Id As Super-Ego: the Creation of Duke Nukem 3D
id as Super-Ego: The Creation of Duke Nukem 3D “What do you think of Quake and its legacy in the history of the game industry?” Ken Silverman: “It’s a huge influence—especially to 3D Realms.” Rene Patnode March 22, 2001 Today’s Games Just Ain’t Right There is absolutely no doubt that id Software’s Doom is the most prominent game created during the period of the first generation of first-person shooters; it more or less defined the genre. There were precursors, of course—Origin’s Ultima Underworld was the first mass-market game to use a first-person three-dimensional perspective and id’s own Wolfenstein 3-D was very popular in its own right. However no other “FPS” game and, more generally, few games in the other genres have had the cultural impact of Doom, then or now. Every FPS game created today, no matter how technologically advanced it is, must bear the weight of being compared to Doom and few games measure up. Everybody looks upon his memories of Doom with nostalgia, and, much like the fact that today’s kids just ain’t right, today’s games just ain’t right. It is no surprise therefore that id Software enjoys a privileged position in the game industry. Every id game since Doom has been on the bestseller list. In fact, the talented few who are allowed to join the ranks of id become gods to the gaming world; in a very real way, they are worshipped. Indeed, id fans frequently refer to John Carmack, lead programmer and one of the founders of id, not as John or Mr.
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