Q 13

PLAYBOY: In the late 1990s you were notoriously critical of Microsoft's graphics software. Now you're competing for the Ansari X Prize against Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen. Do you ever do anything that doesn't include some battle with Microsoft?

John Carmack: I've had legitimate differences with Microsoft over graphics technology, and that's been an issue for a long time. But in general, especially in hard-core geek circles, I find myself defending Microsoft. Its development environment totally kicks ass. The company has brutal business tactics, but if you look at it objectively, it does good stuff.

Q 14

PLAYBOY: Seriously, which is better, Xbox or PlayStation2?

John Carmack: Xbox. Without a doubt.

Q 15

PLAYBOY: How has online file swapping affected the game industry?

John Carmack: Although I'm an intellectual-property owner, I come down sympathetically on these issues. The games I played when I was 14 were pirated. I did save up my money to buy a few games, but I had a shoebox full of copied ones. So it would be hypocritical of me to denounce that now. A lot of people love our games and pay for them, and maybe an equal number of people who haven't paid are also playing our games. Sure, it would be nice if they paid, but I wouldn't want to imagine a world that had the technical securities in place that would make it impossible for them even to play.

Q 16

PLAYBOY: Why hasn't the game industry reacted as litigiously to file swapping as the music industry?

John Carmack: Probably because most game companies still love games. When you listen to people from the recording industry, it's hard not to get the impression that their business is about the bottom line and that they have no sympathy for anyone who would ever steal from them.

Q 17

PLAYBOY: When you were 23 years old, you paid cash for your first Ferrari with the money you made from Wolfenstein 3D. Did the salesman think you were joking?

John Carmack: This was back before my wife cleaned me up, so I was wearing jeans with holes in them. I pulled up in my Miata, walked into the dealership and said, "Sell me a Ferrari." They took it pretty much in stride. I bought a Ferrari 328 for $68,000 and six months later had it turbocharged.

Q 18

PLAYBOY: What is the one Ferrari model every guy should drive in his lifetime?

John Carmack: The F40 is fun because it's like a super go-cart. It doesn't have door handles; it has a pull cord on the inside. We were at a restaurant, and when the valet came to pull it around we could tell it was going to be the highlight of his week. He got in, closed the door and couldn't figure out how to start it because it uses a starter button instead of a key. Then he couldn't get out because it had no door handles. We had to teach him how to step out of the car.

Q 19

PLAYBOY: Can you talk yourself out of a speeding ticket?

John Carmack: I got one speeding ticket when I was in one of my Ferraris. That's it. Another time I was let off of a speeding ticket I really deserved to get. The F40 had been in the shop for a long time. I had just picked it up after work, it was about two A.M., and I was on this deserted road. I decided to see what the latest modifications could do. I tore over a hill at about 140 miles an hour, and just as I was upshifting into fifth, I passed a cop in the median. He instantly popped his lights on, and I just pulled over. I had my license and registration out, and I told him, "I deserve this 110 percent." He ran my license, came back and said, "Thanks for not making me try to chase you. Why don't you find some other place to do that?"

Q 20

PLAYBOY: You're a notorious workaholic. What's the key to surviving an 80-hour workweek?

John Carmack: It's a problem only when you have conflicts. Most people run into problems with their wife or girlfriend when they work too much. If the work is what you want to do, it naturally follows that you're focused. So you sit there and get it done. That has always been one of my strengths: picking goals and doing what I have to do to get there. I was finished with my work on Doom 3 while the rest of the team was in crunch mode. Everybody was working insane hours, and I'd feel bad leaving at 10 P.M. to put in a couple of hours on the rocket.