Someone got Doom running on a 2009 Canon DSLR camera, and it's surprisingly playable

A 12-year-old YouTuber named Kick recently demonstrated Doom running on a 2009 Canon DSLR camera. The open-source port, named doom550d, can be found on GitHub. This port maintains many features from the standard DOS version, supporting various mods and level packs. Unlike previous ports that ran on unconventional devices like DNS, Microsoft Paint, or earbuds, doom550d managed to achieve playable frame rates on the camera.

Kick used the menu buttons to navigate, shoot, and interact with the game. The arrow and zoom keys controlled movement, the play button activated doors and switches, DISP (or INFO) opened the automapping feature, and the rear wheel switched between weapons. Developed for Magic Lantern, an open-source alternative OS for Canon DSLR and MILC cameras, the port allows users to install up to 32 WADs at once.

The video showcased Doom, Doom II, TNT Evilution, and The Plutonia Experiment, but not non-Doom WADs like Heretic, Hexen, and Doom 64. Players could also maintain multiple save files for each WAD and access a cheat menu by rapidly pressing the delete button.

To run the port, 550D owners needed to install Canon's firmware version 1.0.9 with Magic Lantern and copy the doom.mo and WAD files to the ML/MODULES directory on an SD card. In the camera, they selected the desired WAD from Doom's WAD menu in Magic Lantern and restarted the camera to begin playing. To try the port, users must have a Canon 550D with Magic Lantern installed.

The creator of doom550d is also working on an NES emulator for the camera, though no binaries are available yet. Interested users can build from the source code and test a few ROMs.