Original XBox games on the 360 by Chris November 9, 2008 

You can play your original XBox games on your 360 but expect some frustration.

Microsoft did not include a hardware emulator in the 360 - essentially including an XBox within an Xbox 360 would be too expensive. Sony did this for a while with the Playstation 3 - they included the PS2 emotion engine chip in the launch systems but then removed it because the PS3 was already too much of a financial hemorrhage even without the expensive chip. Plusn Sony still makes a killing selling PS2's.

Before you can play originals on your 360, you need to upgrade it with the XBox software emulator available from LIVE or on disk from Microsoft. Further info about how to upgrade can be found at xbox.com/.../backwardscompatibiity.

Not all games will work but the more popular titles appear to have good support. This compatibility list may include info on the status of your favorite game(s).

You need to be careful when updating your system with the software emulator - if the process is not completed, your 360 may stop playing everything! (maybe this is a good thing.)

I'm curious about this software emulator. Hardware-wise, the 360 is quite distant from the Intel P3 processor of its little brother. This emulator seems to be much more advanced than the Xbox emulators currently available for the PC. More info next time, till then, happy XBoxing!

CS 10-8