1010 Music’s Blackbox can do many things - it’s a sampler, groovebox and workstation - but it could never play classic video game Doom. Until - would you believe it? - today.
In what could be the ultimate April Fool, it transpires that what looks like it must be a joke might actually be real. Or maybe it’s both. We just can’t tell anymore.
Promising to wed “the hipness of retro-gaming with the coffee house cool of synthesizers,” the Blackbox’s new ‘Gamechanger’ feature recreates Doom “in all its pixelated glory”. We’re told that “full gameplay is supported, except for certain features found in the original game”.
When asked about Gamechanger, 1010music founder Aaron Higgins said: “People always ask us for ‘game changing’ features. Well, this time we focused all our efforts on changing the game. We delivered a thousandfold. You’re welcome.”
Back in the real world, Blackbox has come clean and admitted that it made up “various silly claims in our press release and video.” However, it also says, on its forum, that it really has got the Doom 1.8 Shareware Edition running on the Blackbox hardware. It can be played using the device’s buttons.
The company is keen to stress that this isn’t a serious project - “just an Easter egg and April Fools prank” - and that it won’t be supported or updated. You can find out more on the 1010Music website. Or maybe you can’t. It’s all so confusing.
