"From the start, the idea was to make Quake III similar to a fighting game like Mortal Kombat," says id's Kevin Cloud, the laid-back and sagacious co-owner of id. "It's similar to Mortal Kombat in many ways. There aren't mind-bending puzzles to solve or things like that, and it really boils down to a game of skill." For those familiar with the online deathmatch in Quake, which really started with Doom in 1993, id games have always been about skill: Players try to circle-strafe their opponents and rack up as many frags - online parlance for kills - as they can. Today, it has developed into an online sport; some call it "Quakercize."