Most games that were released in the early nineties stayed in the early nineties. Likewise, most games that were released on MS-DOS stayed on MS-DOS. But somehow id Software's Doom has gone nearly three decades since its initial release in 1993 and has yet to even begin falling into obscurity.
Part of the reason Doom refuses to fade away is the release of its source code, which actually happened all the way back in 1997. Released for non-profit use, this code being easily available has led to the game being ported to all sorts of devices. But playing old games on modern computing devices is boring. So instead, programmers and hackers have, over the years, created a challenge in which there is one question to answer: Can it run Doom? And no matter how obscure the device is, the answer is almost always yes. After all, you can even play Doom in Doom Eternal.
10 A Piano
It might not be running Doom under its own computing power, but using a piano keyboard instead of a computer keyboard as the controller is still an impressive achievement, no matter how much it might hurt the ears of anyone watching you play.
Fortunately, you don't need to be able to read sheet music in order to enjoy this particular musical modification as its creators have conveniently labeled each section of the keys to make an understandable control scheme. Just keep in mind that understandable doesn't necessarily mean good.
See it in action here.
9 An Ultrasound Scanner
Medical equipment plays an important role in the world of modern medicine, but it also plays Doom, because of course it does. This particular example of a misuse of medical equipment features the 1993 classic being played on an ultrasound scanner.
The ultrasound scanner has an advantage against some of the items on this list as it comes with a keyboard, but it also comes with a whole load of other buttons and a trackball mouse that is far from the pinnacle of gaming performance. Still, it works surprisingly well and has a screen big enough to be comfortably usable.
See it in action here.
8 Apple MacBook TouchBar
Now a modern Apple MacBook is more than capable of running games from the 90s, barring any compatibility issues that is. But what about running on the TouchBar of a MacBook Pro? It sure can.
Normally reserved for the most inconsequential of tasks, the TouchBar is still a display connected to computing power and so it seems inevitable it would one day run Doom. And not only does it run it, but it's the only entry on this list to run it in an ultrawide resolution. Just don't talk about the aspect ratio.
See it in action here.
7 Graphics Calculator
If you've taken any kind of advanced course in maths or physics, you've almost certainly encountered the computing wonder that is the graphical calculator. And whether you're a fan of Casio or Texas Instruments, you probably heard about plenty of people playing games on their calculator, maybe you even had some on your own. But not many people had a calculator that ran Doom.
Admittedly the grayscale screen doesn't do Doom's 90s graphics much justice but there's no denying that it works. The variety of buttons available even make for workable controls, leading to a perfectly playable version of Doom, albeit at a remarkably low FPS.
See it in action here.
6 A Toaster
So like the piano the toaster is acting more as a controller than actually handling the computing side of running Doom, but it's safe to say that playing any game using a toaster is too weird to miss out on this list.
One toaster alone lacks the number of inputs needed to play the game properly, so by the end of this particular gaming experiment a set of three different toasters are being used to provide enough inputs to slay demons effectively. This input method certainly one of the crazier mods to the original Doom but with all the noise it makes, probably isn't one to use during those late-night gaming sessions.
See it in action here.
5 An ATM
It's not exactly clear where these hackers managed to get hold of a functioning ATM but it's probably best not to ask. Instead let's ask if it can play Doom, to which the answer is of course, yes. It seems to have taken some more physically involved hacking to pull off but the result is undeniable.
And unlike many of the examples on this list, ATMs have speakers which means you get to enjoy Doom's unmistakable heavy metal soundtrack while you play. Although the buttons don't exactly look ergonomic, so maybe keep the demon-slaying session short on this one.
See it in action here.
4 Myki Card Reader
Myki is the contactless card ticket system for public transport in Melbourne, Australia, and to make it work they use card readers which have a screen. And since they have a screen, someone made it run Doom because that's just what you do apparently. Not only is it running Doom though, but it also appears to be successfully running Windows.
So with the right data and a few peripherals, technically this means it'd be possible to play Doom in any number of locations in Melbourne. Whether or not you should be doing that, however, is another question. But still, it's nice to know it's an option.
See it in action here.
3 An Office Phone
In the era of mobile phones, landlines and phones you can't carry around with you seem like ancient technology, but they still have a place in many offices and homes around the world. And it turns out that's a good thing because that means there's potentially another device capable of playing Doom in thousands of locations.
The keypad on this particular office phone actually looks like it works well as an input device and has enough buttons to cover all the basic functions of Doom. The creator of this specific iteration of office phone Doom has even made a handy guide on how to perform this modification yourself. Although unless you're confident no one needs your office phone anymore, perhaps don't try this one yourself.
See it in action here.
2 A Digital Camera From 1998
There are a lot people don't know about Doom, for example, you can play it on a digital camera. Computing power was increasing at such a rate during the 90s that it took an entire PC to run DOOM in 1993, but this digital camera from 1998 is more than capable of handling it. Now admittedly this isn't the cheap digital camera your parents would have bought to take some holiday snaps but it's still a camera that runs Doom and that will always be impressive.
It actually runs the game pretty well and has the basic inputs covered, although the short demonstration quickly makes it clear that the buttons on a digital camera were never designed for playing an FPS. Who would have guessed?
See it in action here.
1 Porsche 911
What's better than a Porsche 911? A Porsche 911 that runs Doom of course! Now before we get into this there is one important note here: Do not try this at home. Cars are dangerous as it is and slaying demons is only going to take your focus away from the road.
But with that being said it is still pretty cool to see a sports car running the 1993 classic on its center console. Admittedly using the car as a huge controller has its drawbacks both for safety and ease of use but hey, this is a truly mobile version of Doom and the car is running it using its own computing power. So while it may be dangerous, it is also amazing and probably one of the last places anyone would expect to find a fully functioning version of Doom.
See it in action here.