Masters of Doom

by David Kushner

  “The video game craze”: “Pac-Man Perils,” MacNeil/Lehrer Report, December 29, 1982. Return to text.

  C. Everett Koop: Sheff, Game Over, p. 189; Herz, Joystick Nation, p. 184. Return to text.

  “Dr. Nicholas Pott”: “Invasion of the Video Creatures,” Newsweek, November 16, 1981, p. 90. Return to text.

  “There is no evidence”: “Personality Differences Between High and Low Electronic Video Game Users,” Journal of Psychology 114, 1983, pp. 159–165. Cited in Herz, Joystick Nation, p. 184. Return to text.

  “A lot of kids who are good”: “Invasion of the Video Creatures,” p. 90. Return to text.

  The hearings were filled with impassioned statements: Joint Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Juvenile Justice, One Hundred Third Congress, Serial No. J-103-37, December 9, 1993. Return to text.

  Though a global network of computers had been around: Freiberger and Swaine, Fire in the Valley, pp. 409–411. Return to text.

  “It was a mob scene”: “A Doom Boom,” Dallas Morning News, May 17, 1994, p. 15A. Return to text.

  “Since today’s release of Doom”: “ ‘Doom’ Bursts onto College Computer Networks,” Houston Chronicle, December 15, 1993, Business, p. 1. Return to text.

  Intel . . . Texas A&M: “ ‘Doom’ Bursts onto College Computer Networks,” p. 1. Return to text.

  “People sprint in here”: “Lovers of Guts and Gore Should Meet This Doom,” Courier-Journal (Louisville, Ky.), May 7, 1994, p. 2S. Return to text.

  “3-D tour de force”: “3-D Applications Can Add New Dimension to Business World,” PC Week, January 31, 1994, p. 59. Return to text.

  “The once-dull PC”: “The Best in Arcade Game Software,” Compute, January 1994, p. S1. Return to text.

  “The follow-up to Wolfenstein 3-D”: “Games,” The Guardian (London), January 13, 1994, p. 17. Return to text.

  “This game is so intense”: “Doom Awaits Fun-Seeking PC Owners,” Arizona Republic, March 6, 1994, p. E1. Return to text.

  “You know . . . I do have a battle-ax”: “A Visit to the id Office,” Electronic Games, January 1995, p. 39. Return to text.

  They were philanthropic: “Doom’s Day Afternoon: id’s Hell on Earth,” Computer Player, October 1994, p. 28. Return to text.

  “I wanted to buy them things”: “Former Student Repays School with Computer Equipment,” Kansas City Star, April 21, 1994, p. C4. Return to text.

  “Microsoft is committed to delivering”: “Microsoft Gets Serious About Fun in Windows,” Business Wire, April 26, 1994. Return to text.

  “heroinware”: “Hit Game Sequel Spells ‘Doom’ Again,” San Francisco Chronicle, October 8, 1994, p. E1. Return to text.

  “Privately held id Software”: “Profits from the Underground,” Forbes, May 9, 1994, p. 176. Return to text.

  The New York Times: “Wallowing in Doom,” New York Times, May 15, 1994, Styles, p. 8. Return to text.

  USA Today: “ ‘Doom’ Brings a New Dimension to 3-D Games,” USA Today, May 25, 1994, p. 3D. Return to text.

  Variety: “It’s Doomsday in Hollywood,” Daily Variety, July 5, 1994, p. 7. Return to text.

  “Everyone is talking”: “A Doom Boom; Software Firm Creates a Monster Hit via the Information Superhighway,” Dallas Morning News, May 17, 1994, p. 15A. Return to text.

  China was considering banning Doom: “Good, Strong Guidelines Needed; ‘Gory’ Game Gives Cause for Concern,” South China Morning Post, March 22, 1994, p. 1. Return to text.

  Brazil . . . would later outlaw the game: “Duke Nukem Banned in Brazil,” Reuters, December 21, 1999. Return to text.

  Night Trap . . . Mortal Kombat II: Kent, First Quarter, pp. 382–384. Return to text.

  Austin Virtual Gaming: “Virtual Addiction,” Austin American-Statesman, April 2, 1994, p. F1. Return to text.

  “So we can beat everybody”: “Players Get Virtual Kicks in Doom Tournament,” Austin American-Statesman, May 8, 1994, p. B1. Return to text.

  ELEVEN: QUAKES

  “Every man and woman should play”: Cited in Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play Element in Culture (Boston: Beacon, 1955), pp. 18–19. Return to text.

  “play . . . is a significant function”: Ibid., p. 1. Return to text.

  “a society without games”: Marshall McLuhan, Understand Media: The Extensions of Man (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964), pp. 208–211. Return to text.

  “Quake won’t be just a game”: “Doom’s Day Afternoon: id’s Hell on Earth,” Computer Player, October 1994, p. 28. Return to text.

  “It’s as close to virtual reality”: “Doom and Links 3.6 Pro Give Hours of Fun,” Chicago Sun-Times, October 17, 1994, Financial, p. 54. Return to text.

  “Virtual Mayhem and Real Profits”: New York Times, September 3, 1994, sec. 1, p. 35. Return to text.

  “Doomonomics”: “Doomonomics,” Economist, May 25, 1996, pp. 12–14. Return to text.

  “an entire file”: “Power Finance or Boot Strap?” Red Herring, December 1994, p. 81. Return to text.

  In Quantico, Virginia: “Doom Goes to War,” Wired, April 1997, pp. 114–118. Return to text.

  D!Zone . . . surpassed Doom II: “Top Software,” Entertainment Weekly, June 9, 1995. Return to text.

  TWELVE: JUDGMENT DAY

  The party was in full swing: “Microsoft Shows Games at Halloween Bash,” UPI International, October 30, 1995. Return to text.

  Sales for Doom II: PC Data, 2000. Return to text.

  GTI’s sales; “[GTI] came out of nowhere”: “GT Masters Software Universe with New-Fangled Sales Smarts,” Crain’s New York Business, July 1, 1996, News, p. 4. Return to text.

  a cover story on id: “The Egos at Id,” Wired, August 1996, pp. 122–127. Return to text.

  THIRTEEN: DEATHMATCH

  In a dark room: The story of this tournament originally appeared in different form in my article “Blood Sport,” Spin, June 1997, pp. 104–107. Return to text.

  “bloody amazing”: “ ‘Quake’: Bloody Amazing,” USA Today, June 27, 1996, p. 5D. Return to text.

  “a towering programming feat”: “10 on the Richter Scale: id Software Quake Action Game Software Review,” Computer Gaming World, October 1996, p. 174. Return to text.

  “Quake delivers the most carnage”: “Multimedia: The Best and Worst of 1996,” Entertainment Weekly, December 27, 1996. Return to text.

  “Electronic games”: Spin, June 1997, p. 106. Return to text.

  “Lots of people will read”: E-mail interview with Chris Spencer on January 8, 1997, posted on onenet.quake newsgroup. Return to text.

  Time magazine estimated: “Cyber Elite: Inside the Top Fifty Time Digital Cyber Elite,” Time Digital, October 5, 1998, http://www.time.com/time/digital/cyberelite/36.htm. Return to text.

  “the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory of Gaming!”: “Game Designers Take Penthouse; Programmers of ‘Doom’ Create Culture Clash at Texas Commerce Tower,” Dallas Business Journal, July 25, 1997, p. 1. Return to text.

  “cyber elite”: Time Digital, October 5, 1998. Return to text.

  “cool companies”: “Cool Companies,” Fortune, July 7, 1997, p. 84. Return to text.

  “Id is a technology-oriented company”: “Connected: There Is Another Way to Achieve the Sort of Financial Security That Brings the Freedom to Throw TVs out of Hotel Windows and Drive Rolls-Royces into Swimming Pools,” Daily Telegraph, April 29, 1997, p. 15. Return to text.

  “After I left”: “Braindrain at id: Mood ‘Dark and Gloomy,’ ” Wired News, January 18, 1997, http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,1539,00.htm. Return to text.

  “It’s going to happen”: “Merchant of Doom Is Reborn as the Ion Man,” The Times, April 16, 1997, features section. Return to text.

  “the creative talent behind [id]”: Ibid. Return to text.

  “the man responsible”: “Connected,” p. 15. Return to text.

  “After he got rich and famous”: “Beyond Doom and Quake: Everything That Game Designer John Rom
ero Touches Turns to Gore. And to Gold,” Time, June 23, 1997, p. 56. Return to text.

  “I always flip my hair”: Dear Romero! PlanetQuake, June 9, 1999, http://www.planetquake.com/features/mynx/dearromero.shtm. Return to text.

  “I bought my first Ferrari”: “Intergraph, id Software, Rendition, and ClanRing to Sponsor QUAKE Tournament,” Business Wire, March 7, 1997. Return to text.

  FOURTEEN: SILICON ALAMO

  Note: Though parts of this chapter draw from an article that appeared in the Dallas Observer about Ion Storm (“Stormy Weather,” Dallas Observer, January 14–28, 1999, pp. 34–46), I chose not to include here the internal e-mails published in the Observer piece.

  “New Cowboys”: “Greetings from America’s Secret Capitols,” Time, July 13, 1998, www.time.com/time/magazine/archives. Return to text.

  “Doom babies”: “Legions of Doom,” Wired, March 1998, p. 157. Return to text.

  “the new Hollywood”: “Why the New Hollywood Is in Texas,” Boston Globe, November 23, 1997, p. N5. Return to text.

  Of the $3.7 billion generated: “Gamemakers Feeding Growing Appetite for Fun,” USA Today, June 19, 1997, p. 4D. Return to text.

  “The PC gaming boom”: Ibid. Return to text.

  “You can’t keep up with Carmack”: “Knee Deep in a Dream: The Story of Daikatana,” GameSpot, May 2000, http://www.gamespot.com/features/btg-daikatana/index.htm. Return to text.

  “Hi . . . I’m here to tell you”: “John Romero—Artiste,” Penny Arcade, November 25, 1998, http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date = 1998-11-25. Return to text.

  But when a gaming magazine: “John Romero Killed at Age 30,” Adrenaline Vault, August 28, 1998, www.avault.com. Return to text.

  “Either people who are no longer”: “Stormy Weather,” Dallas Observer, January 14–28, 1999, p. 45. Return to text.

  FIFTEEN: STRAIGHT OUT OF DOOM

  He made amateurish mods: I downloaded and played Eric Harris’s mods. Return to text.

  “Whatsup all you doomers”: Text included with Eric Harris’s U.A.C. Labs mod posted online. Return to text.

  “It’s going to be like fucking Doom”: “The Columbine Tapes,” Time, December 20, 1999, pp. 40–51. Return to text.

  “Several readers have written in”: “Doom in the School,” Blue’s News, April 21, 1999, www.bluesnews.com archives. Return to text.

  The Simon Wiesenthal Center: “Doom Level a ‘Dry Run,’ Rabbi Suggests,” Denver Post, May 4, 1999, p. A10. Return to text.

  “dark, dangerous place”: “Social Outcasts Built Fantasy World of Violence,” Washington Post News Service, April 22, 1999. Return to text.

  “widen the hole in any kid’s soul”: “Sow Cultural Violence and Reap Death,” Newsday, April 22, 1999, p. A57. Return to text.

  “murder simulators”: “Who’s to Blame?” 60 Minutes, April 25, 1999. Return to text.

  Even President Clinton chimed in: Cited in “Clinton Sees Violent Influence in Three Video Games,” Los Angeles Times, April 25, 1999, p. A12. Return to text.

  Marilyn Manson: “The Trouble with Looking for Signs of Trouble,” New York Times, April 25, 1999, Week in Review, p. 1. Return to text.

  banned trench coats: “Dress Rehearsal for Death,” Daily Record, April 23, 1999, p. 8. Return to text.

  Disney World and Disneyland: “Disneyland Disarms Some Video Games,” Los Angeles Times, May 14, 1999, p. 1A. Return to text.

  In an April 28 statement: Statement of Senator Joseph Lieberman Calling for a White House Summit on Media Violence, April 28, 1999. Return to text.

  “How many of us accept”: “Violence Engendered by the War,” Baltimore Sun, May 23, 1999, p. 3D. Return to text.

  “There’s more to learn”: “Harris and Klebold,” Good Morning America, May 24, 1999. Return to text.

  As Jones noted: Jones, Killing Monsters, pp. 37–38. Return to text.

  Researchers since the 1980s: “Personality, Psychopathology, and Development Issues in Male Adolescent Video Game Use,” Journal of American Academic Child Psychiatry 24, 1988, pp. 329–333, as cited in Herz, Joystick Nation, p. 184. Return to text.

  An academic study in England: “Cyber-Games Make Children Brighter,” Sunday Times, July 22, 2001, http://www.sunday-times.co.uk. Return to text.

  In Finland, researchers used computer games: “Computer Game Helps Dyslexics,” BBC News Online, August 20, 2001, http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1496000/1496709.stm. Return to text.

  “Violence in film”: Stuart Fischoff, “Psychology’s Quixotic Quest for the Media-Violence Connection,” American Psychological Association Convention, Boston, 1999; as cited in Jones, Killing Monsters, p. 28. Return to text.

  “This is so crazy and hysterical”: “Video Games, Net Unfairly Blamed for Kids’ Violence,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 5, 1999, p. B1. Return to text.

  “Violence has always been”: “A Room Full of Doom,” Time, May 24, 1999, p. 65. Return to text.

  “The video game ‘Quake’ ”: “The Violent World of Video Games,” Insight on the News, June 28, 1999, p. 14. Return to text.

  “more fun than shooting”: “Do Kids Buy Into Violence? Clinton Orders Inquiry into Marketing Practices,” Gannett News Service, June 2, 1999. Return to text.

  a $130 million lawsuit: “A Game Boy in the Crosshairs,” New York Times, May 23, 1999, sec. 6, p. 36. Return to text.

  “come hell or high water”: PC Games, February 1999, as cited in “Knee Deep in a Dream.” Return to text.

  “the place where the ‘designer’s vision’ ”: “Stormy Weather,” Dallas Observer, January 14–28, 1999, p. 38. Return to text.

  “Shut up and finish the game”: “Knee Deep in a Dream.” Return to text.

  “For those of you”: Source, Interactive Digital Software Association. Return to text.

  “Online gaming is still a small segment”: “Don’t Shoot While I’m Talking,” Forbes, October 18, 1999, p. 158. Return to text.

  “Aaaaarrggggggggh!”: This and other scenes at Ion Storm are drawn from my two-part article “Hearts of Darkness” and “How Do Game Developers Hack It?” Salon, March 7, 2000, http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/03/07/romero/index.htm and http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/03/08/ion_two/index.htm. Return to text.

  SIXTEEN: PERSISTENT WORLDS

  Katherine Anna Kang was called a banana: “Interview with Anna Kang,” Domain of Games, November 9, 2000, http://www.domainofgames.com/?display = interviews&id = annakang&page = index.htm. Return to text.

  selling only 41,000 copies: NPD Group, 2002. Return to text.

  “a disaster”: “Sworded Affair,” Entertainment Weekly, June 13, 2000, accessed online at www.ew.com. Return to text.

  “signals nothing more remarkable”: Daikatana Review, PC Gamer, August 9, 2000, accessed online at http://www.pcgamer.com/reviews/archives/review_2000-08-09am.htm. Return to text.

  “Yep . . . it stinks”: “Yep It Stinks,” Computer Gaming World, November 2000, accessed online at http://www.zdnet.com/products/stories/reviews/0,4161,2667023,00.htm. Return to text.

  an estimated $6 billion history: Datamonitor, 2002. Return to text.

  “an amoral little jerk”: Interview with John Carmack, Slashdot, October 15, 1999, www.slashdot.org. Return to text.

  EPILOGUE

  $10.8 billion in the United States: NPD Group, 2002. This number reflects sales of video game console hardware, video game console software, and PC software. Return to text.

  surpassing box-office receipts . . . music: According to the Motion Picture Association of America, moviegoers spent $8.4 billion at U.S. box offices in 2001, and the Recording Industry of America put music sales at $13.7 billion in 2001. Return to text.

  An estimated 60 percent of all Americans: NPD Group and Interactive Digital Software Association. Return to text.

  “This was a tragic situation”: “Parents of Students Killed in Kentucky Lose Lawsuit,” Associated Press, April 7, 2000. Return to text.


  “video games drive the evolution”: Technology Review, March 2002 cover. Return to text.

  one of the few pocket PC games: “Hyperspace Delivery Boy,” Pocketgamer, January 8, 2002, http://www.pocketgamer.org/reviews/action/hdb/. Return to text.

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  These books were helpful in my research.

  ab Hugh, Dafydd, and Brad Linaweaver. Doom: Hell on Earth. New York: Penguin, 1995.

  Campbell-Kelly, Martin, and William Aspray. Computer: A History of the Information Machine. New York: Basic Books, 1996.

  Dear, William. Dungeon Master: The Disappearance of James Dallas Egbert III. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1984.

  Dungeon Master Guide: Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. Renton, Wash.: TSR, 1995.

  Freiberger, Paul, and Michael Swaine. Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000.

  Gibson, William. Neuromancer. New York: Berkeley, 1984.

  Grossman, Dave, and Gloria DeGaetano. Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill: A Call to Action Against TV, Movie, and Video Game Violence. New York: Crown, 1995.

  Hafner, Katie, and Matthew Lyon. Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins of the Internet. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996.

  Herman, Leonard. Phoenix: The Rise and Fall of VideoGames. Union, Nev.: Rolenta Press, 1997.

  Herz, J. C. Joystick Nation: How Video Games Ate Our Quarters, Won Our Hearts, and Rewired Our Minds. New York: Little, Brown, 1995.

  Huizinga, Johan. Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play Element in Culture. Boston: Beacon, 1955.

  Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: Harper and Row, 1946.

  Id anthology. id Software, 1996. (Specifically, the story about id that accompanied this boxed set of games.)

  Jones, Gerard. Killing Monsters: Why Children Need Fantasy, Super Heroes, and Make-Believe Violence. New York: Basic Books, 2002.

  Kent, Steven L. The First Quarter. Bothell, Wash.: BWD Press, 2000.

  Kidder, Tracy. The Soul of a New Machine. Boston: Little, Brown, 1981.

  Leukart, Hank. The Doom Hacker’s Guide. New York: MIS Press, 1995.

  Levy, Steven. Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1984.

  ———. Insanely Great: The Life and Times of the Macintosh, the Computer That Changed Everything. New York: Penguin, 2000.