John Romero

Alfonso John Romero (born October 28, 1967)[1] is an American director, designer, programmer and developer in the video game industry. He is a co-founder of id Software and designed their early games, including Wolfenstein 3D (1992), Doom (1993), Doom II (1994), Hexen (1995) and Quake (1996). His designs and development tools, along with programming techniques developed by id Software's lead programmer, John Carmack, popularized the first-person shooter (FPS) genre. Romero is also credited with coining the multiplayer term "deathmatch".

John Romero
Romero at the Game Developers Conference in 2022
Born
Alfonso John Romero

(1967-10-28) October 28, 1967
Occupation(s)Video game designer, programmer
Known forid Software, Ion Storm, Romero Games
Notable work
Spouses
Kelly Mitchell
(m. 1987; div. 1989)
    Elizabeth Ann McCall
    (m. 1990; div. 1998)
      Raluca Alexandra Pleșca
      (m. 2004; div. 2011)
        (m. 2012)
        PartnerStevie Case (1998–2003)
        Children3

        Following disputes with Carmack, Romero was fired from iD in 1996. He co-founded a new studio, Ion Storm, and directed the FPS Daikatana (2000), which was a critical and commercial failure. Romero departed Ion Storm in 2001. In July 2001, Romero and another former id employee, Tom Hall, founded Monkeystone Games to develop games for mobile devices.

        In 2003, Romero joined Midway Games as the project lead on Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows (2005), and left shortly before its release. He founded another company, Gazillion Entertainment, in 2005. In 2016, Romero and another former id employee, Adrian Carmack, announced a new FPS, Blackroom, but it was canceled after it failed to gain funding.

        Biography

        Romero was born on October 28, 1967, six weeks premature[1] in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Romero said he has Mexican, Yaqui, and Cherokee grandparents.[2][3] His mother, Ginny, met Alfonso Antonio Romero when they were teenagers in Tucson, Arizona. Alfonso, a first-generation Mexican American, was a maintenance man at an air force base, spending his days fixing air conditioners and heating systems. After Alfonso and Ginny married, they headed in a 1948 Chrysler with three hundred dollars to Colorado, hoping their interracial relationship would thrive in more tolerant surroundings.[4]

        Among Romero's early influences, the arcade game Space Invaders (1978), with its "shoot the alien" gameplay, introduced him to video games.[5] Namco's maze chase arcade game Pac-Man (1980) had the biggest influence on his career,[6] as it was the first game that got him "thinking about game design."[5] Nasir Gebelli (Sirius Software, Squaresoft) was his favorite programmer and a major inspiration, with his fast 3D programming work for Apple II games, such as the shooters Horizon V (1981) and Zenith (1982), influencing his later work at id Software.[7] Other influences include programmer Bill Budge,[7] Shigeru Miyamoto's Super Mario games, and the fighting games Street Fighter II, Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting[8] and Virtua Fighter.[9]

        Early career

        The Apple II owned by John Romero on display at The Strong National Museum of Play[10]

        John Romero started programming games on an Apple II he got in 1980.[9] His first developed game was a Crazy Climber clone, but it was not published.[5] His first published game, Scout Search, appeared in the June 1984 issue of inCider magazine, a popular Apple II magazine during the 1980s. Romero's first company, Capitol Ideas Software, was listed as the developer for at least 12 of his earliest published games. Romero captured the December cover of the Apple II magazine Nibble for three years in a row starting in 1987. He entered a programming contest in A+ magazine during its first year of publishing with his game Cavern Crusader. The first game Romero created that was eventually published was Jumpster in UpTime. Jumpster was created in 1983 and published in 1987, making Jumpster his earliest created, then published, game.[11]

        Romero's first industry job was at Origin Systems in 1987 after programming games for eight years.[12] He worked on the Apple II to Commodore 64 port of 2400 A.D.,[9] which was eventually scrapped due to slow sales of the Apple II version. Romero then moved onto Space Rogue, a game by Paul Neurath. During this time, Romero was asked if he would be interested in joining Paul's soon-to-start company Blue Sky Productions, eventually renamed Looking Glass Technologies. Instead, Romero left Origin Systems to co-found a game company named Inside Out Software, where he ported Might & Magic II from the Apple II to the Commodore 64. He had almost finished the Commodore 64 to Apple II port of Tower Toppler, but Epyx unexpectedly cancelled all its ports industrywide due to their tremendous investment in the first round of games for the upcoming Atari Lynx. During this short time, Romero did the artwork for the Apple IIGS version of Dark Castle, a port from the Macintosh. During this time, John and his friend Lane Roathe co-founded a company named Ideas from the Deep and wrote versions of a game called Zappa Roidz for the Apple II, PC and Apple IIGS. Their last collaboration was an Apple II disk operating system (InfoDOS) for Infocom's games Zork Zero, Arthur, Shogun and Journey.

        1990s: id Software and first-person shooters

        Romero moved to Shreveport, Louisiana in March 1989 and joined Softdisk as a programmer in its Special Projects division. After several months of helping the PC monthly disk magazine Big Blue Disk, he officially moved into the department until he started a PC games division in July 1990 named 'Gamer's Edge' (originally titled PCRcade). Romero hired John D. Carmack into the department from his freelancing in Kansas City, moved Adrian Carmack into the division from Softdisk's art department, and persuaded Tom Hall to come in at night and help with game design. Romero and the others left Softdisk in February 1991 to form id Software.[13]

        There it was, the familiar milieu of Super Mario Brothers 3: pale blue sky, the puffy white clouds, the bushy green shrubs, the animated tiles with little question marks rolling over their sides and, strangely, his character Dangerous Dave standing ready on the bottom of the screen. Romero tapped his arrow key, moved Dave along the floor, and watched him scroll smoothly across the screen. That’s when he lost it.[4]

        —David Kushner, describing Romero's experience of observing the game Dangerous Dave by John Carmack and Tom Hall that introduced an innovative technique for side-scrolling on PC

        Romero worked at id Software from its inception in 1991 until 1996. He was involved in the creation of several milestone games, including Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Doom II: Hell on Earth and Quake.[13] He served as executive producer (and game designer) on Heretic and Hexen. He designed most of the first episode of Doom, a quarter of the levels in Quake,[9] and half the levels in Commander Keen and Wolfenstein 3D: Spear of Destiny. He wrote many of the tools used at id Software to create their games, including DoomEd (level editor), QuakeEd (level editor), DM (for deathmatch launching), DWANGO client (to connect the game to DWANGO's servers), TED5 (level editor for the Commander Keen series, Wolfenstein 3D: Spear of Destiny), IGRAB (for grabbing assets and putting them in WAD files), the installers for all the games up to and including Quake, the SETUP program used to configure the games, and several others. In his keynote speech at WeAreDevelopers Conference 2017, Romero named this period Turbo Mode, in which he emphasizes having created 28 games, in 5.5 years with a team consisting of fewer than 10 developers.[14] Romero is also credited with coining the multiplayer term "deathmatch".[4]

        In level 30 of Doom II, "Icon of Sin", the boss is supposed to be a giant demon head with a fragment missing from its forehead. When first viewing the demon, a distorted and demonic message is played, which is actually John Romero saying "To win the game, you must kill me, John Romero!", reversed and distorted to sound like a demonic chant. One can use the "noclip" cheat to enter the boss and see Romero's severed head which is skewered on a post. The player defeats the boss (without the noclip cheat) by shooting rockets into its exposed brain after activating a lift and riding it. Romero's head functions as its hit detection point; when he "dies", the boss is killed and the game is finished. In the 2013 IGN Doom playthrough to celebrate Doom's 20th anniversary, Romero shared the backstory behind the inclusion of his head as the final boss and the reversed sound effect – they were both a result of in-joke pranking between development team members.[15]

        During the production of Quake, Romero clashed with John Carmack over the future direction of id. Romero wanted the game to follow his demanding vision without compromise, but Carmack insisted that the project had to make steady progress toward completion and accused Romero of not working as much as the other developers. Although Romero relented on his vision and joined a months-long death march effort to finish the game, this did not resolve the tensions within the company, and Romero was forced to resign.[4] In a 1997 interview, Romero said, "Leaving after finishing Quake was the right choice — leaving after finishing a hit game. I keep on good terms with the id guys and it was pretty easy because we've been friends for years."[16] In 2022, Carmack said he regretted the way he dealt with the firing of Romero, citing immaturity and lack of understanding of corporate structure as the main reasons. He said that both he and Romero were on good terms.[17]

        1996–2000: Ion Storm and Daikatana

        Romero co-founded Ion Storm in Dallas, Texas with another id co-founder, Tom Hall, where he designed and produced the first-person shooter Daikatana.[13] It was announced in 1997 with a release date for the Christmas shopping season of that year. However, this release date slipped repeatedly in the coming months, and the game began to accrue negative press. In 2010, Gamesauce featured Romero on its cover and contained an in-depth interview with Romero written by Brenda Brathwaite.[18] In the interview, Romero publicly apologized for the infamous Daikatana advertisement. In particular, a 1997 advertisement boasting "John Romero's About To Make You His Bitch....Suck it down" caused controversy in the press and public.[19]

        The massive pre-hype for the game and the subsequent delays (it was not released until April 2000) were compounded by the poor reviews the game received when it was finally complete.[20] Daikatana was panned and appeared on numerous "top 10 worst games" listings. During this time, Romero was rumored to have been killed and a photograph of his corpse with a bullet wound was also spread through the Internet. The picture was taken for the magazine Texas Monthly.[21] In 2001, Romero and Hall departed after the release of Hall's Anachronox game and the subsequent closing of the Dallas Ion office.

        2000s

        In July 2001, Romero and Hall founded Monkeystone Games to develop and publish games for mobile devices. Monkeystone released approximately 15 games during the three and a half year lifespan of the company. Some highlights of their developments included Hyperspace Delivery Boy! (Pocket PC, Windows, Linux), Congo Cube (Pocket PC, PC, BREW, Java ME), and a version of Red Faction for the Nokia N-Gage. He and his girlfriend, Stevie Case, broke up in 2003, and she left the company in May while Red Faction development continued until October. John then left Monkeystone Games' day-to-day operations to Lucas Davis while Romero and Hall left for Midway in San Diego.[22]

        In mid-October 2003, Romero joined Midway Games as project lead on Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows. While he continued to maintain his working relationship with Monkeystone, Lucas Davis took over running the office. The Monkeystone team moved to Austin, Texas to work on Midway's Area 51 title until its release. Monkeystone Games closed down in January 2005. Romero moved from project lead to creative director of internal studio during this time. At the end of June 2005, Romero left Midway Games mere months before the completion of Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows.[23]

        On August 31, 2005, Romero confirmed[24] that he was working on a yet-to-be-announced MMOG at his newly opened development studio, Slipgate Ironworks. It was reported that the name was temporary. "For the record," Romero wrote, "I'm co-founder of a new game company in the Bay Area and am much better off in many ways than I was at Midway". He said that he would not reveal anything about the company or the game until 2007. On March 17, 2009, it was announced that Slipgate Ironworks was part of Gazillion Entertainment.[25] Along with venture capitalist Rob Hutter and investor Bhavin Shah, Romero was a co-founder[26] of Gazillion. On July 22, 2006, John Romero and former co-worker Tom Hall guest hosted episode 53 of the podcast The Widget.[27] Romero departed Gazillion Entertainment in November 2010 to form a social game company called Loot Drop alongside Brenda Brathwaite.[28] Hall joined the company on January 1, 2011.[29]

        Romero was the Chairman of the Board for the Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL) for ten years. On December 20, 2006, John Romero announced a new FPS project for the CPL titled Severity for both consoles and PC.[30] It was announced that Tom Mustaine (ex-Studio Director at Ritual Entertainment) would act as Director of Game Development at CPL's new studio. It was stated that Severity would be a multiplayer first person shooter, and that the game would be built on technology licensed from id Software. On October 2009, Angel Munoz, founder of the CPL stated that Severity was no longer being produced because they were not able "to convince game publishers of its value".[31]

        2010–present

        In March 2010, John Romero collaborated with the gaming magazine Retro Gamer, taking on the role of a guest editor, taking charge of the magazine's editorial and contributing to a number of articles on different subjects throughout the magazine. The issue contains an interview by Romero with industry luminaries offering their thoughts on Romero. In August 2014, in a Super Joystiq Podcast at Gamescom 2014 Romero announced that he was about to make a new shooter,[32] stating that he was working with a concept artist and he had some cool imagery for the main character.[33] In April 2016, Romero announced a partnership with the former iD artist Adrian Carmack to create a new FPS, Blackroom,[34] describing their vision as a visceral, varied and violent shooter that harkens back to classic FPS play with a mixture of exploration, speed, and intense, weaponized combat. They were seeking $700,000 (~$751,079 in 2021) via Kickstarter to see the project to completion and anticipated a launch in late 2018.[35] The Kickstarter campaign was cancelled four days after its launch.[36] In 2023 via the book “Doom Guy: Life in First Person”, Romero's autobiography, Romero confirmed that while a had demo existed and was shown to publishers, no publishers expressed interest in funding the game after the Kickstarter cancellation and the game was fully cancelled after that behind closed doors demo.

        On 2017, Romero won the Bizkaia Award at the Fun & Serious Game Festival, which takes place in the Spanish city of Bilbao.[37] Romero and his wife Brenda Romero established Romero Games on August 11, 2015.[38] They published Gunman Taco Truck in 2017, SIGIL in 2019, and Empire of Sin in 2020. In March 2022, in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Romero created a new level of Doom II which was subsequently listed for sale through his personal website. Romero stated that all proceeds would be donated to the Ukrainian Red Cross and the UN Central Emergency Response Fund.[39]

        Personal life

        Romero and other game developers at a BAFTA event in Los Angeles in 2011. From left: Rod Humble, Louis Castle, David Perry, Brenda Romero, John Romero, Will Wright, Tim Schafer, Chris Hecker.

        In January 2004, Romero married Raluca Alexandra Pleșca, originally from Bucharest, Romania. They divorced in 2011. Romero and game developer Brenda Brathwaite became engaged on March 24, 2012, and married on October 27, 2012.[40][41][42][43] Together, they worked on Ravenwood Fair, with Romero as Lead Designer and Brathwaite as Creative Director and Game Designer. They also founded social game development company Loot Drop in November 2010, and worked on Cloudforest Expedition and Ghost Recon Commander together.[28] Romero has three children from two previous marriages: Michael, born in 1988, Steven born in 1989, and Lillia Antoinette, born in 1998.

        Romero's long hair has been a source of both admiration and derision for his fans. John guest-answered Planet Quake's "Dear Mynx" column, in which a female fan asked for hair care tips.[44] Romero cut his hair short in 2002 and donated it to Locks of Love.[45]

        Discussion boards such as Doomworld and BeyondUnreal had threads discussing his new look at the time, although he began to grow it back to its original length in 2003. On January 11, 2022, Romero gave a statement via Twitter on the subject of his hair, to coincide with the 120th anniversary of William Arthur Jones' "Indian haircut order" of 1902.[46][47] In the statement, Romero said: "I wear my hair long as a proud Yaqui and Cherokee man, and will continue to do so until the day I die."[48]

        In 2000, during the development of Daikatana, Romero listed Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny, Super Mario Bros. 3, Age of Empires, Duke Nukem 3D and Chrono Trigger as his favorite games of all time, with Chrono Trigger topping the list.[49] In 2017, Romero listed World of Warcraft and Minecraft as his favorite games of all time.[50]

        Romero's favorite programming language as of 2017 is Lua.[51] Romero says he has hyperthymesia.[52][53]

        Romero is an atheist.[54] He also claimed that everyone involved at working on the original Doom was an atheist (although game designer Sandy Petersen is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).[55]

        Recognition

        DateAwardDescription
        2023 Lifetime Achievement Award Awarded at GDC 2023[56]
        2017 Bizkaia Award Awarded at the Fun & Serious Game Festival[37]
        2017 Development Legend Awarded at Develop:Brighton[57]
        2016 Cacoward Awarded at Doomworld.com for the new DOOM 1 level E1M8b[58]
        2012 Tech Hall of Fame Included in list of technology creators.[59]
        2012 Apple II Forever Award Awarded at KansasFest to members of the Apple II community who had made significant contributions to the Apple II.[60]
        2011 Most Influential Person in Facebook and Social Games #1 in Games.com's 2011 list.[61]
        1999 MIT Technology Review TR100 Innovators Under 35.[62]
        1998 Time Magazine's Cyber Elite 50 #36, The top 50 tech elite of the year.[63]
        1998 Top 20 Texans of the Year Texas Monthly's yearly list of the Top 20 Texans[64]
        1997 Time Magazine's Cyber Elite 50 #40, The top 50 tech elite of the year.[65]
        1996 The Most Influential People in Computer Gaming of All Time #7, GameSpot's "The Most Influential People in Computer Gaming of All Time" list.

        Games

        Name Year Publisher Role(s)
        Dodge 'Em1982Capitol Ideas SoftwareProgrammer, Designer, Art, Sound
        Scout Search1984inCider MagazineProgrammer, Designer, Sound
        Cavern Crusader1984A+ MagazineProgrammer, Designer, Sound, Art
        Bongo's Bash[66]1985A+ MagazineProgrammer, Designer, Sound
        Zippy Zombi1987Uptime Disk MonthlyProgrammer, Designer, Sound
        Wacky Wizard1987Uptime Disk MonthlyProgrammer, Designer, Sound
        Subnodule1987Keypunch Software, Inc.Programmer, Designer, Sound
        Pyramids of Egypt1987Uptime Disk MonthlyProgrammer, Designer, Sound
        Neptune's Nasties1987Uptime Disk MonthlyProgrammer, Designer, Sound
        Major Mayhem1987Nibble MagazineProgrammer, Designer, Sound
        Lethal Labyrinth1987Uptime Disk MonthlyProgrammer, Designer, Sound
        Krazy Kobra1987Uptime Disk MonthlyProgrammer, Designer, Sound
        Jumpster1987Uptime Disk MonthlyProgrammer, Designer, Sound
        Evil Eye1987Uptime Disk MonthlyProgrammer, Designer, Sound
        James Clavell's Shōgun1988InfocomProgrammer
        Dangerous Dave in the Deserted Pirate's Hideout1988Uptime Disk MonthlyProgrammer, Designer, Sound, Art
        City Centurian1988Nibble MagazineProgrammer, Designer, Sound, Art
        Zork Zero: The Revenge of Megaboz1989InfocomProgrammer
        Zappa Roidz1989Softdisk PublishingProgrammer, Designer
        Twilight Treasures1989Softdisk PublishingAssociate Editor
        Space Rogue1989Origin SystemsProgrammer
        Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World1989New World ComputingLead programmer
        Magic Boxes1989Softdisk PublishingLead programmer
        Journey: The Quest Begins1989InfocomProgrammer
        How to Weigh an Elephant1989Softdisk PublishingProgrammer
        Big Blue Disk #321989Softdisk PublishingProgrammer
        Big Blue Disk #351989Softdisk PublishingContributor
        The Catacomb Abyss1989SoftdiskProgrammer
        Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur1989InfocomProgrammer
        Sub Stalker1990Softdisk PublishingProgrammer, Designer, Sound, Art
        Pixel Puzzler1990Softdisk PublishingPixel Puzzle Maker
        Dinosorcerer1990Softdisk PublishingProgrammer
        Dark Designs II: Closing the Gate1990Softdisk PublishingLevel Designer
        Commander Keen 1: Marooned on Mars1990Apogee SoftwareProgrammer, Level Designer
        Commander Keen 2: The Earth Explodes1990Apogee SoftwareProgrammer, Level Designer
        Commander Keen 3: Keen Must Die!1990Apogee SoftwareProgrammer, Level Designer
        Catacomb1990Softdisk PublishingProgrammer
        Big Blue Disk #401990Softdisk PublishingAssociate Editor
        Big Blue Disk #411990Softdisk PublishingAssociate Editor
        Big Blue Disk #441990Softdisk PublishingAssociate Editor
        Alfredo's Stupendous Surprise1990SoftdiskProgrammer
        Xenopods1991Softdisk PublishingEngine Tools
        Slordax: The Unknown Enemy1991SoftdiskEngine Tools
        Rescue Rover1991SoftdiskProgrammer
        Rescue Rover 21991Expert Software, Froggman, SoftdiskProgrammer
        Shadow Knights1991Softdisk PublishingProgrammer, Level Designer
        Paragon1991SoftdiskEngine Tools
        Paganitzu1991Apogee SoftwareSpecial Thanks
        Hovertank 3D1991SoftdiskProgrammers
        Dangerous Dave in the Haunted Mansion1991SoftdiskProgrammer
        Commander Keen: Keen Dreams1991SoftdiskProgrammer
        Commander Keen 4: Secret of the Oracle1991Apogee SoftwareProgrammer, Level Designer
        Commander Keen 5: The Armageddon Machine1991Apogee SoftwareProgrammer, Level Designer
        Commander Keen 6: Aliens Ate My Baby Sitter!1991FormGenProgrammer, Level Designer
        The Catacomb (Catacomb II)1991SoftdiskProgrammer
        Catacomb 3-D1991SoftdiskProgramming
        Wolfenstein 3D1992Apogee SoftwareProgrammer, Designer, Sound
        Spear of Destiny1992FormGenLevel Designer
        Cyberchess1992SoftdiskEngine Tools
        Terror of the Catacombs1993FroggmanEngine Tools
        Street Ball1993FroggmanEngine Tools
        Shadowcaster1993Origin SystemsEngine Tools
        ScubaVenture: The Search for Pirate's Treasure1993SoftdiskEngine Tools
        Dangerous Dave's Risky Rescue1993SoftdiskEngine Tools
        Curse of the Catacombs1993FroggmanEngine Tools
        Bio Menace1993Apogee SoftwareEngine Tools
        Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold1993Apogee SoftwareProgrammer
        Doom1993id SoftwareProgrammer, Designer
        Corridor 7: Alien Invasion1994Capstone SoftwareEngine Tools
        Super 3D Noah's Ark1994Wisdom TreeProgrammer
        Doom II: Hell on Earth1994GT InteractiveProgrammer, Designer
        Blake Stone: Planet Strike1994FormGenProgrammer
        Heretic1994id SoftwareExecutive Producer
        The Ultimate Doom1995GT InteractiveProgrammer, Designer
        Hexen: Beyond Heretic1995id SoftwareExecutive Producer
        Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders1996id SoftwareExecutive Producer
        Final Doom1996id Software; Atari, Inc.Programmer, Designer
        Quake1996id SoftwareProgrammer, Designer
        Chex Quest1996Digital CaféEngine Programmer
        Doom 641997Midway GamesEngine Tools, Designer
        Dominion: Storm Over Gift 31998Eidos InteractiveMusic Director
        Daikatana2000Eidos InteractiveDesigner
        Red Faction (mobile version)2001THQ WirelessProgrammer
        Anachronox2001Eidos InteractiveLevel Designer
        Hyperspace Delivery Boy!2002Monkeystone GamesLead Programmer
        Jewels and Jim2003THQ WirelessLevel Designer
        Dig It!2003THQ WirelessLevel Designer
        Congo Cube2003THQ Wireless, RealArcadeProgrammer
        Cartoon Network: Block Party2004Majesco EntertainmentProgrammer
        Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows2005Midway GamesSpecial Thanks
        Area 512005Midway AustinAdditional Designer
        Ravenwood Fair2010LolappsProgrammer, Designer, Sound
        Marvel Super Hero Squad Online2011Gazillion Entertainment Inc.Special Thanks
        Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Commander2012Ubisoft, Inc.Designer
        Pettington Park2012Zynga Game Network, Inc.CEO, Additional Design
        Dodger Down2013Howljerk GamesTesting and Feedback
        Play Gig-it2013Gig-it CorpSpecial Thanks
        Techno Dash2014Hammerwing Studios, Inc.Special Thanks
        Dangerous Dave in the Deserted Pirate's Hideout2015John RomeroProgrammer, Designer, Sound, Art
        Grom Skate2015Grom Social Inc.Designer, Sound
        Warpcop III2017indie publishedDesigner, Sound
        July 4, 19762017PlaybarfProgrammer, Sound, Designer, Writer
        Gunman Taco Truck2017Romero Games Ltd.Programmer, Sound, Designer, Writer
        SIGIL2019Romero Games Ltd.Programmer, Designer
        Empire of Sin2020Romero Games Ltd.Programmer

        References

        1. Kushner, David (May 4, 2003). "'Masters of Doom'". The New York Times. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
        2. John Romero [@romero] (February 21, 2016). "I'm both. Yaqui are native to southwestern Arizona; one grandparent was Yaqui, another Mexican, another Cherokee (other side)" (Tweet). Retrieved March 25, 2021 via Twitter.
        3. Creegan, Chris (August 10, 2021). "Romero On 'Harmful' Stereotypes And Doom's Native American Inspiration". www.gfinityesports.com. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
        4. Kushner, David (2003). Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created An Empire And Transformed Pop Culture. Random House. 89. ISBN 0-375-50524-5.
        5. JOHN ROMERO, Retro Gamer, issue 75
        6. Bailey, Kat (March 9, 2012). "These games inspired Cliff Bleszinski, John Romero, Will Wright, and Sid Meier". Joystiq. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
        7. Barton, Matt (April 19, 2016). Honoring the Code: Conversations with Great Game Designers. CRC Press. ISBN 9781466567542 via Google Books.
        8. Consalvo, Mia (2016). Atari to Zelda: Japan's Videogames in Global Contexts. MIT Press. pp. 201–3. ISBN 978-0262034395.
        9. "Does John Romero Still Enjoy Shooting People?". Next Generation. No. 30. June 1997. pp. 9–12.
        10. "Preserving John Romero's First Computer at ICHEG". www.museumofplay.org. August 1, 2014. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
        11. "Jumpster game design notes & published information". Archived from the original on March 25, 2017.
        12. "John Romero discusses his early years in the gaming industry". October 19, 2012. Archived from the original on February 17, 2016. blankmaninc.com
        13. The Escapist - John Romero: The Escapist Interview Archived December 2, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. The Escapist.
        14. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "The Early Days of Id Software - John Romero @ WeAreDevelopers Conference 2017". YouTube.
        15. rebelCoder (Юрий.Л.) (December 12, 2013). "Doom Playthrough With John Romero - 20 Yars of Doom! (by IGN)". Archived from the original on January 8, 2015 via YouTube.
        16. "The Great Escape". Next Generation. No. 34. Imagine Media. October 1997. p. 44.
        17. Fridman, Lex. "John Carmack: Doom, Quake, VR, AGI, Programming, Video Games, and Rockets | Lex Fridman Podcast #309". YouTube. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
        18. Gamesauce Spring 2010 Archived July 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Spring 2010. Gamesauce.
        19. "The Top 7... PR Disasters" Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine Game Radar
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        21. Dunkin, Alan. "Romero Speaks... From the Grave?" Archived February 18, 2010, at the Wayback Machine GameSpot. August 28, 1998.
        22. Retro Gamer magazine, issue 75: In the Chain with ... John Romero (pages 78-89)
        23. Games Industry International (July 13, 2005). "Romero Leaves Midway". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on October 17, 2015. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
        24. News - John Romero's new studio Archived October 13, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. September 21, 2005. Eurogamer.
        25. Gazillion in agreement with Marvel Entertainment to bring iconic super heroes to massively multiplayer games audience, unveils new company and studios March 17, 2009.
        26. John Romero's Twitterstream March 17, 2009.
        27. "Ep. 53 – Just Hanging Out - The Widget – Games, Tech, Whatever". Archived from the original on August 6, 2013.
        28. "Loot Drop, Inc". Archived from the original on January 29, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2016. Loot Drop's About page
        29. Takahashi, Dean (March 3, 2011). "Loot Drop banks on talented game designers as it takes on social gaming's giants (exclusive)". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
        30. Romero Announces New CPL Specific FPS Archived February 15, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
        31. "mylgn.com". Archived from the original on January 7, 2010.
        32. "Super Joystiq Podcast Special: Gamescom 2014 Day 1". July 15, 2016. Archived from the original on August 15, 2016.
        33. "After 14 years John Romero is working on another shooter". Eurogamer. August 11, 2014. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015.
        34. "Welcome". Archived from the original on April 28, 2016.
        35. "Doom creators seek cash for 'classic' shooter". BBC News. April 28, 2016. Archived from the original on May 1, 2016.
        36. O'Connor, Alice (April 29, 2016). "Romero's Blackroom Kickstarter Cancelled Until Demo Finished". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
        37. "Kaplan, de escritor fracasado a estrella de los videojuegos tras jugar 272 días". elDiario.es (in Spanish). December 9, 2017.
        38. Solocheck.ie. "Romero Games Limited". Solocheck.ie. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
        39. Machkovech, Sam (March 4, 2022). "John Romero releases new Doom II map to "support the Ukrainian people"". Ars Technica. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
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        42. Romero, Brenda [@br] (August 25, 2011). "Yes, I am in a relationship with game developer John Romero" (Tweet). Archived from the original on July 5, 2017 via Twitter.
        43. Romero, John [@romero] (August 25, 2011). "My wonderful girlfriend, Brenda Brathwaite, tells me someone on Wikipedia is deleting the fact that we're together. Why would they do that?" (Tweet) via Twitter.
        44. Dear Mynx Editorial Column Archived October 2, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
        45. John Romero's Blog Archive Archived February 22, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
        46. Onion, Rebecca (August 20, 2013). "The Infamous Government Order Mandating Forced Haircuts For Native Americans". Slate Magazine. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
        47. "William Arthur Jones | Photograph". Wisconsin Historical Society. December 1, 2003. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
        48. Romero, John. "Long hair: A thread". Twitter. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
        49. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "John Romero Interview - Top 5 Games". YouTube. Under Play. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
        50. WeAreDevelopers. "The Early Days of Id Software - John Romero @ WeAreDevelopers Conference 2017". YouTube. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
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        52. "After 20 years, Doom co-creator John Romero looks back on the impact of a seminal (And Satanic) game (Interview)". December 11, 2013.
        53. Romero, John [@romero] (March 29, 2021). "This is correct – I have hyperthymesia. t.co/40h0jNW6iX" (Tweet). Retrieved October 27, 2023 via Twitter.
        54. Romero, John [@romero] (November 27, 2020). "@sakari369 I am an atheist, and I worship 6502 assembly language" (Tweet) via Twitter.
        55. "After 20 years, Doom co-creator John Romero looks back on the impact of a seminal (And Satanic) game (Interview)". December 11, 2013. Because, in the game, you were killing demons, and demons are really a religious thing—everyone in the company was an atheist. We didn't believe in hell or heaven or any of that stuff. Putting demons in there was just, "This is what people believe in." We thought that the juxtaposition of future science—a space marine on a moon of Mars with all these experiments happening, it's very scientific and futuristic—and then all of a sudden this religious thing happens, demons coming through a portal, versus aliens—
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        57. "Develop:Brighton Development Legend". MCV. March 17, 2017. Archived from the original on March 25, 2017.
        58. "The 23rd Annual Cacowards". Archived from the original on March 25, 2017.
        59. "Pinterest Tech Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on July 10, 2014.
        60. KansasFest
        61. "Romero awarded #1 spot in list of Most Influential Person in Facebook and Social Games". Archived from the original on October 29, 2014.
        62. "Romero awarded a position in MIT's technology list".
        63. "Romero is at position #35". The Big Picture. May 16, 2005. Archived from the original on October 29, 2014.
        64. "Romero listed as one of the Top 20 Texans of the year". September 1998. Archived from the original on October 29, 2014.
        65. "News source at the time reporting Romero's inclusion". Archived from the original on July 9, 2014.
        66. "Bongo's Bash - 1983". rome.ro.

        Further reading

        • Kushner, David (May 6, 2003). Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture. Random House. ISBN 978-0375505249.
        • Alexis, Keke (August 20, 2023). John Romero: The Game-changer's Odyssey. ISBN 979-8857967232. 45 pages
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