The "Silent Night" Capture the Flag arena—described as "a slightly re-worked version of an arena from Team Arena called 'Distant Screams'"—will get you a chance to settle your differences with rocket launchers, while everyone's dressed in Santa suits or slightly sluttier Vixen reindeer get ups. Of course, the whole thing is free, in the Quake Live way, so if this is your first time trying out the web based game, there's really no obligation. Play it or don't. See if I care!

Holiday Cheer [Official Site]

"Wolfenstein Classic was my original experiment on whether a first-person shooter would be any fun on the iPhone," he said. "It did surprisingly well for all of us."

So well, in fact, that Carmack finds himself spending a disproportionate amount of his time working on future iPhone games. Already id Software has released Wolfenstein Classic, Wolfenstein RPG, Doom Resurrection and this week Doom Classic.

Carmack said that there was a lot of "hand wringing" initially over the idea of spending the company's own money (there was no publisher to help fund development) on making games for the iPhone. Doom Resurrection, when it hit, was probably the most expensive game to develop for the iPhone, Carmack says.

But that internal concern quickly disappeared when Wolfenstein Classic hit the App Store.

"It did really well for us," he said. "It was Wolfenstein Classic that made the argument for iPhone development for me. We made quite a bit of money off of that."

After its success Carmack and id Software decided to launch a three-prong approach to iPhone development, working on classic remakes, role-playing titles and original games.

With only a few games out for the platform so far, each game gives Carmack a chance to experiment with development and the technology, he said.

While Doom Classic's touch controls may seem very similar to those found in Wolfenstein Classic, Carmack says there's quite a big difference.

" There were some important changes, like the virtual stick autocentering, changes to precise ramping of movement," he said.

The game also introduces a new control option that allows gamers to turn around in the game by spinning a virtual wheel. But only six months into iPhone game development, Carmack says he already finds himself "hamstrung" by people's expectations of controls set by his previous games.

"We're still feeling out what will play well and what people will like," he said.

Next up for Carmack is Quake Classic, it will be the first shooter that id Software releases for the iPhone that will include the ability to look up and down, not just side to side.

I pointed out that some in the gaming and development community have suggested that both Doom and Wolfenstein Classic control so well because they don't need to worry about up and down controls.

Carmack said that while adding another axis of control is tricky, it would be wrong to dismiss what the current games have accomplished.

"There is an excellent experiment that can be done here," he said. "Play the jail broken Doom and the one I worked on. There is obviously a large difference here. You can be dismissive of the game, that there is a limited control input set, but there is a lot of work that goes into that.

"Everything that has a 32-bit processor has had Doom ported to it, you can run it on a toaster, but it takes a lot of work and care to turn it into something you would choose to play. I had people showing me FPS apps while I was working on Wolfenstein, and they were all atrocious."

Carmack says that it is possible that a fully controlled first-person shooter just isn't in the cards for the iPhone, but he won't really know until he's developed Quake Classic. After that he plans to work on Quake 2 for the iPhone.

"I'm not sure if after Quake 2 I want to do Quake Arena or Quake Live for the iPhone," he said.

The problem is that while Quake Live has better levels it would require WiFi to play online. That's because 3G just won't cut it for Carmack.

"I was originally excited about 3G," he said. "I was told it could have 180 pings, but when I tested it, it was twice that. It was not usable."

While the Classics' line seems fairly mapped out, Carmack isn't as sure about the RPG and original games coming from the developer. He says that the next RPG game will be Doom 2 RPG and if that does well they will move on to the Orcs and Elves RPG games.

The only other original game announced by id Software is one that will be based on their upcoming PC title Rage, but that doesn't mean there aren't others in the works. In particular Carmack is interesting in getting parent company Bethesda interested in bringing some of their games over to the iPhone.

"I spent a bit of time talking to Todd Howard about the iPhone," he said. "We want to make something happen for those products as well."

An obvious choice would be Fallout, something that Carmack says has already had internal proof of concepts made. But nothing has yet officially happened with the game.

Carmack says that Howard, a big fan of the iPhone, is very supportive of the idea and that anything made based on Bethesda's games would likely be created as a joint project between id and Bethesda.

He added that he would be involved in making the game most likely, but that his time is "overloaded badly right now".

"At the very least I'm going to be providing code," he said.

While more people are being brought on to help with iPhone development at id Software, it's clear that Carmack wants to stay involved with the growing business.

"I've had tons of fun working on it as a platform,"he said. "I carry an iPhone around with me as my regular phone all of the time. It's like carrying around a dev kit in my pocket."

Carmack made those comments on Thursday, during the id co-founder's QuakeCon 2009 keynote speech in Dallas (aka the event that spawned the Longest Liveblog In Kotaku History).

Early in his address, he admitted that Quake Live, the multiplayer in-browser web re-make of Quake III Arena that went into open beta early this year, was not up to id's standard yet. Leaderboards and more community functionality around the game need to be improved, he said. Later, he fielded a question from the audience about the future of the game.

Carmack said he did not think the game could survive on Internet advertising alone, the only revenue-generator currently in place. Instead, he believes it will be necessary for the financial well-being of the project to offer a premium version of the game, which might allow players to host games on their own servers. Web ads won't suffice.

The Quake Live project is grander than Carmack said he had envisioned, which may be as much a factor in spurring this need for player payment as a weak online ad market. But the game, at its base, will remain free, he noted.

Carmack said the "beta" tag will be removed from the game soon, as problems with leaderboards and other tech are resolved. Mac and Linux versions are planned to go live this coming week.

Early in his talk Carmack said that the next year would prove whether Quake Live is a success. Later, when answering that audience question, he said the game wouldn't be able to be deemed a failure for two years. He hopes such a pronouncement won't be necessary, of course.

He said the game has been popular, with half of those who register for it returning to play it at least once a month.

This experiment will continue, with some tinkering that users may need to pay for.

[UPDATE: I should have just called this Quake Arena Arcade. Sorry about the "Quake Live" confusion.]

This top picture shows a bit of both with an official of some sort playing Doom II on an Xbox 360 while wearing a shirt that says Quake Arena Arcade.

The keynote is just a few hours away, we'll be blogging it live, but until then Totilo has walked through QuakeCon and witnessed constructions he never imagined. Behold the things gamers will build.

Doom II with an Xbox 360 controller.
It's the fake Alamo at the Gaylord Texan, home of QuakeCon 2009.
Lounging in the exhibition hall.
Your deputy editor wearing Gameskulls' $90 helmet-headphones. Better noise-canceling, they tell me!
Computers glow at QuakeCon. Or have liquid sloshing through them. Or are built to look like Galaga spaceships, as you'll see....
The Ventrilo racing pick-up.
The QuakeCon rules.
More QuakeCon rules.
Here's the Super Mario PC Nintendo never made. Also spotted someone rolling in a tower painted with Link,
The Lego Quake PC. Unofficial.
Lord of the Rings, maybe?
This one befuddled me, some sort of Nvidia special PC that had a Star Trek sign next to it.
Your Galaga PC of the day.
The Galaga guts.
And, of course, the Craftsman tool-chest PC.
The suitcase PC? Or was this a bomb I was supposed to defuse? Too late?
These people are having fun in the BYOC (bring your own computer) main hall.
And some Intel cards to wrap us up.

QuakeCon festivities were previously announced to throw down at the Hilton Anatole Hotel, but it appears that id Software and company have had a change of plans. That means, if you've already booked a room, it's time to book a new room, now at the lovely Gaylord Texan Hotel & Convention Center. Trust me, if you haven't been there, say for previous QuakeCons in 2004 and 2005, it's a fantastic facility. You never need to leave the place and experience dangerous sunlight!

"The Gaylord Texan is a perfect venue for QuakeCon and we're excited to have even more space and greater resources to deliver a bigger BYOC, better exhibitor area, and totally new events and entertainment for everyone that joins in the excitement," said Todd Hollenshead, president of id Software. "We know the magnitude of this announcement, but we haven't lost a step in planning for the biggest and best QuakeCon yet."

The Bring-Your-Own-Computer LAN is still planned, with spots for 3,000 gamers to play Quake, Enemy Territory and/or Quake Live. Nothing appears to have changed, save for the venue. Refer to the official QuakeCon web site for additional details.

QuakeCon 2009 Venue Info [QuakeCon]

"The participation in the open beta is 50 percent higher than what we expected," Hollenshead said. The beta was perhaps too successful, at least in the raw numbers, with a massive queue forming when the beta kicked off.

It was so bad that id rewarded the players who sat through the wait with a special achievement that showed an angry face with the words: Position in Queue 501337.

But Hollenshead admits the id Software wasn't exactly sure in the beginning that people who be interesting in playing a nearly ten old game, even if it was for free.

"We didn't know," he said. "I had my concerns. Are people going to show up?"

Quake Live is a free version of id's 1999 Quake III Arena played in a browser and supported by ads. In the first six hours after launch, more than 110,000 accounts were created in the game. Convincing both id they had made the right decision.

"There was an enormous response on day one," he said. "We were impressed with it."

The sign ups for the game, also showed where people were playing the game. The top four countries, Hollenshead said, were the U.S., Germany, UK and Poland.

Now the developer is working on the game's choke points, trying to iron out the hitches in the beta. They're advertising partner for the game, IGA, is also busy working to sell ads for the game, which appear on load screens and as banners on the stats page.

After id Software makes Quake live a success, Hollenshead says that the company may extend the idea of free web-based games to other titles.

"Probably, the next thing would be Wolfenstein Enemy Territory," he said. "I think that box games are going to go the way of the buggy whip."

See, the game is proving a little popular. Maybe too popular. I jumped on this morning to test it out, and instead of playing, instead ended up in a queue. "No big deal", I though, I'll sit it out for 10-15 minutes, leave the browser window open.

Then I looked at where I was in the queue. Think I'll try again next week/month.

The browser-based Quake Live is now accepting fans of fragging delighted at the sight of free gibs, just as id Software promised. All that one need do is register, download the browser plug-in and enjoy. It's a perfect way to shirk at your day job or, if you don't have a day job, put off gainful employment that much longer.

Quake Live looks to be very noob friendly, with helpful tutorials on everything one might need when entering the dangerous waters of online first-person shooters. And you can't beat the price.

Quake Live [Official Site - thanks, SS!]

Statistics are being wiped and inactive players from the closed beta culled as Id prepares for the launch of open beta testing on Tuesday, February 24th. Announced in February of last year, Quake Live is a web-based version of Quake Quake created mainly for competitive play, with rich matchmaking features and leader boards to keep the competition heated. The whole thing runs in your browser for free, supported by in-game ads courtesy of IGA Worldwide.

To sign up for the open beta, simply point your browser at the official website come February 24th.

It's too early to tell if the shrinking E3 has helped bolster id's own id-centric annual show QuakeCon. Usually id Software waits until the Saturday of the show to get official attendance numbers.

But Hollenshead is already sure that QuakeCon is the right way to host a gaming conference.

"I think we struck a balance of being vendor supported and still being in touch with the gamers," he said. "We had over 6,000 hours of volunteer time, that's like the polar opposite of E3,. which is all about business."

In fact id Software only officially showed up at E3 as a single announcement during the Electronic Arts press conference. They were there to tell the world that EA would be publishing their upcoming id Tech 5 game, Rage.

And even that had to be modified to fit in with what E3 and its attendees expect from the show.

"We were told you can't show this stuff because of these five reasons," Hollenshead said. "Last night (during QuakeCon) we had the bigger, better, more hardcore, not suitable for investor conference (announcement) for Rage and Doom."

[Pic]

Beta testers are given early access to the QUAKE LIVE website and game, and will help us test all of the game's features and functionality while offering feedback and suggestions.

Quake Live Beta Signups [Id Via Videogaming24/7]

"id Software is among the proverbial godfathers of modern gaming and we are thrilled to be working with them on their first title in our 'freemium' category," said Justin Townsend, CEO of IGA Worldwide. "This partnership is only the latest testament to the increasing acceptance of in-game as an effective, measurable advertising medium and a strategic revenue opportunity for publishers and developers."

While I know many of you folks aren't too fond of in-game advertising, this is free Quake we're talking about. It's not like they are delivering some Peggle clone or something. And the features? It's like they're packing a mini Xbox Live into the website. Seems like a fair trade-off for a few "Sponsored By" banners to me.

IGA is banking big on Quake Live, hopeful that other forward-thinking publishers will give the "freemium" concept a go. No word yet on when the game will officially launch, but you can bet we'll be keeping you posted!

IGA Worldwide Partners with id Software on Forthcoming QUAKE LIVE title

IGA Selected Exclusive Provider of Advertiser Sponsorships; In-Game Brand Integration Opportunities within Revolutionary QUAKE LIVE Portal

San Francisco, CA- February 19, 2008 -IGA Worldwide Inc., the leading independent in-game advertising network announced today from the 2008 Game Developer Conference that it has partnered with id Software to manage all advertising, sponsorship and creative branding opportunities within the forthcoming QUAKE LIVE web site and free-to-play version of the popular action series.

Created by id Software as an all-new way to deliver the excitement and energy of first-person multiplayer action to a broader audience than ever before, QUAKE LIVE offers game players of all skill levels a totally free and easily accessible multiplayer gaming experience and community through a single website at quakelive.com. Every element of the experience, including friends lists and communication, sponsored events and tournaments, matchmaking, stats tracking, and even the game itself is accessed and delivered free of charge through the web browser. Integrated with IGA's proprietary SDK, QUAKE LIVE will offer companies and agencies fresh opportunities to dynamically-target brands to audiences within a broadly accessible version of one of the world's premiere game franchises, while also offering gamers a totally free premium game, fun events and a vibrant, active community of other players.

"IGA understands game developers and game players which makes them the perfect partner for QUAKE LIVE. Whether it's been the ease of implementing their SDK or just their excitement about QUAKE LIVE, they have been fantastic to work with," said Todd Hollenshead, CEO of id Software. "As we work to bring QUAKE-style deathmatch excitement to the masses, IGA has fully supported our vision."

"id Software is among the proverbial godfathers of modern gaming and we are thrilled to be working with them on their first title in our 'freemium' category," said Justin Townsend, CEO of IGA Worldwide. "This partnership is only the latest testament to the increasing acceptance of in-game as an effective, measurable advertising medium and a strategic revenue opportunity for publishers and developers."

IGA predicts more progressive game publishers like id will create what the company has coined "freemium," or free-to-play premium games based on their most popular titles in order to attract new audiences and open new revenue advertising revenue streams. A recent eMarketer forecast estimated the current video game advertising market to exceed $502MM and is expected to grow 23 percent year-over-year over the next five years.

About IGA Worldwide
IGA Worldwide, Inc. is the market-leading in-game advertising network offering brands and agencies a single point of access to an exclusive range of opportunities within the world's premium videogame franchises. IGA's proprietary Radial NetworkSM enables advertisers to dynamically-target over 15 million uniquely engaged consumers and has successfully delivered campaigns for brands such as Intel, Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Nokia, Gillette and Unilever. IGA also provides brands with customized branding solutions including integrated product placement and co promotion. IGA Worldwide is headquartered in New York with offices in London, Los Angeles, Connecticut and Berlin.
For more information please visit www.igaworldwide.com.

About id Software:
Id - defined by Freud as the primal section of the human psyche; id Software, located in Mesquite, Texas, was founded in 1991. From inception to present day, id Software has relentlessly provided technical, design and artistic leadership as an independent game developer and technology provider. Transcending the games industry, id's iconic brands such as Wolfenstein, DOOM, QUAKE and Enemy Territory have become staples of popular culture for generations of gamers. More information on id Software can be found at www.idsoftware.com.