The pastime, known as “modding,” is still incredibly popular. (Yes, there is a Simpsons version of Doom, and it is terrifying. Hacker types love tinkering with Doom’s code, making the game harder, bloodier (there are 21 versions of this), or swapping out demons for Ned Flanders. If you’ve ever wondered why your gamer friends insist on PCs over Apple, this is the answer.
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To get the game running on Windows 95, regardless of the computer where the operating system was installed, Microsoft had to build software they called DirectX, which makes it possible for complex sequences of interactive video and audio to run in order and is currently on its twelfth iteration. This moment, chronicled in a video of Gates- with rifle and trenchcoat-blasting away imps can be seen as the dawn of the PC gaming era. So, Microsoft built a version of the game called WinDoom, unveiled by Gates himself in March 1995. “This trio of male power fantasies helped to define and, arguably, tar, an entire medium.” “Gore, guns and braggadocio,” is how Simon Parkin summed it up for the Guardian.
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( Doom was also revolutionary when it was released for free in 1992, a blueprint followed by games like Fortnite, because its accessibility made the first-person shooter popular.) There was suddenly a three-dimensional world where you could run around and explore, and you saw the muzzle of your gun flare as you blasted away hellspawn. Your mission: Kill demons, save Earth. Instead of popular games before it, where you watched characters like Mario jump through an 8-bit world, you were the character. Demons have attacked, and you’re one of the last four people standing.
The game’s idea was simple: You’re a space marine stationed at a scientific research facility on Mars. This game-along with Call of Duty, Halo, GoldenEye 007 and nearly every other cash-cow title that gamers have sacrificed sleep and sanity to conquer-traces its lineage back to one major progenitor: Doom. Last year, Blizzard announced its first-person shooter Overwatch had earned $1 billion in revenue in its first year.