Romero Fired?

[Evil Avatar]

Computer Games Online has a rumor post (http://www.cgonline.com/content/view/1013/2/), pulled from the blog (http://davidjaffe.modblog.com/?show=blogview&blog_id=676663) of God of War director David Jaffe, suggesting that industry veteran John Romero may have been fired by publisher Midway.

It's funny because just the other day I heard that a big name designer got fired from his latest job. I won't say who it was/is because I think it's very sad whenever anyone loses a job...sometimes there's nothing that can be done, but it's still someone's life we are talking about and it's a tough blow to take. But I will tell you that this is a designer who designed some DAMN GOOD GAMES (and these games were phenoms as well...popular as any big game has ever been)...and now he's out of a job. And he's a guy who seemed to really pursue the limelight, the fame, the accolades....at least as far as I could tell. I don't know him but from my view it seemed that the fame overtook the work, you know?

[Everlost_MI]

Uh...gotta say it...Who's the bitch now? :)

Tacky? Yes.
Funny? A bit.
And it's still sad to hear anyone lose there job.

[agentgray]

Well, if you've ever read Masters of Doom, Romero's one shining moment was Doom. After that he was all about living off of coattails and fame. He slacked off on everything after that.

He was good. One time.

It just goes to show how BIG Doom really was/is.

[the_ham_dog]

Can we stop beating this dead horse yet? Man, I feel sorry for the guy.

[hello]

Wow, you people are so far behind the times. This was stated many other places this morning and romero already has answered it.
"Hey guys, I can definitely confirm that I have left Midway - I've been gone for about 3 weeks"

[abso]

Daikatana anyone? With games like that, it's amazing he kept a job as long as he did. Not that I like seeing people lose their jobs, and I'm sure he will be fine regardless, but there is a point where you have to look at the quality of the work the person produces and go from there.

[MosBen]

Romero's levels for Quake were the best in the game.

[Deadend]

So... what does this mean for Gauntlet : Seven Sorrows?

[Morrolan]

Romero is a real sob story. He's got a lot of ambition and a lot of passion. With Daikatana, it wasn't his failings as a designer that tripped him up, it was his failings as a leader, and as a financial manager.

As much as he asked for it with the whole marketing angle for that game, Romero in no way deserves the crap he's been taking for YEARS since that ONE title. At least Molleenooo has put out a couple of games that have been completely below expectations. People LOVE to hate Romero, and I'm not sure why. Is it because he has boned a girl way hotter than you're capable of bagging?

[Liquidize105]

I suppose Tom Hall went with him?

Good-o Tom, quit the double act, you're better off going it alone.

Uh...gotta say it...Who's the bitch now? :)

Tacky? Yes.
Funny? A bit.
And it's still sad to hear anyone lose there job.
Everlost... It's okay, don't be so serious. That was well said.

[Savok]

People LOVE to hate Romero, and I'm not sure why. Is it because he has boned a girl way hotter than you're capable of bagging?
A Romanian teen, yes we all want to snatch the craddle.

Everyone hates Romero because he symbolizes what happens when art goes mainstream, wanking, fame seeking arseholes more interested in being known then creating. It's a counter push, we've seen it happen far too many times before, will it work? Only time will tell, but we've at least held it back, I've never seen Will Wright in a beret and hope I never will.

[Hellstorm]

I had the misfortune of playing Romero's Gauntlet remake at E3. It was shit ass horrible.

[ldi222]

Well at least Romero finished Dikatana, more than I can say for the other D game. I also have to wonder if Doom 3 would have been any better if the old team was back together. I think it would have...

[EGO]

There are many people that would kill for the multiple opportunities Romero has had.

[RainOfTerror]

Romero left, or got fired, who knows, right after E3.

News didn't break until today though ..

[Apex]

At least Molleenooo has put out a couple of games that have been completely below expectations. People LOVE to hate Romero, and I'm not sure why. Is it because he has boned a girl way hotter than you're capable of bagging?

"Molleeenooo" has at least put out a dozen great games over the years. People bitch about Fable, Fable is still a great RPG. Romero has done 1 great game.

[OSX]

Personally, I loved Black & White and have no idea why "Molleeeeeennnnoooooo" gets all the flak he does over it.

And ya, Romero had a few stinkers, but he gets hated on alot more than what he deserves. People just love to see the rich and powerful fail, and thats pretty sad.

[Heretic Machine]

Old Moleeenoooo is just as much of an ass as Romero... They're both loud mouth morons with very little talent when it comes to modern game design. Or maybe they just have horrible misfortunes and get stuck with bad teams, I dunno. Anyhow, they make shitty games, despite having made masterpieces in the past.

[Deadend]

I kinda like Moleeeenooo, the guy doesn't make the best games, but he at least has vision and tries to do something diffrent.
He has balls, and is a bit too open with what he wants to do.

Romero... well, he hasn't really done anything new or better in ages.

Oh, did anyone READ what Jaffe wrote? It was a fairly cool blog entry and it makes me feel like a dick for saying the classical music gaming concert was stupid and lame.

[51|RandoM]

People LOVE to hate Romero, and I'm not sure why. Is it because he has boned a girl way hotter than you're capable of bagging?

Money does wonders for your sex appeal, especially when you spend it on umm, upgrades for your target umm, audience.

Poor guy needs to buckle down, forget about stardom and start thinking about earning a living. The odds of another id type of scenario happening to anybody is damned near nonexistant, when you get right down to it.

[TrackZero]

Uh...gotta say it...Who's the bitch now? :)

Tacky? Yes.
Funny? A bit.
And it's still sad to hear anyone lose there job.

True enough. I really can't feel anything but bad for the man who taught me to rocket jump, despite any other failings he has. I miss Romero as a character more than anything else, maybe he'll get onto a PR team somewhere in the industry.

[Player 1]

I, for one, rather enjoyed Daikatana and felt it a pretty worthwhile game. It tried to do a few things that hadn't already been seen in the FPS genre at the time. It was doomed (hoho) to failure simply because the knives had already been drawn due to Romero mouthing off.

Live by publicity, die by publicity.

Romero, whenever I've had the stomach to read any of his soundbites, has always come over as a colossal jerk. I don't feel his work has ever matched up to his ego. I'm sure his profile has landed him jobs more than his talent - just as I'm sure Midway will benefit from just his name being attached to a game. I'm just as sure there's equally talented people out there who get hired and fired each week who probably deserve it less.

It's a very unstable industry. I wonder of Sid Meier has his resume up to date?

[Rafer]

I, for one, rather enjoyed Daikatana and felt it a pretty worthwhile game. It tried to do a few things that hadn't already been seen in the FPS genre at the time.

From what I've read, I think they had problems trying to get characters that fought along side you. Like Half Life 2 couldn't even get that right, with the guys fighting with you being disposable and the hack of making barney immortal. Had they ditched the A.I. and extra characters I think they could of finished it a lot sooner and had an okay time-travelling FPS in the vein of 'Painkiller'.

[balamoor]

Originally Posted by Morrolan
People LOVE to hate Romero, and I'm not sure why. Is it because he has boned a girl way hotter than you're capable of bagging?


I'm not sure if you're speaking about Killcreek, or the Fifteen-Year old Romanian girl.

If it's Killcreek any woman can look good if they get the work done that she has. Take a look at her college photos to see the person behind the implants. Also if you will notice she is no longer in the "Industry” because developers are banging younger, hotter girls. Says a lot about her abilities as a designer. If Killcreek would have pursued her craft instead if being the industries pump companies would have actually took her seriously.

If you’re speaking of the kid from Romania, she's okay but nothing to write home about, and anyone with an insane amount of cash can bang a hot woman, so again nothing unique there.

[Ridlin]

People love to hate Romero because he liked to talk the talk, but he never even got up off the chair to walk. He rode in on the coat tails of Carmack, grabbed the camera and said "point that thing at me! I'm the superstar here!"

Which would be fine, but he WASN'T. He's no super talent, he's not even talented. Just a big mouth. He doesn't deserve the MONEY and attention he got from doom.

He's just a big bullsh!tter.

bye bye. You won't be missed.

At least molyneuexx delivers a product that lots of people enjoy.

[Rafer]

Kotaku is confirming the story (http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/gossip/romero-confirms-leaving-midway-112317.php)... he's saying he quit.

From the rome.ro message board... (http://www.johnromero.com/phpubb/viewtopic.php?p=80650&highlight=#80650)

[Bubby]

Saying he quit? He "left". Says nothing about quitting OR getting canned.

[Savok]

You really have to wonder if it was the Romanian Internet Code that drew him to a Romanian teen.

[sol740]

Old Moleeenoooo is just as much of an ass as Romero... They're both loud mouth morons with very little talent when it comes to modern game design. Or maybe they just have horrible misfortunes and get stuck with bad teams, I dunno. Anyhow, they make shitty games, despite having made masterpieces in the past.


Loud mouth morons ... highly unlikely ... more like a case of too high ambition. Your last statement as well is rediculous ... "they make shitty games despite having made masterpieces ... " You can't be perfect all the time. I'll be the first to say Fable let me down, but it wasn't a shitty game. Hell I might be flamed for this despite my love for the man, but I felt Miyamoto's last Mario game was terrible, doesnt make him a moron. As a matter of fact hes a fucking genius. Not that either designers are in his caliber.

[XxSATANxX]

Romero has earned the hatred.

I have an unopened copy of Daikatana that I bought at EB Games for $1.99.

The game was just dreadful. All the crap that spewed from Ion Storm was an ego gone mad. Like Ed Wood's Plan 9 from outer Space. JR has locked in a place in Gamer history.

I have a framed copy of the famous "make you his bitch" ad. I have that pic of JR wearing the crown holding some goofy game device.

He's a bit like a gamer version of Citizen Kane. I find this kind of fall from grace
really captivating. That guy had it all. He blew it completly.

It's bad when our self appointed Gods let us down.

[Syrinx]

He's going to make the unemployment line his bitch!

[EGO]

Do people REALLY think Killcreek was "hot"?!?

I think guards at female prisons see hotter chicks on a daily basis!
She was SKANK personafied.

Romero was nothing but an attitude and a bunch of hair. He was a Level Designer that got lucky, new how to leverage his luck and rode it for a while.

Looks like the ride is over...

[Madguy]

The 'bitch' joke lost its funny five years ago. Masters of Doom reveals he was actually against that whole campaign.

Anyone who literally hates or even strongly dislikes the guy needs to do some growing up. Pretty much everything I've read about him indicates that he isn't a massive jerk at all, rather a nice guy who happens to be passionate about his work. Brash? Yeah, he could be at times, but that stage of his career ended half a decade ago-- my guess is he's learned from the experience and moved on, which apparently the dead-horse-beating gaming community is incapable of.

Side note, anyone who took a good objective look at Daikatana could see that it was merely mediocre for the time of its release rather than the "Plan 9" it's been made out to be.

[RicoSuave77]

Romero is a real sob story. He's got a lot of ambition and a lot of passion. With Daikatana, it wasn't his failings as a designer that tripped him up, it was his failings as a leader, and as a financial manager.

As much as he asked for it with the whole marketing angle for that game, Romero in no way deserves the crap he's been taking for YEARS since that ONE title. At least Molleenooo has put out a couple of games that have been completely below expectations. People LOVE to hate Romero, and I'm not sure why. Is it because he has boned a girl way hotter than you're capable of bagging?
Agreed 100% (except for the part about Killcreek - whether I could or not is irrelevant - I wouldn't hit it with *your* dick :) She was actually pretty cute before the bad boob job/bad hair color/bad makeup... ce la vie.

But I digress. People have been crucifying him for years almost exclusively based on *one* print ad that wasn't even his idea. Sure Daikatana didn't live up to the hype, but it's not the worst game ever by any means. Yet people act like it's the only thing he ever did. Notice how id has more or less become a "3d engine" company since Romero's departure? I know it pains a lot of people to admit it, but he is a large part of what made those early groundbreaking id games fun. Carmack brought the technology, Romero brought the gameplay. With Ion Storm, he tried to do too much of the business side (which obviously isn't his forte), and lost sight of what he does well. And yes, he got the big head with the whole "rock star" thing, but he's obviously learned from his mistakes, and has since been quietly doing what he enjoys and does well... making games. Hyperspace Delivery Boy was excellent for what it was, and Seven Sorrows looks great so far. Yeah, there was that port of Red Faction, but c'mon... it's nearly impossible to wrangle a decent FPS out of the N-gage :)

Bottom line, I sure hope none of you are given as much grief as he has received based on *one* career mis-step (however large it may have been).

[Hijinx]

Everyone hates Romero because he symbolizes what happens when art goes mainstream, wanking, fame seeking arseholes more interested in being known then creating.

It appears Jaffe is on his way. Good luck.

[Savok]

I've never heard of him before, if he's a whore he sucks at it.

Mind you, J Allard the mighty pirate and case designs based on the "inhale" should have us all afraid.

[TrainwreckX]

Old Moleeenoooo is just as much of an ass as Romero... They're both loud mouth morons with very little talent when it comes to modern game design. Or maybe they just have horrible misfortunes and get stuck with bad teams, I dunno. Anyhow, they make shitty games, despite having made masterpieces in the past.


YOU KNOW NOTHING. I know Peter personally and he may be one of the nicest men in the industry. Have you ever met him? Plus he is brilliant.

At E3, the guy who did City of Heroes was shitting on Peter right in front of his face, I almost wanted to slap him. And Peter was SO calm and collected about it, just like always.

I give him credit, Fable wasn't all it was cracked up to be but it was STILL a fun RPG and I did NOT sell it back after I beat it because it was well done, it just needed to be longer, that's it!


It appears Jaffe is on his way. Good luck.

If you read his blog often enough, you would probably know you are full of shit.

I've never heard of him before, if he's a whore he sucks at it.

Mind you, J Allard the mighty pirate and case designs based on the "inhale" should have us all afraid.

http://www.geekonstun.com/mt/archives/hd_allard_050605.html
I hate J Allard

[KNOTE]

Do people REALLY think Killcreek was "hot"?!?

I think guards at female prisons see hotter chicks on a daily basis!
She was SKANK personafied.


Uh... not that it matters but she doesn't look like a skank to me. Looks pretty normal.
http://www.stuartandstevie.com/images/stevie_pc.JPG