John Romero, legendary developer and co-creator of PC classics Doom, Quake and Wolfenstein, has announced he’s writing an autobiography entitled 'Doom Guy – Life In First-Person'. The book isn't due to be published until early next year, but does this mean the Doom movie from 2005 starring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is technically Romero’s biopic? Did The Rock not want to wear a wig? I’m very confused.
Romero says the book is “a positive story of gratitude for a life in games”, and adds that it’ll share the lessons he’s learned during his many years in the industry. The Romero family history sounds like it’s been interesting enough to hold anyone’s attention for several hundred pages. Romero’s great grandmother Elvira Duarte was the basis for one of the crime bosses in Romero Games’ 2020 gangster sim Empire Of Sin, for example.
According to the book’s blurb, Romero has a condition called hyperthymesia that allows people to remember an unusual amount of detail from their life experiences. The autobiography will go into detail about his childhood, and his disagreement with fellow id Software founder John Carmack. After tweeting about the upcoming book, Romero mentioned that his kids are telling him to follow it up by writing a cookbook of family recipes now he’s an author. Let’s hope it’s called ‘FOOD’.
If you fancy reading about the life and times of Romero then there’s more details about 'Doom Guy – Life In First-Person' on Romero’s site. It’s £30/€35/$37 for a signed hardback copy, and is due to be published by Abrams Press in February 2023.
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