Modded PlayStation 2 Runs Windows 95, but Struggles with Doom

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So, here’s a story for you. Jace, from this hilarious tech channel MetraByte—I think they call it “silly tech?”—has gone and done something truly nuts. They tried to get Windows 95 and Doom to run on a Sony PlayStation 2. Yeah, I know, right? Wild. Anyway, Windows 95 kinda cooperated eventually, but Doom? Nah, that was a no-go.

Now, let’s rewind a bit. We’re talking about two ancient relics of tech here. Windows 95 dropped in—surprise, surprise—1995, and the PS2 came along in 2000. So, fast-forward to 2025, and these machines are pretty ancient, technically speaking. You’d think the PS2 could totally handle the challenge with its “newer” tech, right? Ha, not so much! The whole thing felt like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, though maybe that’s just me.

So—wait, where was I? Oh yeah, Jace. They packed a whole event into a bite-sized 30-minute video. Hours and hours of tweaking and coaxing, all boiled down like some kind of minimalist masterpiece. Fascinating stuff.

They had this whole setup, too. A modded PS2, a controller with a QWERTY—what even—plus a USB stick and a hard drive. Seriously, it was like tech Frankenstein in there. And hidden within, buried treasure: a PlayStation .ELF file, some DOSBox and Bochs emulators, a DOS boot disk or image file, Windows 95 setup files, and a free partition for installing that and Doom. A lot of geeky stuff most of us pretend to understand.

Jace was basically in a battle with DOSBox, trying to make Windows 95 play nice and launch Doom. Nope, not today. After what felt like a gazillion tries (okay, 47, but it felt like more, I bet), they hit a wall. So, enter Bochs. DOSBox is great for old-school games, and Bochs—well, it’s more for digs like this, though a bit slower. Because, of course.

Watching the whole process was like watching paint dry, only with more drama. Every little step felt like it took forever. A full 14 hours to get Windows 95 to sorta work, they said. At least, I think that’s what Jace mentioned. Who even has that kind of patience? But eventually, they did get to the Windows 95 desktop and ran Paint. But without a mouse? Come on. Doom still refused to cooperate—maybe it had better things to do, like sit quietly in the folder and mock Jace.

I mean, can you blame it? This whole adventure was oddly captivating. The struggle, the perseverance, the ultimate fail—yeah, it was kinda like a life metaphor. Sort of. Or maybe I’m reading too much into it. Anyway, if you get some spare time or need a laugh, dive into Jace’s video. It’s a riot. Or, at least, it’s something to do.

Keep tabs on Tom’s Hardware if you’re into this kind of wild tech stuff. You’ll thank me later. Or maybe not. Depends.

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