Xbox 360 Emulation Goes From ‘OK’ To ‘Great’ In New Xenia Update

While seventh console generation compatriots like the Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3 have been long-cracked by experts and transported to reliable emulators, as late as 15 years after its release the Xbox 360 proved exceedingly difficult for tinkerers to crack. New updates from the Xenia emulation engine for Xbox 360, however, shows the thought-impossible with Xbox 360 games running smoothly on PC, even in 4K resolution.

The showcase shows games like Halo Reach and Red Dead Redemption running even smoother than on original hardware. This development is especially meaningful for games like Red Dead Redemption which aren’t playable on any system but the 360 and PS3.

The quality of emulation shown off in Xenia is the first of its kind. Anyone trying to play Fable II or Halo 3 on emulators even last year would know that even the best emulators online were “serviceable” at best.

Don’t even get me started on Sega Saturn emulation. While popular systems like the 360 seemingly have legions of tinkerers happy to take on the monumental task of perfecting system emulation, oddball systems like the Saturn are forced to languish in obscurity even more than two decades after their release. Anyone hoping to play forgotten classics like Deep Fear or Panzer Dragoon Saga better be ready to pay up several hundred dollars for original hardware or suffer under emulators that barely work and crash more often than rogue satellites.