Why Hackers Keep Running DOOM on Strange Devices — From Digital Cameras and Pregnancy Tests to a Fly Nervous System
なぜ世界中のハッカーが変なデバイスで『DOOM』を動かしているのか～デジカメから妊娠検査キット、ハエの中枢神経系まで - nomolkのブログ
Since its 1993 release, DOOM has been ported to countless devices that were never intended to be game consoles, including digital cameras, printers and pregnancy-test hardware. The 1997 release of the game's source code, together with an architecture that made platform-specific parts relatively replaceable, helped turn porting DOOM into a widespread hacking tradition.
As unusual ports spread through YouTube and social media, getting DOOM to run became less a practical benchmark and more a trophy for technical ingenuity. Recent projects have connected the game to hardware as unlikely as satellites and models of a fly's nervous system, stretching even the question of what it means for a device to 'run DOOM.'
After more than 30 years, the answer to 'Why would you run DOOM on that?' has settled into a simple 'Because you can.' Predicting the next platform may now be harder than porting the game.