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Alright, so, I stumbled across this video from Jace — the guy behind this quirky, techy YouTube channel called MetraByte. Now, if you’ve ever wondered what it’s like trying to breathe life into old tech, this is your jam. Jace decided to take on the oddball challenge of installing Windows 95 and firing up Doom on a Sony PlayStation 2. Yes, you heard that right. Crazy, right? And in case you’re wondering – no, Doom didn’t cooperate.
These machines are basically dinosaurs in tech years. Windows 95? Dropped in ’95. PS2? Showed up in 2000. So, you’d think the PS2 could handle a Touch of Windows 95 magic. Think again. Trying to make x86 stuff run on Sony’s MIPS? A total puzzle. Full of hiccups from old-school Windows living on DOS.
Jace squeezed hours (maybe too many hours) into a 30-minute ride where he’s jabbing at this setup over and over. I’m talking mind-numbing tinkering levels. Anyway, you can see the whole chaos in his video (go find it, I’m not linking it here).
So what’s going on? Jace, armed with a PS2 that’s been modded like an old Civic, a joystick with a QWERTY, and a handful of USB sticks, gets to work. Oh, and totally off-topic, but it’s funny what you can shove into those fat PS2s. Fun fact, though: he uses something called a .ELF file, Bochs and DOSBox emulators. If you think this is all overkill, we’re definitely on the same page.
The struggle was real. The DOSBox didn’t like playing nice — Jace had to switch to Bochs after umpteen tries. It’s designed to emulate… accurately? Maybe slowly is more like it. Imagine watching someone paint a wall dry. Oops, I meant watching paint dry on a wall. Whatever.
When Bochs finally got going, Jace was knee-deep in issues: errors of every flavor, missing files, misbehaving drivers. Stuff you never want to deal with unless you have all day — or more. Yet, he finally saw that beloved Windows 95 setup screen.
And boy, did it take a toll. Like 14 hours, only to use Paint. Without a mouse! Drawing on MS Paint minus a mouse? Feels like trying to sign your name with your opposite hand. Doom was a dream that stayed a dream. But hey, the trip was the destination or something crunchy like that.
Just nerdy humans having fun. That’s what it’s about. I kinda feel for Jace, battling clunky 90s software — maybe someday he’ll find the secret sauce. Until then, I’m just here munching popcorn, watching this tech Frankenstein unfold.
