Android phones have a sizable list of must-play apps and games. However, most of these programs are mobile-first. If you want to play, say, an original Xbox game, you’d normally either need to break out your OG Xbox or pray the disc is backward compatible with a Series X. Or you can download an emulator.
Recently, a program by the name of X1 BOX hit the Google Play Store. The app is based on Xemu, an open-source emulation project that lets users play the majority of original Xbox titles on their PC. While the Xemu team is planning to release their own emulator app, X1 BOX beat them to the punch. Previously, X1 BOX was only downloadable through sites such as GitHub, but this release on the official Google Play Store opens up the program to a wider audience. And yes, this app is compatible with physical controllers like the Backbone Pro.
While modern phones are more powerful than the original Xbox, you still need a beefy smart device to run X1 BOX. According to the app’s description, if your phone doesn’t have at least 8 GB of RAM to go along with Vulkan support, games may run poorly or not run at all. Such is the nature of the beast, as emulators like X1 BOX simulate the original Xbox’s software environment, but because they aren’t running natively on the original hardware, performance gets lost in the translation.
How to play original Xbox games with X1 BOX
Regardless of whether you install X1 BOX from the Google Play Store or from GitHub, you will need to do a bit of setup. As the app is based on Xemu for PC, you need the same files you’d need on a computer, including an MCPX Boot ROM image and the Xbox’s BIOS (a Flash ROM Image). Moreover, the Xemu team recommends the retail “COMPLEX 4627” BIOS file. You also need a pre-formatted Xbox hard drive image, which the Xemu developers provide on their website, and a game folder full of XISO game ROMs using the ISO format. The Xemu team recommends dumping them straight off the game disc and converting them using tools such as xdvdfs and Qwix.
Once you have all the files ready, open up X1 BOX. The app will ask you to “Choose MCPX ROM.” Select the file, let X1 BOX copy it, then tap on “Next.” The app will then ask you to “Choose Flash ROM,” so repeat the process by selecting the appropriate file and tapping “Next” after it’s been copied over. After that, tap “Choose Hard Disk,” select the hard disk file, let the app copy it, then hit “Next.” Finally, it’s time to “Choose Games Folder,” so after you hit the button, navigate to where all your game ROMs are stored, hit “Use this folder,” and tap the “Finish” button.
After you have finished, you can start playing games or alter some settings. Just keep in mind some frame rates and resolution scales might break certain games. Remember: Xbox games predate HD technology.
Playing Xbox games on your phone might not be completely legal
Since X1 BOX is for sale on the Google Play Store, you might assume that using the app is completely legal. The general consensus is that yes, owning an emulator is perfectly legal. It’s no different from owning a Blu-ray player. But just like a Blu-ray player, an emulator is little more than a platform — you still need the actual content to get any use out of the platform, which is where the question of legality arises.
Emulators let you play games that aren’t designed for certain platforms thanks to ROMs — files that contain all of the game data. You just load the ROM into the program, and the emulator does the rest. But how do you get the ROM? The only legal way to do that is to back up a copy from a game you own. If you can do that and transfer the ROMs to your phone, then you are golden. However, if you want to emulate a game you don’t own and can’t find a copy, your only choice is to pirate the ROM, which is decidedly less legal. This is also true for the MCPX Boot ROM and Flash ROM that you need for X1 BOX to work.
Again, we must stress that emulators in and of themselves aren’t illegal, but app stores have a history of pulling game emulators, so if you want to play Xbox games on your Android, download X1 BOX now before the app gets delisted. Just make sure to legally source all of your ROM files. Or you can just wait for Xemu’s developers to post their own free version.
