It is not necessary to have a top-of-the-range computer to be able to emulate these consoles. But if we want to do it properly, without jumps, in the most similar way possible to how it is emulated on a console, it is necessary to have, at least, hardware similar to the following.
- Intel Core i5 processor, higher or equivalent in AMD.
- 4 GB of RAM. 8GB recommended.
- An SSD drive from which to load the disk image.
- GTX 1060 graphics card, higher or equivalent in AMD.
With this hardware, games that have been validated as working on an emulator will work properly. If not, we may experience issues like FPS drops, crashes, and performance issues. And to be honest, this would spoil the gaming experience.
Titles to play before you die for Xbox and Xbox 360
Although Microsoft’s first console didn’t have much to do against the dominance of Sony and its PlayStation 2, the Xbox 360 was certainly worth looking at, face to face, with the PS3. And, throughout his life, he has had a large number of titles, both exclusive and multiplatform, which, if we have the console, or simply the emulator, we must play yes or yes, since they are part of the history of the company.
The essential games that everyone should play on the first Xbox are the following:
- Halo: Combat Evolved
- Halo 2
- Ninja Gaiden / Black
- Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell / Chaos Theory / Pandora Tomorrow
- Burnout 3: Takedown / Revenge
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
- Forza Motorsport
- SSX 3
- The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay
- Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30
- fable
On the other hand, if what we want is to play the best of the best of the Xbox 360, then the titles that must pass through our hands are the following:
- Grand Theft Auto IV/V
- BioShock 1 / 2 / Infinite
- Halo 3/Reach
- The Orange Box (Half Life 2)
- Mass Effect 1 / 2 / 3
- red dead redemption
- Batman: Arkham City
- Gears of War 1 / 2 / 3
- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
- Forza Motorsport 2 / 3 / 4
- fable II
For all of them, and many more, we are going to see which are the best Xbox emulators for Windows.
Best Xbox 360 Emulators for Windows
Next, we are going to see which are the best Microsoft console emulators that we can install on Windows.
Xenia, the best Xbox 360 emulator for Windows
Xenia is one of the emulator projects that has made the most progress. This xbox 360 emulator It is capable of loading different types of files, such as ISO, XEX and XCP, so that if the game is in the , we can play it in a better or worse way. Its developers offer excellent support for this emulator, updating it every so often and debugging the operation of all the games on this platform.
Games for which the program has already been debugged have good speed and good graphics. Of course, to be able to play them it is necessary to have a fairly powerful PC, since the 360 cannot be emulated on any computer.
We can download Xenia .
The best and the worst
Xenia is undoubtedly the most advanced xbox 360 emulator. Its developers have worked to improve the performance of this emulator as much as possible and, in addition, provide the best compatibility with all kinds of titles. It is an emulator that, despite having been on the net for many years now, and working very well, continues to be constantly developed and improved to allow us to play the mythical exclusives of this console again.
However, despite the efforts of the developers, it is still an emulator that, in terms of performance, leaves a lot to be desired. Little by little it keeps getting better, but some titles, like Gears of War, are impossible to play.
How does it work
In order to use this emulator, the first thing we must do is download the latest version from their website. This software is only designed to work on Windows 7 and higher, so we won’t be able to use it on macOS or Linux. Once the latest version is downloaded, the next step will be to unzip it. And, once on the PC, we run it through the “xenia.exe” file.
Before seeing how to load a game, the first thing we are going to do is see the emulator options. At the top we have the toolbar. There are not many options to configure in this emulator, so what we are interested in knowing is that we can adjust CPU scalesas well as post-processing and full screen effects.
The default settings are sufficient for most users. Therefore, to load a game, what we must do is open the “File” menu and select the “Open” option. A Windows Explorer window will appear where we must search for the game we want to load. The supported formats are ISO, in case of having a disk image, and .XEX.
Once the game loads, we can start playing. The best thing, in order to avoid control or other problems, is to connect an Xbox controller to the computer and use it with the same mapping as on the original console.
Ex360e, another experimental Xbox 360 emulator
This is one of the closest alternatives to Xenia, although it is an extremely experimental emulator. Although working games offer very smooth performance, and great emulation accuracy, it has major shortcomings such as incomplete D3D implementation, storage, and many of the APIs. It is an emulator to test those games that do not work in Xenia, but that can leave a little to be desired in terms of variety.
We can download this emulator for free.
Pros and cons
Although it is less well known, Ex360e is an emulator that seeks a balance between compatibility, performance and precision. Although its compatibility list is still quite short, the games that work do it perfectly. Of course, the games must be installed in package format, we cannot load ISOs.
It still has a lot of work ahead of it, but its developers are still working on it to debug it and improve its performance as much as possible. A great alternative to having on hand to test the games that, in Xenia, give us problems.
Of course, we must bear in mind that it is a very complicated emulator to start up, since its developers have not compiled it. Therefore, in order to use it, it is necessary to download the code, compile it with Visual Studio, and be lucky so that nothing fails in the process.
original xbox emulators
If what we want is to play classic Xbox, here we are going to find another option. And, being a less demanding console, we can get even better performance.
Cxbx-Reloaded, one of the most complete original Xbox emulators
Although the truth is that the original xbox It never became a rival, not in terms of power or titles, for the PlayStation 2, there are still users who have a special affection for this console. This emulator is designed to allow us to load original Xbox games from both Windows and Linux (via Wine). Its main features are fast and smooth emulation, the ability to mount the various Xbox SDKs to compile code, and the ability to access and modify game files.
Among its drawbacks we must highlight that it is an emulator that requires quite a bit of complicated configuration, in addition to the fact that the number of games it can load is quite limited. Nonetheless
We can download this emulator from the page of its .
The best and the worst
The original Xbox is a well-known console by emulator developers. For this reason, this program offers us a very fast and smooth emulation, being able to run any title released for it without too many complications. Furthermore, one of the advantages of this emulator is that it allows us to compile code as if it were a development console, which is very attractive for developers.
The main problem that we can find when using it is that it is a complicated emulator to use. It is not like others that just launch and play.
How does it work
In order to enjoy this emulator, we need our operating system to be Windows 7 64-bit or higher. Unfortunately, it is not compatible with 32-bit versions of Windows, one of its most negative points.
Once we have executed it, before loading the ROM of the game that we want to enjoy, we go to Settings and we access the section config Input to check that the application has recognized the controller that we have connected to the equipment. If we want to configure the video settings, in that same menu, click on Video Setup.
Next, we go to the menu files and we select Open Xbe to select the ROM we want to run. Once loaded, from the menu Emulationwe select start.
Xemu, cross-platform emulator of the original Xbox
Another open source emulator that will allow us to play our favorite games from the original Microsoft console again. This emulator guarantees compatibility with 9% of the titles released for this console, although there are still 76% of games that have not been tested (and may or may not work). It is capable of connecting with other instances of Xemu, both locally and through the Internet, it allows connecting up to 4 controllers and creating Snapshots of our games to load games in real time.
The main drawback of this emulator is that it renders the graphics in a lower quality than the real one. This guarantees greater speed and precision, but, obviously, a worse gaming experience.
We can download this emulator from . This emulator is natively available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
pros and cons
This is a multiplatform emulator that we can run on both Windows and Linux and macOS. Xemu stands out neither for its performance nor for its compatibility, but for its additional functions. Therefore, if we want to connect several controllers to the computer at the same time, or play on LAN, this is the option that we must choose, since it is the only one that allows it.
The problem is that only 9% of the entire catalog of this console works with this emulator. Of course, the games that do work perfectly.
Dxbx, a Delphi port of Cxbx
This emulator is a port of the classic Cxbx specially designed to work on very old computers, so much so that it can even run on Windows 2000. This emulator uses a high-level abstraction of the entire Xbox system so that the games can run without problems. Of course, those games that need direct access to the hardware will not be able to work.
This emulator can load the original discs, although it is designed to work better with ISO images. It has a list of compatible games that we can check to find out if the game we want works or not.
We can download this emulator for free from its website.
For and against
One of the advantages of this emulator is that we can load the games both from their original discs, if we still save them, and through ISO images that we can obtain by other means. What’s more, it’s an emulator that has a complete compatibility list, so we won’t have any problems loading most of the commercial games.
Of course, we must take into account that its developers are no longer dedicated to…
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