In context: People have found ways to run the original Doom on some truly unlikely devices. The latest mod isn't the strangest, but it shows how developers can adapt the game to hardware it was never meant for, while still delivering an experience faithful to the 1993 classic.
A $170 Anker Prime desktop charger now joins the ever-growing list of devices that can run Doom. Hardware modder Aaron Christophel recently ported the classic DOS shooter to the power bank, noting that the process didn't require much in the way of hardware trickery.
Hardware-hacking enthusiast Christophel, who describes his passion as running custom firmware on as many devices as possible, said his Anker Doom demo worked without any hardware modifications. In his video, he pointed viewers to his Anker Power Bank Hacking repository on GitHub for those interested in exploring further.
The Anker power bank runs Doom with ease thanks to hardware that meets the game's modest requirements. It uses a Synwit SWM34S SoC with a 150MHz Arm Cortex-M33 core, 8MB of SDRAM, and 16MB of onboard storage. The original DOS release needed only a 386 CPU, 4MB of RAM, and a VGA card – making the power bank, in effect, an upgrade.
The power bank has a 200x480 pixel LCD, which can run Doom "smooth enough" if the original 320x200 resolution is slightly scaled down. There's no audio, and the only "controls" are the single rotary encoder on the device's right side. Turning the wheel moves the Doom marine forward, backward, left, or right, while a click fires his weapon or opens doors to access new sections of the game's corridors.
The Anker Prime Charger can deliver 250W across six USB ports, though Doom has no idea what to do with the extra power. Modders and developers have already taken the "can it run Doom" meme to absurd extremes, making the classic id Software FPS work in Notepad, a QR code, TypeScript's type system, and more.
In May, Limited Run Games offered a $666 "Will It Run Edition" of the first two Doom games, notable for coming in a collector's box that could literally run the original 1993 release. Tempted to sell a spare kidney for the gimmick, I ultimately pre-ordered the classic big-box PC edition instead.