Official and unofficial updates get their share in the limelight for the this week's Apple Weekend Warrior feature. Apple was able to sneak in a couple of updates for the iTunes and the Mac OS X just before the weekend hit, while homebrew developers came up with their own releases for their respective projects. Read more about the latest happenings in and around the Apple scene after the jump.

The iPhone's hardware is equivalent to the Sega Dreamcast, and almost at par with the PlayStation 2 and the original Xbox. It's more powerful than the PSP and Nintendo DS. Combined. Not my words. These claims come from id Software's John Carmack. More in the full article.

Since we covered a Quake port for the Nintendo DS earlier, it's only fair that the iPhone gets one as well, right? Developer ZodTTD recently released a new homebrew port of id Software's popular shooter for the iPhone and iPod touch. Find out how the game plays and looks like on your favorite Apple gadget by reading our full article after the jump.

If you're tired of the usual LAN party set-up (computers sitting side-by-side, gamers hollering at other gamers' ears), then consider this as a good alternative. Homebrew developers from HermitWorks managed to get Quake 3 to work on the iPod touch, and even enabled multiplayer for the portable media player. Want to get a taste of the itty-bitty action? Hit the full article for the video.

John Carmack, co-founder of id Software, expressed his opinion on the potential of Apple's newly unveiled SDK package. He admits the possibilites it can give third party developers who want a slice of the cake the Cupertino-based company is offering. Find out what else Carmack had to say in the full article after the jump.

Video gaming site Shacknews recently scored a huge interview with id software's Todd Hollenshead and Tim Willits. In it, both men talk about Rage, id's upcoming title for the Mac, PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 platforms.

First off, the setting. Rage takes place after a comet hit Earth and wiped out civilization. While civilization tries to rebuild itself, players will take on the role of the hero as they try to help the remnants of humanity fight back against the new regime that's risen.

Surprisingly enough for an id title, there's a lot of racing involved in Rage. Players can soup up their cars with modifications and upgrades then head on to different towns where they can take part in races. Players will also need their car to travel around Rage's world getting missions, playing through instances and even stopping in the middle of nowhere to admire the scenery.

Of course, Rage also includes a lot of shooting. As Hollenshead said, there's a certain level of anarchy in the game as represented by the "A" in the game's logo. Side content is also a big thing in Rage, and the game looks pretty big judging from the interview. Willits references Bethesda's Oblivion by saying, "You can go and just do all the missions in the story, like in Oblivion, or you can go do other missions."

On the multiplayer side of things, Hollenshead said that he expects the game to be online on consoles. There will be co-op but versus multiplayer has yet to be decided on. According to Willits, the plan is to let players "find someone who can go on and do some co-op missions. If you finish a few, you can go do something different yourself, then go find someone to do the rest."

To find out more about Rage, click on the Read link below. The full interview's a pretty interesting read so check it out.

There seems to be confusion with regards to publishing rights on id Software's upcoming Rage (PC, Mac OS X, PS3, Xbox 360). id Software's mainstay publisher is Activision, and many have assumed that they (Activision) will be the ones to release the game, especially its console versions.

It turns out though that the publishing rights still haven't been determined. Shacknews was able to get a hold of Tom Hollensend of id during the QuakeCon. He clarified that no deals have been signed yet between id and Activision. Now, despite this, a non-existent deal doesn't directly and automatically mean that Activision won't publish it. There still is the chance.

We're just hoping that they settle things already so that, finally, we get to even more footage of the game as it goes through development.

Imagine Unreal Tournament populated with single or multi-manned vehicles, each contraption upgradeable with spoils of battle earned with every battle, race, or both. Twisted Metal meets Unreal Tournament 3? Perhaps. But reports coming in from the on-going QuakeCon 2007 were sure that id Software's John Carmack identified the game as Rage - a new (possibly multi-platform) game demonstrating id's new Tech 5 engine.

 

Now details are currently very scarce, as the presentation by Carmack was all about Tech 5, but a visual demonstration pitting what appeared to be similar to Unreal Tournament 2004's Scorpion assault buggy against other similar multi-manned vehicles played into many a speculative imagination - including the fact that it (just might) be available to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 gamers, aside from Mac and PC gamers worldwide.

More information seems to be on the way as the prominent PC LAN fest continues toward August 5 - the anticipation culminating somewhere in-between when Carmack finally renders his keynote. But all that has been preempted with a short description regarding the "content" demonstrated with Tech 5. Rage was painted as a half running and shooting, half driving and destruction racing game, every aspect apparently focused on arcade action, team-play, and closed-track racing circuits.

According to IGN, the visuals were notably impressive. The demonstration touted the engine's graphical capabilities together with completely diverse detail emphasized, as the looped video coursed through the game's racing arena. More on this as the news whacks us back to Timbuktu. Keep your eyes glued to this space, folks!

John Carmack, id Software co-founder and technical director, was unveiled as a surprise guest during Apple CEO Steve Jobs' keynote at this year's Worldwide Developers' Conference. While that may not be big news in and of itself to most readers, what Carmack brought to the keynote is.

   

According to Engadget, Carmack gave audiences at WWDC07 a first look at Tech 5, id Software's new game engine. Details about the engine are still scarce, but Carmack did give audiences a peek at some of the features that come packed with Tech 5.

What we've got here is the entire world with unique textures, 20GB of textures covering this track. They can go in and look at the world and, say, change the color of the mountaintop, or carve their name into the rock. They can change as much as they want on surfaces with no impact on the game.

More details about Tech 5 are expected to surface come E3. Carmack also noted that the engine was being geared towards the Mac, PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 gaming platforms. Yes, the Mac. Carmack also revealed that another announcement involving the Mac would be made at E3.