( 18 reviews )
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Posted: Jun 18 2009
Masters of Doom A quick, informative read. It shines light on the work ethic, and talent needed to be successful in the industry. While exploring the brutality and the disconnect of human feelings while getting to the top. It's an eye opener for those who would like to pursue gaming as a career. It's not just playing games, and being a "Rock Star". The schism between the two Johns stem from egotism, narcism and doing whatever it took to convey their visions. Not to let anyone stand in their way was their credo, and they suffered the ramifications of their actions (at least John R. did ). Well written, and well paced. I recommend this book if you want to know a little history of the PC Gaming Industry.
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Posted: Jun 11 2009
I had a great time with this. If you've got old school gaming chops, and/or memories of years in your own stinky houses full of computer guys, you'll revel in a story of the ultimate game geeks ever. The two Johns are reminiscent of a schizophrenic split of Hiro Protagonist (Neal Stephenson; Snow Crash). Their story is told in the context of a fairly complete history of video game development through the 70s - 90s. Great times. If you're youngster, learn from the pros.
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Posted: Jun 7 2009
To me, nothing is more mind numbing than a boring book, but nothing is better than a great one. I've had books that had me absolutely enraged over their poor quality and a waste of my time, and I've had books that left me in deep thought daily a couple of weeks after I had completed them. For these reasons, I'm very picky about what I choose to read, and will not devote time to any literary work that I'm not just chomping at the bit to read. In my case, Masters of Doom was an excellent choice. For one, I loved gaming in the 90s, from the end of the DOS era in the mid 90s to the fruition of online gaming approaching apex in 1999, this was the period of time that I enjoyed these endeavors most. I liked Doom, but I was a big fan of Quake. I led two different quake clans in professional competition and we did rather well. I was obsessed with not only games in general, but enjoyed being part of a small section of history as it was being made. I made real life friends from the online communities surrounding ID games, and coming from Austin Texas, was close to the epicenter of the whole phenomenon. So when I finally picked up this book a few years after the fact, it certainly did not disappoint. I felt that I had come to know the people in this book, and could reflect upon the events and endeavors of my own life during the time that is chronicled here. I never expected the designers to be more focused around gaming than they were business, until I read this book. I never knew of the tremendous heartache that many endured making my absolute favorite game of all time; the original Quake. This book put those things into perspective for me, things that I had often wondered about. It goes further to reflect the history behind (mostly) Carmack and Romero, at the time the John Lennon and Paul McCartney of computer game design. Starting from their childhood, it's no wonder that the men were able to achieve (along with so many others) what they did considering their dedication to the art from a very early age. They endured so much, many successes, great failures, making and losing friends... there is no doubt that their heart and soul went into what they did and bring us products that could change our lives (mine anyway) by proxy. I can only imagine how the experience was for them first hand, but this book does a good job of representing these real life characters as best it could. I could also relate to many of the struggles that were a part of the rise to success, from early on working on antiquated systems where the levels of creativity were limited by technology, parents that were unsympathetic towards computers, and the like. I came to find that some of my personal experiences were shared by the people in this book. This gave me a sense of rapport with the characters, although I had never met any of them. The book further excited me because it did mention people that I have gamed with and even met. While I'm not in the book (nor should I be), I still felt that I was a part of this great experience and era from start to finish. This book accurately reflected what was going on around me, and I can say that because for much of it, I was there. Having said that, I can completely understand why some may not be excited or intrigued about this book. Unless you're really a hardcore fan of ID's early games, and are curious about the faces behind the product, you probably won't walk away from this piece with much respect for it. If on the other hand Doom or Quake were very important parts of your life for a time, give it a read, if for nothing more than the nostalgia. I did contact the author, David Kushner about signing my book, and surprisingly he responded and told me that he would be moving and didn't want it to get lost in the mail during the move, and that I should contact him again in 2 months time and that he'd be happy to sign it. Of course, we were both concerned about the integrity of the package that he'd be receiving because Romero has already signed it. I contacted John Romero through his personal website and he gave me an address to send the book to. True to his word, he signed it and sent it back to me. Just like the book reads, Romero revels in recognition. Unfortunately, the book is also right about Carmack's reclusiveness and all attempts to contact him have failed. Looks like I'll be going to Quakecon for that...
