quakecon-2008 posts

13 years ago today, id Software released Quake, the first game in a first person shooter franchise that continues to be one of the most well known in the PC gaming industry. With five full games based on the series, an number of official and unofficial expansion packs, tons of mods and total conversions and a currently running web browser online-only game, the Quake series continues to be popular even with major shift in emphasis.

On the day that the Quake series become a teenager, Big Download decided to look back at the entire game series. From it's start as a near-Doom clone to the Stroggos storyline to its multiplayer emphasis to its current incarnation as a free-to-play shooter, the series has had many different versions in a relatively short time span.

Click on the image to the right to continue reading Happy 13 Birthday Quake

There's been lots of talk over the years on how piracy has kept PC games from achieving some of the sales figures of the console counterparts. However, one major PC developer executive, id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead, thinks that some PC hardware companies see a benefit to piracy.

In a Gamesindustry.biz interview (conducted a few weeks ago at QuakeCon), Hollenshead states, "I think that there's been this dirty little secret among hardware manufacturers, which is that the perception of free content - even if you're supposed to pay for it on PCs - is some sort hidden benefit that you get when you buy a PC, like a right to download music for free or a right to download pirated movies and games." While he adds that he doesn't believe there is an overt conspiracy among PC hardware companies he does say, "I think the thing is they realize that trading content, copyrighted or not, is an expected benefit of owning a computer."

For many PC gamers, QuakeCon is bigger than Christmas. The joy of meeting up with friends, guzzling pure caffeine, gorging on junk food and fragging until the wee hours of the morning is a thing of beauty -- especially considering event attendance is free!

Unfortunately, the trek to Texas is too long and arduous for many, resulting in lost opportunities for fun times galore. Don't worry; Big Download's got your back. We were in attendance this year to pick our way through sleep-deprived gamers cuddled up with their keyboards (minus the drool, it was actually quite touching) and discarded pizza boxes to sample some of the gaming products on display.

Compiled here are our announcements from the show, including new bits from John Carmack's annual keynote address, as well as hands-on and impressions articles.

Read on for all the goods!

Most people might consider Spore, Maxis and EA's upcoming evolutionary simulator, a bit too ambitious for handheld consoles such as the Nintendo DS, let alone mobile phones. Beginning at the bottom of the evolutionary food chain, evolving into new shapes and sizes, starting a civilization and exploring the depths of space are actions that will no doubt require precise control and careful execution in many stages, something not often offered by the cell phone keypads.

Rather than overstep the capabilities of even the most powerful mobile phones by directly porting the game, EA Mobile has crafted Spore Origins, a custom version of Will Wright's anticipated simulator for the iPhone, iPod Touch, iPod and regular mobile phones. During this year's QuakeCon, I had a chance to take the iPhone and traditional cell phone versions for a spin -- literally, in the iPhone's case.

Before Fountainhead Entertainment's Doom RPG was released in the dark ages of 2005, playing Tetris on my mobile phone reminded me of playing Tetris on my Game Boy back in the darker ages of 1989. At only seven years old, it was the only Game Boy game I owned because, well, I was seven, and it came with the handheld. Playing Tetris on my mobile phone was similar yet different not because it was the only game I could afford, but because it was the only game I wanted to play. Almost two decades of gaming experience had taught me the important lesson of staying away from console-to-mobile-phone ports, and I wasn't quite casual enough to justify buying Bejeweled -- so, I stuck with Tetris, but this time out of choice.

Doom RPG changed the sneering hardcore gamer's perception of mobile gaming. Not only were the graphics strikingly similar to the 1993 FPS that forever changed the landscape of gaming, but finally, here was a game crafted specifically for cell phones rather than sloppily ported from its original conception. The turn-based gameplay allowed for casual exploration, all of the classic Doom weapons were present, and earning experience points to upgrade the arsenal gave the game an element of strategy.

With the Doom space marine patiently waiting in the wings until the launch of Doom RPG II, predecessor William "B.J." Blazkowicz made an appearance at QuakeCon 2008 to demonstrate why battling zombies and Nazis in id Mobile's Wolfenstein RPG is just as fun as blasting zombies and demons in Doom.

PC elitists, I implore you to never again complain about playing an RTS with a controller. We've heard the arguments countless times: yes, clicking a unit and zipping your fingers across keyboard shortcuts is faster than the wonky button mapping that always seems to require a bit of arcane joystick waggling while simultaneously holding two buttons (one of which may or may not be Select or Back) and pressing three others.

Yes, it's cumbersome; even the most die-hard console gamer can admit that. But until you've experienced an RTS on a mobile phone, I will remain as impervious to your complaints as StarCraft 64 is accessible to human beings with less than eight fingers per hand.

After glimpsing a commercial for a EA Mobile's Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars at this year's QuakeCon, my curiosity and disbelief were competing with the laughter surging up from my gut. An RTS? On a mobile phone? Being a devotee of cramped hands and eyestrain, I simply had to give it a try.

At the young, impressionable, and stupid age of 13, I remember being influenced by Nintendo's horrid Play it Loud television commercials. The sight of gamers like myself rocking out while playing Mortal Kombat II, Super Mario World, Star Fox, Super Street Fighter II and other popular titles at full volume looked totally fun, a guaranteed way to increase the immersion factor of my favorite Super NES games and rebel against the serious, studious parents who, according to Nintendo, wanted to limit my precious gaming time.

Those of you who, like me, attempted to play "it" as loudly as possible most likely recall that the commercials were all hype -- loud, painful, and unrewarding. While pleasant at lower volumes, the sound on the SNES, while not as grating as the underwater gurgling emitted by the Sega Genesis, were muffled, crackly, and distorted at medium to high levels. Even worse, playing it loud didn't exactly sit well with parents. Sure, the commercials showed authority figures staring in disbelief at their wild teenage gamer children, but they forgot to show the part where those crazy kids got grounded for playing games at ridiculous volumes.

Quality sound systems have come into their own since then, with many snazzy setups readily affordable and worth every penny due to the theater-like atmosphere they provide. Couple that with the fact that this generation of games is actually meant to be played at a higher volume than five or six, and it's easy to understand why many gamers value their sound systems above pricey graphics cards.

The Phillips amBX system is more than just a quality audio experience. Equipped with speakers, lights, fans, and a wrist pad offering a more dynamic level of force feedback, amBX is deservedly being billed as a total immersion system, one that won't just bring pleasure to your ears, but to every part of your being involved in the gaming experience.

The final full day of QuakeCon 2008 ended on Saturday night with a marathon six hour event-party for the attendees. The results were that free food and beer (courtesy of id Software's John Carmack) were given to QuakeCon attendees and they got to see great Quake Live and Enemy Territory:Quake Wars matches along with some Guitar Hero playing, some prizes and t-shirts thrown out and a brand new Chevrolet Corvette given out to one very lucky QuakeCon participant.

In terms of the matches, The four member The Green Team won the Xbox 360 Enemy Territory: Quake Wars tournament over Cwell Fellas and won $5,000. The PC Enemy Territory: Quake Wars tournament was won by the six member Mamut.Si over second place Kompaniet and won $8,000. The Guitar Hero III 1v1 tournament was won by JW2 over Oni_link while Jimmy Crack Corn won against Pointless Thread in the 2v2 tournament.

During a chat with Shacknews during QuakeCon this week, id Software's co-founder John Carmack revealed that id had actually been working on a major new game called Darkness. The title, which would have been considered a survival horror game, sounds a lot like the TV movie Lost with players fighting off creatures on an island after a plane crash.

However id decided to stop work on Darkness after 18 months on production to move onto their current original game Rage. Why? Carmack stated that they felt that the game was repeating aspects of their last major game Doom III that they didn't want to repeat, namely the dark enviroments and "contrived nature of monsters hiding in closets". The generally poor sales of survival horror games also factored into the decision.

This isn't the first time id has stopped production on a game to move onto another title. After Quake III Arena was completed they started working on a game called Quest which would have been a fantasy multiplayer oriented team title. After about six months of development they cancelled the project to work on Doom III.

"Playing PC games for money? That's crazy." That's certainly the mainstream viewpoint of the pro PC tournament industry but the documentary Frag offers up a look at the profession at is at times both fun and also extremely hardcore and serious. Friday at QuakeCon a special free showing of Frag was performed (the movie also came out on DVD on Friday).

The filmmakers clearly wanted to showcase the darker side of becoming a professional gamer. After the movie goes through the brief period in the 1980s where gamers who played Pac Mac well could get a little money, it switches to the modern era where the idea of people competing with each other in the game took over thanks to id Software's Doom and later Quake.