All articles tagged with #doom
Australian startup Cortical Labs wired 200,000 human brain cells onto a silicon chip to play Doom, building on Pong experiments as it pitches biological computers that could someday sit in data centers alongside traditional silicon chips for far greater energy efficiency.
This Retro Recap bundles the week’s classic-gaming news—from Rosamund Pike calling the DOOM movie an absolute bomb to Bleem’s Dreamcast collaboration; GameStop declaring PS3/Xbox 360/Wii U retro; Limited Run Games’ renewed fan-first focus; Konami’s Devastators heading to consoles; Final Fantasy IX’s animated series in production; Animal Crossing’s Claude Code-powered PC port; RetroAchievements adding Wii support; and AYANEO Pocket Air Mini’s review.
Nintendo Switch 2’s 22.0 firmware adds a Handheld Mode Boost that raises resolution and enhances visuals for many older Switch titles when played in handheld mode, as shown in comparison videos: Doom improves to 576p (from 408p), Fire Emblem Warriors to 1080p (vs 720p), and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 often reaches around 720p in many areas, with other titles like Spyro Reignited and No More Heroes 3 also gaining enhancements; results vary by game and not all titles benefit equally.
Two high-profile experiments push the boundaries of biological computing: Cortical Labs wired 200,000 living human-brain cells on a glass chip to play the video game Doom, while Eon Systems created a virtual fruit fly by emulating its brain. Neither appears conscious yet, but the work raises questions about learning in cells, brain emulation, and potential medical and robotic applications, alongside ethical concerns about memory manipulation and the line between living tissue and machines.
Kotaku profiles Randal Linden, who created the original SNES Doom port in 1995 using a boot ROM and reverse-engineered Doom, and explains how Limited Run Games, with a Raspberry Pi-based cartridge, are refining that version to add features like faster framerate, circle strafing, and rumble, delivering a smoother, content-rich Doom on the SNES while honoring the hardware limits that defined the infamous release.
Australian startup Cortical Labs shows its CL1 device can steer a culture of living human brain cells to play the video game Doom by translating the game's visuals into electrical stimulation patterns; following an earlier Pong demo, the neurons were taught via the company’s API in under a week, but they still perform like novices and aren’t equivalent to silicon processors, though the work hints at future brain–machine interfaces and more complex robotic control.
ID Software’s Doom: The Dark Ages DLC is described as massive—so large it feels like a sequel—with a ton of new content that departs from the base game, while the standalone title has already drawn about 3 million players since launch.
Cortical Labs’ CL1 is a commercial bio‑computing platform that uses living human neurons on a 59‑electrode array to run Doom via the Cortical Cloud and biOS; modules sell for about $35,000 (volume price $20,000), consume roughly 850–1,000 W per full rack, and keep neurons viable for up to six months under ideal lab conditions.
A Cortical Labs demo shows 200,000 human neurons on a multi-electrode array controlling a Doom-like game by translating on-screen data into electrical stimuli; the neurons respond and can learn, hinting at future brain-in-a-dish AI capabilities. The footage raises ethical questions about cell sourcing and ownership, and Cortical Labs is offering a Cortical Cloud API for developers, with the caveat that the footage depicts Freedoom rather than the original Doom.
A terminally ill Doom fan in Toronto asked Reddit for one final wish—playing Doom: The Dark Ages on a PS5 in hospital—and received heartfelt messages from series lead developer Hugo Martin and co-creator John Romero. The hospital arranged the request, Martin and Romero offered words of support and encouragement, with Romero saying the fan is the real Slayer and that he’s not alone. The post drew broad fan support as the fan continued to play during his final days, illustrating how creators and communities can accompany a player through life’s hardest moments.
Hackaday reports that PDFs can run embedded JavaScript, enabling experiments like Doom PDF (a modified Doom port running inside a PDF via a DOSBox‑like environment) and a standalone Super Mario 64 port contained in a 23.5 MB PDF that renders at a few FPS with ASCII output, made possible by PDF.js in browsers.
id Software is marking its 35th anniversary with a celebratory video and hints of ongoing plans for 2026, including possible discounts, behind-the-scenes content, and potential announcements. While a full new game reveal isn’t anticipated, there’s speculation about remasters or re-releases as the studio looks back on its DOOM history and continues development on its next project.
Ars Technica reports Doombuds, a hack by Arin Sarkisan, lets the PineBuds Pro earbuds run Doom by wiring a JavaScript interface to stream a heavily compressed MJPEG video from the earbuds’ UART pads to a web server, using a 1.7MB squashware Doom build to fit into the device’s ~4MB flash and ~1MB RAM; a Twitch stream controls sessions via doombuds.com, demonstrating that inexpensive, open‑firmware earbuds can run a classic game.
A creative project where a receipt printer was modified to display and run the game DOOM, involving OS changes and scripting to print game frames, showcasing an unusual way to play classic games on unconventional hardware.
Clever developers successfully ran Doom on an ESA satellite, using real Earth images captured by the satellite as the game's backdrop, demonstrating an impressive feat of space-based game porting and innovative use of satellite imagery.