Video: John Carmack gives frank analysis of 'Rage' flop at QuakeCon

Carmack's Id Software can be credited with several significant contributions to the first-person shooter genre, with Wolfenstein (1992), Doom (1993), and Quake (1996) to its name, and Doom 4 on the way.

Rage was a technologically ambitious post-apocalyptic shooter with driving elements mixed in, but despite positive reviews was felt to fall short of its predecessors' genre-defining standards and had too broad a thematic overlap with the older Borderlands and Fallout 3.

Carmack didn't confirm a sequel to Rage but did concede that he had considered the merits of making one now that the basic structure is in place, later admitting that the company must get used to developing games faster instead of being lured by the appeal of creating more advanced game engines.

Current project Doom 3: BFG is a return to the no-nonsense demon-meets-shotgun days of video gaming's past -- one both celebrated and lampooned in 2011's Serious Sam 3: BFE -- and the significantly enhanced remake is being used to try out some of Id Software's latest cutting edge techniques.

The studio co-founder also had time to talk up the future of cloud computing and an ongoing interest in virtual reality headsets, with Carmack a prominent backer of the $300 Oculus Rift visor currently in development.

QuakeCon 2012 - John Carmack Keynote: youtu.be/wt-iVFxgFWk