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0 pointsgiantrobot5y ago0 comments

It didn't though. By the time of Doom's release video games (console and PC) were a multi-billion dollar industry. Only a quarter of households had PCs and none had Internet access. Even by 2000 only half of all households had a computer and only about 40% had Internet access.

Doom was not some watershed moment in entertainment. It was a trend setter, or at least a meme, in the industry but it didn't somehow change the trajectory of the game industry.

The PlayStation was vastly more influential on the industry on the whole than Doom. It was less expensive than PCs yet had a good selection of the sort of "mature" titles (or even ports) typically found on the PC. The PlayStation was not a platform that moved money from the "MSM" since it Sony which was the very definition of mainstream.

Doom was cool but it didn't even come close to doing what you suggest. It didn't even have Internet multiplayer until Kali (originally iDOOM) came up with their IPX/SPX bridging years after its release.

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juststeve5y ago

Shareware and distribution of the game through the internet was a watershed moment that helped sell a lot of Wolfenstein and doom in 1992 and 1993. It is doubtful that a company like Nintendo would distribute a game like doom. PS was a few years after that. Are these statements correct, or hyperbole?

giantrobotOP5y ago

Wolfenstein and Doom's nature as shareware was much less about the Internet distribution but distribution by third parties on physical media. They were almost universally available on magazine cover discs and anyone else shipping CD-ROMs. IIRC even Blender magazine had at least one issue shipping a copy of Doom.

While id was certainly an Internet aware company in 1993 most consumers were not.

Keep in mind in 1993 a minority of households even had computers. A minority of those users even had modems. Even when they did have computers with modems connecting to a "local" BBS could still be a local toll call.

A copy of that month's PC Gamer was much cheaper than a modem and got you not just Doom but hundreds of megabytes of other crap. Cover discs were still a big deal even towards the end of the decade where home Internet access was more common.

As for the PlayStation, it was released in the Japan in 1994 and the US in 1995. Doom was released at the end of 1993 so it's contemporaneous with the PlayStation. The PSX had Doom-quality 3D games (including Doom itself) for a fraction of what a good Doom running PC cost.

juststeve5y ago

> While id was certainly an Internet aware company in 1993 most consumers were not.

Right, so you agree? This thread is about counter culture, and your talking about generic internet usage facts and % of playstation sales when it went mainstream. I played Wolf and Doom as shareware in Australia when they were released, including Kali.

giantrobotOP5y ago

Your original point was that Doom was some huge watershed moment for gaming where PCs and the Internet gained prominence. I'm saying you're wrong.

1. Doom's distribution was (to consumers) largely CD-ROMs.

2. Doom didn't even support Internet multiplayer, only modem-modem or LAN (IPX/SPX).

3. The game industry was a multi billion dollar industry by the time of Doom's release. Doom didn't somehow accelerate growth of the industry.

4. Instead of being a shareware-only title like Doom, it's sequel was sold in big boxes like all other games.

5. Doom didn't influence people getting online (BBSes or Internet) as there was no sudden uptick in modem sales, account signups, or BBS growth associated with the game.

Doom was a fun game and got media attention for being popular and violent. It was not however some major inflection point in the game industry or Internet.

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ogurechny5y ago

Internet was neither the only computer network available to consumers, nor the first one. Users had been pretty connected even before they started having IP addresses. Also, Internet is not a synonym of World Wide Web.

giantrobotOP5y ago

Most consumers didn't have computers. Let alone modems or any online service. Consumers were not pretty connected when Doom was released and wouldn't be for until the end of the decade. Businesses and schools with Internet access were 1) decidedly not consumer systems and 2) not the target market for video games.

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juststeve5y ago

giantrobotOP5y ago

While id was certainly an Internet aware company in 1993 most consumers were not.

juststeve5y ago

> While id was certainly an Internet aware company in 1993 most consumers were not.

giantrobotOP5y ago

Your original point was that Doom was some huge watershed moment for gaming where PCs and the Internet gained prominence. I'm saying you're wrong.

1. Doom's distribution was (to consumers) largely CD-ROMs.

2. Doom didn't even support Internet multiplayer, only modem-modem or LAN (IPX/SPX).

3. The game industry was a multi billion dollar industry by the time of Doom's release. Doom didn't somehow accelerate growth of the industry.

4. Instead of being a shareware-only title like Doom, it's sequel was sold in big boxes like all other games.

5. Doom didn't influence people getting online (BBSes or Internet) as there was no sudden uptick in modem sales, account signups, or BBS growth associated with the game.

Doom was a fun game and got media attention for being popular and violent. It was not however some major inflection point in the game industry or Internet.

1 more reply

ogurechny5y ago

giantrobotOP5y ago

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse