December 21, 1994: Mac gamers get their hands on Marathon, a sci-fi first-person shooter designed as an answer to the massive success of PC title Doom.
Created by Bungie, the team that would later make the Halo games, Marathon introduces important features to the FPS genre. Just as importantly, it isn’t available on PC. Marathon quickly becomes a favorite among Mac gamers.
It still blows my mind that Doom and Doom II, games I remember being awestruck at the existence of on a home computer, can now fit onto a device the size of a deck of playing cards.
Now, thanks to an update by developer Bethesda, the iOS ports of these two classic titles are now better than ever. Here’s what they’ve added to this duo of gaming classics.
Trapped in an oppressive single location, allowing no-one to get within breathing distance of you, while the apocalypse teeters ever closer on the horizon… Life in coronavirus lockdown? Maybe. But it’s also an apt description of Doom and Doom II, the classic first-person-shooters which just got a nifty update on iOS.
With a variety of improvements and more than 30 new levels to enjoy, there’s never been a better (or more appropriate) time to check out or revisit this grisly duo of classic 1990s blasters.
Bethesda Softworks gave Gen Xers a reason to get nostalgic when it released updated versions of Doom and Doom II into the App Store. The versions packed all the pixelated monsters and massive weapons you could hope for on an iPhone or iPad.
But while folks were justifiably excited to don their flannel shirts, put on some alt rock in the background, and head back to the glory days of the mid-1990s, the games didn’t totally deliver on their promises. A number of people pointed out that the audio and lighting weren’t correct in both ports. Those problems have now been fixed.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the original Doom, Bethesda Softworks relaunched Doom II for iPhone and iPad. It promises “more demons, more weapons, more action” — just like it did back in 1994.
Aspyr has confirmed plans to ditch its entire catalog of 32-bit games developed for Mac.
The news comes just a few weeks after Apple announced macOS Catalina — the first version of its operating system that won’t support 32-bit apps. A number of big titles will get the boot, including Call of Duty, Civilization, and Sims.
Id Software co-founder John Carmack was behind some of the most iconic computer game of the 1980s and 90s. This week, the legendary coder behind the smash hit games Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake shared some memories of working with Steve Jobs.
Writing on Facebook, Carmack described some of his interactions with Jobs over the years — for better and for worse.
The new MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar might not be the most useful tool for professionals quite yet, but it’s quickly becoming a perfect playground for retro gaming. Two new hacks bring classic games Pac-Man and Lemmings to the Touch Bar.
The MacBook Pro’s tiny OLED display seriously limits gameplay, though: You can barely make turns in Pac-Man, but it still looks better than Doom on the Touch Bar.
Get a peek at the Touch Bar gameplay in the videos below.
The jury is still out on whether the Touch Bar will become a useful tool, but one clever coder has already discovered that it’s absolutely terrible for playing video games on.
The Touch Bar on the new MacBook Pro is officially the latest absurd piece of tech to run Doom. Apple’s guidelines specifically bans games from running on the Touch Pad but that didn’t stop a developer from porting it onto the narrow screen that’s only 60 pixels heigh.
Check it out:
The demons are back. The first trailer for DOOM‘s campaign mode was revealed this morning by Bethesda, and it’s way more intense than the original version you fought through on your Mac back in the 90’s.
The game puts you in the boots of the iconic DOOM Marine who wakes up to find out the Union Aerospace Corporation’s facility on Mars has been decimated by Hell’s worst demons. You are humanity’s last hope armed with an array of unbelievably awesome weapons, but based on the new trailer humanity is, well, doomed.
Watch the gory action below:
