Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop CultureMasters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture
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This book manages, for the most part, to keep clear of the breathless techno-hagiography style that characterizes many books with similar subjects. He tells the story of Carmack, Romero, and id--which includes far more than Doom and its successors--in novel style, and he's done a good job of keeping the action flowing and the characters' motivations clear. Some of the quoted passages of dialog sound like idealized reconstructions that probably never came from the lips of real people, but this is an entertaining and informative book, of interest to anyone who's let rip with a nail gun. --David Wall
Topics covered: The biographies of John Carmack and John Romero, and of their company, id Software. The development and marketing of all major id games (including Wolfenstein, Doom, Doom II, and Quake) get lavish attention.
- Paperback: 10 pages (2004-05-11)
- Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks; 2004-05-11
- Label: Random House Trade Paperbacks
- Studio: Random House Trade Paperbacks
- ISBN: 0812972155
- Sales Rank in Books: #110274
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38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:  A Classic Business Parable, By This review is from: Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture (Hardcover) Americans spend more money on electronic games than they do on movie tickets. Much of the enthusiasm for the games comes from "Doom" which was released ten years ago. Every gamer knows about Doom, and every parent who had not already worried about it was able to worry about it after it was blamed for inspiring the Columbine murderers. Doom was the brainchild of two gamers and computer geeks who are among the army of dweebs changing the way the world does things electronically. Its huge success merits study and understanding, and in _Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture_ (Random House) by David Kushner, it gets just the sort of exciting and weird history that ought to bring enchantment to gamers, envy to investors, and enjoyment to anyone interested in our modern ways of amusing ourselves.Their many fans call them "The Two Johns," John Carmack and John Romero. They were both products of broken homes, and of the years when video games were...Read more 15 of 15 people found the following review helpful: Absolutely stunning, By Brian Taylor (St. Louis, MO USA) - See all my reviews This review is from: Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture (Hardcover) I cannot give this book any higher praise than I will now attempt to bestow.This is a fascinating account of perhaps the most intriguing story in the world of computer gaming: the story of id Software's rise to prominence through the development of Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake, as well as the highly publicized split between the two men most responsible for these blockbusters, the two Johns: John Carmack and John Romero. The book is not only an entertaining blow-by-blow account of the events that transpired in this story, but is also a cunningly crafted and penetrating look inside the psyche and personality of two fascinating human beings, and the wild initial success of colloboration followed by the bitter conflict bred by the polar forces that drove them. As such, its appeal transcends that of the video gaming community; it is a marvelous case study in sociology as well as a chronicle of the creation of computer games. Masters of Doom is ultimately a "rise and...Read more 19 of 23 people found the following review helpful: Pizza, Diet Coke, Games, and All Night Programming!, By sporkdude "sporkdude" (San Jose, Ca United States) - See all my reviews This review is from: Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture (Hardcover) In this book, David Kushner documents the lives of two influential game programmers, John Romero and John Carmack - the guys who created Doom and id Software. It chronicles the lives, the company, the gaming industry, and the impact of these two young computer geniuses. It's a quick, fluid read that is not only entertaining, but is awe inspiring as well. This is a fascinating book on many fronts. It describes how two kids got into games from the early childhoods, describes their fascination with computers in general, and their dreams. It goes from a tale of two kids with ideas, to their technological innovations, to business start, to their monumental growth, and finally to their fallout. It sheds light not only independent game programming, but of the type of people who develop and play these first person shooters like Doom. Not only is this a biography, or a game book, it's also sort of the "startup.com" of the gaming world. With a good mixture of business,...Read more |
