New Xbox Gaming Consoles are quite powerful and capable to run games with the highest possible graphics. But still, old Xbox gaming consoles are quite popular and in demand. Although, you don’t need to buy those old Gaming consoles now if you own a Good Windows PC. Because there are many Xbox 360 Emulators available for Windows PC. Yes, Xbox 360 emulator was designed in such a way that, its games can be played only on the console. However, thanks to developers, Xbox emulators now have eliminated the console’s exclusiveness. Xbox 360 and Xbox One games can now you can enjoy on PCs. Yes, there are some best Xbox One Emulators for Windows PC available as well.
What is Xbox 360 Emulator?
An Emulator is computer software, that tricks one computer system to behave like another system. And, Xbox 360 emulator does the same. It creates a virtual Xbox 360 environment for PC, so that, it can run Xbox 360 Games.
There are many Xbox 360 Emulators available to download. But not all are capable to run every Xbox 360 Game. Also yes, there are some games that are limited to Xbox 360 console only. But still, these emulators are capable to run some popular Xbox 360 game titles with higher graphics.
These are the best Xbox 360 emulators for PC
Xenia Master – Xbox 360 Research Emulator
Xenia is an open-source research emulator. That is developed to run Xbox 360 Games on Windows PC. With this emulator, you will be able to play 91 Xbox 360 Games. You can check the working game list on Emulator’s official site. (Check Compatibility Section.) Currently, it’s only available for Windows, but soon, it will also be available for Linux OS. Xenia is the first working & best Xbox 360 Emulator for PC. But you need a special kind of hardware to run Xenia.
System Requirements.
- Windows 8, 8.1, 10, and 11.
- Xinput Compatible Controller.
- 64-bit x86 processor. (With AVX support.)
- A Vulkan Compatible GPU. (Most Important.) – Supported GPU list is also available on the Official Site of Xenia Emulator.
If your GPU isn’t Vulkan Compatible. Then, you will receive an error “Unable to initialize Vulkan graphics subsystem”. And, this error will not allow you to use Emulator.
How to Play Xbox 360 Games on PC using Xenia.
1. To download Xenia Emulator, visit the official site. Click on download. (Check left pane.)
Click on “Master” to download Zip File.
2. Extract Zip files using WinZip or 7Zip.
3. Open Extracted folder, and run the “Xenia” application as administrator. (Right-Click on it to Run.)
4. To run Xbox 360 Game, Go to File > Open in Xenia Emulator. And, Select download Game, and click on Open. Alternatively, you can place Games inside the Content Folder. You can access it by using the following directory. Or, can just click on the “Show Content Directory” option in the emulator.
C:\Users\"your PC name"\Documents\Xenia\content
That’s it. The game will start running. And, you can play it using a Controller that supports Xinput.
IMPORTANT – To Configure Gamepad keys, you can use the “x360ce” Program. It will allow your controller to function as Xbox 360 Controller.
VR Xbox 360 PC Emulator 1.0.5
VR Xbox 360 PC Emulator is one of the great alternatives to Xenia Emulator. It is also known as Xenia Master. This emulator is quite famous for providing high FPS, improved memory consumption, Radeon GPU support, and faster game loading. Overall, it can provide an excellent gaming experience, quite similar to Xbox Gaming Console.
Though, you have to build this emulator by yourself. This means all code files are available on GitHub. The latest version of this emulator is 1.0.5 and the download size is around 22 MB. Well yes, the development of this emulator is currently stopped. But still, you can try it out. To be honest, I haven’t tested this emulator yet but will update the installation guide soon.
Download VR Xbox 360 PC Emulator 1.0.5
Box Emulator
The Box Emulator is the newly designed Xbox 360 Emulator for PC. It can run Xbox Games in better graphics and in 60 FPS. This emulator was in development for more than a year. And, finally, developers have ported the PowerPC x_kernel to the x86/x64 version. There aren’t any special requirements for this emulator. But, you need a good GPU for lag-free gaming. Though, there are some minimum requirements mentioned on the official site.
Box Emulator comes with graphics settings. This Xbox 360 Emulator does support up to 1920×1080 resolution. It comes with the v-sync feature. On the official site of this emulator, you can find out a list of Games that were tested on this emulator. And, trust me, the list is quite large. To play Xbox Games, you can insert your game disk. Or, can create an ISO image of your disk. The emulator comes with the x360ce plugin. That will allow you to configure your game controller.
Conclusion
Is there any other Best Xbox 360 Emulator?
Actually, there were some Xbox 360 Emulators. But, no links are available to download those Emulators. Though, some sites claim to provide the download link. But, those sites will force you to complete surveys to download Emulator File. And, by any chance, if you will be able to complete the survey. Then, the site will provide you fake emulator.
After researching for an hour, I found three more working Xbox 360 emulators. But, problem is, that the development of those emulators stopped. Now, the Source code is available on Git-hub. If you’re a developer then here are the names of those Emulators. 1.ex360e 2. xbox360-emu 3. x360emu. You can try to build these Xbox 360 Emulators.
The truth behind some YouTube Xbox 360 Emulators Videos.
There are dozens of YouTube videos available regarding the Best Xbox 360 Emulator for PC. But, when you try to open those emulator links. It will redirect you to some ads page. Or, will try to download some malware on your computer.
Yes, Some videos have shown proof. But, actually, the emulators shown in those videos are based on Xenia Emulator. Because Xenia is an open-source emulator. That’s why I have mentioned only one emulator. Because all other emulator development had stopped. Only, Xenia developed is currently active.
GPU Error.
If you’re getting an error in Xenia, because of GPU. Then, Sorry, you can’t run Xbox 360 Games on your PC. You need supported hardware to run it. Mine GPU also not Vulkan Compatible. So, I can’t able to play Xbox 360 Games. But, don’t worry, I will try to find out a working solution for this GPU Error.