Id Software through the years

Id Software is most closely associated with Doom and Quake (and its forthcoming game RAGE), but the company cut its teeth in the early 1990s with the "Commander Keen" series of 2D platformer games.

By David Grober, Managing Editor on July 8, 2011

1 of 9 David Grober/ZDNet

Id Software is most closely associated with Doom and Quake (and its forthcoming game RAGE), but the company cut its teeth in the early 1990s with the "Commander Keen" series of 2D platformer games, in which a young boy must defend the universe against the Vorticons and other aliens bent on wholesale destruction.

In ZDNet's Gamification blog, see Peter Cohen's report: Id’s Carmack: Phone game hardware to overtake consoles in two years

2 of 9 David Grober/ZDNet

Inspired by an earlier hit for the Apple II system, Id Software helped to popularize the then-nascent first person shooter with Wolfenstein 3D. While the game looks primitive by today's standards, it really set the mold for the first person shooter genre for years to come.

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Few video games in history have had the impact on the market or the endurance that Doom has had. Released originally in 1993, then revisited in sequels and remakes, Doom was even the source for a movie starring Duane "The Rock" Johnson. Doom introduced millions of gamers to the 3D first person shooter genre.

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By the mid-1990s, Id Software's reputation as the premier maker of 3D computer games had been cemented, so the industry waited with anticipation for the 1996 release of Quake, and it wasn't disappointed. A new 3D engine, audio and music created by Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor, and competitive Internet multiplayer deathmatch support cemented Quake's reputation for years.

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Quake II followed the original Quake's release, but the next significant change to the series occurred in 1999 with the release of Quake III Arena. By then it was clear that Internet multiplayer deathmatches were the game series' strong suit, so Id answered that by focusing Quake III purely on multiplayer support (though gamers could fight against computer-controlled bots if they preferred).

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Id Software's newest game, Rage, is due out in October for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, and it looks like a doozy. The game is going to be quite a different experience for Id Software junkies looking for a Quake-style game, because it, combines the familiar first person shooter gameplay with driving in a post-apocalyptic scarred Earth.

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John Carmack and Id Software have also been active in iOS game development, releasing half a dozen games for Apple's platform. Doom Resurrection features elaborate 3D graphics and lighting effects, but trades the franchise's typical first person shooter style play for "rails"-style play, instead.

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The original game returns, this time on the iPhone and iPod touch as Doom Classic. This time players can go head-to-head over a wireless connection on their iOS devices, or you can play alone as well - working through all three original episodes and Episode Four, too.

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Console and PC gamers don't get Rage until October, but iOS gamers have been able to play a rails shooter based on the Rage engine for some time now. Id's even tweaked the game to run with higher-res graphics and textures on the iPad and faster iPhones in a special "HD" version.

In ZDNet's Gamification blog, see Peter Cohen's report: Id’s Carmack: Phone game hardware to overtake consoles in two years

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