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Quake IV Confirmed For QuakeCon

Posted by Zonk on from the q4arena-expected-to-0wn dept.

Gamespot has the word that Quake IV will get some face time at QuakeCon this year. id CEO Hollenshead released the information at the Xbox Doom 3 launch event. From the article: "Over the past few years, PC game sales have either declined a little bit or stayed relatively flat, while console game sales have seen mostly double-digit growth. I don't know if we'll be releasing multiple SKUs at the same time, but as for PS3 and Xbox 2 and so on, yes, we will continue our development effort on the consoles."

8 of 119 comments (clear)

  1. PC game decline by OAB_X · · Score: 3, Insightful

    A lot of the decline in PC games is the lack of marketing, lack of (good) original titles, and high initial cost to get started with it.

    Lots of console games are being released on the PC, and a lot of PC games released on the consoles. Consoles attract more money to developers because there is a larger installed userbase, PC Gamers need to be a bit more tech savvy then their console brothers and sisters to get games to work, and the keyboard/mouse configuration is less intuitive then a gamepad.

    Having said that, I like PC Gaming MUCH better.

    1. Re:PC game decline by Black+Pete · · Score: 3, Insightful

      PC Gamers need to be a bit more tech savvy then their console brothers and sisters to get games to work

      I can't agree with this enough. When you want to play a game on the console, all you have to do is walk into a store, buy the game, unwrap the box, pop a bottle of beer, pop the disc into the console, and you're playing.

      This is not the case with the PC. You've got to have the latest drivers, make sure the drive is clutter-free, no background apps hogging all CPU resources, etc. before you finally pop in the disc to begin "installing" the game (and experience all the joys that goes with installing any game - CD shuffling, failed installs, etc.) I'm not even going to touch the Steam issue...

      Why can't PC games just allow you to pop in a disc and begin playing? These days pretty much everyone should have a high-speed CD reader at the very least, if not a DVD drive, so the "games run faster on the HDD" excuse isn't a valid reason these days.

      I consider myself a hardcore gamer -- heck I write game software for a living -- but these days I find myself buying console games specifically to avoid the hassles of PC gaming installation issues. After a long day of staring at code on a monitor, the last thing I want to do is tinker around with computers when I get home.

    2. Re:PC game decline by nc_yori · · Score: 4, Insightful

      As a programmer you should know that CD/DVD read speeds can't even compare to HDD read speeds. Playing from disc also hurts the issue of disk swapping ("Please insert Cinematics Disc.....Please insert Play Disc).

      It's true that installation can be a pain in the ass, but playing from HDD means that I can bust out an ISO and put away my easy-to-break CD/DVD media in a safe place.

      That also begs the issue of additional content. It's no trouble to download or purchase new content for games, or even to make my own. What if I want the new levels for Halo 2 but don't want to shell out for Xbox Live? I'm SOL.

      I think this just proves that PC vs. console is an issue of preference. IMHO, the decline of PC gaming comes from lack of interest from publishers. How much longer does the PC port of GTA:San Andreas take to come out than the PS2 version? Will Devil May Cry 3 ever be on PC? What about Metal Gear Solid 3?

    3. Re:PC game decline by Satertek · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Why can't PC games just allow you to pop in a disc and begin playing?

      LiveCD Linux distros have really brought out the possiblility for this on the PC. Already there are LiveCDs with games like America's Army and the Return to Castle Wolfenstein expansion. Game saves could be stored on USB sticks or over the internet.

      All it would take is one big company to step in a try it. And since PC games need to switch to the DVD format anyway, there would be plenty of space for the LiveCD Linux version, in addition to the Windows version of the game.

      After looking around for any sign of life in this area, I couldn't find any. I'll guess that the game patches proved too much an inconvience, as the creator would have to remake the LiveCD after every update. It still looks like a promising area that should be looked into, however.

      Linux aside, this should be an option in Windows as well. I personally would not use it, as I like being able to play games without scrambling for CDs, but it would be nice for games played infrequently.

    4. Re:PC game decline by Elranzer · · Score: 3, Insightful

      heck I write game software for a living -- but these days I find myself buying console games specifically to avoid the hassles of PC gaming installation issues.

      How's Electronic Arts been hiring these days?

      (Seriously, though, I agree with you. And I'd like to take it a step further.... these issues of swapping Play and Cinema discs, multi-disc installs, etc, would all be moot if the PC game companies would just switch to DVD-ROM. I sometimes wonder why I even have a DVD-ROM in my computer. Hasn't DVD technology been out for what, 10 years already?? Most people have a CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo or even a DVD+/-RW drive in their computer, let alone a DVD-ROM drive at all, so I don't think that's an issue. Why would a company who designs games specifically for $500 graphics cards worry that the PC gamer might not have a $20 DVD-ROM drive to play it from??)

  2. Re:Mouse and keyboards by kafka47 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    As someone who until recently did all his FPS gaming on consoles, I have to say I prefer a dual-analog controller over a mouse and keyboard.

    I would invite you to bring your favourite FPS game and your dual-analog controller online... and play against us PC-based mouse users anytime. :-)

    I wouldn't be so sure that everyone playing FPS on consoles is in a rush to get a mouse and keyboard set up

    They will if it means not losing anymore. :-)
    /Kafka
  3. Re:More Space Marines by edwdig · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Quake 1 felt totally different than Doom. Quake's atmosphere felt medieval. Replace the shotgun with a crossbow and you could've released Quake as a sequel to Heretic.

    Quake 2 I can't really comment on. To me it felt totally different than Quake 1, and never managed to hold my interest past level 2 or so.

  4. Re:Are you kidding???? by JonathanBoyd · · Score: 4, Insightful
    If you're NOT kidding, you're completely out of your mind. [snip] I spanked them... even the "I finished Goldeneye on 00 Level" guys. And I don't just mean I won. I totally dominated. And on real FPSs, I was never really even that GOOD.... strictly average. But playing with those POS console controllers, and their associated crutches (cheats like auto-aim, for example) instilled so many bad habits into them that even the best were all but helpless against just an average "mouse and keyboard" player.

    Surely this proves the point? If a mouse and keyboard was more intuitive and easier to pick up than a controller, then they wouldn't have had too many problems playing against you.

    Oh and mocking beating the game on 00 agent mode without having done it yourself doesn't add any credibility to your claims. Same goes for your lack of knowledge that auto-aim can be turned off for multiplayer.