THE DOOM BOOM
By David Pescovitz

"Of course it's violent," says John Romero, game developer for id, the
Dallas area software company that created the runaway best-selling computer
game Doom. "We like violent movies, books, and other stuff." And it shows -
Doom looks like a computer game Bart Simpson would play. The theme is
simple: kill or be killed by numerous horrific demons in the darkest pits
of a cyberhell unrivaled since Dante.

In support of Romero's admissions of a mild gore fetish, "Bizguy" Jay
Wilbur and other members of the completely male Doom design team laugh
maniacally and yell out their fave horror influences: from The Texas
Chainsaw Massacre to Terminator, all show up in the game in one morbidly
inspired form or another.

Doom first splattered across the Internet and BBSes last December. The
first level of the game is available for free download. (For example, ftp
to ftp.uwp.edu and look in /pub/msdos/games/id.)

Or you may order direct from id at no cost (except for US$5 for shipping).
Additional levels, inevitably sought by even the most disciplined
"occasional players," can then be purchased from the company – the same
ingenious marketing scheme used by the proverbial drug dealers to build up
a loyal clientele. "That's the plan all right. The first one is free,"
Wilbur says. "Talk to us for more." And lots of people seem to be jonesing
for their Doom. Sales have exceeded about 50,000 units domestically.

Since hitting the Net, Doom has spread like wildfire. It's even found its
way into the cubicles of many computer companies, prompting some
supervisors to implement anti-Doom policies, according to Wilbur. "John
Carmack, the technical genius at id, once said Doom would be the major
cause of productivity loss for 1994," Wilbur says. "I'm delighted to see
that the workers would want to play the game so much that their bosses
would get pissed at them."

And what of fears that Doom might cause kids to go postal?

"My kids are too young to play," Wilbur says. "But in time I will teach
them the difference between reality and fantasy. I'm confident that they'll
know that a good game is just a good game."

id Software: (800) 434 2637, fax +1 (303) 330 7553.

