Doom Guy

Life in First Person

By: John Romero

Narrated by: John Romero

Length: 17 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

The inspiring autobiography of video game designer and DOOM cocreator John Romero

Doom Guy: Life in First Person is the long-awaited autobiography of gaming’s original rock star and the cocreator of DOOM, Quake, and Wolfenstein—some of the most recognizable and important titles in video game history. Credited with the invention of the first-person shooter, a genre that continues to dominate the market today, he is gaming royalty.

Told in remarkable detail, a byproduct of his hyperthymesia, Romero recounts his storied career—from his early days submitting Apple II code to computer magazines and sneaking computers out of the back door of his day job to do programming projects at night in his garage to a high-profile falling out with his id Software cofounder John Carmack, as well as his continued role in the gaming industry today as the managing director of Romero Games Ltd.

His story is truly one of a self-made man, founding multiple companies after a childhood filled with violence and abuse drove him to video game design where he could create new worlds and places to escape to. An alcoholic father, a racist grandfather who did not approve of Romero’s parents’ mixed-race coupling, and a grandmother who once ran a brothel in Mexico combine for an illuminating story of his youth—a story that has never before been revealed.

After years in the gaming spotlight, Romero is now telling his story—the whole story—in his own words.

©2023 Alfonso Romero. Published in 2023 by Abrams Press, an imprint of ABRAMS, New York. All rights reserved. (P)2023 Blackstone Publishing

Must read

Even if you read Masters of Doom, this book is 100% worth it. It follows life of John Romero, glimpsing into some of its dark childhood and career after closure of Ion Storm - things that developed him as a person and designed. And its narrated by icon of sin himself ;)

A Must Read for any 90's PC games Fan

Very Good Book. Great Nostalgic and Interesting stories about some of our favorite 90's PC games, like Commander Keen, Doom and Quake. It was Great to hear so many Behind the Scenes stories about the creation of these games. This book is not only for Gamers, there are actually many Business advices and lessons here as well. I think this book could have been edited better and be 25% shorter. There Are many lengthy "personal life" parts, especially at the beginning and the end of the book, which are too long. But you can fast forward a little bit each time you feel that the personal stories drift you from the main narrative. The Narration is very good and personal.

Read by Romero!

So great to hear Romero reading his own work. He's one of my biggest heroes. Truly inspiring!

Awesome behind the scenes of what powered my childhood entertainment

As a kid growing up in Puerto Rico the Wolfenstein, Doom and Quake series, especially their modding communities, inspired me and led me to a decade long career in the gaming industry including time in both Xbox and Oculus.

It was awesome to be transported back in time and get a glimpse of what was going on behind the scenes during my childhood, and relating it to my own time in the industry. Highly recommended and for extra tech points pair it with the Fabien Sanglard Wolfenstein and Doom engine books!

Awesome Book Written and Narrated by The Legend Himself!!!

Amazing book! I have been waiting to hear Romero’s story in finely tuned detail straight from the mouth of The Legend himself! I read Masters of Doom, but ultimately I was dissatisfied with the sensationalized characterizations of Romero and Carmack. Romero once described that within M.o.D, Carmack was made out to be a computer and he was made out to be a maniac. This book takes on a much more realistic journey by telling the story in well curated hyperthymesia based detail and is told from a positive perspective with the humility and resilience only achieved through a life of both many triumphs and hard-knocks. It was simultaneously hilarious and heart wrenching. I laughed out loud when he talked about being told that when porting they just rewrite the assembly code from scratch because they can’t transfer files between systems and Romero was like “That makes no sense!” And I shed a few tears when he talked about what was in his Dad’s binder. I would highly recommend this book. Romero is a natural storyteller and he did a great job with not only the writing of this book but also telling the story in an accessible way with his authentic charismatic style.

the new number 1 story for any one who loves doom or video games as a whole

the first 2 chapters might drag a little for any one who is not a doom fan but hang in there the storyline line needs those bits it's an inspiration pillar and by the end you'll appreciate there inclusion

Awesome history

Thoroughly enjoyed this listen and learning about the experiences getting there in life, work and passion.

What a great listen to a great book!

Thanks for writing and narrating this John! I learned a lot from this about you, the story of DOOM, Quake, ID, and all the characters involved. Very well written and all the better that you narrated it yourself. Your games were a significant part of my life since the age of 5 when DOOM came out.

A Great story Traversing All of Gaming History

I didn't know I wanted to hear this history as I only recently got involved in game development, but I grew up in this era, in the 90s, and so much of the aspects of being a kid then were brought back to life. Much respect for your tenacity and vision and drive, and great job narrating your own book!

Absolutely in love with this story!

This is a treat for those who are into topics around games, gamedev, software startups or entrepreneurship.

And for those who had been around computers in the 90s, rented programming books from libraries, loved any of id Software creations, did any MODs, …oh, well, hours of nostalgic joy are waiting for you!!