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Summary: The History of the Gamer Generation
Review: Masters of Doom has, admittedly, a limited audience. Kids playing their XBox or PS2 will gloss over it. For those whom the Atari 2600 was the height of interactive entertainment, it will come off as an example of the pretentiousness of kids in the 90's.For people like me, though, this book describes the world in which I lived--in which I grew up, went to college, and started my life. MoD isn't just about the two Johns--it's about the decade that pushed the PC from somewhat useable business tool to household appliance. It's about the evolution of an industry. And it's about the humanity that brought it all about. Kushner's writing makes the tale of id Software, the Johns, the programmers they recruited, and, of course, Doom itself, unfold like a drama right before your eyes. It's history, yet you find yourself rooting for the underdog, dreading the eventual falling out, or just LOL-ing at the ridiculous situations that the egos of the day created. If you're just the right age to look back fondly on the first LAN parties, playing Doom in your dorm room until your computer started smoking (true story), then this book is a must read.
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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.
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Summary: Book, like the game, great!
Review: My son Nathan, now in computers in the Navy, had the book shiped to me as a present. So glad he did; When he was younger, him and I spent hours playing Wolfenstein 3-D when it first came out. Then Doom when it first came out. He was always so much better than I was! I really enjoyed just watching over his shoulder as he would conquer levels. So now I know the story behind the people that made such great computer games him and I enjoyed together. Great book, very well writen, almost impossible to put down once you start.
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Summary: Often over dramatized and even historically wrong, but...
Review: The book is a good effort to chronicle the careers and lives of John Romero and John Carmack and their rise and fall in the game industry. At times it reads fairly well, we get a few good stories and history on what went into those first first-person shooters that "transformed pop culture". The book starts when Romero and Carmack are in high school and ends in modern time (with Doom III nearing completion and Monkeystone games formed) But there are quite a few problems I had with this book. First, it's often hisotrically wrong! Two key examples of this are when Kushner writes "...Carmacked uploaded GLQuake, he had ported the code over a weekend". Another part of the book address the controversial "Suck it down" add that Romereo's Ion Storm ran to promote their flagship title Diakatana. Kushner (for whatever reason) tries to remove all blame from Romero for the add, when I know from a few sources Romereo was to blame almost entirely for the ad. These are just two key things I can point, there are likely many more inconsistancies that I don't know, but it's enough that the author's integrity must be questioned. My other problem is with Kushner's writing, he's not that good with character development, and while this is nonfiction, the only three people in the book I could visuallize were Romero, Carmack and Stevie Case. No physical attributes of the others were detailed. Kushner also goes off into the background of just about every other major and minor character intoduced in a dull predictable backstory that spans from half a page to two pages. Dull irrelevant facts about insignifigant characters that does little to support the rest of the book. Near the end, the book just kind of goes to mush as Kushner fails to bring any kind of close to the story he's trying to present. It's a if there isn't a real focus, yet every page seems to scream "someone turn this into a script", we can only hope that doesn't happen. Lastly, I was upset by the way Kushner tries to paint a balanced picture between the pitfalls of Romero and Carmack, he tries to bring them both down to even ground as having made some mistakes, but both being equals. The reality is that Carmack was the good guy though most all of the problems, Romero brought on most of his own pain and really destroyed what Id had. Kushner points out that Carmack did not want to fire Romero, but he had no choice, but he fails to point out that Romero's absense caused a lot of Ids problems there after and had a direct negative impact on Carmack. The demise of Id (that really never happend, thanks to Carmack and others) was much to the blame of Romero and his childish ways. He should have been painted as a bad guy, but Kushner just couldn't go there.
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Summary: Disappointing for target audience
Review: The main story of Id was the revolutionary graphical programming by John Carmack. Although it is repeatedly mentioned in the book, it was very disappointing to find there was not even cursory explanation of his groundbreaking work. Most of the book is Geraldo Rivera-style hype, but shallow in substantial detail.
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Summary: Moviational Story of two blokes who made it happen
Review: They were young blokes who had a passion, and they followed it and changed an industry. I'm part of the Doom generation (28yrs), and I recall each and every one of the games they released. Never would I have suspected that kids in their early 20s were making it happen! To John and John, if you are reading this, then thanks for Doom. We'll always remember Doom. The book tells their tale, and inspires the rest of us to get off our large behinds and actually make something happen. Follow your passion.
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Summary: Excellent read
Review: This book rocks like no tomorrow. It's great to read about the real heroes of gaming. A really easy read. I read 130 pages in the first night alone. If you are into gaming and/or game development, read this book.
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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.
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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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Summary: A wonderful insight into a brillaint success story
Review: This is a great book that provides a wonderful insight into the crazy, gutsy, and pioneering journey of John Carmack and John Romero. It details their path as restless kids fascinated by arcade games in the late 70, to their interest and involvement in early computer programming (APPLE II) and ultimately, onto their eventual meeting and the self-belief that the revolutionary technological advancements they were making, would lead them to extraordinary riches, joy and self-satisfaction. In all, it was unbelievable reading about the lives and story behind the two guys who actually created DOOM - a game that holds so many fond memories of growing up in the early and mid 90s. The missed university classes, the 16 hours death-match sessions, pizza, coke and watching the world go by without its unnecessary responsibilities. Arrgghh, now it all seems so complicated!
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