One retro gaming fan and indie developer is embarking on an ambitious project to bring Minecraft to the Dreamcast and GameCube.
Minecraft is a game that is known and loved all over the world and has seen ports to pretty much every modern system that can support it. Despite the simple graphical style, the sprawling nature of the title and the almost infinite variety of things players can do and make can put a strain on some budget systems.
Of course, this makes the project being worked on by A Flock of Meese even more impressive. Despite not receiving approval from Mojang or Microsoft (thus making it unofficial), they are porting Minecraft to SEGA Dreamcast and Nintendo GameCube.
Minecraft on #Dreamcast.I forgot to enable compiler optimizations. Here is the performance with optimizations enabled. Now, world and vertex buffer generation can keep pace with player movement. #indiegamedev #retrocomputing #gamecube pic.twitter.com/326DOog7VU
— A Flock of Meese (@meesedev) June 25, 2024
The Dreamcast has a thriving homebrew scene, which is attributable to how easy it is to get unofficial disks to run on the system. Though this contributed significantly to SEGA’s problem with software piracy during the Dreamcast’s active period, it now leaves the door open for innovative projects like this one.
The GameCube is more locked down than the Dreamcast, leaving questions as to how A Flock of Meese is accomplishing the project. The developer says that the project is something of a remake, explaining: “My aim is to replicate enough of Minecraft’s mechanics, but then take the game in a new direction. Emphasis on emergent gameplay.”
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When contacted by Dexerto for comment, A Flock of Meese added: “Regarding the type of game this will be, it will heavily emphasize survival and exploration. The world will be highly dynamic in ways that don’t currently exist in Minecraft.”
Early screenshots of the project indicate that A Flock of Meese has nailed the aesthetic of Minecraft almost perfectly using the retro graphics of these vintage consoles.
Previously, homebrew developers created a game based on Minecraft’s Creative Mode called ClassiCube. This creative sandbox title was also released on the Dreamcast. We look forward to seeing the completed project and how it ultimately turns out.