# Xbox

> The Xbox was Microsoft's first console. It brought a built-in hard drive and Xbox Live to consoles, and xemu can now run a large part of its library.

Web page: https://emulationking.com/microsoft/xbox/
Page updated: 2026-09-30

- Developer: Microsoft
- Released: 2001
- Processor: Custom Intel Pentium III Coppermine-based processor (32-bit)
- Processor Speed: 733 MHz
- Processor L1 Cache: 64KB
- Processor L2 Cache: 128KB
- RAM: 64 MB DDR SDRAM (Shared)
- GPU: NV2A ASIC (Co-Developed by Microsoft and Nvidia)
- GPU Speed: 233 MHz
- Audio Processor: NVIDIA 'MCPX' (a.k.a SoundStorm 'NVAPU')
- Audio Channels: 64 3D (256 Stereo)

The Xbox was Microsoft's first real venture into console development. Microsoft had been involved in PC gaming for many years, but had never built a console before. The Xbox belonged to the sixth generation of consoles, competing with the Nintendo GameCube, the SEGA Dreamcast and the Sony PlayStation 2.

Unlike its rivals, which used highly customised hardware, the Xbox was built much like a PC, an architecture Microsoft knew well. It also included a built-in hard drive for saving games, removing the need to buy memory cards.

Xbox emulation was slow to progress. For years, emulators such as CXBX, DXBX and Xeon could only get a handful of games in-game, and performance was poor. Despite the console's resemblance to a PC, its custom hardware and the lack of documentation made it hard to emulate. Today xemu, which grew out of the XQEMU project, is the leading Xbox emulator and can run a large part of the library.

The Xbox also had a built-in Ethernet port, and with Xbox Live it was the first console to build a proper online gaming community. As well as online play, Xbox Live offered a friends list and ways to interact with other players. Its reliable service, together with the online play of Halo 2, helped make it a success.

The Xbox did well for a first console. It finished a distant second to the PlayStation 2 with over 24 million units sold, ahead of Nintendo's GameCube and well ahead of the SEGA Dreamcast.

## Xbox Emulators

- [xemu](https://emulationking.com/microsoft/xbox/emulator/xemu/index.md): xemu is a free, open source original Xbox emulator for Windows, macOS and Linux that emulates the console hardware at a low level.
- [Cxbx-Reloaded](https://emulationking.com/microsoft/xbox/emulator/cxbxreloaded/index.md): Cxbx-Reloaded is an open source original Xbox emulator for Windows that continues the work of the earlier Cxbx project.
- [CXBX](https://emulationking.com/microsoft/xbox/emulator/cxbx/index.md): CXBX is an early Xbox emulator for Windows that converts Xbox executables into Windows programs. Its work continues in the Cxbx-Reloaded project.
- [DXBX](https://emulationking.com/microsoft/xbox/emulator/dxbx/index.md): DXBX is an Xbox emulator written in Delphi. For a time it was one of the more promising Xbox emulators, but development stopped with only a few games running.
- [Xeon](https://emulationking.com/microsoft/xbox/emulator/xeon/index.md): Xeon was an early Xbox emulator built to run Halo on the PC. It was the first to get a commercial Xbox game in-game, but never reached playable speeds.

## Xbox Games

- [Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball](https://emulationking.com/microsoft/xbox/games/deadoralivextremebeachvolleyball/index.md): Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball is Team Ninja's 2003 Xbox game in which the Dead or Alive fighters spend a two-week holiday playing volleyball.
- [Halo: Combat Evolved](https://emulationking.com/microsoft/xbox/games/halocombatevolved/index.md): Halo: Combat Evolved is Bungie's 2001 Xbox launch first-person shooter, in which the Master Chief fights the Covenant on a mysterious ring world.
- [Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction](https://emulationking.com/microsoft/xbox/games/mercenaries/index.md): Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction is Pandemic Studios' 2005 open-world action game, set in a war-torn North Korea where hired guns hunt a deck of 52 targets.
- [SSX Tricky](https://emulationking.com/microsoft/xbox/games/ssxtricky/index.md): SSX Tricky is EA Canada's 2001 snowboarding game, the sequel to SSX, with over-the-top Uber tricks, rider rivalries and Run-DMC's It's Tricky.