explain that although the pocket-sized iPhone lacks things like tactile feedback, it offers a comparable amount of muscle to the original Xbox or PlayStation 2. In fact, he said the device could kill anything done on a previous-generation console, adding that it's not far off from the current-generation machines -- a bold claim to be sure, but the preview does look stunning.

In addition to running impressively well on the iPhone 4, Rage also plays fine on the iPad and even the original 2G iPhone. id Software is in the process of pulling the title into a game framework with plans to release a "show-off" version for iOS this year and a complete game next year alongside the PC and console versions. An Android edition is still on the table, but it won't happen this cycle.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/39954-ids-rage-coming-to-iphone-kills-xbox-and-ps2-games.html

 

[EXCellR8]

iPhone 4... capable of playing rage but not regular calls

 

[tengeta]

Yeah, my PC and consoles don't have a battery life so I don't see something that has to be charged replacing those anytime soon.

 

[Burty117]

I would say quite impressive though, its good to see how far Phones have come, just a shame they now struggle to make a call, part phone (iPhone 4) and networks fault (practically all network providers).

 

[LNCPapa]

Keep in mind that this is Carmack - one of the most brilliant minds in the area of PC game engine programming. He's like the McGuyver of this type of stuff - give him a potato, a few forks, and an etch-a-sketch and I bet he can make something good for us.

 

[9Nails]

I'm not surprise that iD had the skills to pull this off. But I am stunned that Apple gave iD enough control to the iPhone so that they could wring the power out of it! Apple's not known as a gaming platform and Carmack is known as a guy who likes to dive deep into the hardware optimization and squeeze every bit of performance from a GPU. If he's happy with it, then I'd imagine that the game runs pretty darn good.

But I still can't picture a touch-screen device as a game platform! I still think Madcatz or somebody needs to make a bluetooth game controller / cradle for the iTouch/iPhone.

 

[LinkedKube]

9Nails said:
I'm not surprise that iD had the skills to pull this off. But I am stunned that Apple gave iD enough control to the iPhone so that they could wring the power out of it! Apple's not known as a gaming platform and Carmack is known as a guy who likes to dive deep into the hardware optimization and squeeze every bit of performance from a GPU.

Or he could get a buttload of money off nub iphone owners that know nothing about hardware and think this game is a godsend. Just saying...

 

[Richy2k9]

hummm.. interesting

but i still prefer to play on larger monitor & with KB/Mouse or Controller in hand.

Yet like some of you said, it shows that the phones today are really small beast that can't wait to be tapped!

Let see where this go ...

cheers!

 

[Guest]

Despite alot of naysayers, I saw the footage and it's quite incredible really. The lighting and shadows were awesome!

 

[Guest]

Demo was impressive but I think he was over selling a bit. He was using some pretty creative ways to show better looking graphics than the hardware is otherwise capable of putting out with traditional coded games.

Much like how many other modern games for consoles are getting better at looking good while using less resources. Reducing load times, etc...

So more a credit to his coding skills than the capability of the hardware. I also don't think he can overcome the limitations of the processor for handling AI, especially in games dealing with more than a few opponents at a time. Especially since the A4 can't handle multi-tasking as well as the newer ARM processors from the competition.

Meaning the games may look great but actual game play is likely to be the same as it is now and it's still no competition for what you can get from a descent home gaming PC. Especially with systems capable of 4k resolution.

But it does open the doors for other platforms to develop better games using his engine...