The Fact That Doom 3 Is On A Handheld Console Is Mind-Blowing

Doom 3 was once a game that required the latest computer hardware to run, and here we are playing it on a tablet.

[Vits]

It really isn't though. Doom 3 was release almost 15 years ago. Sure back in the day it was a really incredible heavy game that required a powerful hardware. But as the Switch SoC is far more powerful than any PC of that time, running Doom 3 on it isn't anything to write home about. And that doesn't go to the Switch alone. Pretty much any middle-range smartphone could run Doom 3 if Bethesda have ported it (well some already can but not in a legitimate way).

About the support that the Switch is receiving from thirds. Personally I don't think that is that impressive that we have games like Doom 2016 running on the device. Because the Switch is somewhat powerful and with the right sacrifices it can run almost anything from this gen.

However I'm impressed that developers are willing to do such sacrifices .And that in a generation that fought so hard about graphic settings we have this big market willing to pay premium for what were objectively the worst versions of those games (talking about visuals/performance here guys).

[roadkillers]

I think it' more impressive that Nintendo is getting good 3rd party support. 3rd party games tend to flop more often on Nintendo consoles.

[luckytrouble]

Define "good" here. Bethesda supports the Switch. Capcom is decently half assing it. And that's about it unless we want to pretend billions of Indies equate to support from all major third parties.

[Teflon02]

Lucky
Namco and all the japanese companies support it for all games that the switch can normally run for the most part. A few exceptions but yerah

[Babadook7]

"Doom 3 Is On A Handheld Console Is Mind-Blowing"

Really? Wouldn't Doom 2016 be much more impressive?

[fr0sty]

Doom 3 is 15 years old... I'd be disappointed if our handheld devices couldn't play it.

[SkatterBrain]

i played a Portal 2 clone on my note 9 and was impressed, id like to play Halo 1 and 2 on my phone

[quent]

and how much is that overpriced pos again, like a grand ?

[Orionsangel]

Doom 3 and HL2 are game changers of their era. They set the bar back then and influenced graphics for many years to come.

[Sciurus_vulgaris]

Doom 3 first released in 2004 for PC. It was also ported to the OG Xbox in 2005. The OG Xbox had a single core 733 MHz CPU, 64 MB of ram, and GPU clocked at 233 MHz with a performance 7.3 Gflops. I don’t see how the Switch running Doom 3 is mind blowing it’s an old game.

[darthv72]

The fact Doom 3 even ran on the xbox was mind blowing. I know there were several things that had to be scaled back but the PC specs for the game at the time were at least double, if not triple that of the og xb.

[Sciurus_vulgaris]

I believe the dev used a coding trick that allowed part of the Xbox hard-drive to be used as ram. Half-Life 2 and Far Cry: Instincts on the OG Xbox were arguable even more impressive than Doom 3.

[TheColbertinator]

@Sciurilus

Half Life 2 on Xbox did have some long loading issues. Ran it fine but the game pushed the console to its max.

[Sirk7x]

Bought it as a teen on Xbox when it came out, graphics blew my mind. Original Xbox was ahead of its time. Still probably the best Gen in gaming altogether, between that, PS2, GC and Dreamcast. Good days...

[Sciurus_vulgaris]

@TheColbertinator

I think the source engine in general had issues with loading. Half-life 2 and Portal 1-2 on 360 still had frequent load times.

[Segata]

They also had Half-Life 1 running on Dreamcast with extra levels which were a feat in its day. DC only had 16mb of ram. Yeah it was canceled but like StarFox 2 is was fully complete.

[quent]

and at 20 and 22 fps repectfly on both those console's, both drawing well of 200w, switch does 7w

[SegaGamer]

You could say this about any game then. There was a time when the original Doom needed expensive hardware, now it can play on anything. Hardware evolves, 2004 hardware is weak compared to todays hardware and the same will be said in 15 years time about todays hardware too.

[GoldeneyeOO7]

My cousin's son programed the original Doom onto his Texas Instruments calculator as a senior in high school lol!

[PhoenixUp]

6th gen games running on a handheld shouldn’t be mind blowing, especially since after PSP came out

[Imortus_san]

Doom 3 as been on the GPD Win since the console launch years ago.

[Tapani]

The fact that Doom Eternal is coming to Switch is mind-blowing. Not Doom 3.

[Double_O_Revan]

Doom 2016 is on the Switch, and Doom Eternal will be too. So how is Doom 3 being on there Mind Blowing?

[xVOLTx]

..

[Elda]

Doom 3 was released 15 years the Switch is quite capable of running a 15 year old game.

[Xaevi]

I thought it wasn't a handheld?

[Telxvi]

What's mind-blowing is that they added DRM to the original Doom.

[bradleejones]

Is that even legal being it was shareware back in the day?

[mixelon]

The console ports were never shareware. XD

[Tross]

How is that mind-blowing? The Switch can run much more recent games than that. I mean, yes, things have come a long way and something like this may very well have been mind-blowing from an early 2000s perspective. But, so would a lot of things, and there are far more impressive things out there in this day and age for those of us who haven’t slept through the past 15 years. Also, Doom 3 blows monkey chunks IMHO. Playing it on a handheld won’t change that.

[MetroidFREAK21]

I think you're all missing the point of Doom 3 being mind-blowing on Switch. The fact that the game is now portable is an awesome feeling

[monkey602]

Yeah people aren't reading this as intended.
In terms of hindsight it's mad to think of a game that needed serious hardware at the time of release now running on small devices we put in our pocket. It's a testament to our advances over the short number of years.

[Eidolon]

Why did it take Doom 3 to realize this? lol....

[Eidolon]

Doom 3 is 15 years old, thats not a short number of years.

[cartoonx1]

it was portable before switch tho, there are portable handheld like gpd win and others.

[bluefox755]

Why? The game was pretty impressive at the time, but it's 15 years old. Nothing mind blowing about mobile hardware running 15 year old games.

[cyphertech]

The newest doom and doom eternal being on a handheld console is more impressive, no?

[TheHateTheyGive]

What would be mindblowing is if switch could run modern games like cyberpunk, madden, borderlands 3 and many other 3rd party games they dont get because switch is too weak.

[bumbleforce]

Not really. It came out on oh xbox. Switch better be able to handle that

[execution17]

But can it run crysis?

[Kados]

Yes. The 8800GTX was the best GPU available when Crysis released and it was equal in power to the undocked Switch @ ~350 Gflops. Docked the Switch runs at ~900 Gflops. The Snapdragon 855 also runs @ ~900 Gflops. Crysis was on the PS3, which was only 240 Gflops (A massively dumbed down version, but still).

[cartoonx1]

but its not just the GPU, ps3 still had better cpu.

[Kados]

The 240 Gflops is for the Cell CPU.

[yomfweeee]

It is mind blowing that a 15 year old game can run a a modern day tablet? Wow.

[Segata]

That would be like saying it's mind-blowing Sonic 2 on Genesis can run on a PSP. It's not. The game is well over a decade old. It's more impressive Doom 2016 runs on Switch because it's modern.

[Atomicjuicer]

I know you guys didn’t play doom 3 at the time it came out so you don’t get it but please let us older folk enjoy this moment. It’s special for us.

We know about doom 2016. We know about doom eternal. You’re not schooling any of us here. We’ve been gaming since before you were born.

[mixelon]

Yeah, I remember being blown away playing OG Doom on the Gameboy Advance.. This is similar.

It IS mindblowing how fast tech is moving, it's a shame everyone takes it so much for granted.

[Kostche]

let me play Brutal Doom: Black Edition on my switch then it be mind blowing

[Phoenix76]

The Fact That Doom 3 Is On A Handheld Console Is Mind-Blowing

Bitch, please... someone once got doom to run on a Canon Printer. That's mind-blowing
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/...

[Teflon02]

Vita could run doom 3 if they wanted it on Vita... Nothing impressive about this at all. Doom 2016 while a big downgrade is much more impressive

[Sirk7x]

Mindblowing in the sense that for some older people, even in their 30s, fifteen years ago doesn't feel like all that long. I remember the first time I saw a download of over 1MB/S, or the first time I saw a streamed video other than some looped flash bit. Shit blew my mind. YouTube has only been around since 2005. Since I was a teen, internet speeds have increased by thousands of times. Technology is really improving at an unbelievable pace, and some people don't realize how much so and may take it for granted.

[mixelon]

The first Hard Disk I bought was 70MB.

It was £180 or something! These kids don't know how good they have it, haha!

[ThatDudeMunkee]

But is it? I have been playing it on a Shield tablet for a while now. A really long while, which is, well impressive, but it also shows how dated the game actually is, although it is a decent game. I'd have been more impressed with a supped up version of Quake 4.

[Exvalos]

Its impressive a game from nearly 2 decades ago, can run on current hardware??? Wow you are easily impressed.

[2pacalypsenow]

Same could be said about the fact that you can run doom 1 on a calculator.

[JokerBoy422]

Pretty sure the PSVita was running more powerful games... on top of that we have a ton of different Android based handhelds that could play this too. If Nintendo didn't keep gimping the their hardware by purposely emulating Apple in a gaming format (ie underpowered tech) they could have had Doom 3 running on their handhelds a long time ago. I find it more impressive the Switch can run Doom (2016).

[zodiac909]

Was this author in cryosleep since 2004?? Lol

[quent]

Doom 3 was the, "but can it run crysis" for it's time and needed a very powerful PC at that time, it barely scraped by on the 7th gen consoles, ran even worse then the Crysis 3 port's in some cases, ∆ puts into perspective how big a leap there has been in only one console generation, seems like most of you who left comments missed the point the article

[sardinepacker41]

so is it esentially a port of the nvidia shield version ? as that was running on tegra a few years ago , maybe 3 or 4 years ago

[AmUnRa]

Calling it " mindblowing" on a handheld is hyperbowling headline, cous it isn't🙄

[william_cade]

Not to me and I played the original came out. Good job on selling the switch though.

[psuedo]

https://m.youtube.com/watch...

Doom on GBA, and it doesn't require an email. Though it does need AA batteries, and a light.

[Hedstrom]

No it really isnt! Unless you would say it 15 years ago that this game will be playable on a handheld console!

[Giblet_Head]

Been able to play Doom 3 on my Galaxy S9 with DIII4A for awhile now. Not exactly mind-blowing.

[gazgriff2k12]

crysis trilogy on switch would be more impressive

[bamillington]

Not as good as previous 2 imo.

[bamillington]

Quake would be a good addition