WTF?! It’s getting to the point where we can ask: is there anything with a screen that can’t play Doom? The latest unlikely device to run id Software’s FPS classic is the Playdate, an upcoming retro-style handheld that features a crank controller.
Back in May last year, a company called Panic, which makes web development apps for smartphones and publishes games such as Firewatch and Untitled Goose Game, unveiled the Playdate . It measures just 74mm × 76mm × 9mm and sports a 2.7-inch black and white display, but its most notable feature is the hand crank that’s used as a control option.
We heard in December that the Playdate would soon be shipping to developers . One of them— Nic Magnier , a UI/UX designer at Keen Games—has tweeted footage of the handheld playing his port of Doom.
First playable version of Doom on the Playdate. Still very early but I guess I will cross out "Port Doom" from my bucket list. My main inspiration was @fabynou Game Engine Black Book. pic.twitter.com/Qy21oTYkvf
— Nic (@NicMagnier) May 31, 2020
The Playdate’s Sharp-made 400 x 240 low-power LCD isn’t the best for Doom, but the shooter’s ran on lower-res screens, including a 48 x 48 single key display .
Right now, the crank isn’t used in the Doom port, but Nic said this is a first iteration, and that he’s considered doing a portrait mode where it can be used to turn, “a bit like turning the gun.” He also shared a gif of the crank being used to fire the chaingun.
Due to popular demands, here a video of the crank being used to fire the chaingun. pic.twitter.com/UuBbojKSmk
— Nic (@NicMagnier) June 2, 2020
The list of devices that we’ve seen running Doom is quite extensive: a McDonald’s cash register , John McAfee’s “unhackable” crypto wallet , Apple’s touch bar , a Porsche 911 , inkjet printers , a Commodore 64, ATMs, calculators , iPods , a virtual console within the game itself, and more. It seems that the rule is: if it's got a display, it gets a Doom port.