Doom and Don Ivan Punchatz (1936 – 2009)

It was a sad day at the UCHG when we learned of the recent death of one Don Ivan Punchatz. Why? Because he made this:

That’s right – the unforgettable classic Doom box-art. Punchatz was a science fiction and fantasy artist who had illustrated in magazines including Heavy Metal, National Geographic, Playboy and Time; but it was his work for id Software that made his name, creating the Doom game package art and logo, including the nameless Doom marine.

Sadly, in 2009 Don Ivan Punchatz suffered a cardiac arrest – and died in hospital on the 22nd October, aged 73.

This news led us to reflect on the series as a whole, and what is possibly the best game ever made – Doom. Our very own Steve is an expert on the game, being the biggest Doom fan ever. In fact it’s rumoured that this is the only series he plays in his spare time, buying other games only as cover.

First released in 1993, Doom found its way onto nearly every system around at the time – we own the Jaguar, Gameboy Advance and PC versions. The number of copies sold of the original game is unknown; but within two years of release, it was estimated that it had already been played by over 10 million people – and that’s the equivalent of the whole of Belgium; or two Denmarks.

Focussing on the exploits of an unnamed space marine, each game in the series saw you fighting through hordes of demons and the undead to stay alive. There’s always some form of plot apparently, but really it’s always all about blasting them back to hell!

Doom brought with it so many innovations to gaming and the first-person-shooter – with only Wolfenstein coming before it – that it is to this day widely considered as one of the most pioneering series in the video game industry. Indeed it was so revolutionary that games from the mid-1990s boom of first-person shooters are often known simply as “Doom clones“.

If you’ve never played it, well, we think you’d better give it a go – forget your multi-core processors, pixel-shaders, and high-definition; and get back the roots of what real quality gaming is.

You can play an online version here; but we recommend you get on ebay and grab an original – after all, that’s what the UCHG is all about.

For more info, here’s a full article on Don Ivan Punchatz.