The PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch editions of classic FPS Doom 64 will be released in a physical form that's both rippable and tearable starting next week. Pretty much every entry in the Doom series has been an era-defining entry in the FPS genre. The original is the granddaddy of them all, popularizing the genre itself. Doom 2 brought players the majesty of the double-barrelled shotgun and rounded out what was missing from the original. Doom 3 stood alongside Half-Life 2 in expanding just what a shooter could do in a narrative sense. The modern Doom and Doom: Eternal heralded a return to fast-paced retro FPS that the industry is still in the midst of.
The exception that proves this rule is Doom 64, an entry in the series originally created by Midway that looks like a mistake at first glance. The monster designs are off, the levels are too dark, and the Nintendo 64 controller is a poor replacement for a mouse and a keyboard. If players could get beyond these initial bugbears, they'd find a completely original shooter that's well worth playing, but not many bothered. The game arguably only became widely accepted as a worthy entry alongside its cousins earlier this year thanks to a re-release spearheaded by Nightdive Studios.
Now, as announced by publisher Limited Run Games via Twitter, Doom 64 will return with a boxed physical release. The PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch editions of the game will be available for pre-order on September 25th at 10 AM ET, and they're available in both a regular and "classic edition." The collector's choice comes in an N64-style box and features a commemorative nonfunctional cartridge, a booklet full of interviews, and a full-sized double-sided poster. This edition will run players $55, while the regular "just a game" edition will cost closer to the price of the digital version currently available.
This physical release will be available on the Limited Run Games website through an open pre-order that lasts four weeks. As its name might suggest, the publisher is not in the business of reprinting its games after they've sold out, so it will likely be the only opportunity for fans of Doom 64 that don't own a Nintendo 64 to add it to their shelf in the real world. For Xbox fans wondering about a release for their version, Limited Run Games has not been able to secure a working relationship with Microsoft, so its releases typically skip that console even if the game is available there digitally.
It's great that distributors like Limited Run Games can give collectors and fans alike a treat while also keeping games like Doom 64 out of digital purgatory. The gaming industry is quickly hurtling toward a time when game ownership is even murkier than it is now, and releases become extremely hard to preserve in the long term. As long as a physical release of a game exists, it will always exist in backup copies, no matter what the game's publisher wishes in the future. It's preservation at its most simple.
Source: Limited Run Games/Twitter