id Software released another trailer of its Rage video game today. It shows that this game, which represents the state of the art in the multibillion-dollar first-person shooter game market, is the title to beat when it comes out this fall.
ZeniMax Media bought id Software in June 2009, and it looks like it’s going to get its money’s worth out of this acquisition. ZeniMax never disclosed exactly what it paid for id, whose co-founder John Carmack is one of the gurus of video game graphics. Carmack created a game engine for Rage that enables the game consoles and PC to display outstanding graphics without any slowdown in the experience.
For the untrained eye, Rage’s graphics look real because you can see sparks, water flowing, muzzle flashes, and lots of details in the environment of the game. All of that is quite visible as you fire away with machine guns at rivals and they fire back. There are multiple things happening in the game at the same time and there is no slowness. That’s hard to do.
The Rage video shows that the game runs extremely fast, and it features a number of fresh ideas in terms of visual style, weaponry, and the cleverness of the enemies. All of that requires pretty advanced programming and artistic efforts. In October, 2010, ZeniMax raised $150 million in private equity money from Providence Private Equity Partners. ZeniMax used that and other money it raised to amass a wealth of game development talent that should pay off for years to come with unique titles such as Rage. There’s going to be plenty of competition for Rage, but few titles will be able to match these graphics. The game comes out in North America on the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 on Sept. 13.
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