While id is still deciding exactly what the multiplayer component of Rage will entail, the studio has said that the shooter is unlikely to support dedicated servers on PC. "It's not cast in stone yet, but at this point no, we don't think we will have dedicated servers," id technical director John Carmack told Variety's The Cut Scene before noting "things are cooking along well" for the PC, Mac, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 title.

Infinity Ward recently revealed that its anticipated shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 would not support dedicated servers, a decision met with vocal opposition.

"The great thing is we won't have to be a pioneer on that," explained... Read more

The first title out of famed Doom and Quake creator id to be simultaneously developed for PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Mac, Rage almost immediately re-ignited the Blu-ray vs. DVD debate between PS3 and Xbox 360 loyalists when it was first revealed.

And as that debate raged on, PC gamers were dragged into another one after the once PC-centric developer said that the platform was "more of the junior partner."

Even the debut of actual gameplay details did little to quell the vocal internet mob, with concerns about regenerating health, the game's keyboard and mouse controls being tainted by console controllers, and well, just about everything.

However, this doesn't seem to have fazed the folks at id. "The stuff that we've done before, I'm not worried about, and people shouldn't worry about that either," creative director Tim Willits told me after a demonstration of the game... Read more

New Rage screenshots show that even in a post-apocalyptic future, there's no escaping British sports hooligans. Given that id Software's shooter features combat-filled racing and an ultra-violent game show named Mutant Bash TV, I suppose the presence of a shaven-headed man daubed with the Union Jack is inevitable. Here's the chap now.

Rage on with the QuakeCon trailer and our interview with id CEO Todd Hollenshead, or wait for it to arrive on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 "When it's fun and when it's done."

All things considered, the interview was progressing normally. id CEO Todd Hollenshead and I were sitting across from each other in the QuakeCon Press Lounge. I had just asked when id's next game, Rage, was coming out. I didn't expect a straight answer.

Nor did I get one, but that's beyond the point. Because, as Todd was explaining why id is so reluctant to provide a date--"we don't work to a time, we work to a quality level"--fate intervened in the form of an extremely inquisitive mystery woman. She wanted to know what kind of press would cover video games. And if we were from Game Informer.

The result? An interview that I, and most likely Todd, won't forget any time soon.

Todd Hollenshead: The next Wolfenstein is going to be internal at id. The next big Quake game is going to be internally developed at id. Rage, obviously, and the next Rage, and Doom as well. ...Read more

Hot off the QuakeCon presses are four new Rage screenshots, showing the stars of id software's PC, Xbox 360 and PS3-bound shooter--guns, cars, and misshapen mutants.

Stay tuned for our Rage preview, coming soon to a Shack near you. In the meantime, have a gander at the freaks, guns and gearheads in motion with yesterday's new trailer.

The 2009 QuakeCon convention is underway, and id Software has debuted a new Rage trailer during its opening day press conference.

Check out the video below in streaming format, or download it directly from FileShack.

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With QuakeCon less than a week away, event organizer id has provided a schedule of the major happenings, including the first public showings of id's Rage, Splash Damage's Brink, and the annual keynote from id's technical wizard John Carmack.

The so-called "Woodstock of Gaming," QuakeCon spans four days this year--August 13 through August 16, 2009--at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas. As always, attendance is free. The full schedule of events follows below:

THURSDAY, AUGUST 13:

12:00pm - 1:00pm - Exhibit Hall Event Stage
Ventrilo Ultimate Power-up Contest, Shelby GT500 Unveiling
Come see the unveiling of the 2010 Ford Shelby Mustang GT500 Coupe to be given away in the Ventrilo Ultimate... Read more

Several new screenshots of stunning Rage environments were included in a SIGGRAPH 2009 talk given by id Software senior programmer J.M.P. van Waveren.

Consisting mainly of environment shots, the images show off id's "virtual texturing" process, which allows the studio to create "unique, very large" textures in the id Tech 5 engine. For the technically minded, notes on the talk are available in this PDF.

Thanks to FreshyK.

Following up on word that, at this stage in development, the Xbox 360 version of Rage runs faster than the PlayStation 3 build, new details have surfaced, indicating PS3 owners should have nothing to worry about when the game is eventually released.

"We are committed to ensuring that gamers on all platforms have a great RAGE experience," developer id said of the "ruckus" in a Twitter update.

Additionally, id tech guru John Carmack, whose admission of lackluster performance sparked the whole debacle, told Edge that "we expect [Rage] to be 60 hertz on every supported platform" and "the work remaining is getting it locked so there's never a dropped frame or a tear, but we're confident that we're going to get that."

No word yet on when Rage will hit PC, PS3, Xbox 360 and Mac, but 2010 looks likely.

Update: id has shed more light on the situation, clarifying that, once the game has been optimized, the studio expects it to "be 60 hertz on every supported platform."

Original: Edge magazine has found that the Xbox 360 version of id Software's shooter Rage matches the PC target of 60 frames-per-second, while the PlayStation 3 currently only manages to run the game at 20-30 FPS, a discrepancy that id's John Carmack does not deny.

"The PS3 lags a little bit behind in terms of getting the performance out of it," said Carmack in the latest issue of Edge according to CVG. "The rasteriser is just a little bit slower--no two ways about that."

Added the 'Mack: "The RSX is slower than what we have in the 360. The CPU is about the same, but the 360 makes it easier to split things off, and that's what a lot of the work has been, splitting it all into jobs on the PS3."

It is unknown whether PlayStation 3 performance will improve significantly before the game ships. There is still plenty of time for Carmack to work his optimization magic: Rage currently has no release date, and is expected to arrive in 2010 at the earliest.

The official site for Rage has been updated with a new teaser for id's open-world shooter-racer hybrid. For more on the game, check out the recent flood of details.

The brief video ends with a tease of "more at QuakeCon 2009," which takes place at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, Texas on August 13-16 and promises "exclusive looks" at both Rage and Wolfenstein. id has yet to say exactly when Rage will hit PC, PS3, Xbox 360 and Mac, though going by past comments, 2010 seems like a safe bet.

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New details on id Software's open-world shooter-cum-racer Rage have surfaced via this month's issue of Game Informer, painting a picture unlike any previous id game.

A whole host of details are revealed in the article, including the following features:

• An engineering system to craft devices including sentry turrets and RC car bombs, if you have the blueprints and parts.
• Your health regenerates--a gift connected to your history.
• Races and missions are available from hub towns.
• Vehicular combat is a big part of racing, with power-ups and ammo placed around the courses.
• Weapon upgrades, such as a scope and aiming stabilisers for a crossbow.
• Alternate ammo types, including a crossbow bolt which allows you to briefly control victims before they explode... Read more

It's been a while since we've heard anything new regarding id's post-apocalyptic shooter Rage, but recent events and some new media (below) suggest that's about to change.

With the developer's annual QuakeCon event exactly one month away, the studio has launched a new teaser site and created a dedicated Twitter account for Rage, with "plenty of gameplay details" promised in the August 2009 issue of Game Informer.

id has long maintained that Rage will only be released "when it's fun and when it's done," which will definitely not be in 2009. In the past, project lead Tim Willits has suggested that the PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Mac title would arrive by 2010 at the latest.

Though the exact details of what will be shown at QuakeCon remain uncertain, "exclusive looks at id Software's own anticipated games Wolfenstein and RAGE" are promised. In the wake of id's recent acquisition by Bethesda owner ZeniMax, Rage will still be published by EA Partners, with Bethesda publishing future id games, such as Doom 4.

Following the surprising news that Bethesda parent company ZeniMax had acquired legendary developer id, the studio has issued a lengthy statement explaining the reasons behind the acquisition and shed some light on its plans for growth.

"We will add a third major development team," id co-founder John Carmack told VentureBeat, noting that the Doom and Rage developer "already had a plan in place."

Carmack explained that the Quake Live team, "which had less than a dozen people," will work with id's other two major teams on multiplayer for Rage and Doom 4 as an "intermediate step" to "get familiar with our technology there."

Following that, the team will be assigned one of id's "main intellectual properties," a catalog that includes Quake, Doom, Wolfenstein and Commander Keen.

"It's not clear what that [property] is," said Carmack. "That's all we wanted: three teams. It's not as if we wanted to create four, five and six teams. We have two teams doing big titles now. We have our mobile teams doing other work. But we'll add that... Read more

Update: id co-founder John Romero has apologized for his admittedly "harsh" reaction, noting that he is actually "positive about the Zenimax deal."

"i guess i was shocked and sad to see the id Software of old changed forever today," Romero explained in a later Twitter update. "it's a new day and a new id."

Original: While id Software steward John Carmack was more than pleased with Bethesda parent ZeniMax's acquisition of the infamously independent developer today, fellow id co-founder John Romero harshly criticized the deal in a pair of public messages.

"ZENIMAX??????? Disgusting," wrote Romero on his Twitter feed, later adding, "Fallout 3 bought DOOM. Wow."

id Software was founded in 1991 by Romero, Tom Hall, John Carmack and Adrian Carmack. Romero left the company in 1996 to co-found ill-fated developer Ion Storm, and is now developing an unannounced MMO at Slipgate Ironworks.

At least one industry old-timer was less downbeat in his reaction.

"There's no better company that could have bought id," wrote... Read more

As the completion of id Software's engine "id Tech 5" nears, the company is planning a conservative strategy in licensing the graphics technology to other companies. "Our philosophy really hasn't changed from what it's always been, which is games first, licenses second," said id CEO Todd Hollenshead to Gamasutra. "Working on Rage and working on Doom [4], which are both id Tech 5 games, are certainly our top priorities."

Hollenshead believes that outside use of the multi-platform... Read more

id's post-apocalyptic not-quite-open-world shooter Rage definitely "won't be out this year," id CEO Todd Hollenshead revealed in the latest episode of Gametrailers TV.

Though some debate whether Hollenshead said "will" or "won't," Geoff Keighley, who conducted the interview, confirmed via Twitter that Rage isn't coming this year.

Per usual, id has remained rather quiet about a possible release date for Rage, with project lead Tim Willits claiming that the PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Mac game will probably hit before 2011, assuming that's "when it's fun and when it's done."

id Software creative director Tim Willits isn't quite ready to write off digital distribution for its upcoming race-infused adventure shooter Rage (PC, 360, PS3), despite the game's large reported size.

"We have not written off digital distribution for Rage," Willits told 1UP. "We haven't figured out what we want to do yet. But I do want to fix the fact that John [Carmack] said [digital distribution is] not going to happen. What I'm saying is that's not true."

Willits explained the source of the confusion as the oft-confused state of Rage's final form on disc: "John Carmack made a comment about the media size, which unfortunately wasn't exactly correct because we haven't crossed that bridge yet. He said it was going to be too large to download, and I was thinking to myself, 'You know, uhhhhh, people can do lots of things.'"

The Rage designer even alluded to considering the game for Valve's popular Steam digital distribution service. "Our relationship with Valve and our stuff on Steam has been very successful for us," he said.

Willits also took the opportunity to explain the plot for Rage, expanding on the previously known themes of post-apocalypse and lawlessness. The details, reproduced from the 1UP interview, follow... Read more

Yesterday, Rage lead designer and id Software employee Tim Willits quickly shot down a report claiming that that content had been cut from the upcoming shooter due to the limiting size of Xbox 360 DVDs.

Following the mix-up, I had a chance to sit down with Willits and put the issue to rest, as well as several other controversial topics related to Rage (PC, 360, PS3)--many of which were originally raised by id Software president John Carmack.

"As far as game content, I will swear on the lives of my children that nothing was cut," said Willits in an early shoot-down of the rumor.

But what of the compression issue? During his QuakeCon speech in August, Carmack put pressure on Microsoft to drop its royalty fees for additional Xbox 360 discs in order to free up more space for the game's content, saying the title would look worse on the Xbox 360 due to compression. Now Willits says the whole thing was a classic misunderstanding.

"Microsoft is not being dickheads," he said. "It was a simple kind of miscommunication. Microsoft does not charge a royalty per disc, but there is a cost of... Read more

The limitations of the DVD medium and Xbox 360 hardware have not forced id to cut content from all versions of Rage (PC, PS3, 360), the studio has told Shacknews.

Following a report that id had removed "significant content" from all versions of the shooter so the game would fit onto two Xbox 360 DVDs, id Software's Tim Willits denied that the Xbox 360 version required the studio to sacrifice its vision for the game.

"There was NO CONTENT removed from RAGE because of the 360--NONE AT ALL," wrote Willits. "We feel the 360 is a great platform and will provide a fantastic Rage experience."

id has previously stated that the Xbox 360 version of Rage will look worse than its PC and PS3 counterparts due to the limitations of the DVD medium. The studio had hoped to circumvent this by spreading the 360 release across three DVDs, though Microsoft's royalty rates apparently make anything beyond two discs financially impracticable.

Willits' unedited response follows:

During my talk today I mentioned that we originally wanted to have around 5 or 6 smaller wasteland environments but later decided... Read more