So you want to play Xbox 360 games on PC, right?
I know why you want to do it. You may not be in a position to spend money only for a gaming console. Or else, your Xbox 360 console might get damaged.
Whatever be the reason, I am going to help you run Xbox games on PC without any issues.
Are you ready to dive into the core of the post? Here you go.
How to Play Xbox 360 Games on PC?
Even though the main title involves Xbox 360, I am going to share a method to play Xbox one games PC as well. Hence, you will have the complete tutorial in this subject.
Before I move to the core (Xbox 360), let me tell you how it can be done with Xbox One.
How to Play Xbox One Games on PC?
You know what streaming is, don’t you? Simply put, it is a technique involving the transfer of playback from one device to another.
In order to play Xbox One games on Windows 10 or any other Windows computer, we use streaming. This means you need to turn Xbox One for the process.
I have divided this into different steps for your convenience.
Step 1: You have to ensure that the software on both your computer and Xbox one is the latest. Hit the Win key or press the Start button and search for Check for updates. Open the first option that comes up.
You can use the button given there to check for updates. In case your system is up-to-date, you will read the same.
When it comes to updating firmware on Xbox One, you have pretty much nothing to do. The updates get installed automatically. You can check the firmware version by following Settings>> System>> Console info.
Visit this link and compare the version with that on your Xbox.
Step 2: The second step is enabling the streaming on Xbox. For that, you have to boot up your console. Then, navigate to Settings (You can do it in two ways; from My Games & Apps or pressing the menu button on the controller).
Once you reach Settings, you have to navigate to Preferences. There you must ensure that Allow game streaming to other devices is turned on. The streaming option is activated on every Xbox One console by default.
I recommend you check it out, though.
Step 3: You have to download Xbox on Windows 10 now. Most probably, you have the app by default. In case you don’t, you can download the same from the Windows store.
Step 4: Open the app. It will log into Xbox Lie using the Microsoft account you use on your computer. You have to make sure that the gamer tag on your Xbox console matches with that on the app.
Step 5: Hit Connection gave on the bottom of the left panel. You will see an Add new device screen. Most probably, your console will get listed there.
In case you can’t see your console there, you have to manually enter the IP address of it.
N.B.- You can follow Settings>> Network>> Advanced settings on your gaming console to find out the IP address.
Step 6: The next step is ensuring the presence of the gamepad. You need to connect a controller to your Windows 10 computer. A typical gamepad works fine.
In case you like to connect with a default gamepad that comes with Xbox console, you will have to make use of Bluetooth connection.
Step 7: Once you finalize all the six steps given above, you can finally hit Stream to play Xbox 360 games on PC.
During every streaming session, you can see a toolbar on the top to mute or stop.
How to Play Xbox 360 Games on PC? {Using an Emulator}
The first method I shared to play Xbox games on PC was streaming. You can go for emulation if you don’t like that.
For that you will need an Xbox 360 emulator for PC. There are multiple emulators you can find on the web. The popular ones are CXBX and Xeon.
Download any of the emulator first. You get the necessary files in a zipped archive. Then, you should extract the same to a location you like.
You need a ROM file, disk or the blu ray file of the game. Once you have it, execute the emulator and mount the disk. MagicISO tool helps you mount disk images.
There you go! Running the emulator now will help you play the game. It may take some time to start the gameplay based on the system resources.
In order to play graphically intense games, you need a powerful GPU.
Requirements for Xbox Emulation
Even though the requirements for different emulators differ from each other, the following are some of the minimum specs a computer must have, in order to run Xbox games on PC.
You need at least Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 for Xenia. But CXBX runs even on Windows XP as well.
An OpenGL 4.5-compatible GPU is what Xenia developers recommend. Their official page suggests the best to be used with Xenia is NVIDIA graphic cards. As far as CXBX is concerned, you may not encounter any graphic related errors I guess.
One of the inevitable things for Xbox emulation is the controller. You should have one to control games. Some emulators allow mechanical keyboards for controlling the games.
Wrapping Up
I hope you know how to play Xbox 360 games on PC now. As you read, there are two popular ways to do it. If you have an Xbox console, streaming is the best way.
If you don’t, you can go for emulation.
In case you have any doubts related to playing Xbox games on Windows, don’t forget to drop a comment below. I will reach out to you at the earliest with a working solution.
Have you ever played Xbox games on Windows? How was the experience? Let us know.
Moreover, I appreciate if you share this article on your social media profiles.
