14 DAY TRIAL // John Carmack, the lead programmer of id Software and the man who brought you Doom and Quake said the he will not jump to DirectX 10 programming, but would rather concentrate on developing games for the Xbox 360 game console.
"Personally, I wouldn't jump at something like DX10 right now. I would let things settle out a little bit and wait until there's a really strong need for it," said Mr. Carmack in an interview.
This statement is not the first where Carmack attacks PS3 and praises the Xbox 360. The programmer of id Software called Xbox 360's SDK "refreshing" and even called Microsoft's development environment "the best of any of the consoles, thanks to the company's background as a software provider".
"I especially like the work I'm doing on the [Xbox] 360", he said, "and it's probably the best graphics API as far as a sensibly designed thing that I've worked with," he said. So in the world of games, it's better to be playable rather than to look good. This statement is actually true when you think about games such as Far Cry which was quite unpopular although at the time of the launch it had the best overall rendering.
Carmack isn't the only voice in the 3D realm which thrashes the PS3. Gabe Newell, the chief of Valve Software said in a recent interview:
"The PS3 is a total disaster on so many levels, I think. It's really clear that Sony lost track of what customers and what developers wanted. I'd say, even at this late date, they should just cancel it and do a 'do over'. Just say, 'This was a horrible disaster and we're sorry and we're going to stop selling this and stop trying to convince people to develop for it.'"
Back in 2006, Valve Corp. confirmed that they would produce titles for both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 but since then, no news regarding a possible project appeared. I don't know if PS3 lacks the features of a modern SDK or the programmers simply have a vendetta against Sony, but the criticism comes from two of the most respected voices in 3D. And when these guys talk, people tend to listen.