Barely launched, Nintendo’s new device has already been hacked, but it was for a good cause. Enthusiasts wanted to prove that even the company’s new alarm clock could run the game DOOM.
A new chapter is added to the legend of DOOM. After unusual devices such as a lawn mower robot or even a Raspberry Pi, the famous 1993 shooting game has just conquered an unexpected territory to say the least: the Alarmo, the connected alarm clock recently marketed by Nintendo. This technical feat is the work of GaryOderNichts, a Nintendo hardware enthusiast, who proves once again that DOOM can run on virtually anything.
The story begins when this talented hacker managed to run custom code on the Alarmo, a device sold for 99 euros by Nintendo. After demonstrating his abilities by displaying a simple image of a cat, GaryOderNichts launched himself, under the leadership of his community, into a more ambitious challenge: run DOOM on this fun little alarm clock.
DOOM even runs on Nintendo’s connected alarm clock
The most surprising thing about this achievement is not so much that the game works, but that it is actually playable. The hack ingeniously uses the Alarmo’s native controls : rotating the light mushroom allows you to pivot, pressing it downwards moves the character forward, while the side buttons are used to shoot. An unconventional configuration, certainly, but functional.
Some technical compromises were nevertheless necessary. Sound is missing, and to get around the memory limitations of the USB charger, the .wad file must be compressed and then decompressed to external memory on startup. GaryOderNichts specifies, however, that it is possible to load the shareware version of DOOM directly from USB without modifying the Alarmo.
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This achievement is part of a long tradition of improbable DOOM ports. From John Deere tractors to IKEA connected bulbs, including LEGO bricks and the MacBook Pro Touch Bar, id Software’s legendary game seems to be able to adapt to any medium.
For interested DIYers, GaryOderNichts shared the source code for his hack on GitHub, allowing other players to replicate this unique, albeit impractical, experience.
