It was just announced that id Software’s John Carmack will be presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s Game Developers Choice Awards, in recognition of “two decades of groundbreaking technical contributions, and his role establishing the first-person shooter genre with landmark titles like DOOM and Quake.”
The award was voted on by an elite list of gaming luminaries, including Ben Cousins (EA DICE), Harvey Smith (Arkane), Raph Koster (Metaplace), John Vechey (PopCap), Ray Muzyka (BioWare) and Clint Hocking (Ubisoft). Will Wright will present Carmack with the award on March 11.
Gamasutra did a good job of recapping Carmack’s many achievements:
Before heading out for vacation, I thought I’d squeeze in another “around the web.”
We’ll begin with news on Brink. Splash Damage Senior Game Designer Ed Stern recently discussed Brink in a new interview at Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Here’s a snippet…
RPS: The game is quite bright and exaggerated, however. Colourful, even. It’s going against a trend for photorealism, isn’t it?
Stern: I think we’ll see more of this stuff. Look at TF2 or Borderlands, they have unrealistic characters too. And look at all three next to each other, take a screenshot from each of them and none of them look alike.
In Fallout news, there’s new DLC reviews up. Here’s a snippet from a new review for Point Lookout at GamingBolt…
“With Point Lookout, Bethesda has given a near-perfect reminder of why we love Fallout 3 so much. This game is simply a joy to play. A dirty, morally questionable joy – but a joy nonetheless. If you’re looking for a chance to jump back into the world of Fallout 3, Point Lookout is a great place to start.”
id Software’s Co-Founder and Technical Director, John Carmack, along with his team at Armadillo Aerospace , succeeded in a mock Lunar Landing last weekend — putting them in a position to possibly win NASA’s Northrup Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge.
“The flight represents an achievement not just for Armadillo, but for the whole commercial spaceflight field. With NASA’s space shuttle fleet soon to retire, and the agency’s goal of returning humans to the moon uncertain in the face of political and budget constraints, private companies could play an increasingly important role in space exploration.”
You can hear more from John on the achievement in a web update on Armadillo Aerospace’s official site. Very cool!
With QuakeCon 2009 in the rearview mirror, there’s plenty of coverage to catch up on. Starting with Brink, G4TV has an interview with Brink Game Director Paul Wedgwood. Watch it above.
Switching gears to RAGE, G4TV also interviewed John Carmack — who discusses id Tech 5, future projects, and of course, RAGE itself. Watch this one below.
For more RAGE/id Software news, check out the links after the break…
Today a press release went out announcing the scheduled events for QuakeCon 2009 — set to begin on Thursday, August 13th (that’s next week!).
Those able to get to the Gaylord Texan Hotel on Thursday will have a chance to see id Software’s John Carmack deliver QuakeCon’s keynote address. Meanwhile, Bethesda Game Studios’ fans will be excited to know that on Friday, Todd Howard will talk about our process for making games like Oblivion and Fallout 3. Following the presentation, there will even be a Q&A. Also on Friday, Splash Damage’s CEO and game director, Paul Wedgwood, will deliver the first public demo of Brink. Meanwhile, folks will be able to see id Software’s Rage in action for the first time on Saturday.
For more on all the events taking place, hit the jump below…
Here’s some of the latest online coverage — in case you’re having a slow Saturday like me.
If you haven’t checked out Drakortha’s Fallout 3 fan videos, definitely give his channel a look. His latest video, The DC Chronicles Ep 3 – Tunnels (above), is quite entertaining.
Gamasutra has a new interview with Ed Stern — Senior Game Designer at Splash Damage for Brink. Here’s an excerpt from the interview:
Kris Graft: What about accessibility? You guys have a background in hardcore shooters, but I’ve always thought that something like Valve’s Team Fortress 2, for example, is a shooter that somebody who’s not good at shooters can still play.
ES: Well, that’s why we hired Richard Ham. He was one of the co-creators of Syphon Filter. He put The Sims on the consoles, which as far as I’m concerned is a superpower. That is a certifiable achievement. And he just finished Fable 2. He is brilliant at taking a system and making it easy to get into.
In WET news, Play Magazine has a new feature on Gaming’s New Girls — featuring the game’s lead character, Rubi Malone. WET also gets a mention (as does Rogue Warrior) in a new BBC article discussing Hollywood stars becoming involved in gaming.
In id Software news, in preparation for QuakeCon 2009, there’s a new YouTube video with CEO Todd Hollenshead making wagers with the QuakeCon Girls. If you’re attending the show, you’ll be able to find out who wins the best. Elsewhere, WebDesignDev has a list of the 30 Most Influential People in Programming that includes John Carmack on the list.
If you didn’t see it, today our parent company, Zenimax Media, put out a press release announcing the acquisition of id Software. Creators of world-renowned games such as DOOM, QUAKE, Wolfenstein, and its upcoming title, Rage, we’re very excited to have them join our family. Here’s a snippet from the release:
Robert Altman, the founder, Chairman & CEO of ZeniMax Media stated, “We, along with many others, consider id Software to be among the finest game studios in the world, with extraordinary design, artistic and technical capabilities. They have demonstrated, repeatedly, that rare ability to create franchise properties that are critical and commercial successes. Our intention is to make sure id Software will continue to do what they do best – make AAA games. Our role will be to provide publisher support through Bethesda Softworks and give id Software the resources it needs to grow and expand.”
To read the full press release, head here. You can also read interview with id’s founder, John Carmack, at USA Today and at Kotaku (stories here and here).
