When he isn’t dabbling in rocket science, id Software’s John Carmack is one of the world authorities on 3D graphics programming. Carmack, who recently revealed that he’s turning his talents to Apple’s iPhone (the graphics ones, not the rocketry smarts) for a “graphical tour de force,” has provided his two cents on just how powerful the cell phone personal media device really is.

During an on-stage appearance at QuakeCon 2008, the man who’s tinkered with each graphics tech under the sun likened the polygon-pushing abilities of iPhone to that of Sega’s late, great Dreamcast. Taking the comparison to more current game hardware, he said that iPhone is “more powerful than a Nintendo DS and Sony PSP combined,” perhaps even nearing the capabilities of the PS2 and original Xbox. Given his statements, we’re even more eager to see the two projects id is developing for the device, a “conventional mobile game” and the aforementioned visual show stopper.