Many people have always wanted to play Xbox games but they couldn’t afford to buy a console or didn’t think it is worth it for only one interesting game. If you are one of them(and since you are reading this you certainly are) stress no more: we have you covered. Below you have a top of the best emulators for the Xbox platform, so you can try some of those games that remained exclusive are piqued your interest in one way or another. First a bit of tech knowledge.
What are the emulators?
As the name hints, they emulate a virtual environment based on a variety of mediums: software, operating systems or consoles. There are several emulators on the web, available for multiple platforms. They range from simple ones, such as a Gameboy emulator, to more sophisticated emulators that try to play games for the PS3 which is notorious for the closed architecture it uses.
In this article, you will find the best emulators for the Original Xbox and Xbox 360. They were tested and proved to be functional and able to play games. Do keep in mind that many of them are still in development and even you can’t play the game you want now it may become available in the future.
- CXBX
It is one of the best emulators for running original Xbox Games. You don’t even need an Xbox controller as it is compatible with generic gamepads. Since it was abandoned, the list of playable games is rather limited: Smashing Drive, Futurama, Whacked, Battle Cry and Turok. If any of these classic games interest you, the emulator is able to run them properly and you will have a great experience. You can find it on its official Github page.
- Xeon
Xeon is another emulator that was abandoned in the early stage by the developer. It can only run one game, the original HALO and the experience is not very smooth but it a good place to start your emulation journey. Keep in mind that only the NTSC version of HALO is compatible.
- Xenia
Xenia is most versatile emulator on this list as it can play over 50 Xbox games. It is rather heavy on the requirements part so it may lag on some older PCs. It is still updated and new games are added between patches.
- DXBX
Made from the same source code as CXBX, it has more features. It is an Xbox One emulator that can run developer SDK samples and some game intros. You can freely try it as you may learn some interesting things here and there. The emulator works on several versions of Windows and it runs on both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.
- EX360 Emulator
Although it still in the early stages of development, this experimental Xbox 360 emulator may be able to run some arcade games. In order for the emulator to run you need to have a 64-bit system so if you have an older PC, you may an upgrade before you can try it.
As you have seen, this list has a variety of Xbox emulator you can try and test. Some are still in development and they may improve in the future if enough updates are made. Some are nice even from a technological perspective as it is no easy feat to be able to successfully emulate a system. All of them come free of charge and are available for download if you quickly search their name on the internet.
If one of them play the game you like have a great time! Visit us again for more great tips and interesting articles every day!
Henry Lares is still early into his career as tech reporter but has already had his work published in many major publications including Tech Crunch and the Huffington Post. In regards to academics, Henry earned an engineering degree from Apex Technical School. Henry has a passion for emerging technology and covers upcoming products and breakthroughs in science and tech.