In this article, we discuss the Pros and Cons of owning each available Minecraft edition out there for sale.
We’ll detail their functions, necessity, purpose, and more to help you understand the edition and choose what suits your Minecraft gameplay best.
Minecraft: Java Edition
Brief Summary:
Minecraft Java is the original edition of Minecraft since its release.
It’s largely the most supported and known edition of Minecraft, where the vast community makes large amounts of third-party content like textures packs, mods, plugins, a variety of servers, and more. From the title itself, this edition is entirely programmed with the Java programming language.
But as time flew by, Microsoft purchased Minecraft from Notch, the creator of Minecraft. Microsoft made their own Edition with a completely different programming language which is C++ from scratch. Java has its weaknesses, and it wasn’t efficient enough for what Microsoft wanted to do with Minecraft on other platforms. Better optimization, Cross-platform capabilities, and more on the efficiency of what Bedrock Edition can and Java couldn’t achieve.
Although the existence of the Bedrock edition has appeared in the Market, Minecraft Java is still going strong as it was the original and still is the most widely supported edition out there for Mods and other features that Minecraft Bedrock doesn’t deeply support.
Pros:
It supports Mods:
If you are wanting to use Mods in Minecraft to add more content and fun things to do in the game. There is a large community in Minecraft that revolves around Modding. Unlike the Bedrock Edition, Java has better support for mods, which makes the community widely bigger and active.
Though, recently Bedrock Edition has added a way to include third-party content to the Bedrock Edition called “Data packs” or “Adds-on” to have a way for Modders to add content in the game but compared to Mods, they are entirely limited, or rather harder to what Mods could achieve easily and how much it could alter the game.
So, if you’re wanting to play the game with Mods later on, Java Edition is 100% for you to cater to that interest. As there are far better mods to choose from.
Community:
Bedrock Edition is just as popular or even more than Java due to the wide availability across platforms that have Bedrock Edition compared to Java being only on the PC.
Since Minecraft has been out for ages, it’s expected that the most experienced and long-time players of Minecraft are playing in Java because it is more familiar for the players or creators. So, the media attention and community support are just as big as Bedrock Edition.
Cons:
Not Cross-platform
Java is only available on the PC. This takes away the chances of playing with friends who don’t have a PC or a PC that can’t run the game because it’s Java.
It also limits you from playing on the go anywhere online with your friends as you need a PC for Java. For that reason, it’s not favored.
Minecraft: Bedrock Edition (Windows 10 Edition)
Brief Summary:
Minecraft Bedrock Edition is formerly known as Pocket Edition, due to the edition being supported across multiple platforms.
Allowing the player to play with people on different devices due to the cross-platform support and easy access of playing Minecraft on different portable devices. Bedrock Edition is programmed with C++.
With this, you can join any Bedrock Edition server and start playing. Bedrock Edition has better performance optimization due to the programming language used and the contribution of having it developed by a bigger company with more experienced staff to recode the game from scratch.
Since Bedrock Editions’ main purpose was for it to run on mobile devices, this already gives enough explanation as to why the performance optimization is better than Java, as Minecraft Java has always been a resource-demanding game to run on low to mid-quality hardware.
Pros:
Cross-platform capabilities:
Platforms that have Minecraft: Bedrock Edition, can be played with other users on other devices that have Bedrock Edition.
Currently, the Bedrock Edition is compatible and supports cross-platform on:
- Android
- IOS
- Windows 10 Mobile and PC
- Nintendo Switch
- Xbox One
- Fire TV
- VR platforms (Oculus Rift, Gear VR & Windows Mixed Reality
Sadly, PlayStation doesn’t support Cross-platform play due to Sony’s stance on not wanting Cross-platform, but as of 2019 or later, that will probably soon change, and hopefully, Minecraft Cross-platform will come to PlayStation.
Optimization and performance:
The reason behind this is Minecraft: Bedrock Edition was built from scratch programmed with C++ for Mobile devices originally, but later going to the Windows 10 store and other platforms.
Java applications are resource-demanding, so reprogramming Minecraft entirely for portable console devices in a different language contributed to better optimization in Minecraft: Bedrock Edition.
Cons:
Doesn’t support mods:
Currently, Minecraft doesn’t fully support modding. While it allows the addition of third-party content like data packs or add-ons, it falls short of what complex mods could achieve.
For a richer modding experience with a larger community offering diverse genres of mods, Java Edition is the preferable choice over Bedrock.
Legacy Console Edition
Brief Summary:
Legacy Console Edition is the Console Edition of Minecraft mainly for consoles of the older generation:
- PS VITA
- Xbox 360
- PS3 & PS4
- 3DS
- WII U
There’s no significant difference between Legacy Console and Bedrock Edition; the latter is considered the newer edition for consoles and portable devices. The Legacy Console Edition does not support Cross-platform play and only allows split-screen for playing with friends.
Avoid purchasing this “abandoned” Edition unless necessary. It is no longer updated on any consoles except for PS4, which receives newer updates.
Conclusion:
It depends on whether you prefer playing with friends on other devices or on a PC with server mods. Either way, the Editions don’t differ significantly in raw gameplay and content; some game mechanics may vary, but nothing major. The only thing greatly different is the User Interface but overall the same, gameplay-wise
