View source for Doom (video game)

==Broader influence==

In the words of [[Lev Grossman]], ''Doom'' presented a "three-dimensional virtual world so powerful, compelling and disturbing that it would change the real world around it", whose "fluid, hyperkinetic rhythms [became] part of the visual language of movies and TV".<ref>Lev Grossman (August 9, 2004), "[http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,674778,00.html The Age of Doom]", ''TIME''</ref> As many players were unfamiliar with the type of interactive 3D graphics, ''Doom'' was sometimes half-jokingly said to be the source of "''Doom''-induced motion sickness" or DIMS.<ref>Joshua Quittner (December 4, 1995), "[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,983799,00.html A Revenant on my Back]", ''TIME''</ref>

''Doom'' was and remains notorious for its high levels of violence, gore, and satanic imagery, which have generated much controversy from a broad range of groups. It has been criticized numerous times by religious organizations for its diabolic undertones and was dubbed a "mass murder simulator" by critic and Killology Research Group founder [[David Grossman]]. ''Doom'' prompted fears that the then-emerging [[virtual reality]] technology could be used to simulate extremely realistic killing, and in 1994 led to unsuccessful attempts by Washington state senator Phil Talmadge to introduce compulsory licensing of VR use.

The game again sparked controversy throughout a period of school shootings in the United States when it was found that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who committed the [[Columbine High School massacre]] in 1999, were avid players of the game. A rumor spread afterwards that Harris had designed ''Doom'' levels that looked like the halls of the high school, populated with representations of Harris's classmates and teachers, and that Harris practiced for his role in the shootings by playing these levels over and over. However, although Harris did design ''Doom'' levels, they were not simulations of Columbine High School.