In the series “what are we going to run Doom on today?”, here is a technical feat which is added to an already well-stocked list of unusual devices.
There are video games that are extremely played on their original release platform, like Wii Sports first of the name on Nintendo Wii where the Tetris from 1989 on Game Boy. And there are others, although they cannot hope to compete with these titles, which can boast of being playable on just about any machine. Not in the sense that there is a version PlayStationa version Xbox and a version PC. More in the sense: it will run on a toaster as long as it has a screen.
The image is not that exaggerated when we talk about Doomreleased in 1995 on Super Nintendo. For years, hackers of all kinds have been having fun finding a way to launch the first-person shooter on the most bizarre devices possible. L’screen of an exercise bikea TI-83 calculator, a keyboard key, the Windows notepad… Everything is good to start hunting Cacodemons with the help of a shotgun. After a little tinkering, the YouTuber Aaron Christopher extends the list.
Doom really can work on anything and everything
What did the “device hacker” manage to launch Doom on? Her toothbrush. More precisely on a Planck Mini of the brand Evoweraa connected toothbrush equipped with a color screenof Wireless and even an application that gives you tips and monitors that you are brushing well. Using its over-the-air (OTA) update feature, Aaron Christophel was able to install homemade firmware on the device microcontrollerA ESP32-C3from an ESP32 development platform.
Read also – Doom is 30 years old, guess what machines he gets to run on
The result can be seen in the video below. The game is perfectly functional, even if the movements are managed by a mouse connected via Bluetooth which must be moved forward or backward for the Doom Guy to do the same. Not very practical, but the goal is not to get to the end credits either.