The “Will it run DOOM?” Internet challenge has made the classic 1993 shooter playable on everything from a microwave, to a child’s toy, to a laptop used as a prop on an episode of the sitcom Friends.
But now, a California-based programmer, vintage technology enthusiast, and Twitter user, Foone, has taken to social media to reveal their latest triumph: the ability to play DOOM via none other than a pregnancy test.
The basic Equate brand pregnancy test, purchased from a local drugstore, featured an absolutely minuscule screen which is typically used to display the positive or negative results of the test. However, Foone’s goal was to hack the pregnancy test so that the screen would display videos. The results were downright amazing, with the test displaying everything from Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” to a popular clip of a dancing stick bug.
I'm still playing with my replacement OLED display for the Equate pregnancy tester.
I was worried I wouldn't have enough bandwidth to do real time updates, but it turns out that 128×32 at 1bpp doesn't take much bandwidth at all. pic.twitter.com/zOzl4eHyHm— foone🏳️⚧️ (@Foone) September 5, 2020
When Foone showed off the Equate test playing cutscenes and gameplay videos from both DOOM and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, gamers on Twitter naturally asked the inevitable follow-up question. Could the pregnancy test actually be used to play DOOM?
hey you, you're finally awake.
You were trying to get pregnant, right? pic.twitter.com/uCgmymvahS— foone🏳️⚧️ (@Foone) September 5, 2020
The answer, as it turns out, was yes. Although Foone had to replace the test’s original non-programmable CPU and hook the entire thing up to a separate keyboard, on September 7, they posted a video of them successfully using the pregnancy test to play DOOM. Of course, the game doesn’t exactly look amazing on the Equate product’s tiny, monochrome screen, but it’s an impressive accomplishment nonetheless.
Yesterday I had a lot of retweets and reddit posts and such for playing Doom on a pregnancy test.
But as I explained then, it wasn't really PLAYING on a pregnancy test, it was just a video being played back, not an interactive game.Well, now it is. It's Pregnancy Test Doom! pic.twitter.com/Nrjyq07EVv
— foone🏳️⚧️ (@Foone) September 7, 2020
Foone plans to continue experimenting with pregnancy tests, and hopes to successfully convert them into flash drives, USB keyboards and perhaps even more. Follow Foone on Twitter for the latest news regarding their pregnancy test-based programming adventures!
What other bizarre technology would you like to see successfully run DOOM? Let us know!
