The Original Xbox is undoubtedly my favourite console. It's the peak of western AAA output and still in an era when Japan still dominated the gaming landscape. While the first selection of backwards compatible games are a little lacking for me, the commitment and quality of the emulation is an exciting prospect.
Popping in one of the selected 13 games will prompt a download of the game file working exactly the same way as Xbox 360 emulation. Once done, you will be greeted with nostalgia overload as you see the original Xbox boot up screen in 1080p glory.
I say 1080p but the resolution is actually 960p which isn't a problem really as it doesn't mess with the games original aspect ratio. You won't notice a difference anyway as the games have cleaned up rather nicely. I've always felt the original Xbox has always aged well due to developers respecting the consoles limitations (unlike 7th gen) while still having the graphical fidelity to create believable worlds.
Not all games are available to purchase on the store which does signal some slight concerns when it comes to licensing. Cult classics like the PGR series still haven't made its way to Xbox 360 and most likely never will. Highly requested titles like Jet Set Radio a Future for example will have to overcome music licences if it's to ever see a release.
Doom and gloom aside, this is very exciting for Xbox fans. Microsoft has done a phenomenal job of emulation on such underpowered CPU's which has always led me to believe that Xbox 360 emulation was impossible. Original Xbox emulation was always going to be possible, but I never would have thought Microsoft would have much interest going that far back.
This is the part where I would start to write a list of titles I would like to see, but I'm just too engrossed in Knights of the Old Republic.
Not all games are available to purchase on the store which does signal some slight concerns when it comes to licensing. Cult classics like the PGR series still haven't made its way to Xbox 360 and most likely never will. Highly requested titles like Jet Set Radio a Future for example will have to overcome music licences if it's to ever see a release.
Doom and gloom aside, this is very exciting for Xbox fans. Microsoft has done a phenomenal job of emulation on such underpowered CPU's which has always led me to believe that Xbox 360 emulation was impossible. Original Xbox emulation was always going to be possible, but I never would have thought Microsoft would have much interest going that far back.
This is the part where I would start to write a list of titles I would like to see, but I'm just too engrossed in Knights of the Old Republic.
