This week's quote-machine John Carmack has already voiced his opinion on the PS3 and Nintendo. And he doesn't stop there. Oh, no, in that long Game Informer sitdown, Carmack dishes up his feelings on Microsoft's Vista, saying:

Nothing is going to help a new game by going to a new operating system. There were some clear wins going from Windows 95 to Windows XP for games, but there really aren't any for Vista... They're really grasping at straws for reasons to upgrade the operating system. I suspect I could run XP for a great many more years without having a problem with it.

That sure's blunt. Can't wait for Carmack impressions on the iPhone, cold feet and moldy oranges! Brian Ashcraft

Vista... Meh [Games Industry]

PS3 or Xbox 360? Quickly, which do you like? John Carmack (creator of Doom, Quake ) has been "pulling" for Microsoft. While he likes the PS3 better than the PS2 and doesn't think the new console is ugly, Carmack just isn't crazy about the PS3 dev tools. He says:

But the honest truth is that Microsoft dev tools are so much better than Sony's. We expect to keep in mind the issues of bringing this up on the PlayStation 3... they're not helpful to the developers... I suspect they're not going to overwhelmingly crush the marketplace this time, which wasn't clear a year ago. A lot of people were thinking it's going to be a rerun of the last generation, and it's now looking like it might not be. I've been pulling for Microsoft, because I think they've done a better job for development support, and I think they have made somewhat smarter decisions on the platform. It's not like the PlayStation 3 is a piece of junk or anything. I was not a fan of the PlayStation 2 and the way its architecture was set up. With the PlayStation 3, it's not even that it's ugly—they just took a design decision that wasn't the best from a development standpoint.

And just look at that pooh face he makes while talking about the PS3! Brian Ashcraft

Carmack On PS3 Dev [Game Informer via 1Up]

John Carmack, the man that brought us Doom, is now bringing us a cell phone game Orcs and Elves and possibly a DS version of, well, Orcs and Elves. The game is an old style RPG. Carmack tells Wired's Chris Kohler:

We're hoping to do a DS game version of Orcs and Elves, moving over and enhancing the cell phone game on there, which would be our first real direct entry back into the Nintendo world.

Entry back into the Nintendo world?

We've never had a close, good relationship with Nintendo from like way back... and we were always just kind of peeved at the whole Nickelodeon censor arrangement with Nintendo. So we've kept them at arm's length for many console generations now.

Good news. Heck, I'd be interested to see a Carmack Wii-shooter. Who wouldn't? Brian Ashcraft

Carmack Nintendo Keen [Game|Life]

id Software's John Carmack says he's out of the private space race.

Pixel, the rocket make with his company Armadillo Aerospace, tipped over anc crashed shortly after its second attempt at take-off. This is the second time the rocket has crashed, and Carmack says it will be the last.

"Pixel is probably not going to fly again," Carmack said in a post-crash interview. "It's down for the count."

Maybe he can get back to games that crash now. Brian Crecente

Carmack's Rocket Crashes [Aus Gamer]

Legendary Doom and Quake programmer John Carmack gave the keynote speech at this year's QuakeCon 2006.

• id's next title will be a 3D action title that will be their biggest diversion since Wolfenstein.
• While they will be developing their next game simultaneously on the XBOX 360, their primary development platform is still the PC.
• Has thought about porting cell phone games over to the Nintendo DS.

Carmack's long-winded talk clocked in at well over an hour. What can we say, Carmack's a talker. Brian Ashcraft

Watch Here [Planet Quake 4] via Fragland

Not John Carmack's art, but John Carmack art? The Doom/Quake creator gets a send-up in textured polyurethane. Game artist Brody Condon produced this 650 Polygon Quake Carmack in jeans and a t-shirt. 'Cos even if Carmack were blastin' monsters in-game, he likes to be comfortable. Brian Ashcraft

Watch It Here [TMPSpace] via Aeropause

Keith Stuart over at The Guardian's Gamesblog did a short email Q&A with John Carmack that just went up on the site. The interview hits a lot of interesting ground for just seven questions. They discuss Doom RPG, gaming on cell phones, the future of the PC market, Carmack's next big thing and the state of indie development. Here's a taste:

I interviewed Peter Molyneux recently and he argued that the videogame industry is too cautious and brand-obsessed these days - he theorised that if things had been the same when Id started out, Doom might never have been published - at least not through traditional retail channels. Do you agree? Has the 'two guys in a garage inventing the next big thing' dream really been killed off by the big publishers?

Well, Doom wasn t originally published through traditional retail channels, it was shareware. The tremendous success there led to the retail release of Doom 2. A similar thing could certainly still happen today, but probably not with a media rich triple-A game title that takes tens of millions of dollars to develop. An independent breakout needs to be clever and cost effective.

I think Stuart did an admirable job, email Q&As are always a pain in the ass because you have to anticipate a lot and can't ask follow-up questions.

A brief John Carmack Interview [Gamesblog]

Doom designer John Carmack's spaceship will be shown at the X Prize Cup on Oct. 6. The nine companies showing their shuttles, including Carmack's Armadillo Aerospace, won't be heading into orbit just yet the event's altitude is restricted to "low." Carmack told Wired that his spacecraft could be in space as early as next year. The October event will mark the first time the 10-foot-tall spaceship has been seen by the public. Carmack could see a return on his $2.5 million investment in the project if the military contracts the design for use. Space shuttles are cool and all, but when will Carmack and the military strike a deal to make a real-life version of the BFG9000?

Doom Rocket Man Preps for Liftoff [Wired]

John Carmack announced at this year's QuakeCon that the source code for Quake 3 Arena will be hitting the net soon. Carmack went on to sing the praises of the Xbox 360, calling it the best development environment he's seen in a console.

All Hail [Wonderland]