QuakeCon: Carmack Talks Blu-ray Advantage Over Xbox

Could the Xbox 360 version of id Software's Rage look worse on the Xbox 360 than on the PlayStation 3? Speaking at the ongoing QuakeCon event in Dallas, Texas, id Software co-founder John Carmack warned that two-DVD compression - as opposed to a single Blu-ray disc - could degrade the the forthcoming action title's look. As reported by Shacknews, Carmack indicated that the company had originally intended to release the Xbox 360 version on three DVD discs, if not for Microsoft's royalty fees. The game, due on PC, Mac, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, still has no solid release date, and Carmack said he hoped to reach a concession with Microsoft. If not, the game’s assets, presumably primarily textures and sound files, would be compressed more than originally intended to fit on just two discs – thereby reducing their quality. The forthcoming ability for an Xbox 360 game to be fully installed onto a hard drive could also resolve the issue. Carmack also pointed out that the differences between the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions were not related to the power of either console and was purely an issue of storage space. He suggested that the Blu-ray disc format was Sony’s primary advantage over Microsoft’s console.