John Romero: Difference between revisions
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{{creator}}
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[[File:John Romero
{{quote|''"Oremor nhoj, em llik tsum uoy emag eht niw ot."''|A reversed message in ''[[Doom]] II''}}
Alfonso John Romero (born October 28, 1967, in Colorado Springs, Colorado)
After programming and designing video games for over eight years on the [[Apple II]], John Romero left Softdisk after two years to form [[Id Software]] in 1991. At id, Romero was involved in the production of ''[[Commander Keen]]'', ''[[Wolfenstein 3D]]'', the first two ''[[Doom]]'' games, and ''[[Quake]]''. (
In 1996, after some long-running disputes with the other members of [[Id Software]], he and co-worker Tom Hall formed Ion Storm. Ion Storm's flagship title would have been ''[[Daikatana]]'', an ambitious first-person shooter set for the holiday season of 1997, a [[Development Hell|seven-month development period]] that his former superiors at id saw as patently ludicrous. When he decided to switch to the ''[[Quake]] II'' engine in the middle of development for its advanced graphical effects,
In 1998, company morale had eroded and most of the team had quit. John set another deadline, February 15, 1999. That deadline came and passed. It wasn't until April 21, 2000 that ''Daikatana'' was finally released, with marketing so infamous it became a minor phenomenon in gaming.
For lack of a better word, it sucked.<ref>He has since [https://web.archive.org/web/20100629055327/http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/100748-John-Romero-Apologizes-for-Trying-to-Make-You-His-Bitch apologized] for trying to make players his bitch and is resigned to Daikatana's status as the punchline of video games.</ref>▼
John, apparently still intent on making somebody his bitch, founded Monkeystone Games with Tom Hall. They developed and published about fifteen games for mobile phones. John joined Midway Games as project lead for [[Gauntlet (1985 video game)]]: Seven Sorrows, and the Monkeystone team moved to Austin, Texas to work on Midway's ''[[Area 51]]''.▼
On July 17, 2001, Ion Storm's parent company Eidos Interactive closed its Dallas office. Four years later, Eidos closed the Austin branch.
▲John, apparently still intent on making
By now, the only one he did make his bitch - albeit unintentionally - was Looking Glass, a gaming studio responsible for games such as [[System Shock]] and [[Thief]], which allegedly died because Eidos supported it too little in favour of Daikatana, which, as already mentioned, turned out to suck.▼
▲By now, the only
''[[Penny Arcade]]'' and ''[[Megatokyo]]'' have poked fun at him. In the former case, they use him in a [[Running Gag]] where other characters [[Dude Looks Like a Lady|think he's a woman]].▼
▲''[[Penny Arcade]]'' and ''[[Megatokyo]]'' have poked fun at him. In the former case, they use him in a [[Running Gag]] where other characters [[Dude Looks Like a Lady|think he's a woman]].
For more information about Romero's attempted bitch-makings, we suggest picking up David Kushner's ''Masters Of Doom''.▼
▲For more information about Romero's
▲He has since [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/100748-John-Romero-Apologizes-for-Trying-to-Make-You-His-Bitch apologized] for trying to make players his bitch and is resigned to Daikatana's status as the punchline of video games.
{{creatortropes}}
* [[Creator Cameo]]: The final level of ''Doom II'' required players to fire rockets into a secret room and hit John Romero's disembodied head with splash damage.
** It was originally intended as an [[Easter Egg]] [[Take That]] at Romero from his co-workers, but when he found it, he became enamored of it and recorded the backwards message (quoted at the top of the page) that plays just before it starts tossing out monsters.
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[[Category:Video Game Creators]]
[[Category:John Romero]]
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