[b]VIA Gamers[/b] struck again! A new review is featured on their website, this time devoted to the book [b]Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture[/b] written by [i]David Kushner[/i]. It chronicles in novel style the (success) story of the two guys behind [b]id Software[/b] -- namely [b]John Romero[/b] and [b]John Carmack[/b]. It was released in May 2003 and is 352 pages long. The lengthy article gives a pretty detailed description of each part that makes it up; the first one talking about the reviewer's admiration for id and FPS games. It looks like a great book for every id's fans and aspiring game developers. [quote]These first couple of chapters delves into the upbringings that the two Johns had, which partly explains what drove them to get to where they did. I found this part of Masters of Doom very interesting, as it illustrates how gaming became the ultimate form of escapism for Romero, who clearly needed to escape from the reality of his childhood. Romero truly did have what is often referred to as a misspent youth, which was largely the secret of the success that followed for him in later years. He didn’t just love games – he lived and breathed them. His passion was intense, which was a fact not lost on Carmack when fate brought them together working for an unrewarding software company. As I read through the first few chapters I felt my respect for Romero growing back to where it once was, back when he was working for id.[/quote] [quote]As I read through the last half of the book I started to get a pretty good idea exactly why Quake turned out the way it did. The lack of coherency in the direction of game design truly showed up in the final product, which is largely why the various environments in Quake seemed so disenfranchised.[/quote] Links: |- [url="http://www.viavga.com/default.aspx?PageID=20&AID=359"]VIA Gamers - Articles - Masters of Doom by David Kushner[/url]