DIGITAL GAME CANON

Doom

JOHN CARMACK, JOHN ROMERO / ID SOFTWARE, 1993 / USA / SELECTED BY CHRISTOPHER GRANT

“Doom's” release transformed videogames instantly and irrevocably. John Carmack's innovative game engine allowed for fast-paced yet visually rich graphics the likes of which gamers had never seen. While introduced by the company's earlier “Wolfenstein 3D” (1992), “Doom” defined the paradigm for the “first-person-shooter” genre: fast-paced, violent, graphically realistic, and seen from the player's perspective, which is down the barrel of a firearm. “Doom” also had multiplayer capability, allowing cooperative or competitive group play (the term “deathmatch” was coined by “Doom's” creators) over a local area network or modem. “Doom” also offered players a novel feature that is now standard fare: the ability for players to modify (aka “mod”) levels or other aspects of the game and distribute these modifications to others. The ability for the public to modify video games – whether as a form of entertainment, tribute, or critique –has since become an important part of game companies' business strategy. “Doom's” underlying source code was released to the public in 1997, making even deeper levels of modification possible.