Best Way to Play Xbox and Xbox 360?

[Californication | 1,477]

I've picked up a nice selection of games for the Xbox and Xbox 360 and I am ready to start playing them. I don't have an Xbox console right noe and am debating between a 360 and an Xbox One. The Xbox one doesn't seem to have any exclusives I am interested other than Ori. Is there any gameplay difference between running the games on a 360 v. an Xbox One?

[Aguy | 771]

It really depends on what you want to play. The X360 is BC with about half of the OG Xbox library while the XBone is about 10% compatible, and I personally have both because of this. Some of the games  from my collection that aren't BC are Beyond Good and Evil, Burnout Revenge, Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay, and The Warriors. Both Ori and the Blind Forest and Will of the Wisps are available on PC Gamepass, BF is available on the Switch, and WotW will eventually be brought to the Switch as well, so you may not need an XBone at all if there's no other games you're looking for.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Xbox_games_compatible_with_Xbox_360

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

@Aguy pretty much nailed it. I keep my 360 hooked up because the back compat library is so much bigger. There is also some good stuff on 360 that isn't compatible with Xbone, like the Rock Band series.

That being said, the Xbone does allow for crazy upscaling of a few original Xbox games, so if you just want to play those few games it could be worth it. I'd just look at the lists and see what games are important to you and go from there.

[Californication | 1,477]

Thank you guys. Question 2: What is the most reliable Xbox 360 model?

(Shoot, I just bought a copy of Metal Slug 3 that isn't going to work on the 360 and there is no Voodoo Vince, or Oddworld: Strangers Wrath.)

Edited August 10, 2020 by Californication

[Aguy | 771]

Get a slim model, not the E. It dropped some features that might not be very important (one less usb port, no optical audio or component support) but just like the PS3 super slim and Wii Mini, companies are just cutting costs and corners when it comes to the last iteration of consoles. I'd recommend looking for a 320GB model Slim as they were they last batch of 360's manufactured in 2011/2012 before the switch to the model E. My first gen 360 RRoD so I "fixed" it and traded it in for a Slim in 2011 and have never had any problems since. I remember it well because I had just picked up Skyrim on release day, got home, installed it, then it crashed and wouldn't turn back on.

[drxandy | 3,225]

I know it's not a modern solution but I think the original hardware looks great on a crt with the component cables, if that was a route you might consider.

Otherwise ya, slim 360 is the most reliable with the most input options.

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

Have you guys not had numerous compatibility issues or performance problems on 360? I only used BC when it was relatively new but it clearly wasn’t a replacement for an Xbox when I tried using it.

[OptOut | 8,883]

I'm a BIG fan of the original XBOX and the 360, so yeah I would recommend getting both an OG XBOX and one of the later 360 models. Backwards compatibility on XBOX is a shitshow, frankly, much better off running the real thing.

 

For the OG XBOX, I personally use the Pound HD cable, and I am relatively happy with the results. It doesn't have resolution up-scaling or gamma boost, but it gives a decent picture on a modern TV, especially for the price. If I were you I'd try to find one of the later board revisions, which you can most easily find in the different color variations of the XBOX, such as the crystal one. This means you won't have to take out the leaky clock cap, although that isn't TOO onerous of a job. The MAIN thing you need to watch out for on OG XBOX though is the disc drives. They tend to seize up over time, so you need to make sure you buy one with a good disc drive.

With the 360 you would be better off trying to find a NIB model, because you can never really be sure what you're getting into with preowned 360's. It's not only the original ones that are unreliable, I recently had to replace my 360 slim that red-ringed, and the failure modes on the 360 line in general range from power supply issues, red rings, disc drive failures and disc scratching, firmware crashes, HDD failures, you name it! So, buying a pre-owned 360 is a crapshoot unless you can SUPER trust the person selling it, and it has been tested THOROUGHLY over many hours and many different games so you know it's working good. It is worth paying more money, IMO to get a system that is brand new to avoid a lot of these hassles.

 

Oh, and before anyone mentions that the new XBOX Series X will supposedly run every XBOX game ever, while I would absolutely LOVE for that to be the case, I will believe it when I see it. Chance of it actually playing every game, or even half of them, I would say is pretty much non-existant.