Games optimization specialist OptiProjects (AKA OptiJeugos) has released a new port of Minecraft Legacy for the Sony PlayStation 2 and Nintendo Wii consoles. The project is based on the Minecraft Java 1.2.5 source code, rewritten in C++, and using a recreated legacy console interface (machine translation). Even on the quarter-century-old PS2 with its cramped 32MB of RAM, the OptiCraft Heritage Edition runs at 15-30 fps. Check out the video demo embedded below.

Minecraft is one of the best-selling games of all time, with sales above $400 million according to an Entertainment Weekly report earlier this year. Meanwhile, the PS2 is the best-selling home console in history, with 160 million units shifted worldwide. When Minecraft first launched, the PS2 had already been kicking around for close to a decade and was rapidly reaching retirement age. Thus the Minecraft PS2 game release was never a thing (it did launch on PS3 in 2013-14). Similarly, the Wii got overlooked by Minecraft's publishers, with the Wii U only getting the game in late 2014.

Ponder over the features and performance comparison table we have nailed together, above. You can see how tightly the PS2 version is constrained by its hardware limitations. In comparison the Wii version is significantly more comfortable. Moreover, the Wii version has experimental online gaming functionality.

If you are interested in enjoying some retro Minecrafting on your old PS2 or Wii, or emulators for either system head on over to the official OptiProjects page linked top for your downloads. Those aiming to play on original hardware will need to be able to load .ELF files from USB (on PS2), or access the game via SD card and the Homebrew Channel (on Wii). To my knowledge that means your PS2 or Wii must be soft or hard modded to play homebrew code.

Retro gaming fans who own Nintendo Switch consoles now have several classic Windows titles they can now enjoy. A video shared on Twitter/X shows the well-loved Need for Speed Underground 2 running pretty smoothly on Nintendo’s hybrid device. Meanwhile, a forum about Wine-NX says that Quake III and OpenTTD are also playable, with WarCraft III nearly ready, too. It's early days for this 'experimental' software, but things look very promising.

In the embedded video you can see NFSU2 runs rather well on Nintendo’s hardware. Older PC games are perhaps a good fit for what many consider to be the rather anemic specs of the Switch. A status panel shows CPU and GPU usage. According to the forum post “Races run at roughly 20–45 fps at default detail with the CPU overclocked.”

Other games that Wine-NX can handle well at this time include OpenTTD (Transport Tycoon Deluxe), which runs at up to 60 fps. Quake III Arena is also capable of running at around 37 fps at 1,280 x 720 pixels, according to the source. The last PC game mentioned as being compatible, almost, is WarCraft III, and specifically this work in progress has working “menus, campaigns, and now cutscenes.”

The Wine-NX forum page linked to helpfully explains what exactly this is, and how it works. In brief, Wine-NX is a port of Wine 11 to the Switch’s native Horizon OS. It comes as a homebrew package in the NRO format Horizon expects games to be in, but that allows it to run Windows programs and games with Box64's ARM64 dynarec translating the x86 code. Graphics are handled through Mesa 20.1's nouveau driver. It supports audio and touchscreen, and the Switch controllers can also handle mouse / keyboard duties – as well as doubling as an Xbox 360 controller.

You can’t use any Nintendo Switch to load Wine-NX and Windows PC games. You’ll need to have a console that can boost custom firmware, and run homebrew NROs. That means an older unpatched Switch or one with a hardware mod.