Category: XBOX

XBOX

XBLA: Soulcalibur, Virtua Figher 2

Post author By TheAleosha
Post date August 21, 2025
2 Comments on XBLA: Soulcalibur, Virtua Figher 2

I’ve been going through some games available on Xbox 360 through Xbox Live Arcade.
One interesting sample is Soulcalibur. As far as I know that’s the only version available on consoles beside the original Dreamcast one. It is decent. All characters are unlocked from the start, and it seems that the internal resolution is a bit higher. It runs in this strange letterbox, though, maybe to preserve some original aspect ratio or integer scale.

Dreamcast with RetroTink 4K:

Xbox 360:

Dreamcast:

Xbox 360:

Then there’s Virtua Figher 2. As I wrote some time ago, PS3 and Xbox 360 got the superior arcade version instead of a meager port from Saturn. And it’s so good I even spent an evening beating the entire game with Sarah. Ok, not Dural, that’s a bit too much to ask from a first playthrough.

Tags Soulcalibur, Virtua Figher

XBOX

Original Xbox

It’s ironic that the original Xbox now sells for more than Xbox 360 or Xbox One. Maybe has to do with original Xbox selling 24M copies, while Xbox 360 sold 85M, so it’s much more available.

XBOX

Xbox 360 BadUpdate exploit

Post author By TheAleosha
Post date August 15, 2025
No Comments on Xbox 360 BadUpdate exploit

Depending on a viewpoint, one might say I picked the best or the worst time to be interested in Xbox 360. Because I suffered with trying BadUpdate to work, and now everyone is raving about BadUpdate 1.2

And okay, yeah, it’s amazing. What took me 20 tries now worked on the first attempt. So you can say that softmoding Xbox 360 is easier than PS4 now.

XBOX

Torchlight

Nice that you don’t descend into the dungeon alone. Besides the pet, you’ll also have a warrior join you for a few levels.

Something I haven’t considered is that a dual wielding rogue can mix between a ranged and a melee weapon. Shooting enemies with a pistol from afar, then smacking them with a club once they get close. Works surprisingly well.

Fifth level is catacombs. New theme every 4 levels, classic.

XBOX

Xbox 360

I was slightly wrong regarding connecting Xbox Series S gamepad to Xbox 360 through adapter. It works only on jailbroken Xbox 360. Before exploit kicks in, I still have to use the original disgusting controller.

XBOX

Kakuto Chojin

I understood that I don’t want to play Xbox360 games as much as I want to play some original Xbox games. So I did. It’s surprisingly easy, you use the same ISO2GOD to convert ISO to executable format, and that’s it, Aurora picks them up immediatelly.

The game itself surprised me. First, there are slowdown in some arenas. Not sure if it happened on original hardware, because technically Xbox360 running an emulator for Xbox games. But I do remember that Xemu had the same issues.

Then the fighting system itself is broken, and I’m not even a fighting expert to recognize it. There’s a term “negative on block”, which means that if you hit a blocking character hard, you get pushback, and may get punished.

But at least with Vittoria, which a picked randomly, kicks are safe on block. So you can kick, if it lands – great, if not, you have time to throw your blocking opponent.
Also, JD character is literally Brad Pitt from Fighting Club. I don’t know how he didn’t sue.

XBOX

Torchlight

Despite Torchlight 2 being my second most favourite ARPG ever (after Diablo 3, but before Diablo 2), I always ignored the first Torchlight, considering it inferior.
Having tried it on both PC and Xbox 360 now, I feel like I was right and wrong at the same time. It is more like Torchlight 2 is actually Torchlight 1.5.

Structure first. First Diablo game has a vertical structure. We descent deeper and deeper into the dungeon, but each level is pretty limited. Diablo 2 has a horizontal structure. The areas are wast, but if you ever find a dungeon, it rarely goes deeper than two levels. Every few levels in Diablo 1 dungeon have a common theme. And entire areas in Diablo 2 have themes as well: grasslands, desert, and so on. Torchlight 2 clearly follows Diablo 2, with even the same themes for the episodes. While Torchlight 1 is Diablo 1, where there is a single town, and you descend deeper into the mines.

What neither Diablo 1 nor Diablo 2 had from the start, though, is mana regeneration. Given the fact that skills are one of the fun parts of any ARPG, having mana regeneration is good, since you spend more time doing fun stuff.

There are three skill trees for each character, like Diablo 2. But those aren’t exactly “trees”, as you don’t have skill prerequisites. Something modern gamers criticize Diablo 2 for.

Tags Torchlight

XBOX

Xbox 360

When you buy any console second hand, chances are that the gamepad will be half borked. Sticky thumbsticks half falling apart, mushy buttons, you name it. And let’s agree, ergonomics have improved since 2005. All in all, I much prefer Xbox Series X gamepad over Xbox 360. Unfortunately, one cannot simply plug Xbox Series X gamepad into Xbox 360. Or can you?
Back in the day, when I was playing some fighting and beat’em’ups on Nintendo Switch, I bought a simple adapter to connect my Hori Fighting Stick to the Switch dock. I didn’t expect it to work, because why would it, but I decided to give it a try. And after playing with the settings, it just did!
Now I can play on Xbox 360 on the gamepad I like.

XBOX

Xbox 360 BadUpdate exploit

Post author By TheAleosha
Post date August 3, 2025
2 Comments on Xbox 360 BadUpdate exploit

I probably have already mentioned how selling my JTAGed Xbox 360 was a mistake in hindsight. Of course I could always buy another JTAGed Xbox, plenty of those are still available. But,I don’t like playing games on consoles as much as I like messing with consoles. So instead I got unmodded Xbox 360 and tried to put BadUpdate on it.
BadUpdate is a soft mod, similar to what you’re running on PS4. You don’t need Internet for it, but it takes much longer for it to work.

Hacking the Xbox 360 Hypervisor Part 2: The Bad Update Exploit

How long? Took me an entire evening of restarting my Xbox until I got there.
Was it worth it? Not really. I mean, it was interesting as a proof of concept. But I struggled to find any games I’m still interested to play on Xbox360. I eneded up testing that the exploit worked on Samurai Shodown Sen, which I lamented in the past, and… Torchlight 1, out of all things.

Also, to copy games I had to use a very particular USB drive. Xbox wouldn’t read anything else, despite me formatting all to FAT32 and MBR.

XBOX

Samurai Shodown Sen

Post author By TheAleosha
Post date April 6, 2025

Samurai Shodown Sen (aka Edge of Destiny) is one of those weird 3D instalments of Samurai Shodown series that happened after SNK’s implosion. Officialy, it was ever released only in the arcades (Taito Type X) and on Xbox 360, making it one of the few games that still warrant having Xbox 360.

But recently I discovered that a PC version exists. At first I thought this is some kind of a scam. Then I thought that it’s some kind of wrapper around Xenia. Neither seem to be true. Some comments say that this might be a leaked prototype, put together by fans. Which may explain why it uses dgVoodoo to run.

After I managed to play it once, though, the game stopped booting, giving an error in what I suspect to be Japanese. And no matter how many times I tried to delete it and unpack it again (there’s no installation process), they game just wouldn’t start.
Speaking of Xenia, though, I discovered that it emulates the game perfectly well. And that’s the opportunity to finally discuss what it is. Because in essence, it’s not a Samurai Shodown game. It’s Soul Calibur with characters from Samurai Shodown. Instead of weak/medium/strong slashes, there are vertical and horizontal slashes. There’s a grab (throw) with a single button. There are very few special moves, but many combos. And the inputs are mostly chains of attacks, not QCF/QCB common to SNK games.

The characters are modelled and animated well (looking at you, Arika), no complains there. Visually, it’s an Xbox 360 game. I’m not sure what specifically prompted that style on Xbox, but it’s very dark, gray/brown in tone.

Tags Samurai Shodown

Emulation XBOX

Project Gotham Racing and Forza Motorsport

Post author By TheAleosha
Post date August 6, 2022

I already wrote that I tried out Forza Motorsport on Xemu emulator a few days ago. Now, I decided to compare it with Project Gotham Racing, another predecessor of my much beloved Forza Horizon. And I was surprised how a more realistic Forza Motorsport plays better than “arcadish” Project Gotham Racing.

Now, to be clear, I suck at racing games. The only two racing games I ever finished, I think, are Need For Speed: The Run and Forza Horizon. And that’s only because both had rewinds.
But still, Forza Motorsport feels so much better thanks to its guidelines mechanic.

It also is emulated better at the moment. Project Gotham Racing has some issues with either depth of render or transparency, but on one of the tracks I’ve seen trees disappearing and appearing again. And also it seems there’s an issue with shadows from the cars, so cars seem to hover, never touching the track.

An issue both games share, and that’s because it’s the same engine, I would guess, is that during replays there are strange black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. Guess it’s some transparency issues again.

Tags Forza Motorsport

Emulation XBOX

Xbox Emulation

Post author By TheAleosha
Post date July 30, 2022

Discovered that there’s an alternative to Cxbx Reloaded emulator for the original Xbox. It’s called Xemu.

The annoying part is that Cxbx wants XBE files, while Xemu only accepts ISO. So if I’d want to keep testing both, I’ll need to have two version of each game.
Dead or Alive 3 is fully playable, and I even managed to beat the entire story mode, as it’s relatively short and easy.

Kakuto Chojin is also playable, although there are some minor slowdowns, and when fighting Ying FPS drops to single-digit values.

Tao Feng – doesn’t load at all.
Forza Motorsport – fully playable, although I think that are some glitches during replay.

Emulation XBOX

Cxbx Reloaded

Post author By TheAleosha
Post date July 20, 2022

Decided to check on Cxbx Reloaded emulator development, and the progress is quite impressive.

Dead or Alive 3 is fully playable at 60fps and x2 resolution. And I’m honestly surprised how excited I am about this. The game hang on me after the 3rd fight, but still, it’s already far more than what I expected.

Kakuto Chojin runs at 9fps now. A couple of years ago it would hardly render at all.

Tao Feng – still no luck.

XBOX

Xbox360 и 4K

Post author By admin
Post date September 20, 2016

В итоге, к 4K телевизору Xbox360 удалось подключить лишь специально для этого купленным component кабелем. Никакой HDMI 2.0 не помог. Теперь уже не удивительно, что консольки загибаются, с такими то технологиями.

*.BAK XBOX

Xbox360 и 4K

Post author By admin
Post date August 14, 2016

Похоже Xbox360 не дружит с 4K телевизорами. Во всяком случае к двум 1080p подключается по HDMI без проблем, а на 4K – черный экран, и все. А родной кабель я уже давно выкинул, “за ненужность”. Вот тебе и ретрогейминг. Похоже единственный способ сохранить игровое наследие – это все же эмуляция.

*.XLS PC Gaming XBOX

Пройдено с марта

Post author By admin
Post date July 6, 2016

На PC:

На Xbox:

Ace Combat 6

XBOX

О файтингах

Post author By admin
Post date May 15, 2016

Печально, но файтинги практически вымерли. Хотя казалось бы, поколение победивших консолей.
Блевотный Tekken за файтинг нельзя считать уже давно, даже в шутку. Soul Calibur к 5ой части слился, окончательно превратившись в какой-то странный симулятор прокачки холодного оружия. В Street Fighter с его “три прихлопа, два притопа” я никогда толком играть не умел. Unlikely winners – Mortal Kombat X и Dead or Alive 5.

XBOX

Ace Combat 6

Post author By admin
Post date May 14, 2016

Прошел Ace Combat 6.
Что-то игра оказалась на порядок короче, чем Ace Combat 5. Всего 16 миссий вместо кажется 24х. К тому же она значительно проще благодаря checkpoint’ам и allied assault’у, позволяющему натравить союзников на все, что движется. Даже в последней миссии нужно всего то пролететь по двум прямым коридорам. Даже без закрывающихся дверей! Никакого хардкора, одним словом.

Tags Ace Combat

XBOX

Ace Combat 6

Post author By admin
Post date May 1, 2016

Довольно быстро выдают самолет A10. Хорошо, что теперь обвес не нужно как-то хитро открывать. Достаточно просто купить тот, который нужен.
Миссии теперь разбиты на операции. Обычно это выглядит как несколько отрядов союзников, которых нужно поддерживать. Уничтожил всех врагов в одной точке – получил возможность перенаправить союзников в другую.
Ввели чекпоинты внутри миссий. Что за дела такие? А как же переигрывать последние двадцать минут, потому что впечатался в стену каньона? Нельзя так.
Wingman теперь почему-то только один, и к тому же абсолютно безликий. После Ace Combat 5, где большая часть сюжета была сфокусирована на пилотах, это даже странно.
Хорошо, что самолет теперь нужно покупать только один раз, а не для каждого пилота. С другой стороны wingman настолько бесполезен, что не важно, на каком самолете он летает.
Дают совершить налет на летающий авианосец. Конечно в космических симуляторах подобные битвы с титанами – сплошь и рядом. Но в авиасимуляторе это выглядит впечатляюще.
Героев помещают под арест в конце одной миссии, лишь затем чтобы отпустить в следующей. Тонкий сюжетный ход.
Кажется автору диалогов платили за то, сколько раз он сможет вставить “dance with the angels” в фразы разных героев.
Миссия где нужно лететь низенько над рекой, чтобы радары не засекли (такая есть похоже в каждой части) по началу страшно легкая, если лететь на штурмовике. Потом налетают вражеские истребители, и она начинает казаться страшно тяжелой. Пока я не понял, что от них нужно удирать обратно вдоль реки, и тогда они внезапно “слепнут”.

Tags Ace Combat

XBOX

Ace Combat 6

Post author By admin
Post date April 23, 2016

Ace Combat 6 – та часть, которая пролетела мимо всех фанатов Sony.
Из нововведений – возможность садиться на аэродром во время миссии, чтобы перезарядить ракеты. А так же теперь самолеты поддержки EMS есть не только у противников. Находясь в близости от них, ракеты летят точней.

Tags Ace Combat