‘DOOM’, the mythical game that you can run on even the most unusual devices
Since its release in 1993, 'Doom' has been one of the most revered video games in history. To such an extent that over the years a legion of enthusiasts has emerged who have hacked every device that comes their way to run it.
The video game industry has titles that have become true cult works. However, none arouse as much reverence as DOOM. Id Software‘s first-person shooter is valued for incorporating several technical elements ahead of its time and because, over the past 29 years, it has pushed a legion of enthusiasts to hack as many devices as possible to run it.
DOOM was released in 1993 for MS-DOS and quickly ported to various platforms and operating systems. This is because the game’s source code has been in circulation since 1997, which has allowed it to be brought to many devices, including those not designed for gaming purposes but can still run it.
DOOM indeed became the seed of a prolific franchise that has included successful sequels and a very well-received reboot (plus a couple of less-than-done movie adaptations). However, no other title in the series has likely achieved the same level of fidelity as the original.
And a clear example of this is the impressive community that continues to port the game to the most unusual devices. Thus, what was born as a meme has become a unique hobby that has set out to break the barriers preventing DOOM from running on any gadget, no matter how ridiculous it may seem.
In fact, throughout the web, we can find endless demonstrations of the “versatility” of DOOM. And the r/itrunsdoom subreddit is arguably a highlight when gathering community efforts.
DOOM is a game that can be run on virtually any device
If it’s still unclear that DOOM can run on just about any device with a chip and screen, we’ll try a little more complicated.
Televisions, drone remote controls, ATMs, printers, oscilloscopes, digital thermometers, spectrum analyzers, cameras, smartwatches, ultrasound or ultrasound equipment, and even pregnancy tests, among many other devices, have been successfully tested—The task of running the id Software shooter.
We will mention some of the most notable cases below if you still do not believe it.
DOOM on a graphing calculator
One of the benefits of repeatedly porting the same game to take it to an infinite number of devices is that it has been possible to compress it to run on even the most limited hardware. This video dates from 2011 and shows how it was possible to install DOOM on a graphing calculator with a black-and-white screen and an executable that weighed only a few KB. Of course, the gameplay isn’t the smoothest (or sharpest), but that doesn’t matter.
On a landline phone
For many years, having a landline phone in your home was a privilege in many countries. Not only because it was expensive but also because the communications infrastructure was lacking. Gone are those times when surely no one imagined playing on a device of this type would be possible. However, the modernization of telephone devices has also allowed DOOM to carve out a place among them, as evidenced by this video shared by the user @NeilBostian on Twitter.
in a digital camera
The digital photography industry has also not been spared from the efforts of the legion of DOOM hackers. On the web, you will find tons of videos showing how id Software’s game runs on various modern cameras. However, what is notable is that it has also been possible to install it on a model almost as old as the game itself. Below you can see it in action on a 1998 Kodak DC260 with a 2-inch screen.
On a price scanner
Another one of the peculiar cases of DOOM being executed in any device with a screen and a chip. On Twitter, the user Discatte shared a fascinating thread in which he showed how he managed to run the id Software game on a price reader from the early 2000s.
The monochrome panel and the microcontroller provided by AMD have been enough to install the game. As in many other cases, the definition is far from the best, but the hardware fulfills its mission.
at an ATM
This cannot be seen in a bank or on public roads, but it is still striking. DOOM has also been run on an ATM, as seen in the video below. And while it may not seem very complex—after all, the machine is running Windows XP at heart—the experiment proved incredibly challenging when configuring the controls.
Special Mention: DOOM on a Pregnancy Test
We close our review of some of the most striking cases with a special mention of this “invention”: a pregnancy test capable of running DOOM. In a way, its developer has cheated since he did not use the original hardware but changed some components (the screen and the chip), adapted them, and connected the test to a keyboard to use as a controller. However, it deserves recognition for its originality. If you want to know more about the process, we recommend reading this article published by Popular Mechanics in 2020.
It is clear that this has been an arbitrary selection of the rarest gadgets on which DOOM has been installed. If you want to explore more, you can check out the r/itrunsdoom subreddit; there, you will find a wide variety of hacks related to this video game, most hilarious.
