Design by Hype

John Romero was a god of gaming. He co-created Doom and Quake. So when he founded Ion Storm and announced "Daikatana," the world listened. The marketing slogan was infamous: "John Romero's about to make you his bitch." It was the height of 90s arrogance. But the game was a disaster. Delayed for years, plagued by engine switches, and marred by an AI sidekick that couldn't open doors, Daikatana destroyed Romero's reputation and his company. This book is a post-mortem of the dot-com era's excess in the gaming industry. It shows what happens when rock star egos collide with the hard reality of software development, and why hype is a debt that eventually must be paid.