Why do we still listen to what this idiot says?
John Carmack is like a fuckin fungus that wont' go away. JUST DIE ALREADY!!!!!!!

efenili

Soooooo... what's he going to do about it? Does this mean he will be producing some kick-butt games, or is it just a random statement?

misterwho

@reddingofish: Dude, have you been tested for lead poisoning???? get it done ASP!!!!

snitch29

It could be more powerful than a HP Blackbird and it would still suck at gaming because it's a PHONE!!!

reddingofish

I'd say nonsense if it wasn't Carmack, but I take him seriously.

Aaron Martin-Colby

Well after reading his bio on Wikipedia, i think the guy might now what he is talking about

snitch29

Early-onset Alzheimer's is a bitch.

ctthoqqua

John Carmack is more powerful than John Cusack and Tim Sweeny combined.

frigg

I am tired though, of all the games implementing the accelerometer...

I'd like to play a game while not seated on a level, please.

Wegmans

Where are the 3D chips in the iPhone?
Or is it software emulated 3D?
Last I checked software emulation sucked... Then again at low resolution, speed might be fast enough to fool everyone...

aec007

Its the JesusPhone.

What do you expect?

MadColombian

The iPhone needs some hardware buttons/analog sticks for gaming, I hate having to cover 1/3rd of the screen with greasy fingers to try to use weird and unresponsive controls.

J. Nadeau

It is more powerful than you can possibly imagine. With the proviso that you first strike it down.

Loonie

I fail to see why anyone should care what Carmack or anyone else says about the "power" of the iPhone. The proof is in the pudding, as they say. When they start coming out with good games, that will be news. This? Just hype.

weatherman

@Thanassi44: from a usability perspective alone. i mean, ninja, please, the psp has like infinity more physical buttons than the iphone.

Paradise

@Hectorvex: more powerful does not mean better for gaming.

leemajors

I can see how the iPhone clearly rules the cell phone market in the way of pocket gaming, but saying that the iPhone is better than systems that are designed solely for gaming? That's f'ed up. I hope Sony and Nintendo send a couple toughs over to Carmack's house and show him what's up. Either that or counter Apple's wad of cash with a bigger wad of cash.

Hectorvex

@Miranda Kali: Only if you jailbreak it. The Norris-bruising uses softwares forbidden by Apple.

Gann

iPhone Fact - The iPhone is so powerful, that it could actually bruise the chin of Chuck Norris if throw by a Chuck Norris clone. AND it could run ninety-two instances of Warcraft, calculate the average national rainfall of Peru, and show an episode of The Office whilst in flight to Chucks mighty chin.

Miranda Kali

ninja please. the PSP ALONE kicks the iphone's ass in terms of gaming.

Thanassi44

I'm waiting for the first good RTS to come out on the iPhone. Preferably with online head to head play.

Gann

Jobs: "Is this stack of cash big enough?"

John Carmack: "Sure"

John Carmack: "The iPhone is more powerful than a Nintendo DS and PSP combined."

John Carmack: "And it cures cancer too, right Steve?"

BanMeAgainBrianLam

I'm pretty excited for more games.. Namely Spore. Also Farcry will be great. Currently i'm loving Monkey Ball and Cro-Mag racer..

Wegmans

This just in Crysis running at 60FPS available on the iPhone app store!
Update: It looks like it's been pulled.
Update again: Now it's available again!
Updata yet again: It's been pulled again.

(Jobs is cackling like a kid burning ants with a magnifying glass)

BanMeAgainBrianLam

If Carmack says it, I believe him.

If romero says it.... ehh....

Parapraxis

Id piss my pants if they did a game like civilzation for the iphone

its a perfect game for doing a few quick turns and putting it to sleep for a while

Jakelshark

@Miranda Kali: and by using its gyros and accelerometers, it would align itself using the vibration motor to achieve the best angle to hit chuck norris!

Ariel_Wollinger

@Thanassi44: agreed!

Ariel_Wollinger

@efenili:
I'd assume that these are more or less his opinions and thoughts on certain topics rather than "random statements". Given his credentials, I'd very much take into account any criticism or opinions he may have on anything tech-related and worry less about how unexpected they are.

i_9

dreamcast was sweet...

Ariel_Wollinger

Just for the record, I only say this because he makes one-sided statements out of no-where all the time. You feel like he is being told what to say.
I don't deny his contributions to the gaming indo :)

efenili

Having talked with Carmack many times before (he's very approachable at Quakecon), and listened to his talks, I believe him when he says this. He is the main person behind some of the most advanced 3d gaming engines, and knows how to judge power of hardware. He's spent time coding for the iPhone to get a feel for it, and so he isn't just blurting out random things when he speaks about the phone. He's also very open about his relationships with companies, and would have said something about a bribe attempt if it had happened.

Carmack is a game programmer, not a fanboy. He also says very legitimate things about consoles, about the different PC platforms, and APIs as well.

His other comments about it, that noone is quoting, is that to get an XBox or PS2 quality game on the platform right now would require a budget too high to recoup the costs. The App Store is highly competitive on pricing right now and the overall install base of the phone is also still pretty low. Once the base climbs up quite a bit, such a high end project could probably survive, even while being priced reasonably. Noone is going to run out and fork over $50 for an iPhone game currently.

drakino

@drakino: Alright. We get it. You like Carmack. Why don't you just marry him already and have his babies?

stradric

@BanMeAgainBrianLam: (Jobs is cackling like a kid burning ants with a magnifying glass)

What an awesome metaphore... I've been looking for something to accurately compare His Steveness to for a while now, and that's just fucking perfect!

mcdonnr

@SigmundTheSeaMonster: get some sort of bluetooth setup?

Tsumi91

I want a GameCube controller adaptor for the iPhone. Anyone?
Or oldschool D-Pad+2 button plugin..

SigmundTheSeaMonster

if it's as powerful as a dreamcast, let's see Shenmue 1 & 2. and Phantasy Star Online. and Sonic Adventure.

Tsumi91

i'm still waiting for carmack to make me his bitch... sorry.

glaeven

@aec007: It's hardware. There's a PowerVR MBX inside the Samsung SoC.

dingus

can u psp and ds combined, can run Quake at the same time using touch aiming and accelerometer movement?

WHAT!? no?! oohh shame, my iPhone can do it..

lol

EL_RIEL

@stradric: Cacodemons are most likely not covered under his HMO

lpranal

@glaeven: Why would you be waiting for Carmack to make you his bitch?

As I recall, he never threatened to make you his bitch, nor did he ever tell you that you can't leave without your buddy Superfly.

Stitchopoulis

As long as it can play LocoRoco, i really couldnt care less.

There never was a game more perfectly built for the iPhone!! Bring it out already!!

malcs

...Still waiting for it to come to Verizon (yeah yeah, few more years at this rate), oh yeah, and by then they need a good RPG (FF port maybe, if it is as good as they say it is).

Lestat

reminds me when Sony started rumors that they may not release PS2 in the US because it was so powerful you could launch missiles from it.

Isn't the iPhone just using an Arm processor like the DS anyway?

Optimus-Prime

@SigmundTheSeaMonster: Agreed; However, it would have to be ubertiny...something you could easily carry around in a pocket, or backpack/man-bag type thing.

Chromeo

@EL_RIEL: I suppose it can't. But the question is: Do I really want to have to move around by tilting the DS or PSP... no. Nintendo has already done that sort of thing with pinball, kirby, and warioware games for the game boy... It's not something I'm interested in. But even so, I think they're adding support for it to the DS.

DS > PSP > iPhone for gaming.

Rabid Penguin

I am sitting on my desk watching crash bandicoot kart running on my ipod touch...and all i can say is....O RLY??

Mike918

If I can see it play GTA Vice City Stories better than the PSP then I'll believe that ridiculous statement.

daftrok

So I totally said this 3 days ago.

Where's my article?

doobiebros2two

thats weird i thought the psp was suppose to be as powerful as the ps2. in terms of power there's a huge power gap between the xbox1 and the ps2. so saying the iphone is just as power as either of them means nothing.

llryuujinll

I've heard the iPhone is more powerful than the PS3 and Xbox 360 combined.

bartek

i heard BlueGene/P was playing chess with an iPhone... then got all pissed off and swept the chess board onto the floor then ran home crying.

i think you can guess what happened.

x23

PEOPLE! Don't be silly! The gaming ADD-ON will be presented by Apple LATER. Current new iPhone 3G is already ready for it. Have you seen 2 little holes near dock-connector with screws? Apple never made anything so ugly like that holes with visible screws. This holes was made for gaming keypad add-on and they're help to hold the device inside it securely. The add-on will be like PSP without screen - you'll need just to insert the iPhone itself inside it (with connecting DOck connector) - and you will have a real gaming device! THAT'S ALL! This Gaming add-on will be announced SOON!

VivianaHippodamia

People need to realise that iPhone game development started a few months ago while PSP game development started 4 years ago (or even longer ago if you consider PSP and PS2 programming to be equivalent)!
It's obvious the iPhone games won't be PSP-like any time soon, even if it is more powerful than Sony's portable (which I truly believe)!
But give devs a year or so and you'll start to see games that really push the platform! Only then will we be able to see if this is really true!
id's already working on an iPhone game that, according to Carmack, will be a visual "tour de force" and will push the phone to its graphical limits!

henri1kk