John Carmack: Apple Looks Down on iPhone Games

Programmer John Carmack helped bring Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Quake into the world.

Getting his games on the iPhone was not so easy.

“My relationship with Apple has been long standing, but it’s a roller coaster ride,” he told web site Kotaku. “At the highest level of Apple, in their heart of hearts,” Carmack said. “They’re not proud of the iPhone being a game machine, they wish it was something else.”

However, the popularity of gaming on the iPhone has forced Apple to think different(ly).
And, now that former collaborator Graeme Devine has gone to work for the iPhone Game Technologies division, iPhone games may get the respect they deserve.

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Carmack calls Devine his “man on the inside…a real developer and I understand everything he is saying.”
Via Kotaku

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About the author

Nicole Martinelli is a San Francisco native who has lived in Milan and Florence, Italy. She's written for Wired.com, The New York Times and Newsweek. You can find her on Twitter , Facebook and Google+.

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Posted in iPhone, iPhone Apps, News | Tagged: iphone games, John Carmack |

http://thewillseys.us/scott/blog Scott
I think he’s on crack. They’ve been doing nothing but pushing the game aspect since they opened it up to app developers. Witness their keynotes since that time.
MrCrispy
I’m hoping that the success of gaming on the iphone will convince Apple that maybe they should start trying to convince more game developers to port their stuff over to os x.
I can dream, can’t I?
Gazoobee
I am so f*cking sick of John Carmack.
He is 100% critical of Apple 100% of the time, no matter what they do for him. They’ve even invited him on stage a few times and he’s all smiles and handshakes but then disses them in an interview the next day.
His (constant) criticism of Apple’s approach to Games may have had something to it back in the day, but he criticises them even when they are bending over backwards to do his bidding.
Besides which what does id software make that’s even any good anymore? For the iPhone they are selling crappy overpriced ports of their “classic” games from the early 90′s but selling them at the same price as a brand new game with better graphics, better gameplay and that’s just more fun.
Instead of just cashing in on past glory and p*ssing all over the market, maybe he could do something constructive for a change? he’s just a fat old money-grubbing fart at this stage.
Steve
wait, Doom is on the iPhone? Awesome!
BenBen
No wonder the most popular category on the device is Games: it’s the category where the Apple certification process put in the least roadblocks.
Are we hating ourselves, Apple?