No Multiplayer Beta for RAGE, Demo Discussed

These days, most videogames are trying to attract some player input even before the title is out, usually via closed or open beta stages that iron out the last bugs and gauge the reaction coming on release day. But RAGE is pretty much confirmed as not featuring a multiplayer beta and id Software seems to be thinking about not even offering a demo.

Todd Hollenshead, who is the boss of id Software, told VG247 that “I doubt there will be an open beta,” adding that “The demo question is hard to answer, because I don’t know what the development cycle will be like. We don’t have anything against demos or tests; we typically do that - probably - to a greater extent than almost anybody else in the industry, so my guess would be that we will have something, but that’s far from set in stone.”

It sounds like those who are interested in seeing RAGE early might have to settle for a piece of the game that plays itself while also measuring the performance of the system it runs on.

He also makes clear that all comparisons people are making between RAGE and other titles like Fallout 3 and the upcoming Borderlands are wrong from the onset because the id Software project is a shooter at its core, very much focused on taking out enemies and exploring the area but without complex leveling systems and gear setups.

Hollenshead has also mentioned that, at the moment, Doom 4 is too early in development to be shown around and that his company is not talking to either Sony or Microsoft about the wand and Project Natal. Thus, Doom 4 could, at some point when it comes out, take advantage of the new motion-tracking elements of the Xbox 360 and of the PlayStation 3.