Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • Doom Guy

  • Life in First Person
  • By: John Romero
  • Narrated by: John Romero
  • Length: 17 hrs and 4 mins
  • 4.9 out of 5 stars (124 ratings)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Doom Guy

By: John Romero
Narrated by: John Romero
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £29.99

Buy Now for £29.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

The inspiring autobiography of video game designer and DOOM cocreator John Romero

Doom Guy: Life in First Person is the long-awaited autobiography of gaming’s original rock star and the cocreator of DOOM, Quake, and Wolfenstein—some of the most recognizable and important titles in video game history. Credited with the invention of the first-person shooter, a genre that continues to dominate the market today, he is gaming royalty.

Told in remarkable detail, a byproduct of his hyperthymesia, Romero recounts his storied career—from his early days submitting Apple II code to computer magazines and sneaking computers out of the back door of his day job to do programming projects at night in his garage to a high-profile falling out with his id Software cofounder John Carmack, as well as his continued role in the gaming industry today as the managing director of Romero Games Ltd.

His story is truly one of a self-made man, founding multiple companies after a childhood filled with violence and abuse drove him to video game design where he could create new worlds and places to escape to. An alcoholic father, a racist grandfather who did not approve of Romero’s parents’ mixed-race coupling, and a grandmother who once ran a brothel in Mexico combine for an illuminating story of his youth—a story that has never before been revealed.

After years in the gaming spotlight, Romero is now telling his story—the whole story—in his own words.

©2023 Alfonso Romero. Published in 2023 by Abrams Press, an imprint of ABRAMS, New York. All rights reserved. (P)2023 Blackstone Publishing
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Masters of Doom cover art
Sid Meier's Memoir! cover art
Blood, Sweat, and Pixels cover art
Abroad in Japan cover art
Control Freak cover art
Once upon Atari cover art
The Ultimate History of Video Games, Volume 1 cover art
Press Reset cover art
Not All Fairy Tales Have Happy Endings cover art
Disrupting the Game cover art
Ghost in the Wires cover art
Dungeon Hacks cover art
Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution cover art
Long Live Mortal Kombat, Round 1 cover art
Shoe Dog cover art
Prepare to Meet Thy Doom cover art

What listeners say about Doom Guy

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    107
  • 4 Stars
    16
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    95
  • 4 Stars
    16
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    98
  • 4 Stars
    12
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Perfect timing

Doom and Quake have been a big part of my life. I started playing Doom in the 90s on a 386 PC with a monochrome monitor and PC speaker sounds. I even tried making some Doom levels in DEU.

In 2019 I came back for Doom, I was interested if the community was still alive. And it certainly was! Shortly afterwards, Sigil came out. It's almost the 30th anniversary of Doom and Sigil II will be released as well. John Romero also announced that he will team up with John Carmack on December 10 for a livestream to celebrate Doom's 30th anniversary!

I couldn't find better timing to listen to this audiobook!

It's a good and clear story about his life and how things came about, the obstacles he had to face and some parts I can relate to. It is well executed by the hero himself. Really something for the fans!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Romero is legend

A super nice read/listen that inspires you to get on with game development! Thank you John. For your games, and for this book!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Thank you

I love absolutely everything about that book and I hope I’ll be able to play another game by John !

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Honest and great read about one of the developers of Doom

Great read to put into context some of the stories from masters of doom. Found myself listening to this book at any spare points in the day

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating history with many exclusive reveals

Fascinating history of the legendary game developer John Romero, as told and narrated by himself. Having followed Romero for years, being a big fan of his work and having consumed all his main interviews, I was eagerly looking forward to this one: I was not disappointed!

John is always so upbeat, friendly and genuinely enthusiastic that you can't help but be entertained when he speaks in his characteristically laconic style. The book has several candid and transparent revelations on topics that he has not discussed in public before while also fleshing out several other pivotal subjects and controversies that are established lore in the gaming sector. It is also an inspiring testament to the dediciation and single-minded hard-work towards mastering a craft.

For my money, this is required reading/listening for fans of John Romero, id Software and those with an interest in gaming history, and it stands up there with David Kushner's seminal book 'Masters of Doom'.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic story, really enjoyed it John

A great listen and love that John narrates the whole story. Brilliant story and some great insights into what I spent playing as a kid Doom and networked death matches in college with Quake. Anyone interested in the gaming industry needs to read/listen to John and Id’s story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Incredibly insightful for aspiring game devs!

An incredible life spent at the forefront of gaming again and again. Loved every chapter and didn’t want the book to end. Highly recommended.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The legend tells it his way

DOOM was thee game we shared and played on our school computers back in the day, and now the legend tells his story with all the pleasant and some shocking surprises

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A trip down memory lane worth your while

I don't think I can call myself a fan of Romero or ID software, but their work did shape my childhood, and I still play Doom to this day.

The most interesting section of the book is, in my opinion, the part about Ion Storm.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Absolutely loved it

Thanks John for your story and games your made! This is inspiring us game devs

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!