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Could Doom 3 be a Xbox Exclusive?
acehole writes "Doom III, id's latest and greatest in the realm of first-person shooters, may be coming out as an Xbox exclusive... if Microsoft has its way." This story is very brief, has no real evidence, and should be treated as entirely speculative. I'd be sad if Doom 3 required me to use the X-Box's controller. It's just not right without a mouse!
I am sure Id will make it available for other platforms.
I don't know the meaning of the word 'don't' - J
Where Is Doom III Going?
07-APR-03
An article in the current issue of Wired magazine confirms what a lot of gamers were suspecting already: Microsoft is actively courting id Software for the exclusive console rights to Doom III. According to the article--a feature on current developments in the jaw-dropping PC FPS--the company behind the Xbox is offering an undisclosed amount of money to id in exchange for the right to make their latest game an Xbox-only title as far as consoles are concerned. (It'd still come out on the PC, of course.)
The folks at id reportedly haven't made a decision on the matter yet--it seems a reasonable enough assumption (lead programmer John Carmack has made comments in the past that seem to show a preference for the Xbox), but we'll see how it turns out. The PC game will likely be playable at the Electronic Entertainment Expo next month in Los Angeles.
The Wired article also had one more interesting bit on the PC version: in addition to the multiplayer expansion pack Carmack hinted at earlier, plans are also in the works for a new single-player expansion pack, due to be released some time after the final product hits stores. We'll have more details for you soon, so stay tuned.
It's coming to PC no matter what, this is just for exclusivity on consoles. Perhaps you should have read the article...
These are in regards to console rights only. Doom 3 will of course be released on the pc. You will be able to play it with your mouse. Sheesh.
Karma: SELECT `karma` FROM `users` WHERE `userid`=138474;
the company behind the Xbox is offering an undisclosed amount of money to id in exchange for the right to make their latest game an Xbox-only title as far as consoles are concerned. (It'd still come out on the PC, of course.) Please! At least the Submitters should read their stories!
Really, I'm not out to destroy Microsoft. That will just be a completely unintentional side effect. -- Linus Torvalds
This makes a lot of sense, as the Xbox is the most like a PC of the 3 consoles. It won't take as much work for id to port, and if Microsoft is willing to pay them a bunch of money on top of that, all the better.
"The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than that of whether a submarine can swim" -EWD
They want XBox to be the only console that gets DoomIII. It would still be available for the PC. It plainly says so in the article.
I wouldn't believe for a minute that the PS2 could handle graphics anything like what Doom III is supposed to have. That even the XBox can handle it without significantly reducing the detail would supprise me. So MS is trying to keep Nintendo from producing a crippled port of their own. We care again...why?
1) No Mouse
... errr .. heared of.
2) No Keyboard
3) Slow GFX Chip
4) Slow CPU
5) No Hires GFX
If it comes out for xbox it will have nothing to do with the alpha version we have seen
RedShirt
Microsft spel chekar vor sail, worgs grate !!!
It may well be the technology that dictates where DOOM3 can play, as it's going to be very dependent on hardware pixel and vertex shaders. It could likely only make it to Gamecube and Xbox anyway, unless they cripple the engine just to get it running on PS2.
It talks about *console* version only being for the xbox and even says: "It'd still come out on the PC, of course."
Hey, I got a novel idea: How about if the editors acctually read the linked article before they post stories?
Don't trust the slashdot editors, they usually screw it up. If you RTA, which in this case takes only a few seconds, you'll see that the rumour is only that it will be available on X-Box and no other *consoles* - the deal MS is supposedly offering concerns exclusivity in the console market and nothing else. And if the rumour is true, it's basically free money for id, since they were not planning to port it to any other consoles anyway.
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... I will personally assassinate Bill Gates and firebomb the entire campus at One Microsoft Way.
I hardly see anything wrong with buying exclusive rights for games and development houses in order to make your console more attractive to the consumer. Nintendo did this (bought Rare), and I thought Sony did something similar with Square. This is hardly new behavior, and there's nothing inherently wrong with this. See it as a method of adding value by buying rights to things.
If you want Doom3 on a console, you'll have to buy an Xbox. That's the plan. It's not monopolistic, nor is it morally wrong. It's just a good way of doing business.
-Erwos
Plausible conjecture should not be misrepresented as proof positive.
It's quite obvious where Id's market lies...not with Microsoft products...I don't think this posting was necessary on Slashdot, it insults the reader's intelligence.
Sony did that with GTA3. Bought the exclusive console rights. No one seems to have a problem with that.
Considering that John Carmack wrote a ways back that the XBox probably _did_ have the hardware to handle Doom3, albeit cut down a touch, I don't really see your theory having much support in reality.
Remember, the console only has to run it at 640x480, no AA, and on only one set of hardware. Hand-tweaked assembly isn't going to happen for each computer platform, but I certainly could see it for a single console. How the leaked Doom3 alpha runs on your P4 2.4ghz is not really a good measure of how the final version might run on an XBox (or PC, for that matter).
-Erwos
Plausible conjecture should not be misrepresented as proof positive.
So, do you mean Doom III will only work on xbox linux ? :-)
If you own an Xbox, you do. :)
It just seems like saying that companies have done it in the past isn't a good argument of why it should be allowed. Just because something is the way it is doesn't make it right or proper even if it is good business practice.
I guess we should just let Microsoft be and buy up all the companies and rights that they want to.
I am over here... now I am back over here!
Too bad GamePro, Slashdot and other sites feel for it.
1) sell (exclusively license) doom3 to microsoft
2) profit
3) change intro screen
4) release doom4
5) profit
members are seeing something, your seeing an ad
Keep in mind that Microsoft has a long and rich tradition of buying anyone that makes better products than they do that they can't otherwise quash.
Remember Bungie, once pretty much the only significant Mac-only gaming company?
IIRC, id is a privately-owned company, but what if *you* were Carmack and MS offered to fund *your* rocket-making experiment, plus more Ferraris? Would you at least consider an exclusive license on one game?
I mean, here's what I'm saying. Carmack is a really damn good software engineer, and id is a really good company. Carmack's done tons and tons of work for Linux and other platforms -- he's been a powerful OpenGL ally, he's pushed Linux gaming, wrote large portions of the XFree86 GLX 3d driver for my Matrox card as volunteer work, has released all his games crossplatform (and I think id has consistently lost money on Linux releases). Lots of interest in Linux gaming came about *because* of his work, so he's indirectly responsible for much Linux gaming.
Yet, does him doing all this justify everyone expecting him to say no to lots of money *again*?
May we never see th
And even better yet:
"money to id in exchange for the right to make their latest game an Xbox-only title as far as consoles are concerned. (It'd still come out on the PC, of course.)"
I can live with people commenting without having read the articles, but now the editors add their clever comment without having read (or understood) the article
- We are the slashdot. Resistance is futile. Prepare to be moderated -
... and I highly doubt that Nintendo, with its reputation as a for-kids console maker, would like the idea of making Doom III (which is likely to be the goriest first-person shooter ever created) available on their console anyway.
As opposed to games like Resident Evil, Resident Evil 0, Eternal Darkness, and others?
Christ, just because Nintendo's core titles are pretty much geared for all ages doesn't mean they're not going to go for mature titles as well. Hell, they stopped censoring their games back in 1994, after they tried censoring the original Mortal Kombat and got spanked by Sega in sales as a result.
As far as the subject matter goes, though... this really is a non-story, as Carmack's been saying for a while that the X-Box was pretty much the only console he was planning to release Doom III on. Nothing to see here, folks...
But this rumor isn't that they are buying id Software, it is that Microsoft wants Doom 3 exclusive to the Xbox. It would be no small coup if it happens, either.
This happens ALL the time in the console world. Sony is particularly fond of this tactic, paying off companies like Square and Eidos (Tomb Raider) so that these companies' games will be released first for the Playstation/PS2 and 6-months later if at all for competitors' systems.
In fact, I'm pretty sure that Microsoft has already engaged in this practice with Konami for Metal Gear Solid 2:Substance. Just now is the game being released for Playstation 2, yet it has been available for the Xbox for a long time.
Exploration of space is much more important than monopoly issues on the entertainment market.
Owner of a Mensa membership card.
Yeah, but if they had actually reported what the article said, they would've missed the chance to bash Microsoft.
i dont plan on buying it for console, but i will purchase both the OSX and PC versions, cause you DO need a mouse and keyboard.
I want 2D games back.
Having not pried into the numbers of this field which are what ultimately determine whether any of your or my points are valid, allow me to offer a converse assertion.
Porting costs can be very high. Each additional platform Doom3 goes on will require (1) rewriting potentially large chunks of graphics code, if not other things if it turns out some things have to be squeezed a little extra to fit inside the console; (2) perhaps more expensive, extensive play testing to confirm the new hardware doesn't cause strange new problems; (3) creating a production line for creating media and packaging; (4) negotiating with stores shelf-space for an additional title; (5) providing tech support for yet another platform.
You seem to assert that for every additional platform the game is available for will mean more incoming revenue. Whether you meant this or not, it is not the case. Many people have multiple platforms -- XBox and a PC, PS2 and a GameCube, etc. Once more, some people may buy a new console simply for the newst, hot game out. And Doom3 will be coming out with a rather large amount of fan fare. If these two groups are a significant portion of the purchasers of Doom3, you start seeing diminishing returns very quicly -- perhaps even after supporting only two platforms (e.g. Windows and XBox)
Further, the game is already going to run in a Windows environment, doubtlessly. This means that XBox will be the easiest to port to, both because of a minimal amount of code rewrite being necessary and because the mostly stock hardware means that not as much XBox specific testing would be necessary.
You like splinters in your crotch? -Jon Caldara
From the May 2003 print edition of Wired, page 153:
"We're being offered a pretty significant amount of money to sit on it until an Xbox port is done." -- John Carmack
"It" meaning Doom 3, of course. So MS is trying to get Id to delay Doom 3 for all platforms until an Xbox port is done. (Presumably, it'd come out for the PC first without any outside influence.) Do you really want to sit around while Id finishes the Xbox port, knowing that the PC version of Doom 3 is done?
2) No Keyboard
FPS suck on consoles because of this. But it can be done. Halo, Goldeneye, and Metroid Prime are good examples. Although you can successfully argue that MP is not an FPS.
There isn't supposed to be a huge multiplayer element to Doom3. So computer gamers blowing away Live! users won't be a concern.
3) Slow GFX Chip
4) Slow CPU
I'm not sure what's sitting in your boxen, but I have an Athlon 1333 and an NV22 (GeForce3 Ti 500). But a game on the XBox should be able to outperform my machine. Mostly because it is easier to optimize for a fixed platform. My machine should be able to play Doom3 at "full impact". Here are a few statements by Carmack himself to that effect.
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=33453&cid=3619 372
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=38207&cid=4091 191
Personally, I'll probably get a GeForceFX when Doom3 comes out. Unless ATI drastically improves their Linux drivers.
5) No Hires GFX
I'm assuming you mean High Resolution. Console gamers are weird like that. They call Halo beautiful. I find it butt-ugly because of the crap-assed resolution.
Umm... id Software games have always been OpenGL based. Seeing how the XBox only supports Direct3D, and I don't seen why John Carmack would waste the time porting the entire codebase to Direct3D.
That this is like Sony making GTA PS2 exclusive. It means X-Box will be the only console it is sold on, but come on, the x-Box just doesn't have the gfx card for it. This is bullshit. If it does make it out on X-Box then it's going to look pretty nasty.
Is this also the reason Duke Nukem Forever is being delayed ?
no no NO in English, it would be AN Xbox, in American it is Da Xbox.
:)
Note : Heavy usage of sarcasm can be too difficult for the average slashdot reader to understand
errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
Exactly! Id Software is John Carmack and John Carmack is Id Software. John Carmack is the kind of guy that has his games ported to Linux out of the goodness of his heart, not because it is making him money.
Furthermore, John Carmack is also the same guy that releases his game engines under the GPL, once they are past their prime. Finally, John Carmack has also worked on open source projects... if I remember correctly, he helped develop Matrox drivers for Linux.
Also throw in the fact that the openness of the PC allows and the openness of Id Software's previous games veritably created the mod scene that spawned such things as Threewave CTF, Team Fortress, Rocket Arena... and arguably Half-Life, Counter-Strike, etc... Not releasing a PC port would kill this aspect of the community, or at least it would leave Id Software out of it.
Well, it *is* monopolistic, but that doesn't implicitly mean it is illegal (moral is another question altogether). Unless of course, the monopoly is *illegal*, and in this case it has been shown that microsoft has used illegal tactics to protect its monopoly from free and fair competition.
It wouldn't even be illegal for MS to take all its profits from selling its OSs and give it to id in order to seal the exclusive console deal - unless MS is shown to have an illegal monopoly in OSs (which they have). Even with the illegal OS monopoly, they could make the deal as long as the funds came from a product where an illegal monopoly wasn't held. For example, if the funds actually came from their console business (which is impossible since it hasn't made any money). The whole point is, are they using the unfair/illegal advantage they have in the OS market to enter markets they would otherwise be unable to enter. And I think it is safe to say that without their OS business they would be unable to continue to fund a console business that has been nothing but a money hole.
What makes you say it's not true? Did you read the article at all anyway? The article states that Microsoft is courting id Software to get Doom 3 to be a console exclusive on XBox. What's so unbelievable on that? I wouldn't doubt that Microsoft is courting them. Why wouldn't they? The game will obviously still be out on PC (as the article also states). Regardless, XBox is the only logical console to port the game to as it would look like ass on a PS2. And id would make a pretty penny off of it from MS, as well.
If anything, i'd ask Nintendo or Sony if they want to give me money for the rights just to stuff it in Microsofts monopolistic face. Carmack has enough sense to see the poor monopoly marketing MS is doing with the XBox (Selling at a huge loss, posting lame announcements bashing other consoles whenever possible, giving away free consoles everywhere trying to artificially inflate their numbers, etc) .. He knows if he gives them exclusive rights he'll be directly supporting a monopoly.
I doubt MS would attempt to lock the engine down to Xbox. The Offsetting cost would too large to make it worth ID's time. But I could see it happening though.. MS still needs to get a better market share to compete with the other consoles.. but once they are really in the ring and on par with the other consoles (as far as unit sales go) I could see them really toss down the gauntlet when it comes to licencing to obtain a monopoly on the market. I don't think the Xbox is anywhere near mature(significant enough of a market share) to make licencing for a game engine Xbox concole exclusive. But I think one of the big purposes of the Xbox was to maintain thier Monopoly on OS's... look at the power of todays consoles... They can easily be Usable computers.. if MS totally let the console market run away and not get into it they would have a serious pontial problem.. as they would have a bunch of platforms which people could compute on that they don't have a foot hold in.. The Xbox gives them 2 advantages as i see it. Firstly Its establishes a foothold in the console market which is another market they can exploit. Secondly it gives them added security of the PC as well as games will still be released on the PC which is thier cash cow since porting from Xbox to the PC is pretty much a no-brainer with virtually minimal cost to the software company. Which will slow down/eliminate the vast ammount of games geting released for consoles only. But in general exclusive licencing is not healthly for a market when done in excess. But when you get down to it... Truely unique games are pretty much unheard of these days.. What makes games these days are pretty graphics, game play and genre.. for the largest pay its game play (Playability.. how fun it is/control setup/game detail ect..) which is the largest factor if a game is successful or not. The only real thing about Doom III is that the title has a history of ground breaking quality of innovation in the FPS genre of games. Any game built on that engine should be able to obtain equivilant sales figures.. Which that is the only thing that MS or 99.9999% of the software development industry really cares about.
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The PS2's tech is about a year behind XBox, so I would expect it to at least look worse.
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I believe he's trying to point out that one could read the article and be deceived into thinking that the game is only going to the Xbox especially with the "It's just not the same with the mouse" statement. I think we should be asking Taco if he read the article.
In other words, [John Carmack claims that Doom 3] should be playable on [an original GeForce card] if you turn down the resolution and a lot of the effects.
And end up with 40x64 pixels and 1-bit color? In other words, Atari 2600, right?
Will I retire or break 10K?
Doesn't J.C. post here? Might he not be a little miffed at the unnecessary backlash and flood of emails he will likely get due to the editor's inability to RTFA? I hope so.
1) Your analysis is based on bad assumptions so your result is way off. 2) You're a sick bastard for fucking a horse.
If you actually read things, you'd realize that people are talking about the exclusive console version of the game. It's getting released on the PC no matter what. id isn't stupid.
I wonder what the outcome would be if iD released Doom3 exclusivly for Linux.
I know that Linux ports have never been profitable for iD in the past, but that seems to be primarily because there was a more accepted alternative: buy the Windows version and then patch it to run on Linux.
It's a given that Doom3 is going to be immensly popular when it comes out, regardless of what platform it's, so I would reason that this move would cause a massive surge in popularity of Linux among gamers.
It would be a good way for Carmack to give MS the big finger once and for all.
Besides, I'm not sure how OpenGL compliant the XBox drivers are. The only OGL software I've seen on the XBox is under Linux (which of course doesn't require the MS drivers). Wouldn't that be a kicker - you can play Doom3 on the XBox, but only if you install Linux on it.
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The PS2, OTOH, is about half as capable as the Xbox, and has a graphics system with almost nothing in common with the PC cards Doom3 is programmed for.
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