Rating: 
Summary: If you want to know how it all started ...
Review: ... then read this book. Kushner has done a simply excellent job at writing this book. It is laid out in a simple, chronological manner, very well informed and fun to read.
The story of the two Johns and the rest of the iD staff, the living legends of the fps genre. Need I say more?
Read this book!
Rating:
Summary: Way more then I thought I knew
Review: As someone who spent a large amount of time playing Quake online, following Quake on the web, and talking about Quake on the IRC, this book was a very quick and highly entertaining read. It also provides quite a bit of insight into how some of the most important and greatest computer games were created.
The author clearly recognizes that video games are an art form, an expression. Like any art form, there is the good and there is the bad. The games by iD Software are great games, particularly the early games that this book focuses on. Quite a bit of the book focused on these early games, Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, and Doom. In fact, a surprisingly large section of the book was dedicated to Apple II games that the founders of iD software played and wrote and their time spent at the long-defunct Softdisk magazine.
The first games I played were on an AppleIIc and it was very enjoyable to read about. While I played a fair amount of Wolfenstein 3D and Doom I/II, Quake was my fix. Of all iD's games, this is the one that, once released, took a life of it's own the most. Reading through the later sections of the book that focus on Quake and the madness that ensued around it I came across many familiar names that I used to talk to, deathmatch with, or just know from living the lifestyle.
Anyone who was there (I might know you!) and was involved in the community will very much enjoy this book. Even though it was only a few years ago, I still find myself missing that time and this book was a reminder of just how exciting those days were. There were also parts that brought back negative memories, such as the public mud-slinging between Ion Storm and iD and the reverberations it had within the community.
Even if you never played any of the games mentioned, the evolving personalities and stranger than fiction success and failure stories are enough to keep you interested. iD software is DIY at it's greatest, and to anyone looking to become a part of the video game industry this is an essential read.
Rating:
Summary: You don't have to play Doom to love this book
Review: Great book, great writing. No superfluous "filler" chapters. I finished this book in a 24-hour period. Tells the story of John Romero and John Carmack from beginning to end. I found the book very entertaining, and I actually started reading it again on a plane flight last week. I didn't like the foul language, but they were quotes, so what can you do?
Rating:
Summary: You don't have to play Doom to love this book
Review: I am not a gamer and have only played Doom once when I was dating an engineer, but as an entrepreneur and start-up person I loved this book. Masters of Doom paints a very vivid portrait of a successful start-up company from development through to marketing and distribution. It is a story that reads like a great movie with rich characters passionately building something they love. I couldn't put it down and couldn't stop thinking about it for days.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely stunning
Review: 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 fall" tale, in a sense. id Software, John Carmack, and John Romero will likely never reach the heights they achieved in the glory days following the release of Doom, but it is arguable that no single company or individual developer will ever do so again either. The book is uncompromising in its account of the conflicts, and assesses blame only through the eyes of the people involved, without sounding preachy. Kushner assumes a neutral role and presents a remarkably balanced portrayal of the events, siding with neither Romero nor Carmack on the critical issues, leaving the reader with the accurate perception that both were right in their own way. As a budding game programmer, I found the accounts of Carmack's technological breakthroughs (complete with rudimentary technical explanations as to how they were achieved) fascinating and inspiring. As a game enthusiast who largely cut his teeth on games like Wolfenstein and Doom, I found the story behind the creation of these masterpieces enthralling. And as a human being, I found Kushner's penetrating account of two personalities and the fruits and poisons of their collaboration positively enlightening. David Kushner, you have done the gaming world an enormous service writing this book, and I strongly urge you to write others of its ilk.
Rating: 
Summary: Go to Holywood?
Review: I like a lot to read; but I struggle trying to finish a book quickly. This one is one of the few that I happen to finish in a record time (for me at least). I've read several reviews of people saying they read it in no more than a day. It actually took to me about 10 days. Reasons? My kids, my wife and my work. But, whenever none of these three "reasons" was asking me to stop reading, I was devoring the book. A standard book takes me several weeks and months to finish (I happen to read more than one book at a time too). Well, that's "about me". About the book, what can I say? The reason why I "devored" (in my own terms) the book is because I certainly found it way interesting and entertaining. And that tendency was kept from beginning to "almost" end (the last chapter was not as entertaining, for me). I am actually one of those guys that was part of the "doom" generation, with few months of delay (the game came to my country few months after it was released in U.S.A.); yet I was one of those that happened to keep until too late overnight playing doom (in many cases until the next morning, as the characters of the book). Also, I was quite identified with the two main characters: one because his ancestors roots are the same than mines (mexicans, I speak about Romero) and the other because his main concern in his life is the same than mine: computers programming (Carmack), despite the business, despite the money, despite the marketing, the strategy. Programming is his life, doors closed at his desk without interruptions (of course I don't program graphics, yet I program another type of computers systems and that's my main purpose in this life... besides my kids and wife). And both of them passion for DOOM, the game I have liked more than any other (even more than any Quake, way more than Unreal or Duke Nukem). And, to add to all those reasons, the way the writter describes all the happennings is very dynamnic in "almost" all the book. The way he describes the main characters gives you a seriously real idea of who they are. As some other reviewer critisized, non main characters weren't "well" described. But, so what? is it the story about the others? They're only "incidental" individuals that happened to be interacting with the "starring" guys: Carmack and Romero. At the very end, however, the "rithm" of happenings is kind of lost when the writter describes what has done recently Carmack besides his passion working at ID. I thought the writer could still make reference to Carmack's "other" hobby while at the same time making enough references to the current status (or the status at the end of writting the book) of DOOM III to keep the interest (that's why I give only 4 stars). I am more than "anxious" to see DOOM III released. Some times I'm afraid of creating many expectations and being quite dissappointed. But, what the hell! The story is, again, way interesting in itself as a biography and as a story of two young successful entreprenurs that could very well be made into a Holywood film (if we got "real life" films like Erick Brokovich, Radio, Pirats of Silicon Valley, and many others, why not the Carmack&Romero "story"?). Film Producers, don't lose a great opportunity!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent "Behind the Video Gamer Makers" story
Review: Kushner's book is a "Behind the Music" type of story detailing what drove these young men to devote their lives to making some of the world's greatest video games. You'll especially love it, if like me, you played Wolfenstein 3D, DOOM, and Quake in the 80s and 90s, and wondered how id software could revolutionize gaming every few years. The author gives a great inside scoop on how Carmack created graphics engines that turned the PC into a gaming machine, which at that point in time seemed almost unthinkable. Romero, in the early days, was the perfect complement to Carmack's skills, creating the first level editing tools to develop levels for Commander Keen and Wolfenstein. And the rest of the people at id software--Adrian Carmack, Tom Hall, etc., their stories are detailed, as well as people like DWANGO Bob, who made money off networked DOOM servers before the Internet came along. My only wish was that the book had pictures so we could visualize what everyone looked like at the time!
Rating:
Summary: Terrific behind the scenes look.
Review: Masters of Doom is a great behind the scenes look at one of the revolutionary game development companies in the business. Starting from the very beginning, when the two John's were just children dreaming about games and hacking away at any computer they could find, the book chronicles the rise, and fall, of the empire known as id Software.
The book, while it is based on actual events, reads very much like a novel. Much of the action unfolds like a drama.
If you or anyone you know loves games, I highly recommend this book. It's an entertaining read all the way through.
My only true complaint about this book is that it ended.
Rating:
Summary: Hard to put down
Review: This book starts off with the brief biographies of both Romero and Carmack. From there you're taken on a wild journey of intrigue, deception, comraderie, and at times, chaos. The author does an excellent job of telling the story of how two guys with similar taste revolutionized the world of computer gaming. You'll be amazed to see how much effort and struggle was put into the formation of id software, and how success changes people. This book reads at times like a Hollywood novel. The reader will definitely have a hard time putting this down. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting story...
Review: This book tells the story of John Romero and John Carmack, the two computer programmers behind the game of Doom and the company they created, Id Software. Additionally, the early history of the PC and PC gaming are discussed in great detail in this book. This is a highly interesting book, especially if you grew up during what the book calls the "Golden Age of Gaming", which is the late 1970's and early 1980's. The book is entertating, enjoyable and informative. My only beef with the book is that the author seems to impart more importance on this story and its characters than I beleive is necessary. Obviously, there are many more important events than the advent of PC gaming. Regardless, the book is very enjoyable and highly recommended!
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