It's slightly forgivable and understandable if you are unaware of who John Carmack is considering he is not a household name like say, Hideo Kojima or Gabe Newell, so here is a brief rundown. Do you enjoy playing your Call of Duty games? Well without this man, First Person Shooters probably would have taken far longer to emerge onto to the gaming industry. He is the brainchild behind iconic and pioneering FPS franchises including Doom, Quake, Wolfenstein 3D, and Rage, all of which were developed by his founded studio, id Software. He is also literally a rocket scientist which has nothing to do with anything but come on, that's awesome.
Multiple media outlets have reported that Carmack was spotted demoing Doom 3: BFG Edition for the Oculus Rift; a head mounted virtual reality display simulator currently trying to get off the ground via Oculus VR and Kickstarter. The official reports are listing Carmack's new position title as the Chief Technology Officer. John Carmack may be playing a key role in development but numerous highly prolific developers including Gears of War creator, Cliff Bleszinski and Valve co-founder have also backed the project via various endorsement methods. Oculus VR company founder Palmer Luckey hopes to have a consumer version ready in 2014. It is unbeknownst if these circumstances will further delay Doom 4 which has already stagnated in development. John Carmack will remain tied to id Software though as Bethesda states:
"John has long been interested in the work at Oculus VR and wishes to spend time on that project. The technical leadership he provides for games in development at id Software is unaffected."
I personally am somewhat pessimistic towards something like the Ocalus Rift. It could exceed our expectations and not fail but in this economy, who is willingly going to gamble their money away on such an ambitious risk when the PS4 and Xbox One are right around the corner with plenty of developer support? I sincerely doubt people are dying to play a virtual reality edition of an antiquated and already subpar survival horror game in Doom 3. It is a step in the right direction but it is not large enough. The general support of such a revolutionary mind in John Carmack is still highly intriguing however. Are you interested in the Oculus Rift now? Or do you just want id to pump out Doom 4 already? Let us know in the comments below!