The Shores of Bell: Doom Now Available on Nintendo’s $99 Alarm Clock

Earlier this week, a Twitter user named GaryOderNichts showcased an intriguing hack that involved running the shareware version of Doom on a Nintendo Alarmo alarm clock. He shared a video in a Twitter thread, displaying his accomplishment.

In the thread, Gary explained that this version does not support audio yet. To make Doom work, he had to compress and then decompress the Doom shareware file upon booting, overcoming the memory limitations of the USB loader. The best part? You don’t need to tweak your Alarmo if you’re interested in attempting this yourself. All the necessary project files are conveniently available on GitHub.

Now, you might be wondering how any of this is even possible. Gary laid it all out in a detailed blog post. He started by opening up an Alarmo to inspect the hardware. The heart of the Nintendo Alarmo is an STM32H730ZBI6 Arm Cortex-M7 processor, a component that’s fortunately well-documented online. This facilitated Gary’s modification process, allowing him to hook up his Nintendo Alarmo to a Raspberry Pi.

To get everything working smoothly, Gary had to do some initial soldering and tinkering. However, the version available on GitHub doesn’t require you to modify your Alarmo physically. You’ll be able to launch Doom from a USB without any elaborate alterations.

As for the controls, playing Doom on the Nintendo Alarmo is an interesting experience. The buttons and touch dial on the alarm clock’s top serve as the primary controls. Swiping on the dial moves your aim left and right, and the notification button on the lower right is used for shooting. Some controls remain unexplained or weren’t used in the video demonstration, which showcases an early level of Doom.

It’s pretty wild to think about playing a game like Doom on a $99 alarm clock. But, this isn’t the first unexpected gadget to run Doom. The game has been seen on all sorts of devices, from smart lawnmowers to the Raspberry Pi Pico RP2350 microcontroller, and even an air hockey table. Remarkably, someone even managed to rig up a Commodore 64 expansion card to give it just enough power to host Doom.

For gaming enthusiasts keen on quirky and techy adventures, hacks like this continue to demonstrate the versatility and enduring legacy of Doom.