在视频游戏行业，很少有人可以像约翰·罗梅洛（John Romero）这样与“硬核游戏”划上等号。这位传奇人物曾参与开发了《毁灭战士》（Doom）和《雷神之锤》（Quake），推动了在线游戏的革命性发展，之后又成立了Ion Storm工作室，但因《大刀》（Daikatana）的不成功而导致工作室解散，后来又以《杀出重围》（Deus Ex.）强悍征服了硬核玩家。但最近几年，他却主要关注休闲游戏市场，并打算继续在这个领域立足。

John Romero

罗梅洛表示，他们已经让硬核玩家体验了数十年的游戏乐趣，现在该轮到其他人群了，“我们的机会就是教世界其他人也来玩游戏。”

据游戏邦了解，罗梅洛最近刚成立了Loot Drop工作室，其运营成员包括原来在id software工作室的老同事，以及经常和他搭档的Tom Hall、游戏设计老将Brenda Brathwaite以及Sir-Tech的联合创始人Robert Sirotek。Tom Hall表示，“我曾多次与罗梅洛共事，所以非常愿意加入Loot Drop，罗梅洛具有预见未来的天赋。”

尽管社交游戏因大量吸金、重复的游戏玩法而备受非议，但Loot Drop仍然奉行罗梅洛著名的“设计就是法律”这个信条，他表示Loot Drop并非着眼于从玩家口袋中挖出大量钱财，“如果玩家给你钱，那你就得让他们产生自己的付出很划算这种感觉。”

罗梅洛最近的一款游戏是《Ravenwood Fair》，该游戏是他在LOLApps工作室任职期间开发。这款游戏于去年10月份发布，目前的市场反应很热烈，吸引了1100万的月活跃用户，也因此激发了罗梅洛对这个领域的兴趣。他表示Loot Drop将争取在2011推出4款新游戏。

游戏邦注：罗梅洛虽然已进军社交游戏领域，但他曾在Twiiter上明确表示，自己不会放弃硬核游戏。针对Eurogamer声称他已经“结束”硬核游戏生涯一事，他曾经作出回应：“Eurogamer，我不会停止开发硬核游戏。”（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

John Romero Goes Casual – UPDATED

Filed under: andy chalk, brenda brathwaite, casual games, john romero, loot drop, ravenwood fair, tom hall
Doom co-creator John Romero says his years of making games for the hardcore crowd are over, and that what he wants to do is “teach the rest of the world how to play games.”

There aren’t too many names in the videogame industry more synonymous with hardcore gaming than John Romero. This is the man who co-created Doom and Quake, revolutionizing online gaming in the process, and then made his legend even greater, although perhaps not quite in the way he would have liked, with the Ion Storm/Daikatana debacle – which, indirectly, gave us the mind-blowing Deus

Ex. But in recent years he’s immersed himself in the casual market and that’s where he plans to stay.

“We have satisfied hardcore gamers for decades. Now it’s time for the rest of the world,” Romero recently told VentureBeat. “Our opportunity is to teach the rest of the world how to play games.”

Romero’s latest company is called Loot Drop, an operation that also includes fellow id alumnus and frequent Romero collaborator Tom Hall, veteran game designer Brenda Brathwaite and Sir-Tech co-founder Robert Sirotek. “I’ve had a chance to work with John several times and I jumped at the chance to do it again,” Hall said. “John’s genius is seeing the next thing.”

And while a lot of social games take a bad rap for shallow gameplay and a focus on emptying wallets, Romero’s famous “design is law” credo is apparently still alive and well at Loot Drop. “We don’t have a view of strip mining the players for cash,” Romero said. “When a player gives you money, you want them to feel good about giving you that money.”

Romero’s most recent game was Ravenwood Fair, developed for LOLApps and released last October. It was a big hit, drawing 11 million monthly average users and firing up his interest in the market; he said he wants to put out four new Loot Drop games for 2011.

UPDATE: Romero may be in the casual zone now but he made it clear on Twitter that he’s not closing the door on guns and guts. In reference to a Eurogamer headline that said he was “done” with hardcore games, he wrote, “I am not done making hardcore games, Eurogamer.”（source:escapistmagazine）