id’s Carmack: “Visually Stunning” Wii Games Possible

A graphically orgasmic Wii game? Programming guru John Carmack is considering the possibility.

Known most notably for designing the DOOM code and his current “id Tech 5” engine behind racing-action game Rage, Carmack’s knowledge of building graphic processes is unparalleled within the industry. Would it feel a little odd if someone of his experience began considering the Wii as the next system to push a major visual engine?

“Interestingly, I actually spend far more time playing Wii with my four year-old boy than I do with any other game console. So I’m definitely sympathetic to the platform,” Carmack revealed to MTV’s Multiplayer. “We’ve been pitched and talked about a project to do a title that would fit well on the Wii, and it’s actually related to an iPhone title that we’re doing. But that’s still kind of up in the air as to what other developer we would partner with on there. I’d like to do something there, because I love a lot of what Nintendo has done with the Wii and the DS, but it’s just out of sync with the developments that are currently going on at id.”

Currently, id is talking with Nintendo and its publishers about porting an id-original iPhone property to the Wii. He stated, “We have another title, which isn’t announced formally, and we’ve been working with a partner company here locally in Dallas, that is designed from scratch for the iPhone but using some existing id assets on there. And it’s very graphically impressive but we don’t have an official release date for it yet.”

In order to have a beautiful experience on the Wii, “freeform” games like Rage won’t work. Instead he’d op for a “limited-scope” title so he could “there would be a core bit of technology to develop there that would let it do something really visually stunning in a more limited game framework.”

“That would be the work that I would set off at the beginning of that,” Carmack explained. “But that’s something we’ve had brief discussions with publishers [about]. At this point, we’re making sure that the core gameplay actually works out well first before inking anything.”