Another day another Doom port, but the new DoomPaint stands out from the crowd for a few reasons. Firstly, it has been developed by Mark Russinovich, the Microsoft Azure CTO. Secondly, DoomPaint runs the actual original shareware Doom release using MS Paint as the monitor or viewport for in-game action. That’s different, and it is remarkable to read that the OLE clipboard hack behind this latest Doom escapade allows the game to run at a fair pace, up to 35 FPS, but might also sometimes be “spreadsheet-tier,” according to the author.

“The actual Doom engine (ViZDoom) runs the real shareware DOOM1.WAD — with the BSD-licensed Freedoom WADs covering the episodes shareware doesn't ship — and renders headlessly,” explains Russinovich on the project GitHub page. “Every frame is placed on the Windows clipboard and pasted into Paint's canvas as a genuine document edit.” The Microsoft CTO adds that the relatively low frame rate “is part of the charm” of DoomPaint, but 35 FPS isn’t bad, if you can make it, especially in 1990s PC gaming terms.

There are files, resources and instructions on how to run DoomPaint on the GitHub site. Depending on your machine you may be able to run this version of Doom at a full 35 FPS at 320 x 200, or even 640 x 400 pixels. It even includes sound and music.

Towards the end of the README file, Russinovich says that “Paint renders the game but does not compute it. Paint computes nothing. Paint has never computed anything. That's the joke.” DoomPaint is distributed under the MIT license.

Russinovich started at Microsoft in 2006, where he’s transformed SysInternals into the backbone of Windows diagnostics. More recently he’s shaped Azure’s architecture, security, and reliability. Over the past year he has, accidentally or by design, become well known as a leading voice behind addressing the many shortcomings of Windows 11.

It's therefore kind of surprising that this busy CTO has time to fiddle with projects like DoomPaint. However, the most dedicated coding and computer enthusiasts will also code and compute in their spare time.

GameStop has listed a Doom Floppy Disk Limited Edition Imitation Gold Plated Replica at $29.99. Let’s unpick that for a moment. These are imitation floppy disks coated in imitation gold, delivered in a commemorative box. There’s a display stand included, too. However, these are non-functioning 'floppy disks' inspired by the Doom v1.2 shareware release and don’t contain any game data. Doom's single-level ‘Knee‑Deep in the Dead’ shareware release is still free to download, though, as it has been for many years.

“What's more retro than obsolete technology?” asks Fanattik, the collectibles maker behind this useless physical media. “Celebrating the humble 3½-inch, 1.44 MB floppy disk that the game was originally released on back in 1993, this limited edition Doom Floppy Disk Replica plated with imitation gold comes in a box displaying the original game artwork, has a display stand included, and is individually numbered as one of 5,000 worldwide.” Pre-orders are now open at GameStop in the US for $29.99 or directly from Fanattik in the UK at £19.99.

The 89 x 89 mm dimensions of the golden-but-not-gold and 3.5-inch-but-not-floppies make them at least the correct size. However, if I were buying fake floppies, I think I would appreciate a movable protective sliding mechanism and the write-protect cutout toggle to move, so I could fidget with them from time to time.

Also, in some ways, it is ironic that game media is now being licensed and hawked to fans, at non-trivial prices, without any game data contained on them. This seems to be a growing trend as the games industry moves inexorably to a digital-only future. People still covet the physical media so much that they are now willing to pay for it, even without any game data or download code being associated with it.

The original Doom v1.2 shareware edition was released on two floppy disks in Feb 1994, and it is famous for adding modem support to this seminal game. If you paid and registered Doom v1.2, you would get four floppy disks from id Software containing the full three-episode campaign. The registered release disk set stayed on four floppies until the CD-ROM era.

A retro shop owner based in Waukesha, Wisconsin, located some 15 miles west of Milwaukee, discovered that he was holding on to a rare stash of NES carts in his storage room. According to Nintendo Wire, these cartridges were never-before-seen versions of Duck Hunt and Super Mario Bros., which were some of the most popular games on the Nintendo Entertainment System. What’s more important is that these haven’t been opened, and the original owner said that these supposedly came directly from Nintendo of America. Their condition is so pristine that PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator) gave them extremely high grades of no less than 9.6, with five units getting the coveted perfect 10.

Kevin Braun, the owner of the retro shop OneStopWonders, said that a person sold him the cartridges years ago and that they’ve just been sitting untouched in his storage unit. The man said that his grandfather owned a business that recovered precious metals from circuit boards, and that this box was supposedly sold to him for salvaging. It’s unknown how it ended up in storage instead of recycling, but Braun bought it from the seller, thinking he could resell it in his shop for around $10 to $15 each.

Thankfully, he forgot about these cartridges until his friend and EIC of Nintendo Wire, Jason Ganos, got a chance to look at them. When he saw the carts for the first time, Ganos knew that he was looking at something special but didn’t realize how exceptional they were until he shared the find on a high-end gaming Facebook group. Two different people working as directors at different grading companies then reached out to him, telling him that there was something strange about these cartridges. They then asked for more photos of one cartridge and the manual and even told him to disassemble one unit for a deeper inspection.

This is where he discovered that these cartridges were some of the last produced units made during the 40th week of 1993. The manuals weren’t seen before, either, with the back page saying, “maintenance or service,” whereas previous known versions said, “maintenance or repair.” Because of these finds, he proceeded to take a flight to PSA in California early the next morning, where the grading company confirmed its authenticity.

It seems that the cartridges in the box were made as replacements for warranty repairs or refurbished consoles, or as part of a bundle that never saw release. We would never know which is true, though, unless Nintendo of America confirms why they were made. If you’re an avid collector or simply want to get your hands on an original Nintendo game that hasn’t been released, three carts will be auctioned off at Goldin Auctions starting August 12.

It’s unclear how much these carts will go for, but it’s estimated that they’d cost at least four digits, with the perfect 10s possibly hitting five digits. This is possible, given that an ultra-rare NES Gold Nintendo World Championships cartridge auction sat at $77,000 and probably sold for a much higher price. So, if you want to get your hands on this, you’d better have a war chest of at least $100,000 to guarantee that you can get one — just don’t blow on it if you insert it in your NES console and it doesn’t work for the first time.