Original XBOX emulation is becoming reality finally!

[UglyDuckling]

The emulator known as XQEMU is being developed and worked on as we speak.
XQEMU is an open source, cross-platform emulator for the original Xbox (and Sega Chihiro). It is currently in very early stages of development. XQEMU is built on-top of QEMU.

It's far from playable, this is on these specs.

CPU - Intel Core i7 3770K @ 4.20 Ghz
RAM - 16 GB
GPU - MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING
OS - Windows 10 64bit

All videos are sped up a TONNE... some as far as x8 the original pace!

However this is the furthest XBOX emulation has come thus far... so welcome to XBOX emulation!

Dead or Alive 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOdMYveHiq4

Jet Set Radio Future
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVwB1jCzkWs

Colin McRae Rally 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHkSoxIDLfU

Bloody Roar Extreme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFiN00VaRNI

Alias
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zybVzwkGXSg


It's finally happening but god it needs some resources O.O

 

[Homerboy]

So if videos are sped up 5x, that means we'd only need a PC 5 times more powerful than the one already listed?

 

[ImpulsE69]

Eh, assuming it continues it will get better. Honestly though, I'm not sure there is much real interest in it other than the 'we did it' concept.

 

[UglyDuckling]

So if videos are sped up 5x, that means we'd only need a PC 5 times more powerful than the one already listed?

Look back at PS2 emulation, Core 2 Duo's at 3.8GHZ+ using SSE4 can run many PS2 games full speed.. here is some proof..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icoOauHaCfY

It's now time for them to work on the kinks/bugs and get it optimized for PC hardware, all emulators start like this.

Gran Turismo 4 @ 1440x900 -Intel Core2Duo E8400 @3600Mhz -MSI P35 Neo -Corsair XMS2 6400C4 2 x 1024mb -MSI NX8800GT OC 512MB

 

[UglyDuckling]

Eh, assuming it continues it will get better. Honestly though, I'm not sure there is much real interest in it other than the 'we did it' concept.

Honestly it's pretty awesome to see this, i have 2 Original XBOX's and the first thing to die on them are the DVD drives, that's if the Clock cap does not explode on you!

 

[ImpulsE69]

Honestly it's pretty awesome to see this, i have 2 Original XBOX's and the first thing to die on them are the DVD drives, that's if the Clock cap does not explode on you!

Yea my drive died years ago too, but I modded it and put a HD in it. It still works great though I don't really use it. I mostly used it for emulation toward the end of its life.

 

[UglyDuckling]

Yea my drive died years ago too, but I modded it and put a HD in it. It still works great though I don't really use it. I mostly used it for emulation toward the end of its life.

At this point you would be crazy not to mod your XBOX's... for us UK people, it unlocks full NTSC 720p/1080i using component, otherwise we are stuck at 480P with a normal XBOX on PAL region with the correct leads.

My XBOX's.. 1 has an Xecuter 2.6CE mod chip, and my other is a V1.0 transplanted into V1.6 Crystal chassis with a flashed TSOP using Xecuter code, it launches like a normal XBOX until you get into the actual menu which is XBMC, and there is not a single visual thing out of place besides the much larger HDD.

Emulation on PC gives us the ability to expand our XBOX's life by giving them a rest, heck my PS2 is still amazingly usable due to PCSX2.. and i do indeed play my real PS2 ever so often.

 

[gothamhunter]

TBH...at this point, why even bother? Most of the good Xbox games have been available by other means for a long time

 

[sweenish]

Like Panzer Dragoon Orta.

 

[gothamhunter]

Like Panzer Dragoon Orta.

Is that a question or statement? If statement, it's also playable on the 360

 

[UglyDuckling]

Is that a question or statement? If statement, it's also playable on the 360

360 is not great at playing Original XBOX games, see Fable... they had to remake that game because compatibility was horrendous, textures glitching etc.

 

[gothamhunter]

360 is not great at playing Original XBOX games, see Fable... they had to remake that game because compatibility was horrendous, textures glitching etc.

Some...but some work perfectly fine.

Regardless, I did say most/many and not all.

 

[Fulle]

I would like to see Gunvalkyrie. I don't have an OG Xbox anymore, and Sega just never ported it to another platform. The backwards compatibility with Xbox 360 didn't work for the game, so pretty much the only way to play it is with an OG Xbox....

 

[sweenish]

Is that a question or statement? If statement, it's also playable on the 360

Great solution! Especially since they will still be selling those in a few years, and they certainly won't break down.

Also, I end my questions with question marks.

 

[mmntech]

You'd think emulating the original Xbox would be fairly straight forward given how similar it is to gaming PCs from the era. I'm guessing it must be a software issue.

I don't think it's that big a deal though. A lot of original Xbox games, at least the popular ones, did get native PC releases. A lot of those that didn't got released on other consoles which have been successfully emulated. So it kind of limits the need for Xbox emulation.

 

[escrow4]

At this point you would be crazy not to mod your XBOX's... for us UK people, it unlocks full NTSC 720p/1080i using component, otherwise we are stuck at 480P with a normal XBOX on PAL region with the correct leads.

My XBOX's.. 1 has an Xecuter 2.6CE mod chip, and my other is a V1.0 transplanted into V1.6 Crystal chassis with a flashed TSOP using Xecuter code, it launches like a normal XBOX until you get into the actual menu which is XBMC, and there is not a single visual thing out of place besides the much larger HDD.

Emulation on PC gives us the ability to expand our XBOX's life by giving them a rest, heck my PS2 is still amazingly usable due to PCSX2.. and i do indeed play my real PS2 ever so often.

Its not 2005, any modern player supports that either hardware or software via HDMI. :awe:

 

[sweenish]

You'd think emulating the original Xbox would be fairly straight forward given how similar it is to gaming PCs from the era. I'm guessing it must be a software issue.

I don't think it's that big a deal though. A lot of original Xbox games, at least the popular ones, did get native PC releases. A lot of those that didn't got released on other consoles which have been successfully emulated. So it kind of limits the need for Xbox emulation.

That has probably killed a lot of the enthusiasm, I agree.

However, I would still love an OG Xbox emulator.

 

[UglyDuckling]

Its not 2005, any modern player supports that either hardware or software via HDMI. :awe:

Some XBOX games ran at 720p/1080i native.

 

[SPBHM]

Some XBOX games ran at 720p/1080i native.

very few games
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Xbox_games_with_HD_support

I think perhaps Amped 2 was the best looking 720P game?

almost every single game supported 480P at least, while a lot of PS2 games were 480i only, it worked nicely with my DLP TV (screen was 480P)

I think I've only used 720p/1080i on my Xbox for unofficial software, like Snes emulator and XBMC

anyway, the Xbox list of exclusives (which are not available on PC or PS2) is short, but there are some good games, so it's nice to finally see something.

also some console exclusives (available on other consoles but not PC) might work better if the emulation progresses well...

 

[futurefields]

I think perhaps Amped 2 was the best looking 720P game?

Game looked really good for it's time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5RVEeQ2WTk

 

[Sonikku]

Freedom Fighters was pretty amazing for its time too.

 

[Kneedragger]

While I played the shit out of this system I don't see myself wanting to play any of its games. Props to these guys for their work though.

 

[mmntech]

However, I would still love an OG Xbox emulator.

IIRC, Microsoft did say they were at least considering adding backwards compatibility for original Xbox games on the Xbox One. Whether they'll actually do is up in their air. They're focusing on getting 360 games working right now.

almost every single game supported 480P at least, while a lot of PS2 games were 480i only, it worked nicely with my DLP TV (screen was 480P)

The original Xbox was definitely the technologically superior console of its generation. The PS2 had the better library though. In the end, that's what sells systems. Well, used to now that consoles are all six and half a dozen of each other.

 

[smackababy]

TBH...at this point, why even bother? Most of the good Xbox games have been available by other means for a long time

Same reason people are working on MAME. Hardware emulation that is 100% accurate is a nice thing to have, even if it isn't playable.

 

[Zodiark1593]

You'd think emulating the original Xbox would be fairly straight forward given how similar it is to gaming PCs from the era. I'm guessing it must be a software issue.

I don't think it's that big a deal though. A lot of original Xbox games, at least the popular ones, did get native PC releases. A lot of those that didn't got released on other consoles which have been successfully emulated. So it kind of limits the need for Xbox emulation.

Even though it's x86, the cpu still needs to be emulated which is apparently a horrendous PITA. Add to that a very poorly documented gpu (the gpu in PCs are typically accessed through drivers). In some ways, the xbox is even more difficult to emulate than the PS2.