At a certain point in Doom creator John Romero‘s life, he waged a battle with a Mac keyboard while playing a multiplayer match in his own first-person shooter game, Quake. Now he has listed that Mac keyboard on eBay for anyone to bid on, and by the looks of it, it’s safe to say that the keyboard lost the fight.
John Romero’s first big success as a game designer was with company idSoftware, where he worked with a team to produce the original Doom. A fast-paced and bloody first-person shooter, Doom became a hit with gamers who wanted an intense shooter experience and that led to idSoftware producing a sequel, Doom 2. After Doom 2, idSoftware built upon the success of the Doom series with another hardcore first-person shooter, Quake, complete with a soundtrack by industrial metal band Nine Inch Nails. It was in a Quake Deathmatch specifically that John Romero would ultimately decide his Mac keyboard was no longer serving him well, and the result of the keyboard’s demise has turned into a fun piece of memorabilia.
The keyboard is listed on eBay with the seller notes “destroyed.” John Romero claims in the comments of his listing that his rage is usually directed toward inanimate objects around him, though not usually the keyboard as it is “critical to actually Deathmatching”. The pictures of the Quake casualty keyboard tell a pretty vivid story. Keys are completely out of their sockets (one can imagine some fist smashing probably led to this) and the sandwich shape is not exactly the optimal layout for fast-reflex play.
Romero’s “spring cleaning” also apparently involves listing some expensive cars and some art. He says the only reason he has listed the keyboard is because his last destroyed keyboard ended up in a museum. He also offers to sign the keyboard for the highest bidder. For those interested, the keyboard bidding is slated to end on January 20 at 7:25 AM, and at the time this article was written the highest bid was $252.00.
For fans of John Romero, Quake, or both, this could definitely be a great piece to show off to other gamers. Romero’s work has given lasting inspiration, with the latest iteration of the Doom series, Doom Eternal, frequently listed on review aggregate website Metacritic as a highest scoring title for multiple platforms. Quake has also spawned its own yearly convention in QuakeCon, which celebrates the works of idSoftware. Last year’s formal QuakeCon was unfortunately cancelled due to COVID-19, but an online celebration was held instead and is available to watch on YouTube.
Although he might still be smashing the occasional piece of gaming hardware, John Romero’s latest focus has been on a game he developed with his wife, Brenda. Their mafia-themed strategy game, Empire of Sin, released last year and provides a lengthy playtime for those looking to dive into to the seedy world of organized crime.
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