Wolfenstein 3D was one of the first games I have ever played. Another one that was installed on the PC I had access to was Doom II. Both of them shareware – I had no idea what that meant back then, and I didn’t care. I just had tons of fun, and I wanted more. Well, I did!

It’s now almost 30 years later and I’m still waiting for id software games. I still hope Carmack will do something cool to surprise us. I still don’t care that much for Romero. I haven’t read any biographies of either of them, until recently. Friend of mine recommended me a book: Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture by David Kushner, originally released in 2003.

The book itself is a must-read for any gaming enthusiast. It’s well written, clear and fun to read. I just wish it had more technical details, but that’s the price for making the book easy to approach for anyone. Anyway, I don’t want to write about the book, just give it a read, it’s worth it.

I wanted to focus on the big picture of Two John’s career. Both of them came from different backgrounds, and both of them loved games and making them. It’s incredible how different their approaches were. And it’s stunning how their careers developed.

Now, was their story unique? No, not at all. I was mind boggled how similar it was to what I observed for the past decade. There’s no use getting into details, but there’s one observation I want to share and remember: never stop pursuing your goals, but stay sane. Things do change and you have to keep up with them. No one is going to care about you if you don’t.