Legacy Console Edition

This topic is named by the community.

 

An official name has not been given. Please update the name if confirmed by reliable sources.

This page describes an edition of the game that has been officially discontinued.

 

These editions are no longer updated. Some of them have been replaced with Bedrock Edition. Others can still be purchased physically or digitally.

Legacy Console Edition

Author(s)	Mojang Studios 4J Studios
Platform(s)	Native Backward-compatible (compatibility issues on Switch 2)​[more information needed]
Engine	C3DGL
Written in	C++
Latest version	TU75 (1.12.2178.0) CU59 (1.12.1924.0) 1.84 (1.12.2180.0) 2.93 (1.12.3120.0) 1.84 (1.12.2180.0) Patch 43 (1.12.2177.0) 1.0.16 (1.12.1920.0)
Release date	Xbox 360 May 9, 2012 June 4, 2013 (DVD) Xbox One September 5, 2014 November 18, 2014 (Blu-ray) PS3 December 17, 2013 May 14, 2014 (Blu-ray) PS4 September 4, 2014 October 3, 2014 (Blu-ray) PS Vita & PS TV October 14, 2014[1] Retail November 11, 2014 (NA) November 19, 2014 (Europe) November 21, 2014 (UK/IE)[2] Wii U December 17, 2015[3] June 17, 2016 (Retail) Nintendo Switch May 11, 2017 (NA) May 12, 2017 (Europe)
Rating(s)	Online interactions not rated PEGI: 7+[4] ESRB: E10+[5] ACB: PG[6][7][8] USK: 6[9] GSRR: P (6+) (Xbox One only)[10] GSRR: PG12 (12+) (PS4 only)[11] DEJUS: L (Livre)[12][13] DEJUS: 10[14]
Size	Xbox 360: 113.21 MB Xbox One: 1.29 GB PS3: 90 MB PS4: 225 MB PS Vita & PS TV: 164 MB Wii U: 1.62 GB Nintendo Switch: 1.12 GB
License	Proprietary
Source available	No
Links	Store pages Xbox One Wii U (UK & Ireland) Nintendo Switch United States Canada United Kingdom & Ireland Australia & New Zealand

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Legacy Console Edition refers to several discontinued, closely-related editions of Minecraft developed by 4J Studios for game consoles. It includes:

• Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition
• Minecraft: Xbox One Edition (Replaced by Bedrock)
• Minecraft: PlayStation 3 Edition
• Minecraft: PlayStation 4 Edition (Replaced by Bedrock)
• Minecraft: PlayStation Vita Edition
• Minecraft: Wii U Edition
• Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition (Replaced by Bedrock)

Legacy Console Edition introduced new features such as a simplified crafting system, in-game tutorials, leaderboards, built-in mini games and split-screen multiplayer on home consoles, local Wireless Play on handhelds, as well as online multiplayer for up to 8 players (up to 4 on PS Vita, and up to 16 in mini games on Xbox One and PS4). As with all editions, updates were free of charge.

Gameplay

The objective of the game remains the same as its Java and Bedrock editions counterparts, where players can build virtual realities in a sandbox-like environment. There is no preset goal; the player may choose to set their own goals.

For the most part, Legacy Console Edition is almost identical to Java Edition with few apparent differences,^[15] but was released with the Xbox 360 Edition in an earlier version equivalent to Java Edition Beta 1.6.6, rather than the current Java Edition version at the time of release, 1.2.5. The Wii U Edition was released with an earlier version equivalent to Java Edition 1.6.4, rather than the current Java Edition version at the time of release, 1.8.9. In the later updates, shortly before its discontinuation, Legacy Console Edition also received several features from Bedrock Edition (e.g. movable tile entities) to prepare for Legacy Console Edition being taken off the market.

Differences between editions

Differences from Java and Bedrock Edition

From a technical perspective, Legacy Console Edition's features remained predominantly faithful to Java Edition, unlike Bedrock Edition. As a result, parity between Legacy Console Editions and Java versions is far greater than parity between Legacy Editions and its spiritual successor, Bedrock Edition. Differences from Java and Bedrock editions include:

• The game features splitscreen functionality;^[17] a HDTV with a YPbPr (component) or HDMI connection is required for split-screen play. Split-screen functionality works with a VGA connection to a PC monitor as well as HDMI-to-DVI cables to a PC monitor. Up to 4 players can play in split screen, as well as the possibility to play 8-person online multiplayer game modes in split-screen. Nintendo Switch Edition also supports splitscreen on the console's own screen, as well as local wireless communications. PlayStation Vita Edition supports up to 2-4 players online and Ad-Hoc support.
  • These features were carried over to the console ports of Bedrock Edition.
• The game includes an automatic crafting system where it is not required to place the blocks in the grid. There is an option to use the manual crafting grid from Java Edition and Bedrock Edition.
  • The recipe book in later versions could be considered an extra take on this.
• Legacy Console Edition includes a version-exclusive tutorial mode. This tutorial leads the player through the basics of breaking and placing blocks, crafting, as well as building their first house to survive the night, fishing, enchanting, brewing, and more.^[18]
• The player always begins a new world with an empty map in their inventory.
  • This feature was later added as an option in Bedrock Edition.
• World size is limited.
• Unlike on Bedrock Edition—which lacked the superflat world type at the time—Legacy Console Edition feature an extensive superflat world type that allows for structure, cave, ore, water, lava, biome, and flora generation, alongside customizable world layers.
• Players can choose from three different biome scale options when generating a world.
  • The seeds for a 'large' world in the final TU are mostly identical to 1.12.2 in terms of terrain generation, though a different algorithm is used to generate the position of Mushroom biomes. Certain structures are also set to appear more frequently in later versions of Legacy Console Edition, most notably the woodland mansion and the pillager outpost.
• Skins can be chosen only from those available as default or from downloadable content. Players cannot import their own skins for use in the game, unlike Java Edition.
  • This restriction was carried over to the console versions of Bedrock Edition. Other versions of Bedrock Edition, like the PC and mobile versions, still allow the player to use their own skins.
• Breeding and utility mob spawning works the same as Java Edition, but the amount of mobs is limited.
• The villager trading UI is completely different.
• When flying, the player is restricted to 8-way digital directional movement, meaning that they cannot drift in a full circle. This was done to increase precision when building with a controller.
• The Nether dimension in a superflat world is also flat, whereas in Bedrock and Java editions, when creating a flat world‌^{[BE only]} or superflat world‌^{[JE only]}, the Nether terrain generation is the same as in a regular world.
• Nether wart randomly generates on soul sand in the Nether.
• Wither skeletons spawn everywhere in the Nether, instead of just in nether fortresses.
• Blazes have glowstone as a part of their loot table.
• The edge of the Nether is a bedrock wall.
• There are no public servers. The player's world may be hosted, similarly to a server, by enabling the option Allow Friends of Friends to join, however, there is a limit of 8 players (4 in the PlayStation Vita Edition) in an online game.
• Statistics are replaced with leaderboards, with the exception of Wii U and Nintendo Switch Edition, where neither of these features are present.
• A large amount of TNT cannon designs do not work, because the maximum amount of lit TNT entities that can exist on a world is small.
• Even when in Creative mode, players die when falling into the void in the End dimension—a feature carried over from Java Edition, but absent in Bedrock Edition.
• Some sound effects were retained from earlier versions, such as the skeleton's death sound.
• The 360 and PS3 versions seem to use completely different lighting systems, both from each other and from any other version of Minecraft.

Different modes

The different gameplay modes and settings may vary from the other platform versions.

Creative

Using Creative mode permanently disables achievements/trophies and leaderboard updates during normal gameplay on that world; however, the core mechanics of flight and infinite resources remain the same.

Adventure

Blocks can be destroyed by the proper tools and depending on the block, the quality of the tool. Example: wool blocks can be destroyed by using shears, while only an iron pickaxe or higher can break and gather gold ore blocks.

Survival

In Survival mode:

• Fists and any tool can break blocks such as beds.
• The quality of the tool affects the breaking speed of the block.
• Progression of the game is similar to other versions of the game; however, in the End dimension to travel to other islands, you must teleport, as there exist invisible walls outside the area.

World boundary

At the edges of the world, which varies depending on the console and world size, there exists an invisible barrier that cannot be bypassed (not even in Creative Mode) without glitches or exploits which have been patched. Below sea level, the barrier is comprised of gravel. Past this barrier, an ocean with a flat stone sea floor generates up until X/Z 2,800, in which blocks stop rendering, although the physics still exist.

Discontinuation timeline

On September 20, 2017, the Xbox One Edition was withdrawn from the Microsoft Store, in conjunction with Bedrock Edition's Better Together Update. People who owned it were entitled to download the Bedrock Edition of Minecraft for free. Worlds and DLC were intended to be transferable to Bedrock Edition, however, some DLC do not carry over. Users can also continue to play on the Xbox One Edition instead. This also happened with the Nintendo Switch Edition on June 21, 2018, and PlayStation 4 Edition on December 10, 2019.^[19][20] Again, some DLC does not transfer on these platforms.

Initially, Xbox One Edition was planned to no longer receive updates, starting with the lack of an equivalent update to TU58, but the edition later received CU50, an update adding the MINECON Earth Skin Pack, and later updates resumed entirely with CU51, an update equivalent to TU60, which also added all the features from TU58.

On May 3, 2018, Mojang officially announced that the Xbox 360 Edition, PlayStation 3 Edition, PlayStation Vita Edition, and Wii U Edition would receive the Update Aquatic, but would receive no further feature updates after its release. The Xbox One Edition and Nintendo Switch Edition did not get the Update Aquatic. The PlayStation 4 Edition would still receive feature updates until December 10, 2019 (including Update Aquatic and Village & Pillage), when it was replaced with Bedrock Edition on the platform, at which point the legacy Console Edition codebase was discontinued entirely.^[20][21] Despite being discontinued, Xbox One Edition, Nintendo Switch Edition and PlayStation 4 Edition are playable on the Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PlayStation 5 respectively via backward compatibility.^[22]

Although worlds can still be transferred from Xbox 360 Edition to Xbox One Edition, the worlds cannot be loaded due to the Xbox 360 Edition using a newer version of the game. As of April 15, 2020, the ability to transfer worlds from PlayStation 3 Edition and PlayStation Vita Edition to PlayStation 4 Edition has been terminated. Support for world transfers from Wii U Edition to Nintendo Switch Edition also ended with the shutdown of the Nintendo Network on April 8, 2024.

By the end of 2019, all legacy Console Edition games had ceased receiving new major updates.

As of the shutdown of the Wii U eShop and Xbox 360 Marketplace on March 27, 2023, and July 29, 2024, respectively, it is no longer possible to digitally purchase the Wii U Edition or the Xbox 360 Edition of the game via official means, though they can still be redownloaded if the game was previously purchased and physical copies still function normally.

Trivia

• 4J Studios, the company that ported Minecraft to consoles, also ported several other video games, namely Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, and Perfect Dark for XBLA as well as The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for PS3.
• Notch originally stated that the Xbox 360 would be the sole console provider of Minecraft.^[23] However, Sony later announced editions for the PS3, PS4, and PS Vita/PS TV.^[24][25] Mojang also later released the Xbox One, Wii U, and Nintendo Switch editions.
• In Creative, entering the Void is not possible without external tools (except in the End, where it is easily accessible due to the large gaps between the islands), as the lowest level of bedrock remains indestructible in that mode.
• The player can grab edge blocks with sticky pistons. However, it's impossible to push blocks into the edge.
• Spiders can climb the edge of the world, as it's classified as a block.
• The player cannot fly to the top. While it is 2,147,483,647 blocks tall, the world height is only 511 blocks tall, so the player cannot go anywhere near the top. Despite this, using enough TNT Minecarts to launch a player in Creative Mode can sometimes make the player break the game and end up above the 511 block height limit, but they are unable to fly back down or move in this state, forcing the player to kill themselves or exit the game.
• The wither performs its dash attack much more often than its Bedrock Edition counterpart.
• Due to the limited world size, the woodland mansion is much easier to find, provided that there are dark forest biomes. Sometimes the game can spawn the player right next to one. This is incredibly common to see in the classic world size. Given that the option is selected, the game tries to find a seed with at least one of the most structures in its given area.
• The Nintendo Switch 2 is backward compatible with the Nintendo Switch Edition; however, the game suffers from several stability issues that are not present when played on an original Nintendo Switch. For example, opening a map in a world transferred from a Nintendo Switch may cause the item to duplicate infinitely, resulting in graphical errors that ultimately lead to a game crash.^[26]

Gallery

• 
  Legacy Console Edition logo
• 
  Image promoting Console Edition releases

References

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