2024-02-29 13:12:34
The cult game “Doom” can be played on a lawnmower. Manufacturer Husqvarna has made the title work on its devices. But why?
On an electronic pregnancy test, on a tractor display, on intestinal bacteria: There have been numerous successful attempts by developers and hackers to get the cult shooter “Doom” to work. Now another system is being added. Swedish manufacturer Husqvarna has announced that owners of its lawnmowers can play the game on their devices.
The company writes that it is possible to install the shareware episode of “Doom” from 1993 as a free update for six months on Husqvarna robotic lawnmowers from the Nera product line. And further: “Thanks to the existing display, control button and start and stop button,” the robotic lawnmower becomes “a special kind of games console.”
How did that happen? According to the IT magazine “Golem”, Husqvarna employees came up with the idea of porting the cult shooter to the lawnmower. The manufacturer’s robotic lawnmowers have “pretty good computing power,” its developers are quoted as saying. The game runs at 35 frames per second on the displays.
Great interest among visitors to a hacker competition
The developers presented their results at a hacker competition last year. The project was met with “interest from visitors” who were keen to play “Doom” on the robotic lawnmowers, said Husqvarna. Since then, we have been thinking about “how we can also make this gaming experience possible for our Automower customers.”
The “Doom” developers are also happy about the result. Studio Director at id Software says: “Over the last 30 years, the passion and ingenuity of the ‘Doom’ community has continued to amaze us.” He is thrilled that robot lawnmowers are finally on the list of devices that run the game.
The shooter will be playable on compatible Husqvarna Automower models from April 15th to September 9th. The manufacturer says registration is possible via the Automower Connect app.