Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The energy of Carmack and Romero is beyond inspiring - I wish I had even half of the brainpower, luck and perseverance that they do. I had to force myself not to read it before I went to bed, or I'd inevitably find myself up coding for another six hours.

I think that for even a non-programmer, there is a lot to be gained from this book. At its heart, it's the story of a bunch of guys with a messed up past and a dream who just threw everything they had trying to make that dream into a reality. Fortunately for them, and the rest of us, they succeeded.

Sorry for the short review here i am short on time but i must tell you that this book is absolutely stunnig. There is simply no bio-book that gamers will enjoy more than this one. Read it. Thats an order. This is the Harry Potter of gamers

I am not a gamer and have only played Doom once when I was dating an engineer, but as an entrepreneur and start-up person I loved this book. Masters of Doom paints a very vivid portrait of a successful start-up company from development through to marketing and distribution. It is a story that reads like a great movie with rich characters passionately building something they love. I couldn't put it down and couldn't stop thinking about it for days.

Great book, great writing. No superfluous "filler" chapters. I finished this book in a 24-hour period. Tells the story of John Romero and John Carmack from beginning to end. I found the book very entertaining, and I actually started reading it again on a plane flight last week. I didn't like the foul language, but they were quotes, so what can you do?

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.

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!

This is an great read. If you are at all interesting in the history of the gaming industry it is a must read. A very easy read, the author keeps the pace moving with the history of who, what, where and when, he gives the reader a real sense of how much has happened in the last 15 years... I really enjoyed this and would love to read a sequel of sorts that follows the characters to their places in the world today.

I like a lot to read; but I struggle trying to finish a book quickly. This one is one of the few that I happen to finish in a record time (for me at least). I've read several reviews of people saying they read it in no more than a day. It actually took to me about 10 days. Reasons? My kids, my wife and my work. But, whenever none of these three "reasons" was asking me to stop reading, I was devoring the book. A standard book takes me several weeks and months to finish (I happen to read more than one book at a time too).

Well, that's "about me". About the book, what can I say? The reason why I "devored" (in my own terms) the book is because I certainly found it way interesting and entertaining. And that tendency was kept from beginning to "almost" end (the last chapter was not as entertaining, for me). I am actually one of those guys that was part of the "doom" generation, with few months of delay (the game came to my country few months after it was released in U.S.A.); yet I was one of those that happened to keep until too late overnight playing doom (in many cases until the next morning, as the characters of the book). Also, I was quite identified with the two main characters: one because his ancestors roots are the same than mines (mexicans, I speak about Romero) and the other because his main concern in his life is the same than mine: computers programming (Carmack), despite the business, despite the money, despite the marketing, the strategy. Programming is his life, doors closed at his desk without interruptions (of course I don't program graphics, yet I program another type of computers systems and that's my main purpose in this life... besides my kids and wife). And both of them passion for DOOM, the game I have liked more than any other (even more than any Quake, way more than Unreal or Duke Nukem).

And, to add to all those reasons, the way the writter describes all the happennings is very dynamnic in "almost" all the book. The way he describes the main characters gives you a seriously real idea of who they are. As some other reviewer critisized, non main characters weren't "well" described. But, so what? is it the story about the others? They're only "incidental" individuals that happened to be interacting with the "starring" guys: Carmack and Romero.

At the very end, however, the "rithm" of happenings is kind of lost when the writter describes what has done recently Carmack besides his passion working at ID. I thought the writer could still make reference to Carmack's "other" hobby while at the same time making enough references to the current status (or the status at the end of writting the book) of DOOM III to keep the interest (that's why I give only 4 stars). I am more than "anxious" to see DOOM III released. Some times I'm afraid of creating many expectations and being quite dissappointed. But, what the hell! The story is, again, way interesting in itself as a biography and as a story of two young successful entreprenurs that could very well be made into a Holywood film (if we got "real life" films like Erick Brokovich, Radio, Pirats of Silicon Valley, and many others, why not the Carmack&Romero "story"?).

Film Producers, don't lose a great opportunity!

This was a really fun and engaging read. The book follows the story of John Carmack and John Romero from the time they started programming games, through the founding and rise of id Software and the Doom/Quake legacies, though Romero's departure to found Ion Storm, and ending around the time Ion Storm shut down and Romero founded Monkeystone. There has been a lot written about these events (in particular about Romero) so it was great to get an in-depth look at what really happened. There have been some concerns over its accuracy, but given that both Carmack and Romero had to sign off on it before it was published, it can't be too far off.

If you're into games at all you'll probably enjoy this book.

I've been a virtual slave to gaming since I was big enough to pick up a Joystick (remember those things), however, when the PC became a platform to play on (back 'round 86), gaming had a new venue to "get serious". Graphics, immersion, networking with other players; most all of these important aspects of the game playing experience were pushed furthest out by the PC, and those coders that were at the front line of that innovation is what this book is all about.

The PC/Console gaming industry has already eclipsed that of the movie business, but in my opinion it's only just begun. Masters of Doom paints a colorful and detailed picture of the "garage and dorm-room" origins of game coding, on through to the big business, big money industry it is today.

I would reccomend this book highly to all interested in gaming, business, or good ol fashion American success stories.

Enjoy...