John Cormack compares Apple iPhone to PS2 & Xbox - Game on way
By Dave Parrack
As the co-founder of ID software, and chief designer of games such as Doom and Quake, John Carmack is a man to be listened to. In his latest interview, he talks about his respect for the iPhone as a potential gaming platform, and how he compares it to the last generation consoles, the PS2 and Xbox.
The iPhone is a powerful piece of kit, with enough technology within to allow it to run some advanced software. The gaming side of the Apple device hasn’t really been explored as of yet, but there are signs that this is due to change very soon.
First of all, we had the former head of Electronic Arts Los Angeles studio Neil Young leaving the high profile games publisher to set up his own company called Ngmoco. This company has just one aim in mind: to develop and sell games for the Apple iPhone.
Then we had Sega of America president Simon Jeffery claiming that the iPhone was as powerful as the Dreamcast, Sega’s obsolete but still popular games platform which turned out to be the last console it would produce. He also hinted that Sega’s mascot, Sonic The Hedgehog, could be on his way to the iPhone.
Now Carmack has told Forbes that he is keen to develop for the iPhone, and regrets missing the launch of the 3G iPhone and App Store on iTunes. He also insists that a game is in development, which would come from ID’s existing catalogue. Wolfenstein is the favourite at this stage. He said:
We wanted to do something for the iPhone, but we just didn’t have the scheduling or the resources available. I really regret not having something at launch.
We have a title we want to develop exclusively for iPhone. I’m not announcing anything specifically, but it would be a graphical tour de force.
Then came Carmack’s comments concerning the relative power of the iPhone over other mobile phones. While I’ve always thought of the iPhone as a cross between the two current Nintendo consoles, the Wii and the DS, Carmack has another idea. He said:
The iPhone, as a device, is in the same generation power-wise as the PS2 or Xbox. The graphics are a little lower but the RAM is a lot higher. … You could easily spend $10 million on an iPhone game, but the market just can’t support that yet.
What’s clear from all of this is that some big names are now seeing the iPhone as a viable platform for games. Not the crappy little games that currently come with your mobile phone either, but proper, well made, big budget games such as Sonic and Wolfenstein.
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July 30th, 2008
“but it would be a graphical tour de force.”
I’m sure, with characters that use a massive amount of bump mapping and look like plastic.
I haven’t played a decent iD game in years.
Focus on the game play friend…