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Doom 3's Release Date; Quake Turns 8

LehiNephi writes "Apparently, GameStop has an updated product page for long-awaited PC FPS Doom 3, along with the note: 'Official launch date of August 3rd, 2004 confirmed!', although the official Doom 3 site hasn't yet been updated, sporting just a 'coming soon' notice. [Blue's News also has further info, noting 'that the British Board of Film Classification has a DOOM III Listing with a rating for the game, a seeming indication that they've already been able to review all its content'.]" In related news, Ag3nt writes "One of the biggest leaps in PC gaming technology, Quake, celebrated its 8th birthday yesterday, according to an AmpedNews piece - there's also a birthday note on John Romero's homepage."

29 of 398 comments (clear)

  1. Believe It When I See It On Shelves by gbulmash · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Just Monday, the "Foxtrot" comic strip was joking how it seemed Doom III would never come out.

    Seeing a confirmed date on a reporting site, heck even on ID's site, seems like reading portents in the tea leaves. Even when they announce ship dates, these companies are notorious for having last-minute changes. Thirty-six hours before you should be able to pick up your precious pre-order, it's announced that you'll have to wait another two weeks... maybe three... they're not sure.

    I'll believe the release dates when I have a copy in my grubby little hands and not before.

    1. Re:Believe It When I See It On Shelves by Ignignot · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I prefer to deal with companies on a case by case basis. id software has almost never disclosed release dates until they were done. They've always followed the "when its done" philosophy of development. When they finally said it will come out this summer, I trusted them. The Aug 3 release date is in the summer, so if it comes out that day I'll continue to trust them where it comes to releases. The one thing that disappoints me is that they're letting quake 4 be developed on the doom 3 engine. :-(

      --
      I submitted this story last night, and it didn't get posted.
    2. Re:Believe It When I See It On Shelves by chimpo13 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Isn't any "Doom III out soon" an automatic dupe? Hasn't this been a topic since 1920? Isn't Doom the first of the talkies?

      New Star Wars sucks
      Doom III out soon
      SCO sucks
      Microsoft sucks
      XBox is great
      XBox sucks

  2. Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    If we were to take that poorly worded title literally, that would mean Doom 3 was released yesterday. W00t!

  3. Original Doom almost 11 years old by csirac · · Score: 5, Interesting
    ... according to this.
    10 Years of Doom

    Ten years ago on December 10th, 1993, id Software released the Doom shareware, forever changing the world of PC games. Doom pretty much defined the very young first person shooter genera, and set the bar for future games to come. With immersive, colorful levels, deadly enemies and some of the greatest gameplay any game has ever seen, Doom can be best described as nothing short of a masterpiece. Even to this day it is still cited as one of the best and most signifigant games made.
  4. The official release date by PovRayMan · · Score: 5, Funny

    "When it's done"

    Part of me wishes this was the industry standard instead of forcing themselves to abide by release dates only to output a buggy product.

    However the downside to "when its done" would be our favorite game Duke Nukem Forever.

    WHEN WILL YOU BE DONE?!

  5. I pre-purchased doom3 long ago by ekvin · · Score: 4, Funny

    My pewter mancubus is sitting on top of my monitor, where it's been laughing at me ever since I paid $10 way ahead of time to own doom3. All I can say is, it's about time! (... to upgrade my video card, that is)

  6. Hardware nightmare by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can't wait to upgrage my box to run this and HL2, then have to throw it all in the trash next year so I can upgrade to a Longhorn spec machine. Wheeeee!

  7. Skeptical by generic-man · · Score: 5, Informative

    I'm always skeptical about release dates, but at least two stores are consistent this time. EB Games has the release date for Doom III listed as August 3 as well, but the strategy guide comes out on July 10. You can spend three weeks reading up on the game and then kick ass at it!

    --
    For more information, click here.
  8. In other news... by jesser · · Score: 5, Funny

    Warez group announces August 1, 2004 release date for cracked version of Doom III.

    --
    The shareholder is always right.
  9. Quaking... by KoshClassic · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Wow, I can't believe that it was only 8 years ago. When the original Quake was released, I honestly wasn't that impressed by it. Perhaps that's because I never had such hot hardware to run it on. But, mostly I remember thinking that the main way in which Quake, as a gaming engine, improved on Doom / Doom 2 (which I really loved) was by providing a true 3D environment, as opposed to Doom's psuedo-3D. Yet, to me, Doom was so well done in terms of level design, etc, that all Quake did was make me aware of things that Doom did not do, but that I had never missed in Doom as I never really realised that Doom wasn't doing them.

    --
    Understanding is a three edged sword. - Ambassador Kosh Naranek, Babylon 5
    1. Re:Quaking... by Ignignot · · Score: 5, Funny

      Romero, will you never admit quake was better? We know its you!

      --
      I submitted this story last night, and it didn't get posted.
  10. More Importantly by smclean · · Score: 4, Interesting

    When is the Linux release date? Does it say anywhere whether they are doing a concurrent Linux/Windows release? Will there be a nice free demo, as is ID's habit?

    --

    "'Yrch!' said Legolas, falling into his own tongue."

  11. Wouldnt it be cool by WormholeFiend · · Score: 4, Funny

    Wouldnt it be cool if they modelled an Armadillo Aerospace rocket crashed somewhere on a Doom 3 map? ;)

  12. Oblig. PA Reference by marnargulus · · Score: 5, Funny
  13. id is the only reason I buy new computers by geekd · · Score: 5, Interesting

    id software's games are the only reason I buy new computers. Sure, I'll update my video card, or get a bigger hard drive, but as far a whole new system goes, it's just when id's new games come out.

    Quake 3 - new machine
    Wolfenstein - new machine
    Doom 3 - ordered new machine yesterday. (from endpcnoise.com - wife is complaining the 3 computers in the office are too loud. We'll see if thay are as good as they claim.)

    I wonder how much hardware worldwide id is responsible for selling?

    1. Re:id is the only reason I buy new computers by geekd · · Score: 4, Interesting

      How about donating the old computers your wife says are making noise to charity?

      I do, kinda.

      I "kick them down the line" to friends who just need a machine for email and stuff, and don't have the personal income to just go out and buy one (students, stoners, musicians :).

      Once upon a time, it was me on the recieving end of a free "new" machine, and I was very gratefull, so I figure it's my responsibility to keep it going.

  14. backhanded compliment .... by JSkills · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I just checked out Romero's homepage and although he mentions Doom 3, he also used the word "sequelitis" and goes on to list all of the sequels ID has produced since he left (as opposed to attempting to launch some completely new game as he did).

    After reading Masters of Doom, this smells a little like sour grapes to me ...

    1. Re:backhanded compliment .... by aardwolf204 · · Score: 5, Informative
      Incase anyone was wondering, it goes kinda like this:

      Wolfenstein 3D :: Wolf3d Engine

      Wolfenstein 3D 2 (Spear of Destiny) :: Wolf3d Engine

      Doom :: Doom Engine

      Doom 2 :: Doom Engine

      Quake :: Quake Engine

      Quake 2 :: Quiake Engine (beef'd up)

      Quake 3 :: Quake 3 Engine

      Return to Castle Wolfenstein :: Quake 3 Engine (Beef'd up)

      Doom 3 :: Doom 3 Engine ...
      ...

      So now we've got 3 Wolfensteins, 3 Quakes, and 3 Dooms. Each of which has an original and a sequal on the same engine, and a third on new engine, which gets recycled to make the next game.

      Whats coming next?...

      Quake 4 :: Doom 3 Engine (prolly?)
      Then what, Wolf 4, Doom 4.... I'm all for new and shiny, but at some point id needs to come up with something fresh. Their last new series was 8 years ago.

      --
      Im dreaming ofa big bndwdth, That can resist the /.crowd.May ur days b merry & bright & may al
  15. 8 Years ago? I'm getting old. by g00z · · Score: 5, Interesting

    "Those alien bastards are gonna pay for shooting up my ride..."

    I clearly remember when Quake came out like it was yesterday. I remember that at the office I was working at there was a big debate on what was the better game... Duke Nukem 3D or Quake. In the end Quake won, but not without some heated arguments in DN3D's favor.

    And of course, before that I remember playing Deathmatch Doom on the office lan on a 386 with a b&w monitor (shivers).

    --
    "The Wright brothers were the first to fly with a heavier-than-air machine, but boy did they have a lousy plane"
  16. I'm an old bastard! by goldenfield · · Score: 5, Funny
    Every so often, something comes along that reminds me that I'm 29, for all intents and purposes old, and probably not cool anymore.
    • I'm no longer in MTV's core demographic (12-26)
    • Younger family members think "Take My Breath Away" by Jessica Simpson is such a great, original song.

    And now this...Quake is 8, Doom is over 10. It couldn't have been that long ago, right? I got it when I got the first Snoop Doggy Dogg CD...oh, wait...
  17. Re:Impending Doom by iamsure · · Score: 4, Funny

    the third release is often a dissapointment. (with the exception of the original star wars trilogy ;-)


    Blasphemy. All Jedi had was a bunch of muppets.
  18. The 8th Anniversary by AntiChris · · Score: 5, Funny

    We celebrate id Software's ability to create more shades of brown than ever imaginable... and love every minute of it!

    -

    --
    From 0 to drunk in $20
  19. NVIDIA and ATI should give id tons of money by Lord+Kano · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It was because of Quake that 3d accelleration made it to the big time. When I was 21 I plunked down 200 of my hard earned dollars to buy a Diamond Monster 3d card JUST TO PLAY GL-Quake!

    Lots of my buddies did the same. Before Quake 3d accelleration was just a novelty.

    LK

    --
    "Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
  20. Gameshops telling release dates : What's new ? by 88NoSoup4U88 · · Score: 4, Informative
    They have been doing that as long as they 've been selling on-line. They don't know, but are counting on the people foolish enough to pre-buy it with them.

    I won't believe any dates untill i see a 'we gone gold' message from the id-dudes themselves.

    Setting the date at the start of August, would still be very convenient for the die-hards at Quakecon (12 -15 August) to have a LAN-go at it.

    Anyhow, I'm very curious , and patiently await the 'we gone gold' message.

    On a last note : Seeing that Splashdamage took the multiplayer portion as their part (at least leveldesign) i -know- the MP part is gonna rock my socks off, since they (co-) created the very cool (free) game Enemy Territory. For more info on this upcoming studio, check out their site, and give Enemy Territory a try, if you haven't allready. www.splashdamage.com

  21. Amazon has pre-order for $49.99 and different date by DJFelix · · Score: 4, Informative
    Amazon.com has Doom 3 available for pre-order as well, with August 1, 2004 listed as the release date.

    Oddly enough, they also have Half Life 2 available as preorder as well listing September 1, 2004 ...

    They will even give you a deal if you pre-order both at the same time ... I'm not holding my breath.

  22. Not that this post matters... by devphaeton · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's ironic (this story comes up) in that a friend of mine recently duped me into installing and running quakeforge. I went along with it because my gf keeps telling me that i need to play more video games.

    It's hilarious. I have a fairly up-to-date athlonxp system w/ 512mb of ram, huge fast drives, a decent surround sound system and such, but since i'm not a huge FPS player, my video card is still the old STB Velocity 4400 (i.e. a RIVA TNT) from the k6-II that now serves files from my closet.

    I get about 17 FPS in fugly-graphics mode, but it cracks me up. I fire up the game and all of a sudden it is 1997 again. All i need now is Duke Nukem, Doom, Sim City Classic and HotelChat, and i get all those warm fuzzies i haven't felt since the days on the roommate's 486.

    w00t!

    Disclaimer: i love both debian and freebsd

    --


    do() || do_not(); // try();
  23. This is *so* wrong. by LordPixie · · Score: 4, Funny

    I went along with it because my gf keeps telling me that i need to play more video games.
    ...
    my video card is still the old STB Velocity 4400


    The geek with the gamer GirlFriend has a video card that's more than six years old !! What. The. Fuck. Any gamer knows that those things are meant to be upgraded every six months.

    This is why it's so hard for a gamer to find a decent girlfriend. They've all been stolen by people with 30 times as much system RAM as VRAM. I guess the size of your Video Card really doesn't matter !


    --LordPixie
    </joking>

  24. Re:Doom 3 and the 30inch Cinema Display by cK-Gunslinger · · Score: 4, Interesting


    I think a "measly Radeon 9600" will be able to run D3 as well as HL2 just fine. The recent Doom 3 leaked Alpha runs on my Athlon 2600 / Radeon 9600 XT with perfectly acceptable rates. I can't actually see or adjust the detail level, but the default is still nice looking. I imagine that the retail version will have some tweaks and optimizations that will improve performance.