While QuakeCon typically hasn’t been a big event for Nintendo acolytes in years past, John Carmack made specific mention of possibly bringing a version of Quake Arena to the Nintendo DS during his keynote speech this year. According to IGN, Carmack floated the idea of bringing the game to the DS in an incarnation similar to the original Doom, with a more limited approach to movement controlled by the D-pad and forgoing the stylus based free-aiming system of games like Metroid Prime Hunters. No other details were forthcoming at the conference.

For the uninitiated, Quake Arena was originally released for the PC in 1999 as a highly competitive and customizable online shooter. The game quickly developed a dedicated following with an active mod scene that has been the proving ground for several prominent young game developers including Splash Damage’s Paul Wedgwood. Fans of DS homebrew may also remember the ripples of excitement that spread across the internet last year when footage surfaced of the original Quake up and running on DS.