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A review by anthonylwolf
Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture by David Kushner
4.0
Years ago, when I first started writing about video games online, a friend of mine had this book in very high praise. He's a big Doom fan, and having a window into the lives of the Johns was priceless to him. Years later, I can see exactly why he loved it so much.
This book isn't just about John Romero or Carmack; it's a fantastic depiction of an era when video games were just being born, an era of creative genius and inventions at the dawn of the digital age. I listened to a superb audiobook from Audible for this and I was immersed in the story of the two Johns from the start – from their first steps at Softdisk to their fallout in the Quake era.
It's been a captivating, engaging and compelling read through and through, despite the abrasive personality of the two protagonists and Kushner basically depicting them as two gigantic douches. Which they probably were back then, to be fair.
I only wish this book had a new edition, a tiny update towards the end to know what the two Johns have been up to after their Doom years. Ion Storm was an interesting story by itself, but a look into Carmack moving into VR with Oculus would be intriguing as well.
A great read for anyone who's into learning more about the video games industry – if you can get past the rebellious, edgy and mostly unempathetic personality of the two core subjects.
This book isn't just about John Romero or Carmack; it's a fantastic depiction of an era when video games were just being born, an era of creative genius and inventions at the dawn of the digital age. I listened to a superb audiobook from Audible for this and I was immersed in the story of the two Johns from the start – from their first steps at Softdisk to their fallout in the Quake era.
It's been a captivating, engaging and compelling read through and through, despite the abrasive personality of the two protagonists and Kushner basically depicting them as two gigantic douches. Which they probably were back then, to be fair.
I only wish this book had a new edition, a tiny update towards the end to know what the two Johns have been up to after their Doom years. Ion Storm was an interesting story by itself, but a look into Carmack moving into VR with Oculus would be intriguing as well.
A great read for anyone who's into learning more about the video games industry – if you can get past the rebellious, edgy and mostly unempathetic personality of the two core subjects.