Happy 15th Birthday, Quake

Devin Coldewey

Devin Coldewey is a Seattle-based writer and photographer. He has written for the TechCrunch network since 2007. Some posts he’d like you to read: The Dangers of Externalizing Knowledge | Generation i | Surveillant Society | Choose Two | Frame Wars | The User’s Manifesto | Our Great Sin His personal website is coldewey.cc. → Learn More

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

On June 22nd, 1996, id Software released Quake, the true successor to the Doom franchise and among the first games (certainly the most well-known) to be presented entirely in 3D. That is, with polygons. Those of us old enough to do so will remember the first set of levels (that is to say, the demo) with perfect clarity, and recall the classic grunts, moans, and clangs that accompanied that fantastic atmosphere and ambitious level design.

It’s still a hell of a lot of fun. You can download a version compatible with modern Windows and OS X here, and there are tons of mods and level packs at Planet Quake. Graaaa!