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

This was a fun read. I enjoyed getting to see how many of my favorite games were created and the history of the companies behind them. Growing up, I had been aware of the failure of Daikatana and heard whispers of John Romero’s god-like status in the community, but since I played the games long after they had been released I didn’t understand much about the cult that had grown up around him and id software. This filled in the blanks for me. What I found interesting was the way in which these companies really did exemplify the crazy no-rules atmosphere that are now considered stereotypes in the gaming industry. This isn’t too surprising given the time period during which this occurred, but it is, of course, also the reason for why show more these companies ultimately failed. It was a bit like reading about the proverbial self-destructive rock star. I would never run a project the way these people did, but they nonetheless managed to create and enduring legacy, and it is always fascinating to read about someone else’s demise. show less

Masters of Doom (2003) is a history of the invention of the First Person Shooter (FPS) as told through the story of "two Johns", Carmack and Romero, of iD Software, who created Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Quake. If you were born ca. 1962-1982 these games are probably part of your cultural lexicon when growing up but with the passage of time it might be easy to forgot how revolutionary they were when they first came out. Despite the book being 10 years old it has aged well as a history of the invention of modern PC gaming in the 1990s. The story is human and quite epic, there's more to it than just games, it's about people and how success can change a person and choices made, fame and failure. These are the "heroes" of our generation (X). show more This book is a tribute to the invention of a whole new culture, a story not widely known, and a better one than that of Facebook.

The audiobook narrated by Wil Wheaton released in 2012 is excellent and adds a new dimension. There are rumors of a movie, we can hope. show less

Loved it, loved it, loved it. Maybe it's because these are the games I grew up with. This is the story of how John Romero and John Carmack got together and defined a decade of PC gaming. The rise and fall of the first person shooter. And there's nothing better than reading behind the scenes of something you grew up with and played over and over. Finding out about their methods, their personalities -- the conflicts between employees, where the ideas came from, and how the little guy gained success in the world.

This is a nonfiction must read for any nineties kid, computer gamer, or new past historian. Forget all those Steve Jobs biopics -- this is the movie they should make. There's enough plot twists and colorful characters to make it show more like a zippy version of Spotlight. The narrative crackles with true facts and incentivizes with cliffhangers and drama. You may not like what you see, but it's impossible not to be drawn in. show less

One of the first computer games I ever played was Wolfenstein 3D on my moms Packard Bell 386 computer. Eventually I also played Doom on it as well. At the time I didn't realize what was behind those games. Masters is more a biography of John Carmack and John Romero - the technical and design talent behind these games and id software.

It's crazy to me how this company got started -- "borrowing" computers from their day job to program on them at night and eventually release Wolfenstein. The small group of guys working in their house part time ended up impacting the world of video games as much as anyone else has, and this is the rise and fall of that empire.

This was a fun read, could hardly put the book down. It was entertaining to read about the history behind the "two Johns", and since I grew up playing a lot of the games that are mentioned, my brain had nostalgia overload.

Now that I am in my forties, I have suddenly taken a strong interest in video games, more than ever before. This may or may not constitute a midlife crisis. I thought that this interest would quickly flame out as it has on a few other isolated instances where I became infatuated with playing video games but found that the idea of playing them was more enjoyable than actually doing it. But now i love them.

It has cut into my reading time. And the books I do read, I am interested in ones that have to do with video games. There aren't really all that many legit books about video games. This one is pretty well done. It's about the guys who created Doom and basically invented the now-ubiquitous first person shooter genre of games.

The tale show more almost feels like a Shakespearean tragedy. Or now that I think of it, the story really very closely follows the arc of the Beatles' story. The guys are young and broke and united. They create this thing that unexpectedly becomes a global phenomenon. The money comes rolling in. They buy Ferraris. One of the guys starts referring to himself as God and buys a $9,000 medieval chair for his McMansion. Creative and personal differences bubble to the surface as egos get bigger. They break up and struggle to match the success of Doom with subsequent solo games.

I'm not sure how close to the facts this book hews, it is narrative history with dialogue and everything. It was pretty entertaining though. And I played Doom for the very first time ever the other day. Kick ass game! Also, it must be noted that Wil Wheaton narrates and does a tremendous job. show less

Fast, energetic, full of attitude; yet the speed, energy, and 'tude are wholly those of the subjects at hand, John Romero and John Cormack, as they go from nobodies to the biggest rock stars of the PC gaming industry. Kudos to Kushden for writing a compelling, fun book that still feels responsibly done. He doesn't sermonize or extrapolate much. The only nitpicks I have are the occasional repetition of well established facts (why do so many bio books suffer from this?) and the long, dark tail of the Johns' careers. Can't blame the writer for that, but it does suck the fun out somewhat. Overall, one of the best software-story books I've read.