in line and everything will be just fine. two articles I fired up Noctis to see the Which, frankly, is about how many of us insanity for myself. That is the loneliest think to this day. With the exception of a game I’ve ever played. For those of you who fell asleep during very brave few. the classical mythology portion of your In response to “Development in a - Danjo Olivaw higher education, the stories all go like In this issue of The Escapist, we take a Vacuum” from The Escapist Forum: this: Some guy decides he no longer look at the stories of a few, brave souls As for the fact that thier isolation has In response to “Footprints in needs the gods, sets off to prove as in the game industry who, for better or been a benefit to them rather than a Moondust” from The Escapist Forum: much and promptly gets smacked down. worse, decided that they, too, were hindrance, that’s what I discussed with I’d just like to say this was a fantastic destined to make their dreams a reality. Oveur (Nathan Richardsson) while in article. I think I’ll have to read Olaf Prometheus, Sisyphus, Icarus, Odysseus, Some actually succeeded, while others Vegas earlier this year at the EVE the stories are full of men who, for crashed and burned. We in the game Gathering. The fact that Iceland is such whatever reason, believed that they industry may not have jealous, angry small country, with a very unique culture were not bound by the normal gods against which to struggle, but and the fact that most of the early CCP constraints of mortality. Men who oftentimes the rabid fans, power-hungry team was from a telecommunication dreamed impossible dreams, set out to distributors and cynical reviewers can be background also benefited the game make them realities and failed. Often just as irascible. early on. miserably. Prometheus was chained to the side of a mountain to feed the crows. In The Escapist Issue 55, “Against the Very curious about “other games” that Icarus flew as high as the sun, then Gods,” Allen Varney talks with legendary they eventually get into. We’ve been plummeted to his death. Odysseus was MMOG developer Raph Koster; Lara hearing about it here and there, but cursed by Poseidon to spend 10 years Crigger tackles the story of storied nothing concrete so far. fighting his way home only then to find Infocom; Bruce Nielsen gives us a first- that a gaggle of suitors had besieged his hand look at the demise of a wargame - crazykinux faithful wife. And Sisyphus? Well, his company; Shannon Drake deals with the story is better left for another time. hubris of EA’s The Sims Online and John In response to “Footprints in Romero discusses both his successes and Moondust” from The Escapist Forum: What’s the moral of these stories? That failures in his interview with The Escapist. What an unforeseen intersection, the no man is an island, for sure, but also discovery of determinism in a game that the gods aren’t to be trifled with. where the player is only an observer. Gods are gods, men are men and that’s Since it was mentioned in no less than just the way it is. Do what they say, stay Stapledon’s ‘The Star Maker’ again. And If I could meet Chris C. I would shake as Fable (highly innovative) are maybe I should try Noctis again too. his hand for how much influence he had marginally received I think because of in my career and game playing. the consumers lack of willingness to - Zapatero commit to the idea that went into the - JohnnyLA games creation. On the other hand, the In response to “My Own Private market is overflowing with various game Galaxy” from The Escapist Forum: I In response to “Lost in the Void” genres that try to do, in my opinion, too started reading this weeks issue, and as from The Escapist Forum: It seems many things. Games that focus on doing I read past all the articles mentioning that BioWare is attempting to tap into a single thing extremely well always Wing Commander, X-wing, and other some of that space sim mystique in the satisfy my expectations and usually space games I thought, “How could they upcoming RPG Mass Effect. I have no leave me wanting more. write an issue based on outer space idea what the mechanics of space games and not mention Escape Velocity”. exploration will be like -- probably - Br0wnShugha To my surprise, Pat Miller cooled my jets nothing like the old school sims -- but with a piece about the game I used to it’s at least an indication that play on the old Macintosh. Escape glimmerings of this genre are still alive Velocity had such depth that you actually in the mainstream. felt as if you were out in space calling the shots. It was an awesome game, no - Ian Dorsch doubt From “Bang for your buck” in The - Gradius Master Escapist Forum: It seems that the very nature of the initial cost of a new game In response to “Wing Leader” from somehow determines a persons The Escapist Forum: Actually Origin’s willingness to play it. Let’s face it, its all Ultima and the Wing Commander series about our level of satisfaction with the are what inspired me to get into the game vs. the amount of money that we game industry as an artist. spent on it. Who hasn’t paid good money for a dog of a title before? Games such Romero. In the five years he worked with id Software, John Romero contributed Perhaps it’s something about the name heavily to developing a number of itself that brings to mind great things. innovative PC games, including id’s Some combination of etymological breakout hit Castle Wolfenstein 3D and triggers, perhaps; a heady mental one of the most widely recognized and mixture that’s part romance, part controversial games of all time, Doom; Camaro - sex in a Z28. the game that has been accused of inspiring the Columbine High School The man himself evokes a similarly shootings, made its designers multi- visceral response. Meeting him, speaking millionaires and ushered in the era of the with him and tracking his movements “rockstar game developer.” Yet inside the across nearly three decades of life in the game industry, Romero is even better game game, one can hardly imagine known for the one that got away. John Romero as anything other than a smashing success. Which is why, In 1996, following a widely-publicized perhaps, so many take such pleasure in feud with John Carmack - centered pointing out his one great failure. around the belief among key id staffers that Romero talked too much to the Romero has developed, or been involved press and worked too l ittle on the in developing nearly 100 games, at least games - Romero founded his own half a dozen of which have sold more company, Ion Storm, with fellow than 100,000 copies. Having cut his designers Tom Hall and Todd Porter and teeth in the game industry coding games artist Jerry O’Flaherty. The men leased for the Apple II, Romero worked for the penthouse of a prestigious Dallas, Origin and Softdisk (founding a few of Texas office building, deep in the heart of his own companies along the way) oil country, for the company’s before co-founding id Software in 1991 headquarters. A monument to excess, with John Carmack, Adrian Carmack (no the Ion Storm offices featured a movie relation) and Tom Hall. screening room (complete with leather furniture), arcade machines, a bank of videogame ever made, and was heavily where Ion Storm’s other designers had tentatively called Slipgate Ironworks, computers devoted to Doom and Quake advertised as the game that would make failed, creating the critically acclaimed, which has recently begun hiring “deathmatches,” 60-foot glass ceilings you, the player, John Romero’s “bitch.” best-selling science-fiction action/ programmers and artists to work on a (which prompted the company’s adventure game, Deus Ex. Spector then new, super secret massively multiplayer programmers to erect felt tents over That Daikatana eventually sold 200,000 presided over a sequel to Deus Ex and a online game (MMOG), which the man their workspaces to reduce the glare of copies - a smashing success by some long-awaited follow up to Looking Glass himself has called “super stealth,” and the daytime sun), oak furniture, steel standards - is irrelevant. Costing more Studios’ Thief games, before parting which he promises will be bigger than cubicles, and a pool table. It was an than $10 million and taking three years ways with the company to pursue other office fit for the man who had once to develop, Daikatana would have had to interests. Ion Storm was closed for good referred to himself as “God,” and it do far more than make you its bitch to in 2005. would be within this 54th floor glass have been considered a success. Since cage that John Romero’s Icarian flight day one at Ion Storm, Romero and Co. After leaving Ion Storm, John Romero would come (at least temporarily) to an had set their sights on Doom-like sales founded his own company, Monkeystone, end. figures, and in what was certainly the with former girlfriend and game industry greatest example of star-driven, game icon, Stevie Case. There, the pair, with Ion Storm, backed by publisher Eidos, industry hubris, had been completely Tom Hall, produced games for the mobile planned initially to ship three games, surprised by their failure.