Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture

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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!

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Summary: A Classic Business Parable
Review: 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 enjoyed in arcades only. Both of them were better at playing video games and writing programs than they were at making grades or making friends. They came up with real innovations, now taken for granted, like side scrolling for the PC or rooms with skewed walls. All were steps to make the games look better, of course, but the overall effect was to make them more involving, increasing the illusion that "You are not just playing the game, you're inhabiting it." They also increased the blood; monsters or bad guys that were killed did not simply vanish when brought into the sights and fired upon. These were not the only innovations; Doom, released in 1993, featured the "Deathmatch" in which players could play together or against each other. There might be mutants afoot, generated by the game, but players could also plot with or against each other, and blow each other away. Doom (and their follow-up, Quake) proved to be so addictive and involving that players would be glued to their computers, even if they were suffering motion sickness induced by the realistic visions on the screen.

The book's concentration on the tale of the two gamers, Carmack the programmer and Romero the designer, will make it a pleasure to read even for those who know nothing about computers. The eventual split between them, fuelled by millions of dollars, is, of course, a classic business parable. Their company changed computer games, and in some ways, the computer industry, forever. _Masters of Doom_ is an impressive documentation of how games got to be the way they are now, as well as a social history of the lives and times of two key game makers. Kushner wisely does not go into deep sociological examination of the effects of the games' violence, but of course the two Johns weren't interested in any moral implications of their wares. "Doom was cowboys and Indians with better special effects," Kushner explains, and though this might be too light an analysis, it is much more fitting than blaming Doom for Columbine. The games may be suitable subjects for moral disdain, but that will make no difference to those who get a rush from spending time in this way, and more importantly, it will make no difference in the millions of dollars spent on games that will probably get more and more like being in a movie, and thus will continue to push computing limits. Carmack and Romero have forever changed people's ability to live out dreams of escape and power, and have changed people's ideas of what computers can do.

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Summary: What really goes on behind the games
Review: An EXCELLENT book for true gamers. The two Johns, the two legends, exposed for everyone to see. From their early life, like Carmack breaking in to a library to play games, or Romero's abusive step-father who would explode if he found Romero playing Video-Games. The best part is that for retro gamers, like me. Being only a teenager, it was a GREAT surprise to read all about them creating old-school games, like Commander Keen and Dangerous Dave, and especially Wolfenstein. If you're a true gamer, this book will be a must-read. This book recieves my highest recomendation.

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Summary: Inspiring
Review: As a computer science major and video game player this had quite the impact. I was 13 when i started playing wolfenstein 3-D and doom but did not make me realize the effect it had on the world around me. This book is awesome, it details just about everything that went on in the lives of romero and carmack leading up to the games they had published. If you have any interest in the life of two kids who took the videogame industry by storm read this book.

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Summary: Entertaining if you're a gamer
Review: As a gamer who remembers the emergence of the games created by Romero and Carmack, I found Masters of Doom entertaining, although I didn't learn much that I didn't already know. This is probably a result of reading three game magazines a month for the last ten years, not a fault of the book.

That being said, I'm not sure how interesting the book will be to someone who is not a gamer. Anyone who is interested in pop culture in general will probably enjoy it as well as those who want to know more about the computer gaming industry. If you're a novice, note that this book is about computer games, not video (console) games.

Some sloppy editing was annoying, such as calling Windows Microsoft's "upcoming" operating system - in 1994. I assume this is referring to Windows 95.

Rating:
Summary: I need pictures
Review: As someone quite removed from the world of gaming (the book got good reviews, so I checked it out), I would have really benefitted from some pictures. Specifically, pictures of the two Johns and what Doom looked like. Otherwise, I enjoyed the read.

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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: Excellent
Review: Being a software engineer, it was fascinating reading this. I had been aware of some of these things, but there were several incidents that were ten miles from me that I had no idea about. Small world!

This book is along the lines of "Poker Nation" -- a very good read that is illuminating and fun. It is great that we are seeing a wave of these types of books lately.

If you are or were into video games, or know someone that is or was, give this book a try. After the first chapter, you will probably be hooked.

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Summary: A page-turning account of id, and the egos that drove it
Review: Bottom line: This is one of the best researched and written business stories I have ever read. I polished off this 302-pager in one day. Okay, I missed a flight and was stuck in a hotel airport, but I still stayed up past 2:00 a.m. to finish it.

"Masters of Doom" benefits from its colorful cast of characters. We meet not only the cold, distant programming genius of John Carmack and the maniacal enthusiasm of John Romero, but secondary players like Stevie Case, a gaming grrl and Quake champion who became a developer and Playboy model, and one fellow who took up game programming after he abandoned a shot at the ministry and become an exotic male dancer who went by the stage name "Preacher Boy". You can't make this stuff up.

Kushner obviously did his homework. He conducted hundreds of interviews and had access to material such as Romero's hoard of childhood memorabalia such as old drawings and comics. The book has in-depth footnotes, and while I wondered about the origin of certain quotes, Kushner says he did his best to reconstruct conversations and events based on multiple sourcing. The story is driven by the polar-opposite personalities of the Two Johns, and Kushner does a great job of being impartial, almost always presenting multiple accounts of the same event. I disagree with the reviewers who seem to think he went light on Romero or failed to give Carmack enough credit for driving id. Kushner dishes out both credit and criticism where it is due, and does so in details that really humanize his subjects. We see Carmack stun his friends by announcing he had taken his cat, a longtime pet, to the pound because it was interfering with his work. Yet later, we see examples of his philanthropy, such as when he studies the statistics-based method of card counting to win $20,000 at a blackjack table and then gives the money away. Similarly, we see Romero neck-deep in office politicking and grasping for rock star status, but when he finally chops his butt-length locks, he donates the hair to a charity that makes wigs for children undergoing cancer treatment. These kind of details bring the story home.

The only minus is the lack of photos. The book really would have benefited from a solid picture section, though I'm not willing to deduct any stars from my rating over it!

Fortunately, Kushner's writing is also excellent. He skillfully sets the stage for each technological or business breakthrough, yet the narrative doesn't seem contrived. He frequently accomplishes nice turns of phrase, such as one scene in which Romero and crew are on the floor rolling in laughter and giddiness at the Wolfenstein 3-D design breakthrough that let them show what would become their trademark gore. The passage ends: "On the screen, the little Nazi bled."

Finally, this is just an excellent account of the development of a partnership, a business, and an industry. The book's appeal should widen well beyond just gamers, to anyone who wants insight into what makes the entrepreneurial personality tick, what the start-up life is like, and how unlikely business models (in this case, shareware) emerge. In fact, I plan on passing this along to my (decidely non-gaming) mother and father.

Rating:
Summary: Good writing, good story
Review: David Kushner has done an excellent job of bringing the personalities at id to life. This book is not just about a game or "the two Johns." "Masters of Doom" is about a group of driven men who helped create a culture--and the book does a great job of explaining the technological and sociological sides of the Doom phemonenon.

As good as his topic was, Kushner also proved himself more than equal to the task as a writer. The prose in this book hook you from page one and keep you on track for the entire roller coaster ride.