Running Windows 95 on a PlayStation 2: A Quirky Attempt, but Doom Remains Unplayable

Sure, here’s a reimagined version of the article for you:

—

You know, sometimes I stumble upon the quirkiest tech experiments, and Jace from MetraByte, a YouTube channel I’ve been lurking on, is no exception. So, imagine this: a PlayStation 2—yep, that ancient console from 2000—trying to cozy up with Windows 95 and Doom. I mean, who does this, right? Anyway, Jace somehow managed to get Windows 95 to tiptoe its way onto the PS2. But Doom? Ha, forget it.

Let’s rewind a bit. Windows 95 and PS2—both belong to the tech museum by now. The PS2 had this five-year-ish advantage over Windows 95, making you think it would smoothly handle this old software. But nope, tech life ain’t that simple. You’re trying to get x86 code to party on a MIPS machine. It’s like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, or maybe that’s just my random analogy floating in here. Sorry! Moving on!

So, there’s this embedded video of Jace, which hilariously crushes tens of hours into thirty minutes. If only my life were so easy to summarize. Jace had this Frankenstein of tech—modded PS2, QWERTY controller, USB sticks—and went nuts trying all sorts of emulator shenanigans to breathe life into this old operating system. There was this magical mix of .ELF files, emulators like DOSBox and Bochs, and a whole cocktail of boot disks and ISO files. I can’t even remember my last ten browser tabs, let alone manage this madness.

Jace first went down the DOSBox road, trying 47 times—yes, I counted, kind of—to boot up Windows 95. When that flopped, our tech guru switched to Bochs, another emulator. The latter’s more of a precise emulator, but slower. Seems fitting since the PS2 is like trying to open a massive file with dial-up internet speed. I remember that horrible noise it made, like a mechanical cat in distress.

Watching Jace tackle these endless hurdles was like being on an emotional rollercoaster. Every little file error or missing driver seemed to bring Jace to the brink. Yet, seeing the Windows 95 setup screen flicker to life on a PS2 was oddly triumphant. It’s those little things that make you go, “What even is life?”

Now, it “only” took about 14 hours to drag Windows 95 onto the PS2’s screen. Jace did manage to open Paint—such a throwback—but without a mouse, it was more of a look-don’t-touch scenario.

Oh! Almost forgot the Doom saga—it pretty much fizzled. Sad, but Doom on a PS2 was a bit too ambitious after all.

Stick around with me and, you know, see where this wild ride of tech nostalgia goes next!

—