homebrew

A software only jailbreak called ns2jb runs on the Switch 2's current firmware, built with heavy help from an AI coding agent. Nintendo's response was to delist the $25 app it starts from. That is not the same thing as a patch, and the difference decides who it still works for.

ModRetro and OpenAI built 13 Game Boy Color games with Codex and put them online as playable ROMs. The games are free, the DevDay handhelds are already on eBay for thousands, and the more interesting story is the cartridge flashing pipeline underneath.

A clip of Minecraft running inside Elden Ring did six million views today. There is no download. Neither is there one for the Mario 64 version. Meanwhile a free 1MB N64 Minecraft has been sitting on GitHub since 2024.

Four ways to get blocky building onto a retro handheld, from a ready to run port that works on a $50 device to real Minecraft Java. One hardware requirement decides which of them you can use.

Brand new Game Boy and NES games keep appearing, which raises an obvious question. Who is still writing code for 1989 hardware, and how? The answer is a set of free tools that changed everything.

A dozen small labels are manufacturing new cartridges for consoles that stopped production decades ago. Here is who they are, what each is good at, and how to actually buy from them.

The Genesis has the strongest homebrew scene of any 16 bit console, and some of these games are better than the commercial library. Here is what to buy and where.

The NES turned 43 this year and is still getting new boxed cartridges. Here is who is publishing them, which ones are actually good, and what you need to play them.

New Super Nintendo cartridges are still being manufactured, though the scene is smaller and pricier than the NES one. Here is what is available and why 16 bit homebrew is harder to make.

Brand new, boxed, licensed Game Boy cartridges are being manufactured right now. Here is who is publishing them, what they cost, and what hardware you need to play them.

August 2026 brought a wave of native Nintendo 3DS ports built on decompilation work, plus one very odd Breath of the Wild demake. Here is what is real, what runs, and why the 3DS is suddenly interesting again.

Twenty one free, legal homebrew games to load onto your handheld right now, from new games for old consoles to open-source remakes and PICO-8 hits.

PICO-8 is a fantasy console packed with thousands of tiny free games, and it runs perfectly on handhelds. Here is how to set it up and the best games to play.

PortMaster brings hundreds of native game ports to retro handhelds, from indie classics to open-source remakes. Here is how to install it and start.