Quake Expo celebrates Quake's 15th anniversary

Fifteen years ago, the site which would become Shacknews was eagerly awaiting the June 22, 1996, launch of id Software's Quake. Now, fans of the seminal FPS around the world have joined together to celebrate its latest anniversary with a whole host of virtual festivities.

Quake and Quake Live

The fan-organised Quake Expo 2011 kicked off on Sunday and runs until June 25. At virtual 'booths' you'll find a 1v1 NetQuake deathmatch tournament, mod releases, a fan-made art book, Quake Live commentaries, contests for fanfic, speedmapping terrain speedmapping, and heaps more.

Perhaps the most unusual thing you'll see at Quake Expo 2011 is Midgets, "a mod that involves fighting cooperatively alongside midgets with a strange phallic all-in-one weapon." It's made by Rich Whitehouse, creator of Quake's Head Soccer and Quake II's Famkebot.

id co-founder John Carmack recently commented that "strong factions internally" are "tossing around" the idea of returning the Quake series to its original, Lovecraftian-ish roots. He noted, "Nothing is scheduled here, people are not building this," but fingers crossed.