Someone made DOOM run on earbuds, and the internet can play it

Programmers have once again pushed the limit of where the original DOOM game can be played, with the classic title now running on just earbuds hardware.

Someone made DOOM run on earbuds, and the internet can play it
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Tech and Science Editor
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1 minute & 30 seconds read time
TL;DR: Developers have successfully ported the classic 1993 first-person shooter DOOM to PineBuds Pro earbuds by leveraging their open-source software and limited hardware. The game runs on the earbuds' tiny processor, streaming compressed 18 FPS gameplay to a web browser, showcasing innovative tech limits in gaming portability.

Developers have been on a quest for quite some time to get the first DOOM game to run on as many different types of electronics as possible, and now the grandfather of first-person-shooter games has made its way over to earbuds. Yes, the same earbuds you can use to listen to music. DOOM can now be played with them.

Have you ever wondered if earbuds can run the 1993 classic first-person shooter title DOOM? Yeah, neither have I, but nevertheless, I was impressed when I discovered it is not only possible, but is currently happening. This quirky tech project takes advantage of the PineBuds Pro's open-source software to access its tiny processor, which then executes the DOOM code.

Since earbuds don't have a display, the DOOMBuds streams the game's output over the internet to a web browser where the user can watch and play the game remotely. This essentially means the earbuds have been converted into the PC running DOOM, and the browser has become the display and controller. Since the earbuds have very limited performance headroom in terms of horsepower, the developer had to make some concessions to get DOOM to be able to work.

For example, the 300 MHz ARM Cortex-M4F CPU and under 1 MB of RAM mean that video frames in DOOM have been compressed, specifically reduced to 18 frames per second. Notably, DOOM traditionally needs about 4 MB of RAM and more flash storage than the earbuds can provide to run. The compression of the title, along with the creator overclocking the earbuds' CPU and disabling power-saving features, made the port possible.