Cxbx : The World’s First Ever Real Microsoft Xbox Emulator

Cxbx is currently considered as the most powerful Microsoft Xbox emulator which has the more complete features! This may not actually be an emulator to some people but everyone considers it one.

Emulators are very popular these days, especially for games that are only available for consoles like the X-Box, and not for the PC. Cxbx is just such an emulator for Microsoft´s X-Box. It also has an XDK (development kit) already included.

Cxbx is a tried and tested emulator by numerous users, being one of the quickest and most faithful when running Xbox games. Thanks to it, you can enjoy games like Turok, Galaxian, Stella, X-Marbles, etc on your PC. Other options include configuring the Xbox gamepad, or in reality, changing each button to your taste on the keyboard.

Cxbx is completely free and requires very little space, which is really tiny.

[ Key Features ]

• Easy operation
• Possibility to modify video and controller settings
• Can import and export executable files

[ Detailed Description ]

Cxbx is an Xbox emulator for the Microsoft Windows operating system developed by a group of programmers led by a hacker named Caustik and written in the C++ programming language.

Cxbx’s goal is to convert a game from an Xbox executable to a native Windows executable. This may sound bold but it’s already happening and in theory it’s quite possible.

As of December 2008, the only commercial games that are fully playable on Cxbx are Turok: Evolution, Smashing Drive, Futurama and Robotech: Battlecry, with a dozen more entering menus or displaying some in-game functionality; it is also able to run assorted demos.

The emulator has limited sound and no network support by design, as those are considered non-crucial features that can be implemented after more retail games become playable. Cxbx also does not yet support 64-bit versions of Windows.

The original author (Caustik) has not resigned from the development of the emulator, contrary to common belief, but Blueshogun continued development in 2008, and the next release was planned for January 2010. An OpenGL port is also being planned.

The Dxbx project is an ongoing effort to port Cxbx to Delphi for further development.

[ Cxbx's Emulation Theory ]

The basic theory behind Cxbx is a tasty blend of HLE (High Level Emulation), and extremely efficient direct code execution. Since the Xbox uses an Intel Pentium processor, a large percentage of the code (most importantly, the code that tends to eat up the CPU) can be executed directly. This means there is no need for DynaRec (Dynamic Recompilation), which saves a lot of CPU and RAM.

Emulators such as UltraHLE and Project64 have proven that High Level Emulation is a really great way to achieve high performance. Cxbx takes this idea and, because of the Xbox’s architecture, takes it to the next level by combining it with direct code execution. The result is speed and accuracy.

[ Recommended PC Setup ]

• Windows XP or higher x86 (32-bit)
• Only Latest DirectX
• Pentium 4 2.4Ghz Or AMD Athlon 4000+ or Higher
• 1024MB Ram or Higher
• Nvidia Geforce 6xxx or At Radeon HD 2xxx with DX8 support or Higher

[ Prompts ]

This emulator is created to play Xbox (not Xbox 360) games on you’re PC. Only will work on an x86 (32-bit) version of windows.

[ Related Links ]

• Cxbx Xbox Emulator Progress Report
• Cxbx Official Discussion

[ Official Download ]

(from Emulator-Zone.com)

(V0.8.0-Pre2 | from Zophar.net)