Game developers don’t come much more legendary than Brenda and John Romero. From Wizardry to Doom, Commander Keen to Quake, between them they have over 80 years of experience in the video game industry. Today they share their memories of what attracted them to it, how they got their first break and a whole lot more. Pour yourself a cuppa and enjoy the chat.
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Neil
very awkward fidgeting but decent interview
Loved the interview with the legends!
And John looks human but runs 6502 code? Sounds like the Terminator to me 😀
Was just smiling hearing that Brenda gets so much Posts for her Twitter BR@ account from Germany. BR means Bayerischer Rundfunk (TV Station) and is located in Munich. One of the best interviews in the Tea Break format so far. I really got keen on programming my C64 in 6502 again :-)) No great games, just little things. I loved that ML back in 1984 although I never programmed any games.
It was wonderful to learn more about Brenda – Wizardry was a series of games I wish I could have afforded back then (a friend had WIII and IV I think on for his C64 and I did get a chance to play them).
haha I was clapping when brenda explained how to get to the wizard on the tenth floor.. haha.. brilliant..
The thumbnail made it look like John was wearing pigtails 😂
Loved this interview! Really great! Congratulations Sir!!
Fantastic interview. Great questions about the time before Doom, and so great to let them speak so much.
Good interview. I use to enjoy writing 6502 assembly back in the 80's.
That explains why I love horror movies. I too would watch them late when my parents went to bed. TNT Monstervision with Joe Bob Briggs.
And finally we get the designer of all the best Doom levels. Also Wizardry 8 was one of the first computer RPG games that I ever managed to complete. It did seem very strange since I had no exposure to the rest of the series.
As someone who didn't grow up with games like DOOM, it's quite interesting and thought provoking to hear these stories from developers who are from that era. Thanks for the interview!
this is worth a gold … Thanx RMC
You guys really nailed it with this one! Thanks!!!
Love this interview, John is awesome. And he was right and still is right, the Amiga wasn't designed for 3d with its planar system.
Great interview, but the audio levels are really mismatched which makes listening to it hard. Perhaps you could ask the participants to do a local recording on their phone (very simple to do, won't inconvenience people) and then send you it. Because they're using headphones, the files will contain only their audio, and you can mux the tracks and level them very easily.
Nice, someone from my Home Town
Ogdensburg, NY
30:00 Got some Old World Blues vibes from John.
Excellent interview!
YESSSSSSSS finally! I was waiting for it since you announced it on Twitter!!! Thanks for sharing on here as well.
Here's an old snap of Romeo when I met him at id's HQ in 1995 (he was play testing Hexen at the time against Shawn Green):
https://www.gamers.org/dhs/usavisit/dhs024.jpg
https://www.gamers.org/dhs/usavisit/dhs025.jpg
Romero is such a chill guy. S'funny, in the 2nd pic he reminds me somewhat of Steve Burke of Gamers Nexus. 😀
Your Content Are Awesome i Mean I like It
John & Brenda have 7 non-working Apple IIs! They need to send a few out to YouTubers to be restored.
Great stuff from two legends. Thanks.
in 1993 Doom was ripping and tearing a hole in the Amiga's place a games machine. I love the Amiga, i still own 2, but John R is correct, the Amiga was not capable, and had reached it's shelf life a that point. And just like Neil, i also moved to PC at that point, and am now typing this comment on a PC. Doom put the nails in the coffin for the Amiga, and it put them in with a 9-inch nail gun.
"Bayrischer Rundfunk" is @br in Germany 😀
everyone is coloring their hair to look younger.
When it comes to fantasy armor and the sexes, people complain about the impracticality of the chainmail bikini, but I hear few complain about He-Man and nearly naked depictions of male 'barbarians' in many fantasy settings. I think design choice of things like that is best left to the artists as long as they can explain it in-universe and allow for equal treatments.
Thank you, Neil, for this lovely interview. Both Brenda and John seem super wholesome
Great interview. Both John and Brenda were great guests, with a great host. What else can ya ask for? ^-^ (Richard Garriot I'd say, but you already had him on.. heh)
I see you are trying to timebox the interview. I know Richard Garriott's ran very long. Brenda had some interesting stories but I feel like she dominated the conversation. I would have liked to hear more from John. Maybe split it up next time.
Are they husband and wife? 😍
Great interview that. The passion is evident, creativity and code!
Wizardry – holy cow!!! Now that's bringing back some memories.
What's with the down votes. This dude helped create doom!
Great video. Ken and Roberta Williams are another power couple in retro gaming.
BR – Bayrischer Rundfunk – Bavarian Radio
wow wow wow! wonderful interview! I could tell the Romero's enjoyed it as well!
I like John Romero that's why I made a character named atfer his WAD
They look miserable. I guess going to divorce soon.
Interesting interview. Amigas could run Doom-if you had at least a 68040 running at 25mhz to get it going reasonably smoothly. However in Alien Breed 3d you could walk over empty space but you couldn’t in Doom. So there 😝