Bethesda Resurrects Doom for XBLA

[Redeemer812]

From the official Bethesda Blog:

We're pleased to announce that id Software's FPS classic, DOOM, has returned to the Xbox LIVE Marketplace worldwide. This even includes Germany, where the the game was de-listed from a banned list last year.

The game costs only 400 Microsoft points this time around, so if you missed the chance to grab it the last time it was available, now would be the time to do so.

[Captain Toenail]

PSN Store please! They could even release it as a PS1 classic.

[hardcore_gamer]

Ugh.

Just like before the game was taken down I still just get the "this item can not be downloaded from your location" or some crap like that.

And yet Doom 2 I can buy just fine....

Region locking is so much fucking bullshit.

Captain Toenail said:

PSN Store please! They could even release it as a PS1 classic.

I must say that I find it a bit odd that Doom hasn't found its way to the PS store. Considering that Doom is already on almost everything else with a screen on it and that Wolf3D is already there, why isn't Doom on the marketplace in one form or the other?

[Traysandor]

hardcore_gamer said:

Considering that Doom is already on almost everything else with a screen on it and that Wolf3D is already there, why isn't Doom on the marketplace in one form or the other?

Why not send them an email about it? I'm sure the people over at Bethesda wouldn't mind having a few (thousand) extra happy Doomers to please.

[Gez]

The bonus episode is for Doom II, so no.

[hardcore_gamer]

Gez said:

The bonus episode is for Doom II, so no.

What does the bonus episode have to do with anything?

If anything, I think the PS store should get the PSX versions of Doom and not the PC one. They could upload it as a PS1 classic.

Traysandor said:

Why not send them an email about it? I'm sure the people over at Bethesda wouldn't mind having a few (thousand) extra happy Doomers to please.

Things aren't as simple as that. Also, wasn't the original Doom and Doom 2 like one of the most popular games on Xbox live arcade for a short while? Doom isn't just some little known game that extremely few people play like some like to claim.

Its not as popular as Call of Duty or anything, but lots of people bought and played Doom and Doom 2 from Xbox live arcade.

[Gez]

hardcore_gamer said:

What does the bonus episode have to do with anything?

It has to do with a question Traysandor asked, even though he has since edited his message to remove it.

[Ledmeister]

Glad to see it's finally back. :)
IMHO it's about the best console port of the PC original.

For those thinking about getting it:
My general impressions
Overview and comparison to PC and other console versions
Doom level maps
XBLA Doom Achievements quickref guide
Doom help: Solutions to common puzzles or problem areas

Enjoy :)

[Captain Toenail]

I sent Bethesda a message about it, but I doubt anything will happen.

It is possible to still play Doom on the PS3 if you have the original PS1 discs, but they are still expensive (for a really old PS1 game) on the web. It would cost me minimum £10 for a used copy of PS1 Final Doom, with little idea of the discs condition from sites such as eBay and Amazon.

Also as a plus if Doom was available as a digital download PS1 Classic on the PSN store you would be able to play it on a PSP without hacking it.

[Devalaous]

Not to mention playing it on the Vita once its PS1 emulator is finished.

[Kirby]

If I manage to get an XBox360 (a strong possibility in my near future) I'll happily download it now that it's back. As for right now, I'll remain with my precious N64 and its lack of online capability.

[printz]

It's always good when Doom gets resurrected! All hail the resurrectors!

[Quasar]

When's Nerve gonna release some DLC for XBox 360 Doom II? :P

xttl found code for loading additional missions in the form of new .disk files in the X360 executable file but so far nothing :P

[TheUltimateDoomer666]

Cool! It's about time they put DOOM back in XBLA!

[Phml]

When's Nerve gonna release some DLC for XBox 360 Doom II? :P

I wish they'd just steal various high-quality community megawads. Any "official" stamp trumps everything else when it comes to popularity, and if more people could be exposed to fun Doom levels some of them might even (*gasp*) get the idea a point A to point B corridor isn't the one way level design has to be in shooters.

[Marcaek]

Actually, I'd gladly pay for more levels from the Nerve team if they would make them, but I have a feeling that Microsoft imposes artificial limits on content for XBLA games. Regardless NRFTL was excellently designed, on par with the works of some of the higher-skilled members of this community.

[Marnetmar]

Someone should send a few good megawads to Zenimax and see if they'd be willing to release them as Xbox DLC. It might be a good way to get Doom some more popularity with the COD/Halo crowd.

[Marcaek]

Marnetmar said:

Someone should send a few good megawads to Zenimax and see if they'd be willing to release them as Xbox DLC. It might be a good way to get Doom some more popularity with the COD/Halo crowd.

I doubt it. Any CoD players who decide to try Doom will do so on their own but for the most part they won't because it lacks the features of modern games(graphical prowess, relatively low difficulty, achievement grinding, linearity and so on) that they are looking for or base their standards of quality on.

It's like the debate in the Skulltag community about AoW\GvH\ZH etc. People play those mods because they like them, and they don't play tratitional Doom stuff because they don't like traditional Doom. The oldschool servers are right there for the few mod players who are curious about Doom and they usually end up playing a fair bit of both.

XBLA Doom is doing an okay job of promoting the game as it is, putting available megawads up as DLC would only be ripping off new players, being useless for current community members who know about idgames.

[Gez]

Marnetmar said:

Someone should send a few good megawads to Zenimax and see if they'd be willing to release them as Xbox DLC.

They wouldn't. There's a ton of legal, commercial and PR reasons for them not to want to sell community-made stuff that were never created for this purpose anyway.

[printz]

I'd be pissed if a megawad I wanted to get became console-exclusive because of this.

[Marcaek]

printz said:

I'd be pissed if a megawad I wanted to get became console-exclusive because of this.

I very much doubt anyone would want their megawad to be XBLA-exclusive, as it would limit the number of end-users and therefore both feedback and popularity.