John Carmack Calls Apple Unsupportive Of iPhone Games

Apple's lock-down policy when it comes to the iPhone has spurred a great deal of criticism from hackers and industry leaders alike. This time it's John Carmack of Id Software takes a crack at the Apple, criticizing their attitude toward supporting game developers, divulging that he and Jobs have had "a fairly heated argument" over the issue at Apple’s 2007 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).

“I have an iPhone right now and it’s a platform I would enjoy developing for but Apple is not taking progressing steps in regards to [gaming],” Carmack is quoted as saying.

Carmack says that Apple’s iPhone development strategy is working “from a business standpoint,” and said he’s not going to second-guess the company and tell them they’re “being fools or idiots” for not focusing on gaming.

"The honest truth right now is that Apple's not exactly hugely supportive of this. When they finally allowed games to be put on the iPod... in many ways it's one of the worst environments to develop games for. You have to work on an emulator... just all these horrible decisions."

Carmack has experience developing games for mobile platforms, having created "Doom RPG" for mobile handsets, along side Orcs & Elves.

Carmack said that he has expressed his viewpoint with Jobs, “so [Apple] are at least aware of all of them, but they’re not giving any spectacular signs that it’s going to be a big deal for them in the next year.”

[via GameDaily]