You may remember a while ago, I covered a project by some fans who reverse-engineered the classic original Xbox dashboard for PC, and it seriously impressed me, alongside just about everyone else who saw it online. Well, I’m back again with another fan project.

This time, a user known as ZivvoZ has recreated the Metro-style Xbox 360 dashboard from way back in the day. It’s not quite reverse-engineered, though. Instead, it appears to have been built from the ground up, while also displaying your Steam library and functioning as a launcher.

Interestingly, the DashX360 project already supports a pretty wide variety of features, including a games menu, social tab, and a functional Xbox Guide that even works while games are running. Honestly, I kind of want to throw this onto my Xbox Ally X just to see what an actual handheld Xbox experience could feel like, especially since I still can’t stand the Xbox App.

The project itself is still in very early development, so download it at your own risk. Microsoft Edge, which is obviously the best browser by the way, actually flagged the download as a virus for me, though I still thought the project was cool enough to show off. Still, there are definitely reasons to be cautious, especially given how new the project is.

I personally love a bit of nostalgia, and I’ll definitely be trying to get this running properly on my Xbox Ally X. Even if I have to do it through a virtual machine, I just want to experience that old Metro dashboard one more time.

As much as I could ramble on about my thoughts here, I’d like to know what you think. Do you trust this project, or don’t you? I’ve purposely not linked the GitHub directly just to be on the safe side, though you can still find it yourself through the YouTube video above if you want to check it out.

With that said, let me know your thoughts in the comments, and be sure to take part in our poll.

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Backward compatibility is still a hot topic, whether it’s worth the effort or not. Some argue it isn’t used as much as people think, and to those people, I say shush.

Xbox remains one of the most consumer-friendly platforms, respecting a library that stretches back to 2001. That level of commitment to older titles is something you simply don’t get elsewhere.

Earlier this year, Xbox confirmed that its backward compatibility efforts would return. VP of Next Generation Jason Ronald stated, “we’re committed to keeping games from four generations of Xbox playable for years to come. As part of our 25th anniversary later this year, we’ll be rolling out new ways to play some of the most iconic games from our past.”

What that actually meant, though, was unclear, or at least it was to me. Did it point to more games being added, support for Project Helix, or even broader compatibility on PC?

Now, it seems Jason Ronald may have given a clearer indication that more titles are indeed on the way, though I’d still take this with some sort of grain of salt, as well; you never truly know.

Over on X (formerly Twitter), VP of next generation, Jason Ronald, replied to a fan who asked whether users can request new games for the backward compatibility program in response to now resolved issues of Xbox 360 games not launching on Xbox Series X and S.

In response to this, Ronald stated:

“There is a community driven site where you can make your requests known. @Flaassing”

In that post, Ronald also links to XboxGamePreservation.com, a community-run website where fans can vote on what games they’d like to see return via Xbox’s backward compatibility efforts.

We’ve covered the website before, but seeing someone at Xbox actively point people there is enough to get people, myself included, a bit excited.

What do you think? Does this suggest Xbox is actively looking at what fans want added through backward compatibility, or does it not mean much?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and be sure to take part in our poll below:

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Original article: The Xbox Backwards Compatibility initiative Microsoft began in 2015 turned out to be one of the firm's biggest advantages in the gaming business, with countless longtime fans being extremely appreciative of the ability to carry their library of original Xbox and Xbox 360 titles forward to the Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S families of consoles.

Though the program went on hiatus in 2021 due to licensing issues preventing further backwards compatibility additions, the feature is still frequently used by many Xbox players to enjoy their older games. For the last two weeks, however, a growing number of users have reported that they're not able to connect to the Xbox network when trying to play backwards compatible Xbox 360 games, preventing them from launching.

The issue was first reported on the Xbox Support subreddit earlier this month, where various players have tried a variety of potential workarounds (storage clearing, using a hotspot, power cycling, etc.) to no avail. The connectivity error then started to become significantly more widespread across the community, prompting Xbox Support to acknowledge the issue on April 22.

"We're aware that some Xbox Series X players are unable to launch select backwards compatible Xbox 360 games and our team is actively investigating," reads a statement posted from the Xbox Support account on social media.

The wording suggests that this problem is only affecting a handful of Xbox 360 games, though community members have asserted that it's an issue affecting all backwards compatible titles. "It’s not select 360 games like they said, it’s all of them. Keep reporting," wrote one in reply to Xbox Support's post.

Notably, there hasn't been a public update from Xbox Support regarding this issue in the week since it said it's looking into it, so we ultimately have no idea when a fix is coming right now. More users have since continued to report the connectivity error, so it's yet to be resolved.

However, multiple responses from Xbox Support staff to individual users have confirmed that this is an issue with Microsoft's servers, with one reply in particular stating that it's due to newer Xbox Series X consoles not being properly validated with the Xbox 360 servers.

With that in mind, it's unlikely you'll experience this problem if you've owned your Xbox Series X for several years. If you purchased it more recently, however, you may be unable to play some or all of your backwards compatible Xbox 360 games until Microsoft develops a fix.

Ultimately, it's good that Microsoft is working to take care of the issue, though it's still incredibly unfortunate that accessing backwards compatible titles isn't possible for many — especially since Xbox players have made it clear how much they care about backwards compatibility. Hopefully a fix comes sooner than later, though the fact one hasn't come after two weeks is rather concerning.

It's worth noting this problem has surfaced at the same time Call of Duty: Black Ops 2's servers have been offline for an extended period; we've reached out to Microsoft and Activision for comment on that issue. Ironically, it also comes after Microsoft said the Xbox Backwards Compatibility Program is returning this year, with many speculating the firm plans to make Xbox games playable on PC through emulation as it prepares to support the upcoming console-PC hybrid system Project Helix.

Have you been affected by this issue when trying to play backwards compatible Xbox 360 games on Xbox Series X? Did you buy your Xbox Series X recently, or have you owned it for a long time? Let me know in the comments, and vote in our poll about backwards compatibility as well.

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Just after Xbox canned its Social Clubs last month, I'm left wondering — as TweakTown pointed out — whether Xbox is going through and gutting features that were never really used. I’ll be the first to admit I never really used Social Clubs, but seeing them go is still a bit sad, even if it made sense and they were just "in the way" at times.

With that said, when I think back to what got me hooked on Xbox, it was Halo: Combat Evolved, then Halo 2, and finally Halo 3 on Xbox 360. Those weren’t just games; they were social experiences.

It's those experiences that made Xbox feel like this unstoppable force back in the day, and now, Xbox doesn’t feel social. As much as things are looking brighter thanks to the new CEO, it’s still a shame we’re missing what was once core to the Xbox experience. The removal of Social Clubs feels like another step away from those previously iconic, built-in social experiences.

Instead, Xbox is pushing players toward other platforms where it has less control, like Discord. For all intents and purposes, Discord has become what Skype and even Social Clubs could have been.

Now, Discord operates at such a massive scale that, despite ongoing concerns around privacy, it’s hard to see it going anywhere anytime soon.

With Xbox Social Clubs on the way out, it does raise a bigger question. What’s next? What other features on Xbox aren’t being used, and could be cut in favor of a more streamlined experience next generation for Project Helix?

It got me thinking. While I’d rather see some of these systems improved, I could just as easily see Microsoft removing them entirely instead. So, in no particular order, here are a few that could potentially be next, based purely on my own speculation:

• Avatars
• Looking for Group
• Activity Feed

It’s not a huge list, I know, but it is food for thought. I could spend the rest of this article asking for these features to stick around, but that wouldn’t be all that constructive. Instead, it’s probably more useful to look at what could be done to make them relevant again.

That feels especially important right now, as Xbox appears to be paying closer attention to feedback than it has in the past. Xbox did pretty much already kill Avatars in 2025 due to "low engagement". However, you can still use them to create a gamerpic, but I suspect that will eventually be phased out entirely.

It’s honestly a shame Avatars went the way they did. They added a lot to the social side of the Xbox 360. Turning your Xbox on used to put you right at the fingertips of what your friends were up to, right next to their avatars. Losing that has taken something away from the experience.

So, fully bring Avatars back, but make them matter again. Xbox is one of the biggest publishers in the world, so tie Avatar customization to achievements. Add unlockables, and even a store. Yes, unfortunately, they would need to bring in revenue to be worth the investment, but I am willing to invest if Avatars were more like the Xbox 360 variants over the Xbox One versions that we got, that is.

If Xbox also leaned into something closer to how Steam handles profiles, but built around Avatars, it would at least feel like its own thing rather than a copy.

"Looking for Group" is another interesting one. I still think the feature has value, but it’s hard to ignore how much spam it’s filled with. On top of that, I don’t know many people who actively use it anymore. That’s a shame, because it adds a layer of social interaction that Xbox should be doubling down on. Right now, it feels like an afterthought.

If Xbox gets serious about rebuilding its social layer, Looking for Group needs more visibility on the dashboard. At the same time, it should have the option to be turned off for players who prefer to keep to themselves.

Of course, none of that matters if the service isn’t cleaned up, so addressing spam and moderation has to come first.

Then there’s the Activity Feed. I checked mine recently, and I’m not even sure it works the way it’s supposed to anymore.

I thought it was meant to show what you and your friends are doing, things like achievements, clips, and general activity. Instead, mine just showed my own achievements, and even those weren’t up to date.

That makes it feel like a shell of what it could be. Again, this comes back to visibility and purpose. If Xbox wants to build a more connected experience, the Activity Feed should feel alive. It should update regularly, surface meaningful activity, and actually give you a reason to check it out.

There’s also an opportunity here with broader integration. Since Xbox is moving toward a console and PC hybrid, and we can already connect accounts like Steam, then why not reflect that in the Activity Feed? Let me see what my friends are playing across platforms, not just inside Xbox.

At the same time, it’s hard to ignore what all of this eventually points to. With Xbox moving toward a unified Xbox and Windows experience, features like Social Clubs were never going to survive in the form they were in.

The focus feels more like a shift away from keeping everything inside the Xbox ecosystem, and more toward connecting players across platforms instead. While that does make sense on paper, especially as other services continue to dominate, I worry it leaves little room for Xbox to still be Xbox.

At least for me, giving up on social features that were a big part of what put Xbox on the map in the first place is a real shame, and I hope Xbox realizes that's what made the brand so special back in the day.

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The infamous Xbox One era was a pretty dark time for Microsoft's gaming brand, but it wasn't without its glittering bright spots in the doom and gloom. Aside from the introduction of Xbox Game Pass in 2017, the most impactful of these was the start of the Xbox Backwards Compatibility Program in 2015.

Xbox users quickly grew extremely passionate about backwards compatibility and have remained so ever since, as the ability to play older Xbox 360 and original Xbox titles on modern consoles enables the preservation of classic games we'd struggle to enjoy on today's hardware otherwise. Over 600 titles were made backwards compatible, but Microsoft stopped planning new additions in 2021 due to licensing issues.

Five years later, however, it was announced that Xbox Backwards Compatibility is returning in some form later in 2026, with Microsoft "rolling out new ways to play some of the most iconic games from our past." And now, just a few weeks later, some delisted Xbox and Xbox 360 games were spotted live on the Xbox Store before being taken down again.

The news comes from the datamining account Better xCloud that reports on backend changes in Microsoft's Xbox services. On Thursday, Better xCloud showed that both 2003's beloved action-adventure game Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and the 2007 scrolling arcade shooter Aegis Wing had been briefly listed on the Xbox storefront.

At the same time, the 2013 sci-fi cyberpunk RPG Mars: War Logs was delisted again after a brief period of appearing on the store. Better xCloud also noted that in late March, the 2003 comedic parody shooter Armed and Dangerous reappeared for a short time before being taken down.

Store errors like these have been known to happen on occasion, and if only one or two had occurred, people probably wouldn't have thought much of it. The fact that four delisted Xbox and Xbox 360 games have gone live for a short time in such a narrow timeframe, however, has many wondering if there's something deeper happening here.

Indeed, since we know Microsoft is reviving the Xbox Backwards Compatibility Program in some fashion, there's speculation that the publisher has leaked some of the older titles that will soon be playable on Xbox Series X|S (and Xbox One) devices. That's just a guess, of course, but given the proximity and frequency of these erroneous relistings, it arguably has merit.

With that said, it hasn't been confirmed that the return of Xbox Backwards Compatibility will add new games to the existing library of titles that support it. All we know is that Microsoft is "rolling out new ways to play," which could mean the ability to play older Xbox games on different platforms.

Specifically, with the PC-console hybrid Project Helix expected to come in 2027 or 2028 and an "Xbox mode" coming to Windows 11 PCs this month, many believe the firm will soon unveil a way to play Xbox and Xbox 360 games on PC and Windows handhelds like the Xbox Ally. That would be a massive upgrade to Xbox Backwards Compatibility, and lay the groundwork for supporting it on Project Helix.

That, too, is just speculation, though I'd argue it's extremely likely due to the nature of Project Helix. Even if that's ultimately why the Xbox Backwards Compatibility Program is coming back, though, I do hope its team can add some more games to its catalog as well.

🗨️ Which Xbox games do you wish were backwards compatible?

Even if the Xbox Backwards Compatibility Program isn't necessarily coming back to bring new games to its library, the chance that it may be doing so is very exciting. It also makes me curious to hear from you: which Xbox or Xbox 360 games do you wish were backwards compatible?

Share some of your favorite titles with me that still aren't in the comments, as I'd love to read about the games you used to play.

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If you were gaming on Xbox in the mid-2000s, I'm sure you remember the prevalence of voice chat messages that were frequently exchanged between players on the Xbox 360. That console introduced the ability to record a short audio clip and then send it to a fellow gamer of your choosing — either someone on your friends list, or someone you ran across in an online multiplayer match.

The younger players of today probably don't think much about those voice mail messages, but those of us who lived through that era remember how novel and fun they were to engage with. I have many nostalgic memories of sending other players everything from polite "GGs" to spiteful, rage-filled tirades of trash talk in my teenage years, and I'm sure many of you do, too.

Voice chat messages are still a thing on the Xbox consoles of today, but it's just not the same; nobody uses them nearly as much as they used to (if ever), and they're no longer accompanied by the charm of bad 2000s-era mic quality and those silly Xbox 360 profile gamerpics. The smiling panda, the black and orange skull, the punk kid with a beanie blowing bubblegum...people with that last one? Ruthless.

Thanks to the efforts of passionate Xbox fan @immike_wing, though, you can enjoy a nostalgia-fueled throwback to those days with xboxchatting — a website that features a replica of the classic Xbox 360 messaging menu, complete with several nifty bells and whistles that really help it sell the illusion.

The site's interface is about as close to the Xbox 360's chat UI as one can get, and features its classic navigation sound effects, options to change your gamertag and your gamerpic to one of those aforementioned iconic images, and even a few animated backgrounds of Halo 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and Minecraft lobbies to choose from.

By far, though, the best feature of the site is the ability to record a 30-second audio clip and then send it to someone with a link, complete with a filter for your mic with sliders for distortion, compression, bit crushing, and background noise. Basically, you can make your microphone sound just as terrible as the one you were using on Xbox 360 20 years ago, and that rules.

Whoever you send a message to can then select the "Reply" button on it and fire back a voice chat of their own, just as they could in the days of yore.

This is a wonderful little fan site, and a blast from the past for everyone who remembers slinging voice messages back and forth in the Xbox 360 era. Kudos to community member mike wing for making it; I'm absolutely going to send some silly voice messages to my friends this weekend.

🗨️ Do you miss the Xbox 360 era?

This Xbox 360 messaging site is an amazing fan creation, and really took me back to my earlier years gaming as a teenager when I played around with it before writing this article. I know most younger gamers won't really get it, but if you're like me and grew up in this era, you definitely do.

I'm curious: do you miss the Xbox 360 era? Do you plan on making use of this site to enjoy a throwback to it? Let me know in the comments, and vote in our poll about which Xbox generation is your favorite.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

In a rather shocking find, someone has uncovered a pre-release development build of Grand Theft Auto IV on an Xbox 360 bought at a car boot sale in Edinburgh for just £5, and shared on fan forums dedicated to the series (via Tom's Hardware).

The development kit contains content from a 2007 build of the game, showcasing a huge amount of cut content. It appears the console belonged to Rockstar North Ltd, which is also based in Edinburgh, Scotland, making it easy to see how this unit may have slipped out.

The November 2007 development build of Grand Theft Auto IV, just months before its April 2008 release, reveals a significant amount of cut content.

This includes an early version of the game’s ferry system, which appeared in trailers but never made it into the final release, along with different radio stations and changes to weapons.

Perhaps most interesting is a scrapped zombies mode, with files referencing zombies, hospital beds, early models, and animations that were ultimately cut.

The full early build of the game was found on the 120 GB hard drive attached to the Xbox 360 development kit, with the full 118 GB being pulled and uploaded online for people to go through, with some even getting some of the cut content actually working and showing off the game's beta build.

What do you make of the GTA IV leak?

I have rather fond memories of playing Grand Theft Auto IV online, whether it was going on the ridiculous hunt for Rat Man, which never actually existed, or just messing around with friends while chatting for hours.

It was also the last GTA game I really enjoyed, so seeing all this leaked content is genuinely interesting. It is worth digging through GTAForums to see what else has been uncovered.

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You might remember that just a few days ago, I covered the release of an Original Xbox emulator on Android.

Now, in a strange bit of timing, developers have released an Xbox 360 emulator for iOS and Mac.

Even more surprisingly, some games already appear to be playable. That raises an obvious question. Is this too good to be true, or can you really revisit the Xbox 360 era on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac?

What is XeniOS and how does it work?

XeniOS is an experimental emulator designed to let users run Xbox 360 games directly on their iPhone, iPad, or Mac. It is based on the existing Xenia emulator for Windows, but this fork of the project focuses specifically on Apple’s ecosystem.

It is an ambitious goal, and it is still unclear how far the project can realistically go. According to the project documentation, XeniOS relies on JIT to execute translated game code, which allows Xbox 360 software to run on Apple hardware.

Despite Apple now allowing some emulators on its App Store, XeniOS still has to be sideloaded. That is because it requires JIT to run games, something Apple typically restricts for security reasons.

Massive shout-out to Retro Spirit as well. They were the first to upload a guide and proper gameplay testing on YouTube, so be sure to check them out if you enjoy retro-focused content.

If you do want to try this for yourself, Retro Spirit's guide is linked down below:

As I mentioned when covering the Original Xbox emulator on Android, emulators themselves are legal. The issue usually comes down to how people obtain games, so if you attempt this yourself, you should only use copies of games you legally own.

Since the project is still in alpha, compatibility is still very limited. The documentation warns users to expect crashes, bugs, and major differences between games while development continues.

That said, it already appears more stable than the Original Xbox emulator for Android I recently covered. There are already several posts showcasing the emulator on r/EmulationOniOS, which is a promising start for something that has only just entered alpha.

🗨️ Are you excited about Xbox 360 emulation on iOS?

Emulation has certainly come a long way, and honestly, this is a development I never expected to see.

With that said, I would love to hear your thoughts on emulation in general. Would you consider trying an Xbox 360 emulator on iOS, or does this feel like a step too far?

Let me know in the comments, and make sure you take part in the poll below:

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

You may have never experienced it if you're a new or young Xbox gamer, but longtime fans of Microsoft's 25-year-old gaming brand will undoubtedly remember the infamous "Red Ring of Death" from the Xbox 360 era in the mid-2000s.

This notorious hardware issue began cropping up everywhere soon after the console's 2005 launch, and is thought to have been caused by overheating that warped the soldering connecting the system's motherboard to its GPU, resulting in failure. When this happened, the Xbox 360's green lighting would glare an ominous red, and it would no longer be usable.

In a new interview, former Xbox vice president Peter Moore (make sure you check out more of what he said) reflected on the Red Ring of Death, suggesting Microsoft may not have caught wind of the console's design flaw due to its rush to release it ahead of Sony's upcoming PlayStation 3. He also noted how the discovered workaround of wrapping a Red Ring of Death-afflicted Xbox in a towel — believed to cause enough overheating to melt warped soldering again, and reform a connection between the components — helped Microsoft identify the problem.

"I don't think corners were cut, I don't think QA [quality assurance] was negligent in any way, but we're about six months in, and we start to get a lot of calls from retailers that were getting a lot of returns. ... All of the sudden those red rings would connect, and that would indicate you've got a bricked console," Moore said.

"One of the interesting workarounds was wrapping a towel around it. And so that would give some indication that somehow by creating internal heat — which feels like the opposite of what you should be doing — we thought that maybe whatever was going on ... that it was resoldering, and we [thought] a lot of it was down to the EU's mandate of lead-free soldering on some of the motherboards," he continued. "I'm still not sure to this day what it was all about, but we had to figure out what I called at that time, a 'Tylenol moment.'"

If you're like me, you're probably wondering what Moore could possibly mean by calling the sudden appearance of Red Ring of Death issues a "Tylenol moment." Thankfully, he was quick to explain the exact meaning of that phrase, and how Microsoft committed to doing right by every gamer affected by the design defect.

"From the perspective of what was going on then, if you remember...tragic night in Chicago when some unbelievable human being put cyanide in Tylenol on a drug store shelf, and the people who took Tylenol that night died," Moore said. "The reason I call it a Tylenol moment is Johnson & Johnson, the maker of Tylenol, went out of business within two hours and said, 'take every piece of our product off the shelf and destroy it, and we're gonna figure out what's going on here.'"

"I always looked at that as a marketer as this emphatic, 'we're not gonna make excuses, we're not gonna dilly-dally, we're gonna actually make good for the consumer immediately.' And so I called Red Rings of Death a Tylenol moment," he continued. "What we needed to do is for every impacted gamer, we would overnight a box with a return label, a custom-made box that you'd put your Xbox 360 in ... and we would then fix it or send you a new one via FedEx again."

This is indeed what Microsoft did as it worked to fix the issue with the Xbox 360's design that caused the Red Ring of Death in the first place. The entire process cost the firm a whopping $1.15 billion, but Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's CEO at the time, approved the initiative without a second thought to keep the Xbox brand in the good graces of consumers.

"Yeah, when we rounded all that up, it was $1.15 billion, and I had to go and see [Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO] and say, 'Look, this brand will die if we don't do this, and I think we have a huge opportunity to make this one of the great entertainment brands, and Microsoft badly needs this.' And he said, 'What's it gonna cost?' ... I said it's gonna be $1.15 billion. He said, 'Do it.'"

It should go without saying that Microsoft made the right move; the Xbox 360 ended up being a massive success for the company and its gaming brand, but the business would have likely nosedived into the ground if Microsoft didn't own up and make things right.

🗨️ Did you ever get the Red Ring of Death?

The Red Ring of Death became an infamous part of Xbox history, so much so that Microsoft even sold a poster referencing it a few years ago. If you own or owned an Xbox 360, I'm curious to know: were you ever affected by the Red Ring of Death yourself? If so, did Microsoft repair it for you without issue? Let me know in the comments, and vote in the below poll.

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Microsoft's gaming brand Xbox may be globally recognized as one of the largest in the industry today, but in the early 2000s, it was in its infancy, and going up against stiff competition like Sony's PlayStation 2 and Nintendo's GameCube.

Following the strong launch of the original Xbox console, Microsoft wanted to ensure the brand was very distinct from the rest of the company — both to make it more attractive to consumers, and to distance it from antitrust challenges the firm was facing at the time.

One of the big moves it made to build it was to hire Peter Moore, former president of Sega, who went on to become vice president of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business wing. More recently discussed his time in the gaming industry and at the company in a new interview with The Game Business, talking about his role developing 2005's Xbox 360 and the Xbox brand as a whole in fascinating detail.

"It was nerdy, right? It was [Bill Gates]! It was [Steve Ballmer]! If you watched the video, it was 'Developers! Developers!' This is nerd central there, and I move up there and I have lunch with Steve Ballmer, and he says, 'We don't have people like you,'" Moore explained. "He had seen me on stage for Sega kinda throwing punches; I loved being a challenger of brands and giving Sony all kinds of abuse, irreverent abuse. One of my best print ads was a little redheaded ginger kid going like this [taunting gesture], and 'Sega wishes Sony all the best with their hardware shortages.' I mean, we were just mocking each other all the time. This is how the console wars started."

In Moore, executives like CEO Steve Ballmer and chief software architect Bill Gates saw a fiery spirit that wouldn't be afraid to get aggressive and take the fight to Xbox's competition. But as the importance of having a strong presence in the living room for all forms of entertainment grew, Moore was also one of the key visionaries that made the Xbox 360 an "entertainment machine."

"When I met with Bill, he said, 'I am concerned that Sony is going to own the living room, and that we will be forever relegated to being a computer on a desk in an office, and that's not what we want. And as broadband starts to democratize your access to the internet and entertainment will start flowing through there, we need to be in the living room. And the best way to be in the living room I see,' says Bill, 'is video games,'" said Moore.

"He saw what we eventually built with the Xbox 360 — which was previously Xenon — [which is that it] is not just a game machine, but an entertainment machine. And the tagline we came up with ... 'We're a living entertainment experience powered by human energy.' That was our line, and that's what we built,'" he continued. "But Steve said, 'I need somebody to throw punches, and we're a bunch of nerds.' His words. And we needed to revamp ... we needed our own environment."

And so, Moore and the rest of the Xbox team positioned the brand as a completely separate entity from Microsoft, keeping the company's name away from Xbox's marketing and focusing on making it that cool entertainment box for your living room, rather than something adjacent to Windows.

"In a key meeting with Bill, I said, 'Look, you're going to see the Xbox 360 packaging. You're not going to see Microsoft anywhere near. We're going to create a brand that is Xbox. Now, people will know that it's owned by Microsoft, but we need to segment ourselves away from Excel, PowerPoint, Windows, NT Server — it needs to be different. And Bill, to his credit, said 'Absolutely.' ... And so we created an Xbox brand, a lot happened to it in those succeeding years, but it sits today as one of the top 100 brands in the world. And I'm very proud our team was able to do that in those early days."

Ultimately, it's a tactic that clearly worked well — the Xbox 360 was hugely successful, and its time in the spotlight is often considered the brand's golden years by many. Of course, Microsoft made the near-fatal mistake of making its successor, the Xbox One, too focused on entertainment beyond gaming...regardless, the Xbox 360 and its performance was still a major win for Microsoft, and it's interesting to hear one of its leading minds recall how it came to be.

🗨️ What did you think of the Xbox 360?

This new interview with Peter Moore gives us some very interesting insight about the creation of the Xbox 360, as well as how Microsoft went about nurturing and growing the Xbox brand in its early years. Were you a big fan of the Xbox 360 in the 2000s? Of all the Xbox consoles that've come out, which one is your favorite? Let me know in the comments.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Xbox is going through some changes. From the appointment of a new CEO, Asha Sharma, to revealing the codename for the next Xbox, Project Helix, it has been a busy start.

Sharma confirmed the new device will play existing Xbox games as well as PC games in one place. She is saying many of the right things so far, and before the announcement of Helix, it got me wondering what else she could do to start winning fans back.

Backward compatibility immediately came to mind. With Xbox approaching its 25th anniversary, bringing the program back with a few long-requested games that missed the cut in 2021 would be a strong gesture.

That’s where you all come in. After a post highlighting XboxGamePreservation.com, a community-run project where fans can vote on which games they want to see backward compatible, readers across X, Reddit, and Windows Central shared their thoughts.

From game suggestions to broader discussions around preservation and licensing issues, the responses covered a wide range of perspectives.

What our readers want out of backward compatibility

Our community was fairly split on which generation deserves more backward compatibility support. Just 1% separates the two options, with 23% of voters choosing original Xbox classics and 24% selecting Xbox 360 games.

However, the biggest takeaway from the poll is that most readers want something broader. A clear majority, 53%, simply want the backward compatibility program to return for everything, which is also the camp I find myself in.

One reader, Mark Dobson, said: “I chose all backwards compatibility because I really don't want to switch to pc just to play a classic game.”

Another reader, Battlestar, called for the return of James Bond titles, statin,g “The names BOND JAMES BOND bring back classics.”

On a personal note, I can’t believe I forgot to mention this earlier, but if the stars could align, I’d love to see Phantasy Star Universe return through backward compatibility. Xbox, please make it happen!

Now switching gears to our r/WindowsCentral subreddit, the conversation quickly turned to specific games people still want to see playable today, others encouraging emulation, and some just accepting the program could be dead forever.

One user argued that the program is already finished, stating, “Back compatibility is done, the team has moved on.”

Another echoed a similar sentiment, writing, “BC is done. They never even added the Activision stuff they now own, like Wolfenstein 2009 or Singularity.”

It is a shame we haven't seen renewed efforts from Xbox now that they own Activision. There's a lot of untapped potential sitting right there, as many have commented on over on Reddit and even here.

However, some aren't as hopeful, arguing that the community should stop hoping for new additions entirely. One reply bluntly put it, “You lot need to stop the 'hopium' and 'copium'.” To which I say, "No."

Despite that skepticism, many replies quickly turned to the same thing we saw on the site comments: specific games players still want revived, like Riddick or Kung Fu Chaos.

Another highlighted a broader preservation concern, writing, “I have a giant box of original Xbox games that I can’t legally play anymore because emulation is jank... Xbox should do something about that. I can’t be alone here.”

And while most of the discussion focused on older games, a few users pointed to other Xbox ecosystem features as positives. One commenter simply added, “Play anywhere is pretty cool.”

Now I also posted about this on X about how Xbox could rebuild some trust with the community, and, over there, I received more than 160 replies. Many were shorter and more reactive, with some even questioning what a return of backward compatibility would actually mean, not realizing the program had stopped expanding back in 2021.

Most replies, however, quickly turned to nostalgia, with users listing the games they still want to see revived. One person wrote, “Achievements on the Page would be nice also I just need the 2nd and 3rd army of TWO games back and the og destroy all humans 2 and I’ll be complete.”

Others called for classic sports titles to return as well, with one user saying, “Would love to play all the old Tiger Woods golf games from the original Xbox. My brothers and I grew up playing it, and it would be nice to play it on the newest system.”

Not everyone agreed that backward compatibility should be a priority, though. One reply argued, “Not enough people care about BC for it to be a selling point.” suggesting some don't see any value in the feature.

Still, the overall sentiment echoed what we saw elsewhere. Many players simply want a way to revisit the games they grew up with, while also acknowledging that licensing issues may prevent some titles from returning.

If they did come back, many said they would like to see a few modern touches, such as achievements, to give those classics a new reason to return.

🗨️ Share why backward compatibility still matters to you

Backward compatibility has become one of Xbox’s most defining features, shaping how players keep, revisit, and value their game libraries. But not everyone follows the technical side or understands why it matters so much to long‑time fans. That’s why we asked the Xbox community to share their own experiences and explain what backward compatibility means to them today.

Their answers highlight everything from preserving game history to making sure purchases carry forward into the future.

Now we want to hear from you.

How important is backward compatibility to your Xbox experience, and what role should it play in the platform’s future? Share your thoughts below and tell us what it means to you as a player.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

If you haven’t seen it yet, an inspiring fan project recently launched as XboxGamePreservation.com to track what players actually want from Xbox’s backward compatibility program. Now that the first batch of data comes via LinkedIn, some interesting patterns are starting to emerge.

Surprisingly, the results suggest fans may want more original Xbox titles than the golden child Xbox 360.

Now, while this is a fan project and nothing official, and the data likely is not representative of the entire Xbox player base, it still offers an interesting glimpse into what fans say they want from Xbox’s backward compatibility efforts, if it ever returns.

At the time of writing, the site has seen just over 3,300 visitors. So, which games are people actually voting for? Let’s break it down.

What the data actually shows

Of those surveyed, 335 people have cast votes across more than 2,500 selections, working out to an average of roughly 7.4 votes per person. So far, the split between generations is almost even. Around 52% of votes are for original Xbox titles, while 48% are for Xbox 360 games, which is interesting given that most backward compatibility discussions usually focus on the Xbox 360 era.

As you can see in the second slide, The Simpsons: Hit & Run currently sits as the most requested original Xbox game, followed closely by two Silent Hill titles.

Personally, as a die-hard Sonic fan, it is nice to see Sonic Heroes appearing on the same list. And seeing Spider-Man 2 sitting at number five is also great, especially since many fans still consider it the best Spider-Man game ever made.

Over on the third slide for the Xbox 360 side of things, the list is heavily dominated by Spider-Man titles, and I'm sure that's with thanks to the $69 billion acquisition of Activision.

Personally, though, I would love to see something like Tenchu Z make its way to backward compatibility, or even Bulletstorm, despite that game not doing so well at the time it released. In fact, if it were up to me, everything would be backward compatible. Sadly, that is probably impossible, but a man can dream.

I also highly recommend you check the website yourself and cast your votes!

🗨️ I'm curious what games would you like to see return under Xbox's Backward Compatibility?

Which classic Xbox games or Xbox 360 games would you most want to see added to backward compatibility?

Let me know in the comments, and make sure to take part in our poll below:

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Peter Moore is one of the most respected figures to ever lead the Xbox brand. Before becoming a familiar public face for the platform, he helped guide the original Xbox through its difficult early years and then played a major role in shaping the Xbox 360 era — the period many fans still view as Xbox’s high point.

Moore left Microsoft in 2007 to take on a senior leadership role at Electronic Arts, but his impact on Xbox’s identity and momentum remains a major part of the brand’s legacy.

After Moore left, Don Mattrick took over, and we all know how that chapter played out. But that’s not what this is about.

In a new interview with GamesBeat, Moore sat down to discuss a range of topics. More importantly for Xbox fans, he shared his thoughts on the new Xbox CEO, offering words for the Xbox co-founder who had less than nice things to say about Xbox, and he also had some encouraging advice for Asha Sharma, the new CEO.

Peter Moore on Asha Sharma — “Listen and learn”

In the interview, Peter Moore reflects on his own unconventional path into gaming. He compares his move from Reebok into SEGA, and later Xbox, to Asha Sharma stepping in from a non-gaming background.

“That was me at Sega. I’d come from Reebok, if you remember. I was a shoe guy.”

Moore makes it clear that being an outsider is not automatically a weakness. In fact, he suggests that feeling overwhelmed is part of the process.

Still, he offers practical advice rather than criticism.

Moore also acknowledges that Sharma’s AI background could complicate things, especially with gamers who are wary of anything AI-related.

“She’s gotta explain AI and her background. That’s a minefield. I would, for me, avoid talking about that if you possibly can. But I wish her all the best.”

Of course, Moore was not the only industry veteran speaking to GamesBeat. Xbox co-founder Seamus Blackley also weighed in, bluntly stating in a prior interview, “Xbox is being sunsetted.” However, he did clarify later that he doesn't think Xbox is dead.

Moore does not attack Blackley or anything, but he clearly disagrees.

“I saw Seamus’s comments. I hope he’s a little misguided.”

What stands out throughout the interview is Moore’s tone. He is very calm and grounded. It is hard not to miss that kind of leadership presence.

He also makes a point of defending Phil Spencer, the former head of Xbox and gaming at Microsoft.

It’s a lengthy interview with GamesBeat, so prepare yourselves, but I’ve done my best to organise it in a clear and digestible way.

It’s genuinely refreshing to see Moore weigh in on these topics with such a measured tone. He has nothing but thoughtful, constructive things to say, which feels like a welcome change from what often passes as commentary these days.

🗨️ Where do you land on the “gamer CEO” debate after Moore’s pushback?

Peter Moore didn’t just disagree with Seamus Blackley — he torched the whole “gamer CEO” argument as outdated, unhelpful, and completely beside the point. His defense of Asha Sharma is basically a reminder that Xbox needs leadership, not gatekeeping, and that the industry has evolved far beyond “must have X hours in Halo to qualify.”

It’s rare to see an Xbox veteran step in this forcefully, and it says a lot about where the real fault lines are right now.

So let’s hear it: was Moore right to shut this down, or does the “gamer CEO” test still matter to you? Jump in and tell us how you see this debate — especially now that one of Xbox’s most respected leaders has weighed in so bluntly.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

The Xbox 360, arguably Microsoft’s best attempt at a console, turned twenty years old recently, and it definitely makes me feel old. I remember getting mine in primary school as a reward for good behavior, which turned out to be quite ironic, as I was expelled from school the same day and sent home.

I still managed to talk my way into unboxing it and setting it up. For those first couple of years, the Xbox 360 was mainly an offline experience for me, and it didn’t really come alive until 2007.

Halo 3 changed everything once it launched, and it was my first authentic taste of what Xbox Live could be. I even got the game a little early because my mom was friends with one of the clerks at our local gaming shop, and at the age of 10, wanting everyone to come around my house to play Halo 3 felt pretty magical.

A look through the top selling Xbox 360 games in the US

In remembrance of the Xbox 360, and thanks to Circana Retail Tracking Service, we have a clear look at the top-selling games on the platform in the US. Outside of the heavy presence of Call of Duty, some interesting sales patterns highlight how versatile the console was at the time.

Here is the full list in order of sales:

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops II
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops
3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
4. Halo 3
5. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
6. Grand Theft Auto V
7. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
8. Halo: Reach
9. Call of Duty: Ghosts
10. Halo 4
11. Rock Band
12. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
13. Grand Theft Auto IV
14. Minecraft
15. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
16. Battlefield 3
17. Red Dead Redemption
18. Gears of War
19. Gears of War 3

It warms my heart to see Halo 3 sitting so high on the list, and it is not surprising to see it eclipsed by Call of Duty three times. Back then, Call of Duty was often viewed as more closely associated with Xbox than any other platform. Timed DLC map exclusivity and a far stronger Xbox Live infrastructure compared to PlayStation Network played a big part in that perception.

Interestingly, another detail revealed was that the Xbox 360 headset accessory sold an impressive 11.4 million units in the US. It shows how central voice chat and party communication were to the experience for most players.

A total of 42.7 million Xbox 360 consoles were sold in the US, marking the last time Xbox truly dominated the American market. It was also a strong period in other parts of the world, especially in the UK, where Xbox felt like it was everywhere.

That said, twenty years later, the Xbox 360’s legacy is less about sales figures and more about the memories, friendships, and late-night sessions that shaped how we played. These games helped define an era of gaming and community that still resonates today (see all the latest on Halo, for instance).

Now it’s your turn: which Xbox 360 game left the biggest mark on you? Share your favorite and tell us how it shaped your gaming journey!

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In Sony’s latest financial report, the PlayStation 5 has now shipped more than 84.2 million units, putting it just ahead of the Xbox 360 by roughly 200,000 units. It also places the PS5 close behind the PlayStation 3, marking it as one of Sony’s fastest-selling consoles despite a more challenging market.

What makes that figure even more impressive is that Sony increased hardware prices this generation and introduced cost-saving revisions, such as smaller internal storage. Yet, the PS5 continues to build momentum. Xbox, meanwhile, has also raised prices but struggled to maintain the same traction with its Series X | S hardware.

Looking across PlayStation’s full history tells an even clearer story. The PS1 sold 102.4 million, the PS2 reached 160 million, the PS3 hit 87.4 million, and the PS4 finished at 117 million.

Combined, that’s around 551 million PlayStation consoles shipped worldwide versus 196 million units across all generations for Xbox.

Of course, that number doesn’t represent half a billion unique players. Much of it comes from fans upgrading within the ecosystem each generation — a reality that Xbox seems to acknowledge. Microsoft’s “Xbox everywhere” strategy reflects its belief that the console market has plateaued and that real growth now lies in expanding the broader Xbox ecosystem beyond traditional hardware.

The Xbox problem

If you’re like me and have fond memories of the Xbox 360, you’ll know just how much of a cultural impact that console had. Xbox Live shaped an entire generation of online play, setting the standard for friends lists, voice chat, and multiplayer matchmaking. With games like Halo, Gears of War, Fable, Call of Duty, and GTA IV defining its era, it’s no wonder the Xbox 360 was the closest Xbox that ever came to the sun, selling around 84 million units during its lifecycle.

That success, however, was short-lived. Under Don Mattrick, the Xbox One launched with a heavy focus on non-gaming features like TV, entertainment apps, and DRM policies—paired with a higher price tag than the PlayStation 4. It was a fumble that handed momentum straight to Sony, and Xbox has never fully recovered from that misstep.

Mattrick’s tenure had its share of controversy. He allegedly axed the in-development Halo MMO, Titan, to protect a personal bonus — a move that could have cost Xbox a billion-dollar opportunity, and one I’m still bitter about.

Even so, the Xbox One still sold a respectable 58 million consoles, but it was a far cry from the 360’s peak. Thanks to Phil Spencer and others within Xbox, the brand slowly regained trust through initiatives like backward compatibility, the Xbox One X, and a renewed focus on player choice. Those efforts laid the groundwork for the Xbox Series X and S, which carried that philosophy into the current generation.

The Xbox Series X and S are, for all intents and purposes, fantastic hardware. Some might even argue that Xbox is the only company this generation that truly innovated. Features like Quick Resume, extensive backward compatibility, and Game Pass show how Microsoft built a genuinely player-friendly ecosystem (or at least they did before price hikes).

But even with all those strengths, it hasn’t been enough. Xbox Series sales sit at around 30 million units, a far cry from Sony’s momentum. With Microsoft’s third-party publishing push and exclusivity fading across the industry, it’s become harder than ever to convince players to join the ecosystem.

I maintain that the Series X and S are fantastic consoles, but Xbox’s biggest hurdle is marketing—or rather, its lack of it. Anyone in Europe will notice the difference immediately. PlayStation and Nintendo dominate billboards, buses, and phone booths, while Xbox is barely visible despite a strong release slate with Avowed, The Outer Worlds 2, and Ninja Gaiden 4. To the average consumer, many of these games barely exist or are even connected to the Xbox as a brand, and that’s a shame for hardware this good.

I could point to Xbox’s Activision acquisition, which has arguably created as many problems as it solved, accelerating its shift toward third-party publishing — but at this stage, that feels like beating a battered corpse. Instead, it’s worth looking at how Xbox seems almost allergic to putting its branding on its biggest IPs, from Minecraft to Call of Duty. The Minecraft movie nearly grossed a billion dollars at the box office, yet there wasn’t a single hint of Xbox branding anywhere. For a company trying to sell an ecosystem, that feels like the most obvious opportunity in the world to miss.

Xbox’s Next Chapter Depends on Reinvention

If leaks and rumors are to be believed, Xbox is betting big on the next generation, aiming to reshape what people consider a “console.” In some ways, it’s already begun doing that with devices like the Xbox Ally, its first handheld built in collaboration with ASUS.

Creating a true console–PC hybrid could be a significant step forward, but it might not be enough if Xbox can’t effectively market its hardware and convince players that this is the best value for their money. The next generation will demand not just innovation, but visibility — and that’s where Xbox still needs to prove itself now more than ever.

FAQ

Hey there, everyone! It's been a slower week for concrete gaming news, which isn't too surprising considering that we're now weeks removed from Summer Game Fest 2025 activities and showcases.

With that in mind, I've been thinking about The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered and Gears of War: Reloaded recently. With the former launching earlier this year and the latter coming in August, that's two big Xbox 360 games being built for modern game hardware in the same year.

Now granted, Gears of War: Reloaded was already remastered for Xbox One with the Ultimate Edition in 2015. Still, it's got me thinking what other Xbox 360 games should be remastered and made easily available on Xbox Series X|S?

I'll share a few I have in mind, and then I'd love to hear your thoughts on what games you want to see remastered.

Dragon Age: Origins

Dragon Age: Origins is an absolute classic, delivering a dark fantasy story and witty writing in one of BioWare's finest games. It's also a game that hasn't aged well visually, and while it is backward compatible on modern Xbox consoles, it certainly doesn't look amazing.

PC players have some more options, but the game was left in such an abysmal state that you have to heavily mod Dragon Age: Origins in order to get it working properly.

A full remaster or remake that fixes the numerous bugs and improves the graphics while delivering the classic story and characters that players like myself love would be amazing.

Half-Life 2

Valve doesn't make many games anymore, but there was a time when The Orange Box was a huge deal on Xbox 360. This package bundled in a handful of games, including the studio's formative shooter Half-Life 2 and the following two story episodes.

While it's backward compatible, The Orange Box bundle is no longer available for purchase on Xbox. After all these years, Valve recently updated Half-Life 2 on PC with some bug fixes and additional graphics options, so could we see a remaster make its way onto consoles? I'm holding out hope.

The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth 2

There aren't many incredible real-time strategy (RTS) titles that worked on consoles, but The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth 2 is one of the amazing exceptions.

Developed by the now-defunct EA Los Angeles studio, it was mostly focused on the War in the North, letting players command armies of Dwarves, Elves, Men, Goblins, Orcs, and Uruk-Hai.

Different powers could also be used to devastate the battlefield, summoning monsters like a dragon, the Watcher in the Water, or most horrifying of all, Tom Bombadil. It was a great game, and I poured hundreds of hours into the campaigns and multiplayer on my Xbox 360.

Unfortunately, this game is no longer available for purchase anywhere and it never made it to backward compatibility. The rights would be a challenge to sort through, but I'd love to see this RTS return.

Mortal Kombat (2011)

There have been so many Mortal Kombat games over the years that introduced new characters and ideas, but no title has been quite as important to developer NetherRealm as Mortal Kombat (2011).

Sometimes referred to as Mortal Kombat 9, this game served as a reboot and a new entry in the series, retelling the events of the original trilogy while bringing in new combos and finishers that pushed the boundaries of what a fighting game could be.

Mortal Kombat (2011) is backward compatible, but it's been delisted from storefronts. You can track down a disc copy, but that's getting harder with every year that passes. I'd love to see this game remastered and preserved for the future.

Singularity

There was a time when developer Raven Software made new games outside of the Call of Duty franchise, and one of the biggest examples of that is Singularity.

This first-person shooter focused on bending time, with players traveling between an alternate-reality version of the 1950s that bleeds into 2010. Time is fragmented, and horrors are unleashed as players struggle to survive.

Singularity wasn't perfect, but it was creative as all heck, and it's the kind of thing I'd love to see return. While playable on Windows PC, Singularity isn't available on Xbox.

This is by far the most egregious and easily-solvable of the games on this list, as Microsoft owns Activision and Raven Software, meaning there's no rights to navigate.

What do you want to see?

Alright, those are my immediate picks that I'd like to see come back. Vote for which of these games you'd prefer to see remastered or remade. Alternatively, you can comment and tell me which Xbox 360 game you would prefer over all the titles I listed!

Sometimes you just want to be a swashbuckling adventurer searching for guts, gold, and glory. Pirate shenanigans always make for a good time. Captain Blood, developed by Seawolf Studio and General Arcade, and published by SNEG, brings that piratey action goodness to your Xbox.

Captain Blood was originally announced in 2003, offering hack and slash gameplay based on the 1922 adventure novel by Rafael Sabatini, but fans have been waiting for this high seas pirate adventure for over a decade.

There was ample hype for the pirate adventure set to be developed by Akella (Sea Dogs, Pirates of the Caribbean), with Captain Blood showing up at E3 in 2004. However, it didn’t take long for development hell to rear its ugly head, and the game was bounced around between various publishers and developers. Captain Blood found itself in a cycle of restarts and was even the subject of a lawsuit before eventually receiving a 2006 release date for PC and Xbox. That release date would not come to fruition, unfortunately.

More delays followed, and new plans for a release on Xbox 360 before Captain Blood found itself lost to time when its expected publisher filed for bankruptcy in 2010. Unwilling to let the dream of Captain Blood flounder, former Akella developers reunited to form their own publishing entity and revived the pirate hack and slash adventure for a new generation, and finally brought the game to launch on May 6.

The newly released adventure puts players in the shoes of the titular Captain Blood, a fearsome grog-drinking maiden-swooning pirate slashing his way across the Spanish Main in the 17th century. After being hired to save the magistrate’s daughter from kidnappers, Blood and his ragtag crew of pirates work their way through intense battles with hordes of enemies in true hack-and-slash fashion.

A variety of era-appropriate pirate-y weapons like cutlasses, pistols, muskets, and even throwing knives are available at players’ disposal to quickly dispatch enemies with combos and finishers to fulfill the “guts” requirement of “guts and glory.”

Captain Blood’s campaign is structured in classic missions, which creates an opening for intense hand-to-hand combat sequences against enemy pirates on the ship deck and battles utilizing your ship’s cannons to come together for plenty of ass kicking action. It’s classic 360-era gameplay offers quick time events, a linear story, and a cartoonishly gruesome retro art style.

The game’s audio, which was originally recorded in the 2010s, further builds upon its nostalgic vibe even as the game has been revitalized and restored for new generations.

The release of this long-awaited game is the culmination of 15 years of effort from the developers and publishers involved. “The original developers put years of hard work into this game and never got the credit for their efforts or to see gamers playing it. Today, this launch is for them. We hope players everywhere will enjoy and appreciate their work and show their support for the preservation of more cancelled gems like Captain Blood in the future,” said Akella alum and SNEG co-founders Artem Shchuiko and Oleg Kapovskiy in a joint statement.

“When we first learned that the game wouldn’t be released, it felt devastating — like all our hard work had vanished into thin air,” said Sergey Makeev, former project lead for Captain Blood at Seawolf Studio.

Makeev called the recent release of Captain Blood “a moment of pride and joy for the entire team.” If you’ve ever been gut-punched by the cancellation of a much-anticipated game, Captain Blood should give you hope that a revival is always possible. While you wait, pick up Captain Blood for yourself on Xbox and take out your frustrations on some grubby pirates.

PC Game Pass is awesome, the app you have to use for it isn't.

Microsoft's Xbox app on PC is a source of on-going disappointment, particularly for users of Microsoft's gaming ecosystem across Xbox Play Anywhere and Xbox Game Pass. As good as it is to take Xbox console save files to PC and vice versa, the app we have to use to access these features is light years behind close rivals like Steam.

Microsoft has very gradually, and very slowly made improvements to the Xbox app on PC, but often updates to the service result in a "one step forward, one step back" development cycle. This latest "change" seems to exemplify that.

As what I would describe as something of an Xbox PC app power user, I've written tons of articles critiquing and offering feedback on the Xbox app for PC. Things have improved, but one area of immense disappointment is the app's game library.

The way the Xbox app displays owned games is simply diabolical, and inexplicably, recently, it has gotten even worse. But there might be a good reason for it.

I've written extensively about how much I love Xbox Play Anywhere, so imagine my disappointment when I scroll through my library, start seeing a bunch of new games, only to find they aren't playable.

Indeed, now, by default, the Xbox app on PC has begun showing dozens of Xbox console games. However, the install button simply displays a "Content failed to load" message, greyed out and unclickable. What's worse, the Xbox app also started showing Windows Phone games as well despite the fact Windows Phone is no longer with us (RIP).

Angry Birds and other weird mobile games I wouldn't install in a million years are now sharing a list with unplayable Xbox 360 games like Banjo-Kazooie, as well as Xbox One games I actually would like to play on my Lenovo Legion Go like Darkest Dungeon. Of course, none of them work, and you can't remove or hide them from your library either.

Putting aside the fact that the Xbox app's game library still needs a TON of work, why might this be happening?

Evidence of the grand Xbox singularity?

Microsoft's future Xbox hardware platform looks set to bridge the Xbox console and Windows gaming worlds more than ever before. Although we have yet to see the full reveal, there are hints.

A recent Xbox concept art piece seemed to suggest Steam itself will get full Xbox app integration in the future, which coincides with previous comments from Xbox lead Phil Spencer that he'd like to see third-party storefronts on Xbox console hardware. Xbox is also working with ASUS on a handheld codenamed Kennan, which is its first foray into the form factor ahead of its own Microsoft-designed Xbox handheld. This is all about bringing Xbox console and Windows PC development together, where Xbox Play Anywhere is the default.

If Microsoft's Xbox and PC gaming empires are about to converge, you'd probably expect to see store library listings for Xbox console games appear on the platform. However, I doubt Microsoft intends for people to see dead mobile games like Angry Birds Windows Store edition light up alongside games they actually care about.

If I had to guess, some of this is the result of data base work designed to facilitate a future convergence between the Xbox console and Xbox PC gaming stores. It's just rather inelegantly cobbled together right now, particularly if you're someone who actively uses the Xbox app on PC.

Microsoft needs to do a ton of work to get the Xbox PC app up to par with the likes of Steam. Cloud saves, library management, big picture mode, avoiding annoying things like User Account Control pop ups, "app permissions" and other annoying things really, really frustrate the experience. Seeing abandonware and mobile slop appear in my library is just a bit of a mouldy cherry on top right now.

Either way, I've reached out to Microsoft to comment.

Do you use the Xbox app on PC? Do you use PC Game Pass? How have your experiences been? Hit the comments.

• Microsoft made a sweater featuring the Red Ring of Death.
• The sweater has a power button that lights up in green or red.
• Only Microsoft employees can purchase the sweeter.

Microsoft decided to celebrate the holiday season in an interesting way this year. The tech giant is highlighting its own ghosts of gaming past in the form of an Xbox 360 Red Ring of Death ugly sweater. The sweater, officially called the "Xbox 360 glitch holiday sweater," has a power button with green lights. You can swap out that power button with one that shows the infamous Red Ring of Death that indicated an Xbox 360 console was broken.

If you want to buy the Red Ring of Death ugly sweater, you'll have to update your CV, hop on over to LinkedIn, and get hired by Microsoft immediately. Unfortunately, the holiday sweater is only available to Microsoft employees at the moment. The Verge first shared the news about the new holiday sweater and the fact that the sweater is a hit among Microsoft employees.

The Red Ring of Death was a horrible error that struck terror in the hearts of gamers. With some distance from bricked consoles, the ominous ring is now joked about more, though I imagine some are still understandably upset about it.

A documentary titled "Power-On" details the history of the Xbox brand, including the infamous Red Ring of Death. The six-part series has an entire episode dedicated to the warning light.

While the most immediate damage was done to owners of Xbox 360 consoles who were left unable to play games or use their system after the Red Ring of Death appeared, the issue also caused stress for Microsoft's leadership and those who had to fix the consoles. Ultimately, the Red Ring of Death saga cost Microsoft $1.15 billion, according to former Xbox chief Peter Moore.

Microsoft has embraced its retro increasingly over the past few years, including some nods to Clippy. The Red Ring of Death also received some surprising love, including a poster that came out alongside the Power-On documentary back in 2021. Now, Microsoft employees can shine this holiday season with a limited-edition sweater featuring the Red Ring of Death.

Since the release of Deadpool and Wolverine, I've written two separate pieces on the video game adaptation of the "Merc with a Mouth." One was simply "hey, did you know this even existed, it's hard to get now though" and the other focused on the increasingly extortionate prices on the used market. 

The issue there was licensing, in that even though Microsoft now owns Activision, the makers of the Deadpool game, the license to the character has long since expired. That means no digital sales, and since the physical copies stopped being made a long time ago, what's out there is literally all we have. Hype from the movie inevitably drove up the price. It's since happened to the X-Men Origins: Wolverine game, too. 

Over the past few days, I've been looking through my own collection of older games and checking out what some current prices look like. While I'm not sitting on a gold mine, every single title I've picked up for almost nothing in the past is now significantly more expensive to acquire. In the case of the Xbox 360, the death of the digital store is now surely going to start having an impact on the rest of the catalog, too. 

Suddenly it hit me. What was once a fun hobby has been spoiled. Game preservation is in tatters, licensing, and servers being turned off means gradually an increased scarcity of great titles from years past. And ultimately, greed. As prices go up, those in possession will naturally cash in, and prices will stay high. It's like a horrible crypto scam, except for something actually worth owning. 

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Games don't even have to be 'good' to start going up in price 

There were a few reasons I even bothered to start buying up old Xbox 360 games. One was that I mostly skipped the console, trading in my day one OG model for the shiny, Blu-ray equipped PS3. But I snapped up a bargain on a later model about four years ago and began steadily building out a library. 

The other factor was backwards compatibility on the Xbox One, continued onto the Xbox Series X|S. Buying used discs was orders of magnitude cheaper at the time than buying full priced digital copies. There was no shortage of places to snap them up for cheap, with thrift stores, boot sales, markets, nobody seemed to want to hang on to their old Xbox 360 games, and it was a bargain hunter's paradise. 

I also, as a big Marvel fan that hasn't played most of the games, started buying these up. Spider-Man, X-Men, Iron Man, Thor, whatever had the Marvel badge on. Mostly games that were never really classed as "good" but that I really wanted to play. I paid no more than £10 for any of them, with only The Amazing Spider-Man 2 costing me that. The rest were all less than this, but some are skyrocketing in price. 

Captain America: Super Soldier, for example. I once bought it for £6, and to buy from the exact same store in the UK right now would cost me £32. I could sell it back to them for cash for more than double what I paid them in the first place. Thor: God of Thunder cost me £2, and it's now going for five times that. Still not too bad, but it's a significant increase. It's a similar story with the X-Men games, but two of them are at least still cheap. Wolverine, well, that's going up a lot faster. 

And that's only the Marvel games. 

It's a seller's market, and normal folks are the ones to suffer

I recently saw an Instagram reel of a British chap who spent over £600 on a rare PS2 game. I'm not remotely suggesting this will become the norm, but as discs dry up, and demand increases, prices will inevitably rise. I'm a huge fan of the Sega Dreamcast, but I ultimately gave up on collecting its games because they're already in this position. Even 'common' games like Crazy Taxi can still cost more than some new releases. 

Just like I highlighted around the Deadpool game, it's those of us normal folks who want to just play old games that will suffer the most. The 'serious collectors' with seemingly endless bank accounts won't bat an eyelid, and those with the funds to buy and sell will laugh all the way to the bank. It's like sneaker resellers buying up stock of limited releases and then selling them on for vastly inflated prices. The scale might be different, but the idea is the same. 

This will end up being a never-ending theme. Game preservation doesn't really seem to matter to any of the companies making them. If you download a copy to play in an emulator, you'll be frowned upon (or worse if it's anything Nintendo made) yet there's minimal effort made to keep these titles alive for future generations to enjoy.

License holders make their money, the big publishers make their money, and when they've done that they lose interest. Copyright protection is valuable, but it's also infuriating. None of the cars featured in the original Forza Horizon, for example, are even made anymore. Yet that game was withdrawn from sale because of licensing. It's happened since with other Forza Horizon games. We're always the ones who lose out. 

The entire system is geared against us, the regular gamers. My only recommendation is that if you see an old game you like the look of, and you're happy with the price, buy it. Don't hesitate, get it while you can. There will come a day you might regret it, else. I'm in that exact position with Spider-Man: Web of Shadows because I outright refuse to pay nearly £100 for it. If you see an opportunity, take it. 

The Xbox 360 is a legendary video games console that for many represented a "golden era" of gaming, and even now, there are still plenty of gamers that use and love their Xbox 360. Unfortunately, all things must eventually come to an end, and the Xbox 360 is seeing its demise nearly 19 years after its initial announcement. The Xbox 360 Marketplace, the one-stop shop for all Xbox 360 digital games, is permanently closing its doors.

It's not all doom and gloom for Xbox 360 owners or even Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S console players, especially when it comes to your current libraries or online play, but there's still a lot being lost with the shuttering of the Xbox 360 store. It's a heavy blow to games preservation, especially without the Xbox backward compatibility program. We've compiled the most-asked questions and are delivering all the answers and information you need in one place, so keep scrolling for everything you should know about the Xbox 360 Marketplace shutdown.

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What is the Xbox 360 Marketplace?

Best answer — The Xbox 360 Marketplace is where Xbox 360 players can buy Xbox 360 games, DLC, and other digital-only content either from their Xbox 360 console or online.

The Xbox 360 Marketplace signalled the beginning of a new era of digital gaming alongside the PlayStation 3, giving players unprecedented access to a massive and growing roster of console games that didn't require a disk to run. It's a digital store available exclusively on Xbox 360 consoles or online at Marketplace.Xbox.com, and is the only place to go if you want to purchase Xbox 360 games, DLC and other add-ons for those games, and other digital items like Xbox 360 Avatar items.

Nowadays, there are many Xbox 360 and even original Xbox games that are available to purchase in the Microsoft Store on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S thanks to the Xbox backward compatibility program, but there are many more games that are still exclusive to the Xbox 360 Marketplace and are set to disappear forever (especially the games that don't have a physical alternative you might be able to find in second-hand marketplaces).

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Is the Xbox 360 store closing down?

Best answer — Yes, the Xbox 360 Marketplace (both on Xbox 360 consoles and online) is officially and permanently shutting down after nearly 19 years of operation.

The Xbox 360 Marketplace was introduced alongside the launch of the Xbox 360 all the way back in Nov. 2005, and since then has been the best place for gamers to buy all things Xbox 360. Nearly 19 years later, though, and Microsoft is officially (and permanently) closing down the Xbox 360 Marketplace. Xbox 360 consoles will remain functional, and players will still be able to access their libraries and online content.

This does not in any way affect the Microsoft Store on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, including the backward compatible Xbox 360 and original Xbox games available for purchase on that storefront.

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When does the Xbox 360 Marketplace shut down?

Best answer — The Xbox 360 Marketplace is properly shutting down on July 29, 2024, so players have until then to purchase the games they wish to add to their library and take advantage of last-minute sales.

The point of no return for the Xbox 360 Marketplace is July 29, 2024, after which the legendary digital store will be completely and totally closed down. Microsoft is letting Xbox 360 users purchase the digital games, DLC, and other content they want all the way until the end, and is running store-wide discounts on many of the Xbox 360 video games.

Again, this only affects the Xbox 360 Marketplace and not the Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S Store, Xbox 360 online servers, or personal digital libraries.

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Are the Xbox 360 online servers shutting down?

Best answer — No, online servers for Xbox 360 games are not being affected by the Xbox 360 Marketplace shutdown. Active Xbox 360 multiplayer games and online features will continue to function.

The Xbox 360 Marketplace may be closing its doors, but the store shutdown is mostly limited to just the digital store. While many Xbox 360 multiplayer games are closing down their online servers, like classic Halo and Battlefield titles, this is not related to the Xbox 360 store closure. Any Xbox 360 games with online elements and active servers will continue to function after the Xbox 360 Marketplace shutdown.

This also includes most Xbox 360 online features, too. Your Xbox 360 console will not go offline or become disconnected from the Xbox Network (previously known as Xbox Live). You'll also still be able to download all your digital games from your library as long as you own them.

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Will Movies & TV be available on Xbox 360?

Best answer — Unfortunately, Microsoft Movies & TV is also completely closing down on Xbox 360, although all your purchases will still be available on Windows PCs, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

One Xbox 360 feature that will be going the way of the dinosaurs alongside the Xbox 360 Marketplace is access to Microsoft Movies & TV. The digital streaming app will no longer function on Xbox 360 following the store closure, and users will be unable to access their libraries. However, it's not as if your collection of movies and TV shows are disappearing.

Movies & TV users will still be able to access their entire libraries on Windows PCs, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S via the modern Movies & TV application. Additionally, users will be able to access supported movies and TV shows via the Movies Anywhere program, which syncs Microsoft Movies & TV libraries with other platforms like Vudu.

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Will my Xbox 360 games still work?

Best answer — Yes, the Xbox 360 games, DLC, and add-ons you have purchased will continue to work after the Xbox 360 Marketplace shutdown. Physical games will also work without issue.

There's understandable concern that the closure of the Xbox 360 digital storefront also means players will be unable to download their digital Xbox 360 libraries and access their games, but this isn't the case. Purchased content will continue to be available following the marketplace shutdown, including all Xbox 360 games, DLC, and other add-ons.

This also applies to physical Xbox 360 games, which will continue to function, as well as backward compatible Xbox 360 and original Xbox games on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. Microsoft isn't taking away your personal libraries, and is in fact encouraging Xbox 360 owners to take advantage of the last-minute clearance sale to buy the Xbox 360 games they want to keep forever before the Xbox 360 Marketplace closes.

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Will backward compatible Xbox 360 games work?

Best answer — Yes, backward compatible Xbox 360 and original Xbox games will still work on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, and will continue to be available for purchase.

Fret not, the Xbox 360 and original Xbox games that were added to the Xbox backward compatibility program before it ceased aren't going anywhere. All these games will not only continue to be fully functional on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S (including extra features like Auto HDR, FPS Boost, and improved performance on the current-gen consoles), but will also be readily available via the Microsoft Store on newer Xbox platforms.

There are many Xbox 360 games already available on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S through this program, and these will not be affected by the Xbox 360 Marketplace (although they will not be available to purchase on Xbox 360, obviously). Sadly, there's no sign that the Xbox backward compatibility program is making a return, meaning the plethora of Xbox 360 games that are still exclusive to the aging console will disappear once the Xbox 360 Marketplace shuts down.

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Where can I buy Xbox 360 digital games?

Best answer — Users are still free to purchase Xbox 360 games, DLC, and add-ons through the Xbox 360 Marketplace up until the moment of its closure, with many of those games being on sale.

Until the Xbox 360 Marketplace closes down, users are free to scoop up any of the digital Xbox 360 games, DLC, and add-ons they wish to add to their personal libraries and keep forever. It also helps that Microsoft has heavily discounted the majority of the Xbox 360 library, making it easier for users to flesh out their libraries before these games become unavailable to purchase.

You don't have to own a functional Xbox 360 console, either. Users can peruse and purchase games from the Xbox 360 Marketplace at Marketplace.Xbox.com. Again, though, backward compatible Xbox 360 content will continue to be available on the Microsoft Store for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S following the Xbox 360 Marketplace shutdown. If you'd rather feed your Xbox 360 nostalgia in a more physical sense, you can search second-hand marketplaces for physical Xbox 360 games.

Microsoft is also selling an Xbox 360 Heritage Collection of nostalgic merch and accessories via the Xbox Gear Shop. If you're on Xbox Series X|S, you can also use the Xbox 360 "Blades" Dynamic Background for a little nostalgia on your modern Xbox.

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Are Xbox 360 games on sale right now?

Best answer — Yes, many Xbox 360 games and other digital content is heavily discounted on the Xbox 360 Marketplace until it shuts down.

It may feel a little like a consolation prize, but it's still better than nothing. To ease the pain of the Xbox 360 Marketplace shutting down, Microsoft is heavily discounting almost the entire available library so that users can add their favorite games and add-ons to their Xbox 360 libraries before the store closes, and they're no longer available to purchase.

Microsoft curated a list of discounted Xbox 360 games at Xbox Wire, but you can also head to Marketplace.Xbox.com to search the storefront yourself. Don't hesitate too long, though, as time is rapidly running out to take advantage of this storewide sale and preserve your favorite Xbox 360 titles. Of course, physical Xbox 360 games will also continue to be available at secondhand stores, which is another option to pick up awesome classics for a great price.

Once you've purchased all the Xbox 360 games you want, they'll continue to be available via your Xbox 360 library indefinitely. Any games that are backward compatible across Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S will also work on those consoles, although those games will still be available to purchase via the modern Microsoft Store, too (and aren't as likely to be discounted right now because of that).

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If, like me, you're fully swept up in Deadpool and Wolverine fever, you're probably looking for as much of a fix as you can get. When it comes to gaming, there's not a lot about, and the less said about the sweepstakes only controllers and console, or the only free with a $130 purchase controller holder, the better. 

But did you know there's actually a game you can play? Activision, now under Microsoft ownership, put out the simply titled "Deadpool" back in 2013, and it was available on Xbox 360 and Xbox One, as well as PS3 and PS4. 

I haven't actually played it, and I'm even more disappointed now because the copy I own, I've somehow lost the disc for. But if you can find a copy, it might be just what you're looking for. It even has some Wolverine for good measure. 

No longer available on digital, and used prices are INSANE

Despite owning it, or thinking I did, I've never played Deadpool. I went through a phase of buying up all the old Marvel games I could when I saw them cheap enough in local used game stores, and if I can find the disc for this one, I'll be happy. 

That's because you can't get it digitally anymore, the license has expired, and used prices on eBay are predictably rather high. In the UK, I'd be looking at around £40 to get another one. In the U.S., anything from $30 for the Xbox 360 version and up is what I've seen so far. Not quite the same price as a brand-new game, but still a fairly significant investment. 

Given the hype around the movie, I can't help but feel like Microsoft should have gone to Marvel, got a short-term new license, and put the game back out there, perhaps even through Game Pass. If ever there was going to be a time people wanted to play this game who didn't even know it existed, now is that time. 

It's a third-person action game that certainly seems to capture the essence of the "merc with a mouth" and, of course, has cameos. Including Wolverine! It's almost like it was meant to be, just 11 years early. 

So, if you really want a copy, you can still get one. But you'll need to spend a bit, and own an Xbox with a disc drive. Sorry, Series S owners. 

There's also a way to get your Logan on

There's also another way to get a bit of a fix, but this one is even harder since you'll need to still own an Xbox 360. Luckily for me, I do, and I definitely have the disc in the box for X-Men Origins: Wolverine. 

Released as a tie-in to the movie of the same name from 2009, this is another game made by Activision in partnership with Marvel. Activision actually made quite a lot of Marvel games back in the day, including Ultimate Alliance and Spider-Man. But naturally, Wolverine isn't backwards compatible and of course, the license has expired. Not that the Xbox 360 digital store is much longer for this world. 

This one could cost you a lot more than Deadpool, too. I saw one copy on eBay for $20, but most were significantly higher. So if you want to pick one up, I'd recommend checking out anywhere you might be able to find used games, thrift stores, garage sales, and keeping your eyes open. Not only are these games (and other old Marvel titles) a potential goldmine, but they're so much harder to find. If you own either, or manage to get one, I hope you have a blast!

What you need to know

• The digital Xbox 360 store is shutting down on July 29, 2024. 
• This shutdown means that a number of non-backward compatible games will no longer be available for purchase. 
• Xbox is working with publishers to create deep discounts for affected games, so players can buy them at a cheap price and continue downloading and playing them on any Xbox 360 consoles they own. 
• This doesn't have any affect on backward compatible games available to buy through the Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S storefronts. 

Ahead of a big online store shutdown, a few teams are doing everything they can to make some games at least somewhat accessible moving forward. 

As previously shared, the Xbox 360 online store is shutting down on July 29, 2024, meaning that a number of Xbox 360 games that were not available through backward compatibility on later systems will essentially be gone forever. 

In order to give players a chance to grab these games easily and keep them on their accounts, the Xbox team is working with publishers to heavily discount some of the affected games (as shared via Xbox Wire) with a number of titles now available for just a dollar or three. More games will be added twice: First on June 18, and then on July 16. You can find the list of discounted games below:

• Alien Rage - 90%
• Alone In The Dark - 75%
• ArcaniA - 75%
• Black Knight Sword - 75%
• Bloody Good Time - 80%
• Child of Light - 80%
• Cloudberry Kingdom - 80%
• Dark Messiah of Might and Magic: Elements - 80%
• Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon - 75%
• Dogfight 1942 - 90%
• Enemy Front - 90%
• Fantastic Pets - 75%
• Far Cry 4 - 80%
• Fighters Uncaged - 80%
• Final Exam - 67%
• Fireburst - 90%
• Geon: Emotions - 85%
• Handball 16 - 90%
• Hunter’s Trophy 2 – America - 90%
• Hunter’s Trophy 2 – Australia - 90%
• IHF Handball Challenge 14 - 90%
• Just Dance 2014 - 80%
• Just Dance 2015 - 80%
• Just Dance 2016 - 80%
• Just Dance 2018 - 80%
• Just Dance 2019 - 80%
• Just Dance® Kids 2014 - 80%
• Kane and Lynch: Dead Men - 85%
• Legend of Kay Anniversary - 75%
• Mini Ninjas Adventures - 85%
• Motionsports - 80%
• MotionSports: Adrenaline - 80%
• MURDERED: SOUL SUSPECT - 85%
• MX VS ATV Supercross - 75%
• My Body Coach 3 - 90%
• Panzer General Allied Assault - 80%
• PowerUp Heroes - 80%
• Puzzle Arcade - 85%
• Rabbids Invasion: The Interactive TV Show - 80%
• Raving Rabbids: Alive & Kicking - 80%
• Rise of the Tomb Raider - 80%
• Risen 3 Titan Lords - 75%
• RISK - 80%
• Risk Urban Assault - 80%
• Rotastic - 80%
• Self-Defense Training Camp - 80%
• Sniper: Ghost Warrior - 90%
• Snipers - 90%
• Space Invaders Infinity Gene - 85%
• Star Raiders - 80%
• The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 - 75%
• The Escapists - 85%
• Thief - 85%
• Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Chaos Theory - 80%
• Tomb Raider - 75%
• Trials Fusion - 80%
• Valiant Hearts: The Great War - 80%
• Voodoo Dice - 80%
• War World - 80%
• Watch Dogs - 80%
• Worms Revolution - 50%
• Worms: Ultimate Mayhem - 75%
• WRC 5 FIA World Rally Championship - 90%
• Yar’s Revenge - 80%
• Zeit² - 80%
• Zombie Driver HD - 75%

If you've bought a game from the Xbox 360 store, then it'll continue to be available to download and play on your Xbox 360 even after the store goes offline. Naturally, you will have to have a working Xbox 360, which currently go for around $160 on Amazon for a renewed model.

What about my backward compatible games?

This shutdown is not going to change anything in regards to backward compatible Xbox games. If you've enjoyed buying and playing games like Dead Space 2 or The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, you'll be able to continue doing so, as these games are listed through the Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S storefront.

The backward compatibility program ran for years, with Xbox adding one last massive batch of games in November 2021, including games like the original Max Payne and Max Payne 2.

Analysis: A nice gesture for players

While it doesn't address long-term issues — you still need an Xbox 360 in order to actually play these games — it's nice that anyone who wants to will be able to scoop up a number of these games for dirt cheap prices. If you don't see a particular title discounted, don't panic, as two more batches of games will see price reductions before the store goes offline. 

Moving forward, I still hope we see better long-term efforts for game preservation across the industry. Xbox has done a better job than many, but there are still gaps in the portfolio, and Microsoft recently shuttered Arkane Austin before the team was able to implement an offline mode for Redfall. 

What you need to know

• Xbox and MEGA brand building blocks opened preorders for a MEGA 3:4 Scale Xbox 360 Collectors set that you can build yourself.
• The set comes complete with a white Xbox 360 model, controller, and mini copy of Halo of 3 on a disc.
• The set will be exclusive to Target and is officially on sale now for $150.
• Supplies are limited and preorders sold out quickly.

The Xbox 360 will be making a comeback this holiday season, but this time the console will be hitting store shelves as a build-your-own-nostalgia kit. Xbox has teamed up with MEGA brand to produce a mini replica of the original white Xbox 360, including a controller, and a physical miniature copy of Halo 3. This is not the first time Xbox has partnered with MEGA for a building block set, having previously created Halo themed kits. 

The block building set is a 3:4 replica of the original Xbox 360 console, controller, and game disc and is fully buildable. There are even working lights in the console and controller, though there's been no confirmation whether the console can duplicate the historic tragedy of the Red Ring of Death that plagued so many systems.

The Microsoft Xbox 360 Collector MEGA Building Set will have 1342 blocks and features a removable hard drive. The side panel of the Xbox 360 kit can also be removed to reveal an interactive interior packed with Easter eggs, including a disc drive. Placing the included mini Halo 3 disc in the drive tray activates the motherboard. 

The kit does not include interchangeable faceplates like the original Xbox 360 did. However, it is compatible with other similar sized brick brands, so nothing's stopping you from creating your own. You can even use LEGO bricks if you prefer those.

The Xbox 360 building kit will be exclusive to Target. Preorders were open for a short while, though they quickly sold out. You can still have a chance to get your hands on the kit as it hits Target's shelves today, October 8. You will have to shell out $150 to do so, though that seems like a bargain compared to what it will surely cost from a reseller. 

Bricktastic

2023 has been quite a year, but I didn't have "Brick Xbox 360s for the Holidays" on my bingo card. It's clear from the video that these mega kits are filled to the brim with surprises. I've already spotted a tiny Cortana on the motherboard while watching the video. I can't help but want to know what other Easter eggs are tucked inside this thing.

What you need to know

• Microsoft shared that the Xbox 360 store will be shutting down on July 29, 2024.
• Players using an Xbox 360 will no longer be able to digitally buy games or DLC, but players can continue to play anything they've purchased.
• The Movies and TV app will no longer function on Xbox 360 on the same day. 
• Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S users will continue to be able to buy backward compatible Xbox games through the modern Xbox Store. 

If you're still using an Xbox 360 right now, we've got some unfortunate news. 

Microsoft shared on Thursday via Xbox Wire that the Xbox 360 store is being closed on July 29, 2024. Following that date, Xbox 360 players will no longer be able to buy new games or DLC. Players can continue to play any games they've already purchased and multiplayer servers for any games still operating will not be affected. The Movies and TV app will however also cease to work on Xbox 360 on the same day. 

With that said, this does not affect backward compatibility on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox consoles. Players using those more modern machines can still buy backward compatible Xbox 360 games such as Gears of War 3 or Dead Space 2. 

Microsoft first introduced backward compatibility on Xbox One with Xbox 360 games in 2015, with Original Xbox game support for certain titles announced in 2017. In 2021, Microsoft released a final massive wave of backward compatible titles, with support for games such as Max Payne.

Analysis: The inevitable end of an era

I am sure this will be disappointing for anyone who is still using their Xbox 360 to play games, whether for the authentic retro experience —  yes, retro, it's almost 18 years old —  or for the more likely reason of playing games that never got backward compatibility support for one reason or another. 

That said, this was clearly inevitable. The number of people playing directly through Xbox 360 has to be incredibly miniscule at this point, but at least you'll still be able to play anything you've purchased. The bigger and more important information is that backward compatibility isn't being affected, so there's no need to worry if you haven't bought some of those games yet through your Xbox Series X|S, you still can.

What you need to know

• Hyperkin has announced the Xenon, an officially licensed replica of the Xbox 360 controller.
• The Xenon is compatible with Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Windows PC. 
• The Xenon comes in black, white, pink, and red models, which all include a 3.5mm headset jack and a USB-C cable.
• The release date and price for the Xenon have not yet been revealed.

The company that brought back the Duke is reaching back to another part of Xbox history.

On Tuesday, Hyperkin revealed the Xenon, an officially licensed replica Xbox 360 controller that's compatible with Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Windows PC. The controller has been modified with modern features from the best Xbox controllers, including the Share Button, a 3.5mm headset jack, and a USB-C charging cable.

"I remember when the Xbox 360 came out, it was a revolutionary experience,” said Slade Dude Suzuki, Hyperkin product developer. “Online multiplayer, digital downloadable games, and a controller like no other. I have such fond memories with the Xbox 360, and we are so excited to bring some of that nostalgia back to modern consoles with the Xenon controller.”

Hyperkin has previously worked to provide realized nostalgia with Xbox gaming hardware, working with Microsoft back in 2018 to license a replica of the Original Xbox Duke controller. Two updated versions, themed after the translucent green Original Xbox and the purple of Halo's Cortana, were released in 2021 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Original Xbox and the 20th anniversary of Halo: Combat Evolved.

The Xenon is slated to be available in white, black, red, and pink, so there's plenty of variety that reflects some of the actual Xbox 360 controllers that were released. Right now, Hyperkin has not provided a price or release date for the Xenon controller, but we'll be sure to provide an update when these details become available.

What you need to know

• A growing number of Xbox users have reported that many of the achievements they unlocked in Xbox 360 games are disappearing from their profile.
• Users report that achievements are still visible when viewed on an Xbox 360 or TrueAchievements.com, but are not displaying on Xbox One or Xbox Series X|S consoles, as well as on the Xbox app and Xbox.com.
• Microsoft is yet to acknowledge the issue or provide details about what's causing it, though it's likely that the bug is a symptom of a partial service outage.

A growing number of Xbox users have recently reported that a significant number of their unlocked achievements have disappeared and are no longer visible on their Xbox profile, with more achievements continuing to vanish over time (Gamerscore is unaffected). Specifically, affected achievements are not displaying on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One consoles, as well as the Xbox mobile app, Xbox PC app, and Xbox.com.

Based on player reports as well as our own investigation, the issue only seems to affect achievements unlocked in Xbox 360 games. Note that the missing achievements are still visible when you view your Xbox profile on an Xbox 360 console or on the TrueAchievements website, so they're not gone — they're simply not showing up on modern Xbox systems and services like they're supposed to. This is relieving, although it's still unfortunate that longtime fans can't show off their full achievement history due to the bug.

It's unclear what specifically is causing this issue, but if we had to guess, it's probably due to a partial service outage with the Xbox network. This has happened before; for example, an outage recently caused Xbox friends lists to disappear, and occasionally, Xbox Live will go down and cause certain parts of the Xbox ecosystem to become temporarily inaccessible.

Microsoft hasn't acknowledged the issue publicly or provided specific details about what's causing the bug yet, nor has it said when users can expect a fix to be deployed. We'll keep an eye out for official communications and update this article whenever Microsoft offers more information or resolves the issue with a hotfix.

What you need to know

• Xbox Games with Gold is a feature for Xbox Live Gold subscribers, providing free monthly games that subscribers can redeem and keep, similar to Sony's PlayStation Plus. 
• Over the last several years, Xbox 360 games have been a part of the service, alongside Xbox One titles and occasional original Xbox games.
• Microsoft shared that starting in October 2022, Xbox 360 games will no longer be part of Games with Gold.

Xbox Games with Gold is getting a fairly big change in the coming months, as Xbox 360 games will no longer be included in the monthly free games.

Microsoft shared on Tuesday via emails to Xbox Live Gold subscribers that starting in October 2022, Xbox 360 games will no longer be included in Games with Gold. The reason behind this change is that Microsoft has reached the limit of what games can be added to the service for players.

Xbox Games with Gold began in July 2013, bringing two free Xbox 360 games for Xbox Live Gold subscribers to redeem and play at no extra cost, similar to one of the benefits in Sony's PlayStation Plus service. A year later, Xbox One games were also added into the service. 

Microsoft has focused on providing backward compatible Xbox 360 games in its monthly offerings, occasionally including an original Xbox title from time to time. While these older titles will no longer be included in the near future, Microsoft has stated that players continue to be able to download any games they redeemed. 

Due a difference in how the service was set up, Xbox 360 and original Xbox games redeemed through Games with Gold can continue to be played even when someone is no longer subscribed to Xbox Live Gold. Any redeemed Xbox One games, however, can only be played while someone is a subscriber. 

Xbox Live Gold is currently available standalone or in a bundle with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which also included Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, EA Play, and Xbox Cloud Gaming.

After releasing Psychonauts in 2005, Double Fine Productions would spend the next four years working on their next big project — Brütal Legend. Brütal Legend was an action-adventure game / real-time strategy hybrid that celebrated the heavy metal music genre. It featured an art direction inspired by heavy metal album covers, characters voiced by real rockstars, and a licensed soundtrack that compiled some of the greatest hits in metal history.

I remember loving this game back when it first came out on October 13, 2009, on the Xbox 360. I spent hours driving around in the open world listening to Judas Priest, Motorhead, and Black Sabbath as I mowed down bad guys with my badass hot rod. Thanks to Xbox Game Pass, I can now relive those glory days and show you why Brutal Legend deserves a big Xbox Game Studios sequel.

There are some story spoilers for Brütal Legend beyond this point!

The Brütal Land

Brütal Legend tells the story of Eddie Riggs, the world's greatest roadie that unfortunately works for the world's worst heavy metal band, Kabbage Boy. After an accident during one of Kabbage Boy's gigs claims Eddie's life, his blood trickles onto his ornate belt buckle and causes it to summon the spirit of Ormagöden, the Eternal Fire Beast.

With a mighty earth-shattering roar, Ormagöden revives Eddie Riggs and sends him back in time to an age where the world looked like a heavy metal album cover come to life. But this Brütal Land is under the thrall of the Tainted Coil, a race of sadistic, evil demons that have enslaved humanity to do their bidding. So with his roadie skills and newfound abilities, Eddie vows to free humanity and melt demons' faces off with his guitar along the way.

Source: Windows Central

I absolutely adore the art design of Brütal Legend's setting. It perfectly captures the larger-than-life nature of heavy metal. The starting area alone has fields covered in skyscraper-sized swords, complete with a towering Mt. Rushmore stand-in that you can customize the faces of. It features mountains made entirely of amplifiers, trees made out of spears and car exhausts, and so many more metal-inspired landmarks.

As you venture further into the game, more areas will start to opening up. These include a jungle inhabited by amazons with KISS make-up and panthers that shoot eye-lasers. You'll traverse a swamp infested with zombie goths that skulk the wasteland. As you progress, the Tainted Coil will start to corrupt the land in retaliation to your rebellion — reddening the sky and defiling your metal monuments, wrapping them in cybergoth bondage gear.

Source: Windows Central

Brütal Legend's world design is still so unique, bursting with imagination and creativity. It's like an interactive homage to every alternative music subculture, and translates that effortless music industry coolness with confidence and style. The depth lore covering how this world came to be is impressive in its own right. There are collectibles scattered throughout the world that tell bits and pieces of the Brütal Land's creation. From Ormagöden's death shaping the world and giving birth to its races, how the Titans created this world's heavy metal, to how the Tainted Coil came to despise and enslave humanity. It's engrossing. Each piece of lore is relayed through amazing illustrations and an epic narration provided by Corey Burton (the voice of Disney's Yen Cid and Shockwave from G1 Transformers). The world juxtaposes alien landscapes with familiar pop culture, and that extends to its colorful cast of heroes and villains.

Source: Windows Central

The characters of Brütal Legend are also one of the game's highlights. Like the corny but endearingly charismatic Lars, the battle-hardened but mistrusting Lita, and the terrifying leader of the Tainted Coil, Emperor Doviculus (voiced by the legendary Tim Curry). As mentioned earlier, there are many NPCs in the game voiced by real rockstars. These include Black Sabbath's Ozzy Osborne, The Runaway's Lita Ford, Judas Priest's Rob Halford, Kyle Gass from Tenacious D, and the late, great Lemmy Kilmister from Motorhead. Their appearances are brief but sweet additions that add charm and authenticity to Brütal Legend's world.

But by far, the star of the show for me was Eddie Riggs. He is an unabashed lover of heavy metal, who immediately sets about undoing the injustice of this strange land. Eddie finds his true calling in Brütal Legend, finding a spot in the limelight after a life as a thankless roadie for faux-rockers. And to top it off, Eddie's metalhead personality is brought to life by the vocal performance of Tenacious D's Jack Black, which is just crimson-painted icing on a glorious death metal cake.

Gameplay: Hack n' Shred

Unfortunately, as awesome as the setting and characters are, Brütal Legend's core gameplay had some controversial aspects that held it back from its most awesome potential. The beginning of Brütal Legend was a fun open-world action-adventure game, but then it gradually changed into a strange action-adventure / strategy hybrid. Suddenly we had to worry about resource management and building armies to take down an enemy's stage in a literal Battle of the Bands.

This shift in genres surprised and turned many people off because they felt the real-time strategy gameplay was half-baked compared to the open-world gameplay. For a long time, we all wondered why the developers never advertised these RTS segments but many years later, we would finally get an answer.

According to an interview done by NoClip with Brütal Legend's creative director, Tim Schafer, it was originally going to be a real-time strategy game in its entirety, inspired by the likes of Warcraft and Herzog Zwei. But over time, as they worked on the single-player campaign, it gradually evolved into the action-adventure / RTS hybrid we know today.

We all thought Brütal Legend was going to be an action-adventure game because Brütal Legend's publishers (Vivendi Games and later EA) forbid Double Fine Productions from talking about the RTS elements. They did this because at the time, they felt nobody cared about real-time strategy games anymore. If anyone saw the RTS gameplay and asked questions, Double Fine Productions was ordered to change the subject and any trailers they made were to showcase the action-adventure gameplay only. The developers also considered making the RTS segments optional in the final build, but they ran out of time to do it. It's rather unfortunate this happened because if consumers were aware of the RTS elements from the start, perhaps Brütal Legend would have had a better reception.

Source: Windows Central

My own personal feelings on the gameplay are mixed. The RTS elements definitely felt subpar compared to the action-adventure mostly due to the game balance. I destroyed entire armies using the Facemelter guitar solo and only used the units to attack the buildings, so there was barely any strategy involved. The only time I had to worry about strategy was during the final boss where I had to coordinate with my army to take down multiple objectives. However, it wasn't a deal-breaker for me because there was still plenty of open-world exploration and sidequests to accompany the RTS segments.

But let's get back to the positives of Brütal Legend, like the combat. The combat system was simple but effective — chaining melee attacks together with my guitar attacks to form satisfying combos that sent enemies flying off cliffs. And playing the guitar solos that blew my enemies up, buffed my army, or summoned bears with bear-traps for mouths. Plus running over demons in my customizable hot rod never gets old.

And how can I talk about Brütal Legend, a massive tribute to heavy metal without mentioning the music? In addition to its awesome original soundtrack, Brütal Legend features over a hundred licensed tracks from dozens of heavy metal bands. Tunes from Black Sabbath, Motörhead, Judas Priest, The Runaways, Megadeth, Cradle of Filth, Bracos Helm, Iced Earth, Dragonforce, Tenacious D, Manowar, Mötley Crüe, and many more.

You can unlock these tracks to play on your car's radio by finding collectibles through the world. The game also plays these tracks during special moments, making you feel like the protagonist of your very own OTT heavy metal music video. Like Brocas Helm's 'Cry of the Banshee' during the Metal Queen boss fight. Or Dragonforce's 'Through the Fire and Flames' while escaping General Lionwhyte's crumbling Pleasure Palace.

The music was also used to greatly enhance dramatic moments in the story. A good example of this is my favorite moment in the game. Before the final battle, Eddie Riggs has a dream of being with his love interest, Ophelia, who at this point of the game has become a bad guy. It's a bittersweet moment for Eddie, longing for the good times before everything went to hell, all while Scorpion's 'Holiday' is playing in the background. The dream is cut short by the sound of Ophelia's army, the Drowning Doom, who begin their approach. The music violently transitions to Mirrorthrone's 'Sofrail', punctuating Eddie's feelings of anger and sadness that he's now going to have to fight and possibly even slay his former lover turned bitter enemy. It's these careful, thoughtful moments that truly sold Brütal Legend for me.

Brütal Legend 2: Improving what came before

When all is said and done, I love Brütal Legend despite its flaws, and I would love to see a sequel to this game. I don't know if it is even possible for Double Fine Productions to make a sequel. EA and Activision settled out of court over who owns the rights to publish Brütal Legend, but the exact current ownership remains a little unclear. Not to mention, Double Fine is busy working on Psychonauts 2 at the time of this writing. If it was possible, I have a few ideas about how a sequel could be made and how it could improve upon its predecessor.

For starters, since all the problems plaguing the Brütal Land get resolved by the end of the first game, I would have Eddie Riggs go back to the present day for the sequel. The impetus for this would be that Eddie receives a vision from Ormagöden and it shows that the time period he came from has become a corporate nightmare in his absence. Nearly all forms of music have been banned, except for sanitized corporate music that pushes narratives that benefit the corporations. Anybody that didn't comply and wanted to make their own music would be imprisoned for life or even executed.

Source: Windows Central

Horrified and angered by what the future holds for his world, Eddie Riggs decides to return to his own time to set things right. He would be accompanied by friends he made in the first game, and together they would embark on a second Tour of Destruction to save humanity's future and preserve the glory of metal.

For gameplay, I would shelve the RTS segments perhaps, and focus on expanding the open-world exploration and combat system. The overworld gameplay could revolve around destroying the bad guy's propaganda and replacing them with the awesome heavy metal monuments and landmarks of the first game. As you spread the word of heavy metal, the world would gradually change from being your typical corporate dystopia, liberated from the clinical lounge music of the oppressors.

You wouldn't just be controlling Eddie this time, you would also directly control different characters that join your band. Each character would have their own musical abilities and weapons that could be used to solve puzzles and bring the house down on enemies. Plus, you would be able to swap control between teammates in the middle of melee combos to extend them to an absurd degree. Something akin to the tag team mechanics of the Warriors Orochi or Marvel Vs. Capcom games.

I would definitely try to keep the involvement of heavy metal artists for the sake of authenticity, it wouldn't be Brütal Legend without it. Perhaps we could see a range of newer heavy metal stars from more recent generations, who are fighting against the corporations in an underground rebellion. Could we have Mick Thomson from Slipknot fighting alongside Ozzy Osborne? Alice Cooper teaming up with Dave Grohl? I would love to play as Eddie the Head from Iron Maiden, or a badass ax-wielding James Hetfield, in the style that only Double Fine can do.

A Brütal Legend

There's just so much potential that could be accomplished with Brütal Legend's world if given another chance, and hopefully, I have shown why it deserves one. A polished sequel to Brütal Legend with more style and character would be a great addition to Microsoft's portfolio, perhaps even becoming one of the best games on Xbox. But until that day comes, I'll keep spreading the gospel of Brütal Legend so that it will never be forgotten.

Backward compatibility opens Xbox consoles to a massive variety of games, and with the latest Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, it now spans three generations of past consoles. Despite hardware differences, it remains an outstanding feature, allowing a select library of older games to be played on new devices. That list now stows hundreds of previous games revived on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, with some even featuring bespoke enhancements bringing older experiences into the new generation.

With an extensive range of titles that support backward compatibility, we've compiled a list of every past Xbox 360 and original Xbox game supported so far.

List of Xbox 360 backward compatible games

Xbox 360 represents Microsoft's largest pool of backward compatible games, with hundreds playable on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. Each title on new Xbox consoles brings technical and legal challenges, meaning each comes tested and approved by Microsoft and respective publishers. While it means not every Xbox 360 game supports backward compatibility, several years of work has brought a sizeable portion of classics to the consoles. Here's every backward compatible Xbox 360 game, each of which works on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles.

Too many titles to choose from? Make sure to take a look at the best Xbox games in 2021.

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

#

• 0 Day Attack on Earth
• 3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures

A

• Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation
• A Kingdom for Keflings
• A World of Keflings
• Aegis Wing
• Age of Booty
• AirMech Arena
• Alan Wake
• Alan Wake's American Nightmare
• Alice: Madness Returns
• Alien Hominid HD
• Aliens vs. Predator
• Altered Beast
• Anomaly: Warzone Earth
• Aqua
• ARKANOID Live!
• Army of Two
• Assassin's Creed
• Assassin's Creed II
• Assassin's Creed III
• Assassin's Creed Liberation HD
• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
• Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
• Assassin's Creed: Revelations
• Assassin's Creed Rogue
• Assault Heroes 2
• Asteroids & Deluxe
• AstroPop
• Asura's Wrath
• Axel & Pixel

B

• Babel Rising
• Band of Bugs
• Banjo-Kazooie
• Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
• Banjo-Tooie
• Batman: Arkham Origins
• BattleBlock Theater
• Battlefield 1943
• Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
• Battlefield 3
• Battlefield: Bad Company
• Battlefield: Bad Company 2
• Battlestations: Pacific
• Battlestations: Midway
• Bayonetta
• Beat'n Groovy
• Bejeweled 2
• Bejeweled 3
• Bellator: MMA Onslaught
• Beyond Good & Evil HD
• Bionic Commando Rearmed 2
• BioShock
• BioShock 2
• BioShock Infinite
• Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII
• Blood Knights
• Blood of the Werewolf
• Bloodforge
• BloodRayne: Betrayal
• Blue Dragon
• Bolt
• Bomberman Live: Battlefest
• Boom Boom Rocket
• Bound by Flame
• Borderlands
• Borderlands 2
• Braid
• Brain Challenge
• Brave: The Video Game
• Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway
• Brütal Legend
• Bullet Soul
• Bullet Soul -Infinite Burst-
• Bully: Scholarship Edition
• The Bureau: XCOM Declassified
• Burnout Paradise
• Burnout Revenge

C

• Cabela's Alaskan Adventures
• Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2013
• Cabela's Hunting Expeditions
• Cabela's Survival: Shadows of Katmai
• Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
• Call of Duty: Black Ops
• Call of Duty: Black Ops II
• Call of Duty: Ghosts
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
• Call of Duty: World at War
• Call of Duty 2
• Call of Duty 3
• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
• Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood
• Call of Juarez: Gunslinger
• Call of Juarez: The Cartel
• Capcom Arcade Cabinet
• Carcassonne
• Cars Mater-National Championship
• Cars 2: The Video Game
• Castlevania: Harmony of Despair
• Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
• Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2
• Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate
• Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
• Castle Crashers
• Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse
• CastleStorm
• Catherine
• The Cave
• Centipede & Millipede
• Child of Eden
• Clannad
• Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley
• Comix Zone
• Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath
• Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 – Commander's Challenge
• Commanders: Attack of the Genos
• Condemned: Criminal Origins
• Contra
• Costume Quest
• Costume Quest 2
• Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
• Crackdown
• Crackdown 2
• Crazy Taxi
• Crysis
• Crysis 2
• Crysis 3
• Crystal Defenders
• Crystal Quest
• Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram

D

• Dante's Inferno
• Dark Souls
• Dark Void
• The Darkness
• The Darkness II
• Darksiders
• Darksiders II
• Daytona USA
• de Blob 2
• Dead Rising 2: Case Zero
• Dead Rising 2: Case West
• Dead Space
• Dead Space 2
• Dead Space 3
• Dead Space Ignition
• Deadfall Adventures
• Deadliest Warrior: The Game
• Deadliest Warrior: Legends
• Deadly Premonition
• DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue
• Defense Grid: The Awakening
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut
• Dig Dug
• DiRT 3
• Dirt: Showdown
• Discs of Tron
• Divinity II
• Domino Master
• Doom
• Doom II
• Doom 3: BFG Edition
• Doritos Crash Course
• Double Dragon: Neon
• Dragon Age: Origins
• Dragon Age II
• Dragon's Lair
• Driver: San Francisco
• DuckTales Remastered
• Duke Nukem Forever
• Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project
• Dungeon Siege III
• Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara

E

• Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon
• Earth Defense Force 2017
• Earth Defense Force 2025
• Earthworm Jim HD
• Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
• Enchanted Arms
• Encleverment Experiment
• Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
• Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two
• Escape Dead Island
• Every Extend Extra Extreme

F

• F1 2014
• Fable Anniversary
• Fable Heroes
• Fable II
• Fable II Pub Games
• Fable III
• Faery: Legends of Avalon
• Fallout 3
• Fallout: New Vegas
• Far Cry Classic
• Far Cry 2
• Far Cry 3
• Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon
• Far Cry Instincts: Predator
• Feeding Frenzy
• Feeding Frenzy 2: Shipwreck Showdown
• Fight Night Champion
• Fighting Vipers
• Final Fantasy XIII
• Final Fantasy XIII-2
• Final Fight: Double Impact
• Flashback
• Flock!
• Forza Horizon
• Foul Play
• Fret Nice
• Frogger
• Frogger 2
• From Dust
• Frontlines: Fuel of War
• Fuel
• FunTown Mahjong

G

• Galaga
• Galaga Legions
• Galaga Legions DX
• Garou: Mark of the Wolves
• Gatling Gears
• Gears of War
• Gears of War 2
• Gears of War 3
• Gears of War: Judgment
• Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved
• Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2
• Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions
• Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime
• Ghostbusters: The Video Game
• Gin Rummy
• Girl Fight
• Go! Go! Break Steady
• Goat Simulator
• Golden Axe
• Golf: Tee It Up!
• Grand Theft Auto IV
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
• Greg Hastings Paintball 2
• Grid 2
• Grid Autosport
• GripShift
• Guardian Heroes
• Gunstar Heroes
• Guwange
• Gyromancer
• Gyruss

H

• Half-Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax
• Halo 3
• Halo 3: ODST Campaign Edition
• Halo 4
• Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
• Halo: Reach
• Halo: Spartan Assault
• Halo Wars
• Hard Corps: Uprising
• Hardwood Backgammon
• Hardwood Hearts
• Hardwood Spades
• Harms Way
• Haunted House
• Heavy Weapon
• Hexic HD
• Hexic 2
• Hitman: Absolution
• Hitman: Blood Money
• Hitman HD Trilogy
• Hydro Thunder Hurricane
• Hydrophobia

I

• I Am Alive
• Ikaruga
• ilomilo
• Infinite Undiscovery
• Injustice: Gods Among Us
• Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
• Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos
• Iron Brigade

J

• Jeremy McGrath's Offroad
• Jet Set Radio HD
• Jetpac Refuelled
• Jewel Quest
• Joe Danger: Special Edition
• Joe Danger 2: The Movie
• Joust
• Joy Ride Turbo
• JUJU
• Jurassic Park: The Game
• Just Cause
• Just Cause 2

K

• Kameo: Elements of Power
• Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days
• Killer Is Dead
• Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
• The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match
• The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match
• King of Fighters: Sky Stage
• The King of Fighters XIII

L

• Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
• Lazy Raiders
• Left 4 Dead
• Left 4 Dead 2
• LEGO Batman: The Videogame
• Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes
• LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
• LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues
• LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game
• LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
• Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
• LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
• Limbo
• Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
• Lode Runner
• Lost Odyssey
• Lost Planet
• Lost Planet: Colonies
• Lost Planet 2
• Lost Planet 3
• Lumines LIVE
• Luxor 2

M

• Madballs in Babo: Invasion
• Mad Tracks
• Mafia II
• Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers
• Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012
• Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013
• Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2014
• Marathon 2: Durandal
• Marlow Briggs and the Mask of Death
• Mars: War Logs
• Mass Effect
• Mass Effect 2
• Mass Effect 3
• Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond
• The Maw
• Medal of Honor: Airborne
• Meet the Robinsons
• Mega Man 9
• Mega Man 10
• Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
• Metal Gear Solid HD Edition
• Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker - HD Edition
• Metal Slug 3
• Metal Slug XX
• Midnight Club: Los Angeles
• Midway Arcade Origins
• Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes
• Military Madness: Nectaris
• Mirror's Edge
• The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom
• Missile Command
• Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine
• Monday Night Combat
• Monopoly Deal
• Monopoly Plus
• Moon Diver
• Motocross Madness
• Mr. Driller Online
• Ms. Pac-Man
• Ms. Splosion Man
• Mutant Storm Empire
• Mutant Storm Reloaded
• MX vs. ATV Reflex

N

• N+
• NBA Jam: On Fire Edition
• NeoGeo Battle Coliseum
• New Rally-X
• NiGHTS into Dreams...
• Nin2-Jump
• Ninja Gaiden II
• Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge

O

• Of Orcs and Men
• Omega Five
• Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising
• Operation Flashpoint: Red River
• The Orange Box
• Orcs Must Die!
• Outland
• Overlord
• Overlord II

P

• Pac-Man
• Pac-Man Championship Edition
• Pac-Man Championship Edition DX
• Pac-Man Museum
• Peggle
• Peggle 2
• Perfect Dark
• Perfect Dark Zero
• Persona 4 Arena
• Peter Jackson's King Kong
• Phantasy Star II
• Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds
• Pinball FX
• Planets Under Attack
• Plants vs. Zombies
• Port Royale 3: Pirates & Merchants
• Portal: Still Alive
• Portal 2
• Prey
• Prince of Persia
• Prince of Persia Classic
• Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
• Pure
• Putty Squad
• Puzzle Quest 1 Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
• Puzzle Quest: Galactrix
• Puzzle Quest 2
• Puzzlegeddon

Q

• Qix++
• Quantum Conundrum

R

• R-Type Dimensions
• Radiant Silvergun
• Rage
• Raiden IV
• Raskulls
• Rayman 3 HD
• Rayman Legends
• Rayman Origins
• Rayman Raving Rabbids
• Red Dead Redemption
• Red Faction: Armageddon
• Red Faction: Battlegrounds
• Resident Evil Code: Veronica X
• RoboBlitz
• Rocket Knight
• Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis
• R.U.S.E.
• Rumble Roses XX
• Runner2

S

• Sacred 3
• Sacred Citadel
• Saints Row
• Saints Row: Gat out of Hell
• Saints Row 2
• Saints Row: The Third
• Saints Row IV
• Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space
• Sam & Max Save the World
• Samurai Shodown II
• Scarygirl
• Scrap Metal
• ScreamRide
• The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition
• The Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck's Revenge
• Sega Bass Fishing
• Sega Vintage Collection: Alex Kidd & Co.
• Sega Vintage Collection: Golden Axe
• Sega Vintage Collection: Monster World
• Sega Vintage Collection: Streets of Rage
• Sega Vintage Collection: ToeJam & Earl
• Sensible World of Soccer
• Shadowrun
• Shadow Assault: Tenchu
• Shadow Complex
• Shadows of the Damned
• Shank 2
• Shinobi
• Shotest Shogi
• Shred Nebula
• Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution
• Silent Hill: Downpour
• Silent Hill HD Collection
• Silent Hill: Homecoming
• Sine Mora
• Skate
• Skate 3
• Skullgirls: Encore
• Skydive: Proximity Flight
• Slender: The Arrival
• Small Arms
• Sniper Elite V2
• Soltrio Solitaire
• Sonic Adventure
• Sonic Adventure 2
• Sonic & Knuckles
• Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
• Sonic Generations
• Sonic the Fighters
• Sonic CD
• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2
• Sonic the Hedgehog 3
• Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I
• Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II
• Sonic Unleashed
• Soulcalibur
• SoulCalibur II HD Online
• South Park: The Stick of Truth
• Space Ark
• Space Giraffe
• Space Invaders Infinity Gene
• Spec Ops: The Line
• Spelunky
• The Splatters
• Split/Second
• 'Splosion Man
• SSX
• Stacking
• Star Ocean: The Last Hope
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
• Steins;Gate
• Steins;Gate: Hiyoku Renri no Darling
• Steins;Gate: Senkei Kōsoku no Phenogram
• Strania
• Street Fighter IV
• Stuntman: Ignition
• Super Contra
• Super Meat Boy
• Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
• Super Street Fighter IV
• Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition
• Supreme Commander 2
• Syberia
• Syndicate

T

• Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack
• Tecmo Bowl Throwback
• Tekken 6
• Tekken Tag Tournament 2
• Texas Hold 'Em
• Ticket to Ride
• TimeShift
• Tom Clancy's EndWar
• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter
• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2
• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
• Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent
• Tomb Raider: Anniversary
• Tomb Raider: Legend
• Tomb Raider: Underworld
• Too Human
• Torchlight
• Tour de France 2009: The Official Game
• Tour de France 2011
• Tower Bloxx Deluxe
• Toy Soldiers
• Toy Soldiers: Cold War
• Toy Story 3
• Toybox Turbos
• Trials Evolution
• Trials HD
• Triggerheart Exelica
• Trine 2
• Tron: Evolution
• Tropico 4

U

• Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon
• Ultra Street Fighter IV
• Unbound Saga
• Undertow
• Unreal Tournament III

V

• Vanquish
• Virtua Fighter 2
• Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown
• Virtual-On: Cyber Troopers
• Viva Piñata
• Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise

W

• The Walking Dead
• The Walking Dead: Michonne
• The Walking Dead: Season Two
• The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
• Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3
• Wolfenstein 3D
• Word Puzzle

X

• XCOM: Enemy Unknown
• XCOM: Enemy Within

Y

• Yosumin! Live

Z

• Zone of the Enders HD Collection
• Zuma
• Zuma's Revenge!

List of original Xbox backward compatible games

• Armed and Dangerous
• Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
• Black
• Blinx: The Time Sweeper
• BloodRayne 2
• Breakdown
• Conker: Live & Reloaded
• Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge
• Dead to Rights
• Destroy All Humans!
• The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
• Full Spectrum Warrior
• Fuzion Frenzy
• Grabbed by the Ghoulies
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
• Hunter: The Reckoning
• Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb
• Jade Empire
• The King of Fighters Neowave
• Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction
• MX Unleashed
• Ninja Gaiden Black
• Panzer Dragoon Orta
• Panzer Elite Action: Fields of Glory
• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
• Psychonauts
• Red Faction II
• Sid Meier's Pirates!
• Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy
• SSX 3
• Star Wars: Battlefront
• Star Wars: Battlefront II
• Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
• Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
• Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
• Star Wars: Republic Commando
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow
• Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict

What you need to know

• A version of GoldenEye 007 for the Xbox 360 has leaked online.
• The ROM is playable on PC through the use of an emulator.
• GoldenEye 007 for the Xbox 360 was originally planned for 2008 but never came out.

A version of GoldenEye 007 for the Xbox 360 recently leaked online. If you know where to find the leak, it's playable on PC through the use of an emulator (via Video Game Chronicle). The game was originally set to come out in 2008 but was canceled before it came out.

The leaked ROM is a near-final version of the game that includes both the single-player campaign and its multiplayer mode. You can switch between HD graphics and the original blocky style of the N64 version if you're feeling nostalgic.

The game was reportedly canceled due to rights issues, according to 1Up (via The Verge). The game reportedly ran into several rights issues, including conflicts with Nintendo which published the original game, Microsoft which owned Rare which developed the original game, and Eon Productions which held the license to Bond.

Footage of the leak being played has appeared in the past, but the recent leak of the ROM allows anyone who gets their hands on it to be able to play it. As with other leaks, we won't link to the ROM here, but you can find it if you know where to look.

Digital Foundry has a video of GoldenEye 007 in action that shows over two hours of the game.

The licensing issues that prevented the 2008 version of the game still seem to haunt the title. Microsoft's Phil Spencer talked about how the rights to the game prevent any new versions from coming out. Spencer stated on Twitter, "GoldenEye rights are so challenging, looked at this many times. Lot's of different parties to work with, we've always given up."

The Xbox 360 represents a special time in gaming when the internet began to truly take off, and Microsoft came to the fore with its standardized connectivity for console games in the form of Xbox Live.

The Xbox 360 era also represents some of my favorite gaming franchises of all time, in an age where service-type games hadn't taken away all of the big publisher's attention. Games like Dead Space, Mass Effect, Dragon Age: Origins, and many, many, many more soaked up hundreds of hours of my time, launching right around the time I dropped out of school (perfect timing, perhaps?)

Here's a little Xbox 360 retrospective, covering all the highs and some of the low lows.

Coming out swinging

Microsoft positioned the Xbox 360 in a near-flawless way, taking advantage of Sony's complacency, built on the back of the wildly successful PlayStation 2. The PlayStation 3, by comparison, was more expensive, although arguably more forward-facing. It had a Blu-ray drive, in a time where few Blu-rays existed. It had integrated WiFi, at a time where home WiFi wasn't ubiquitous like it is today. It had a highly-customized, expensive architecture too, which led to an inflated price point.

Sony's Shuhei Yoshida described the PlayStation 3's price reveal as a "horrifying moment" at a developer conference back in 2018. And indeed, it was the misstep that gave Xbox a real chance to hit the mainstream.

The Xbox 360 launched a year earlier than the PlayStation 3, which gave it a huge head-start when building up a userbase. The Xbox 360's design also allowed it to achieve a much lower retail price point. WiFi was optional, via a sold-separately dongle, and the Xbox 360 fell back on DVDs as its primary medium, which was also cheaper. Microsoft drove innovation in other ways, taking advantage of rapidly expanding connectivity owing to growing broadband networks, effectively building the entire console and its games around this industry-defining service known as Xbox Live.

Xbox 360 innovations

Although Microsoft's primary innovations around Xbox Live began on the original Xbox, it was really the Xbox 360 that brought them into the mainstream. Xbox Live party chat, via that iconic mono piece headset, Xbox Live Achievements, which are practically found in every platform in some form, driving engagement, and full messaging features and services, letting gamers share their experiences in real-time (or cuss each other out, one or the other).

The speed at which Microsoft beefed up Xbox Live totally outpaced its rivals. Sony has practically completely caught up now, but Nintendo still lags far behind the other two, not even able to offer basic features like messaging. Microsoft's identity provision in the form of Gamertags, becoming one of the first platforms to adopt Netflix and other streaming services as a media center, and even things as obvious as friends lists all became the norm, due to the pace of innovation going on within the Xbox division.

Netflix was at one time, an Xbox 360 exclusive.

From a platform level, it felt like Microsoft could do no wrong in this area. As Sony's PlayStation Network grew, it was decimated by a large and notorious security breach, which only added to the idea that Xbox Live was the "king" of console live services.

As we all know, it wasn't all peaches and roses for Microsoft last gen.

And then, the Red Ring of Death

A few years into the console cycle, gamers started noticing that their Xbox 360 consoles were beginning to fail, almost in unison. The failure warning went on to become a notorious meme, dubbed the "Red Ring of Death," or RROD for short. RROD consoles displayed a red circle around the power button, indicating a total system failure.

The RROD was a technological worst-case scenario for any electronics company. A smaller company might've been buried by it, too. Every single Xbox 360 consoles, practically, was susceptible to the Red Ring of Death, leading then-Xbox lead Peter Moore to request over a billion dollars from then-CEO Steve Ballmer to rectify the problem. Moore recounted the calamity in a previous interview (via Eurogamer):

Microsoft later came out with various hardware revisions that solved the RROD, and Ballmer's investment in saving the Xbox brand largely paid off, with Microsoft's stock holding steady. Indeed, it led to the powerhouse that Xbox is today, with Minecraft and growing services like Xbox Game Pass, flooding Xbox with cash it has never really had before.

A legacy of amazing games lives on

The Xbox 360 was ultimately typified by a huge, huge trove of amazing games, many of which are now a little bit dormant.

My favorites came from BioWare, ultimately, with Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins being two of my favorite games of all time. Both franchises picked up a single game throughout the Xbox One and PS4 generation. Still, it feels like EA pivoted towards more service-type games, for a maximum guaranteed return on investment. There are rumors of new Mass Effect and Dragon Age titles being in development, but we've yet to see either materialize.

Beyond that, the gen just had so many legendary entries, such as Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Deus Ex Human Revolution, Battlefield Bad Company 2, Bioshock, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Red Dead Redemption, and many other games I sank hundreds of hours into.

One of my favorite things about modern Xbox is the desire to honor that library of games, bringing them forward to the Xbox One and eventually, the Xbox Series X via pervasive backward compatibility.

Did you have an Xbox 360?

What were your fondest memories of the Xbox 360-era? Which games did you love the most? Which franchises should return? Let us know in the comments.

Xbox

Main

• What is Xbox Game Pass?
• Best 4K TVs for Xbox Series X and S
• Must-buy Xbox One Headsets
• Our Favorite Xbox One Wireless Headsets
• Best Upcoming Xbox Games for 2021
• Xbox One X vs. Xbox Series S

Put those rose-colored glasses on and embrace the past with more in our tech nostalgia series.

• Windows Central
  • 35 (glorious) years of Windows
  • Remembering Windows Phone
  • PC gaming changed my life
  • Legacy of the Pocket PC
  • Best video games of the '80s
  • Why Zune left a permanent impression on us
  • Remembering Xbox 360
  • A love letter to Diablo II
• Android Central
  • The best Android tablet was the Pixel C
  • Galaxy S Fascinate retrospective review
  • HTC Inspire 4G retrospective review
  • Why the Moto X was the best
  • Honeycomb: The Android version we all forgot
  • Nexus Q was super weird but influential
  • NVIDIA Shield is timeless
  • The phones that made us fall for Android
  • How Android has changed over the years
  • Android phones with physical keyboards
  • Admit it, Android sucked before 2017
  • The wild early days of Android smartwatches
• iMore
  • First Mac memories
  • Remembering arcades
  • Love for LAN
  • Lemonade Stand memories
  • The classy iPod Classic
  • Game manual memorabilia
  • Nintendo Nostalgia
  • Cassettes vs digital music

What you need to know

• A new system update is available for the Xbox 360.
• The update brings a smattering of "minor bug fixes and improvements".
• You can grab the update now if you're still using an Xbox 360 (but you should really upgrade to an Xbox One at this point).

Do you still have an Xbox 360 lying around? If so, there's a surprise update for the console available now. As you'd expect from an update for the aging console, there's nothing significant here, however.

The release notes for the update only cite "minor bug fixes and improvements." So, if you're still using your Xbox 360, your console may operate a little better after the update, but it's unclear what issues it addresses.

In 2019, however, you'll probably want to start eyeing an upgrade to an Xbox One if you're still holding onto an Xbox 360. The newer console includes backward compatibility with a long list of supported games and we're on the precipice of a new console generation next year with Xbox Project Scarlett. You can pick up an Xbox One S for far below $300 nowadays as well.

Developer Toylogic announced on Twitter today that service for Happy Wars has come to an end on Windows 10 and Xbox 360. Service will continue for Xbox One, where players will still be able to take part in the quirky action game for the foreseeable future.

Happy Wars is a stylized online multiplayer battler that places up to 30 players against one another. There are multiple classes and game modes to choose from, mixing the action up quite a bit from match to match.

The game initially launched on the Microsoft Store for Windows 10 with cross-play support in December of 2016. At the time, Toylogic also "[concluded] service" for the Steam version of the game. With Happy Wars' retirement from Xbox 360 and Windows 10, that leaves Xbox One as the sole place to jump into the game. Toylogic also has a game called Happy Dungeons available for both Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

Happy Wars is free-to-play and is available for Xbox One now.

See at Microsoft

Today, Larry Hryb, Director of Programming for Xbox Live, announced that Xbox 360 games Silent Hill HD Collection and Silent Hill: Homecoming are now backward compatible on Xbox One. Both games aren't the heavy-hitters fans were hoping for, but they're still a lot of fun.

Backward compatibility opens Xbox One to a huge variety of games, spanning three generations of Microsoft's consoles. Despite hardware differences, it remains an outstanding feature, allowing a select library of older games to be played on Xbox One. While the majority of them are Xbox 360 titles, there are also some original Xbox games in there.

Silent Hill HD Collection

Silent Hill HD Collection is a compilation of remastered ports of Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3 released for the Xbox 360. Both of the games are regarded as some of the better entries in the Silent Hill franchise.

• See at Amazon
• See at Microsoft Store

Silent Hill: Homecoming

Silent Hill: Homecoming is a survival horror game and the sixth installment in the Silent Hill series. The title follows Alex Shepherd, a soldier returning from war, as he finds his town in disarray, and his younger brother missing. As Alex continues to search for his brother, he uncovers a strange cult and the region's dark past.

• See at Amazon
• See at Microsoft Store

Be sure to check out these games on Xbox One if you're looking for a break between new experiences like The Crew 2. Even to this day Silent Hill HD Collection and Silent Hill: Homecoming remain quite enjoyable.

Keep an eye on WindowsCentral.com/Gaming for all the latest in Xbox and Windows 10 gaming, accessories, news, and reviews!

Microsoft this week announced that it has retired the Xbox 360 Smartglass apps across all platforms. If you were still using Smartglass on iOS, Android, Windows Phone 7, Windows Phone 8, Windows 10 Mobile, Windows 8, or Windows 10, "support for the app and content are no longer being offered," Microsoft says. Instead, Microsoft is encouraging players to use the Xbox app for iOS, Android, Windows 10, and Windows 10 Mobile.

The Xbox 360 Smartglass app allowed users to interact with their consoles with a second-screen experience. Players could use the app to control and interact with what was on their TVs using gestures on the app to launch games, play music, and more. It also acted as a convenient way to enter text on your Xbox 360, and, notably, Fable Anniversary even included achievements for using Smartglass.

At this point, Xbox One has been on the market for nearly five years. The pool of any remaining Xbox 360 players who are still actively using the Smartglass app is likely pretty small.

Microsoft has since turned its attention to the newer Xbox app, which lets you buy games, chat with friends, and more on mobile platforms and PC.

• See Xbo app at Microsoft Store
• See Xbox app at App Store
• See Xbox app at Google Play

Before the Microsoft Band, a small team within Microsoft was developing an Xbox accessory that was internally referred to as "Joule" (pronounced jewel). Much like the Microsoft Band, Joule was going to primarily be a fitness accessory but with one stand-out difference: it was tied to Xbox. Paired with the Microsoft Kinect, Joule was going to be able to track gamers' exercise while playing Kinect-based games and then show simple fitness data like heart rate and distance traveled via Kinect PlayFit.

We got our hands on an early Xbox Joule prototype, which gives us our best look yet at what Microsoft was planning for its first fitness wearable. This device is early and is running software that was never finished, so our prototype likely doesn't include the full feature set that Microsoft originally intended. But here's what we know about the now-defunct Xbox fitness wearable.

Xbox Joule design and hardware

Going off what our prototype looks like, the Xbox Joule was going to be a beefy wearable that wrapped around your wrist. It features a 1.5-inch screen on a 2.25-inch plastic body (measured diagonally), and a silver-colored back os where the heart-rate sensor and charging connector are located.

Judging by the way this wearable is designed, Joule was going to feature interchangeable bands, as it features a rim where bands could clip in. Unfortunately, we were unable to find anyone with compatible bands that were supposed to go with the wearable.

Our unit features one green button on the right that acted as a power and wake button. Everything else is operated with the touchscreen. This prototype features a screen with a super low-resolution. You can see pixels, and it doesn't look good. It's not an OLED screen, either, meaning blacks aren't deep. The screen looks bad.

There's nothing really premium about this wearable. It doesn't look or feel very good, and it seems like a wearable that you'd have only really put on for when you were in front of your Xbox. It's definitely bulkier than any fitness wearables on the market today. At the same time, the Xbox Joule predates things like the Apple Watch and Fitbit Charge. And this is just a prototype, so other aesthetic changes could have been made.

Xbox Joule software and features

Because Joule was never finished, the software running on our prototype is of an alpha state. The software UI uses square icons, similar to the Live tiles on a Windows Phone, except these aren't "live" in any way. They're static green icons that you can swipe between and tap on.

There are only three apps, one of which doesn't appear to work: Workouts, Free Play, and Settings. Workouts doesn't work on our device, but it would've likely had set challenges and goals within Kinect-based games. If achieved, the gamer would have likely unlocked an achievement.

Free Play appears to track data without needing to be playing any games. This means you can go for a run or walk, and it'll track that data and upload it to Kinect Play Fit, where you can compare with your Xbox Live Friends. The wearable appears to be able to pair with a smartphone via Bluetooth, so perhaps there was an app in the works for smartphones.

Free Play tracks calories burned, heart rate, duration of "free play," and distance. You swipe left or right between each bit of data to see it updating live. The software is gesture-based; a swipe down is contextual and will change depending what app you're in. For example, in the Free Play app, swiping down invokes a menu that allows you to end the current session. When not in an app, swiping down reveals the time, date and battery life.

The Settings app is barebones. Our unit only has two options: brightness and about. Brightness lets you change the brightness.. About gives you info such as software version, your gender, height, weight and more. None of this appears to be configurable on-device.

Xbox 360 Kinect PlayFit

Microsoft launched its PlayFit service on the Xbox 360, but without the Joule accessory. It used Kinect, and users could track calories lost when playing Kinect-based games. The original idea for PlayFit was to track more data than just calories, which is why the Joule wearable was in the works. Kinect couldn't track data like heart rate or distance, and couldn't track you when away from your Xbox.

It looks like Microsoft was planning to build a fitness network where you could compete with your Xbox Live friends, and that idea did come to life, albeit without the added additional data tracking that was possible with a wearable. With Joule, Microsoft could've extended things like Xbox achievements into the real world. Walk 10,000 steps in a day for 10 Gamerscore, for example.

What happened to Xbox Joule?

So why exactly was Joule canceled? If I had to speculate, I'd say the wearable was killed because it was targeting the wrong demographic and didn't stand out as an accessory worth manufacturing. At the time, gamers weren't warming to the Kinect anyway, and encouraging them to keep fit likely wasn't going to prove successful.

As such, the team behind Joule was put to work on a product that would eventually be known as the Microsoft Band. Released in 2014, the Band included all the things the Joule did, including tracking data like heart rate, calories lost, and distance traveled. The Band was a more refined idea for a fitness wearable.

Unfortunately, the Band didn't have any Xbox tie-ins and was more aimed at those looking to keep fit rather than gamers. The Band was killed a couple of years later, likely due to durability issues that the company was unable to fix.

That ends the story of the Microsoft wearable ... for now, at least.

Microsoft has today announced via the folks at IGN that four of its backward compatible Xbox 360 games will be enhanced for Xbox One X.

No, you didn't read that wrong.

The four lucky titles are Halo 3, Assassin's Creed, Fallout 3 and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. All are currently available on backward compatibility and the Xbox One X enhancements will be available as a free update on November 7.

The backward compatibility program is one of Microsoft's finest recent achievements, bringing a huge range of older titles back to life on the current generation console. It's about to be joined, too, by games from the original Xbox, making three generations of Xbox games playable on the same console. You'll never have an excuse again for not having something to play.

Enhancing older games for the Xbox One X isn't something we knew was coming, but now we're left wondering how far Microsoft and its partners could go. November 7 continues to get more exciting the closer we get.

If you haven't yet pre-ordered an Xbox One X, hit the link below to get your name in for one.

See at Microsoft

This week's Deals with Gold has been announced by Microsoft's Xbox guru Larry Hryb. Owners of an Xbox One will be able to enjoy some serious discounts on Assassin's Creed, Forza 6, and Dead or Alive 5. If you feel the need to add a few more games to your collection, now's the perfect time to do so.

Xbox One

• Assassin's Creed Chronicles – Trilogy - 60% off
• Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China - 50% off
• Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India - 50% off
• Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia - 50% off
• Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag - 60% off
• Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag Illustrious Pirates Pack (Add-on) - 50% off
• Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag – Freedom Cry (Add-on) - 50% off
• Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag – Season Pass (Add-on) - 67% off
• Assassin's Creed Syndicate - 60% off
• Assassin's Creed Syndicate Gold Edition - 60% off
• Assassin's Creed Syndicate – Jack the Ripper (Add-on) - 60% off
• Assassin's Creed Syndicate – Season Pass (Add-on) - 67% off
• Assassin's Creed Syndicate – Steampunk Pack (Add-on) - 50% off
• Assassin's Creed Syndicate – Streets of London Pack (Add-on) - 50% off
• Assassin's Creed Syndicate – The Last Maharaja Missions Pack (Add-on) - 50% off
• Assassin's Creed Syndicate – Victorian Legends Pack (Add-on) - 50% off
• Assassin's Creed The Ezio Collection - 50% off
• Assassin's Creed Triple Pack: Black Flag, Unity, Syndicate - 67% off
• Assassin's Creed Unity - 60% off
• Assassin's Creed Unity – Secrets of the Revolution (Add-on) - 60% off
• Battle Islands: Commanders – Exclusive Battle Over Berlin Bundle* (Add-on) - 35% off
• Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition Duke Nukem Bundle* - 50% off
• Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition* - 50% off
• DEAD OR ALIVE 5 Last Round – Character: Kokoro (Add-on) - 0% / 100% off
• DEAD OR ALIVE 5 Last Round – Core Fighters 30 Character Set (Add-on) - 20% / 30% off
• DEAD OR ALIVE 5 Last Round – Flower Set (Add-on) - 20% / 30% off
• DEAD OR ALIVE 5 Last Round – Honoka Character + Debut Costume Set (Add-on) - 20% / 30% off
• DEAD OR ALIVE 5 Last Round – Mai Shiranui + Debut Costume Set (Add-on) - 20% / 30% off
• DEAD OR ALIVE 5 Last Round – Naotora Ii + Debut Costume Set (Add-on) - 20% / 30% off
• DEAD OR ALIVE 5 Last Round – Newcomer Set (Add-on) - 20% / 30% off
• DEAD OR ALIVE 5 Last Round – Pop Idol Costume Set (Add-on) - 20% / 30% off
• DEAD OR ALIVE 5 Last Round – Shrine Maiden Costume Set (Add-on) - 20% / 30% off
• DEAD OR ALIVE 5 Last Round – Ultimate Kokoro Content (Add-on) - 30% / 50% off
• Doodle God: Ultimate Edition* - 50% off
• Evolve Digital Deluxe* - 75% off
• Evolve Ultimate Edition* - 75% off
• Evolve* - 75% off
• Final Fantasy Type-0 HD* - 50% off
• Forza Horizon 2 VIP* (Add-on) - 80% off
• Forza Motorsport 6 Fast & Furious Car Pack* (Add-on) - 50% off
• Forza Motorsport 6 VIP* (Add-on) - 75% off
• Goat MMO Simulator* (Add-on) - 67% off
• Goat Simulator: GoatZ* (Add-on) - 67% off
• Goat Simulator: PAYDAY* (Add-on) - 60% off
• Goat Simulator: Waste Of Space* (Add-on) - 35% off
• Mafia III Deluxe Edition* - 35% off
• Mafia III Season Pass* (Add-on) - 35% off
• Mafia III* - 35% off
• Ride 2* - 60% off
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege Complete Edition* - 45% off
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege Year 2 Gold Edition* - 45% off
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege* - 50% off
• Tour de France 2017* - 40% off

Xbox 360

• 0 Day Attack on Earth* - 50% off
• Assassin's Creed - 75% off
• Assassin's Creed Brotherhood - 75% off
• Assassin's Creed III - 75% off
• Assassin's Creed III Season Pass (Add-on) - 67% off
• Assassin's Creed III The Betrayal (Add-on) - 67% off
• Assassin's Creed III The Infamy (Add-on) - 67% off
• Assassin's Creed III The Redemption (Add-on) - 67% off
• Assassin's Creed III – The Hidden Secrets Pack (Add-on) - 67% off
• Assassin's Creed III: The Battle Hardened Pack (Add-on) - 67% off
• Assassin's Creed Liberation HD - 67% off
• Assassin's Creed Revelations - 75% off
• Assassin's Creed Rogue - 67% off
• Bound by Flame* - 75% off
• Contrast* - 75% off
• Crystal Defenders* - 50% off
• Divinity II – The Dragon Knight Saga* - 75% off
• Faery: Legends of Avalon* - 75% off
• Final Fantasy XIII-2* - 50% off
• Gyromancer* - 50% off
• Mafia II* - 75% off
• Moon Diver* - 50% off
• Space Invaders Extreme* - 50% off
• Space Invaders Infinity Gene* - 50% off
• Trials Fusion – DLC Empire of the Sky (Add-on) - 67% off
• Trials Fusion – DLC Riders of the Rustland (Add-on) - 67% off
• Trials Fusion – Season Pass (Add-on) - 70% off
• Trials Fusion: After The Incident (Add-on) - 67% off
• Trials Fusion: Fault One Zero (Add-on) - 67% off
• Trials Fusion: Fire in the deep (Add-on) - 67% off
• Trials Fusion: Welcome to the Abyss (Add-on) - 67% off
• Yosumin! LIVE* - 50% off

Hulu is jumping back a generation to revisit its Xbox 360 app. The latest update to the app brings Hulu's new, revamped interface to the twelve-year-old console. Perhaps even more surprisingly, the update also adds support for Hulu's new live TV service.

Hulu's live TV service is still in beta, but it offers up access to more than 50 channels in addition to its normal on-demand streaming library. You can also add premium channels to the experience, including Showtime, HBO and Cinemax. A cloud DVR also ensures you can catch up on any live broadcasts you happen to miss.

If you still have an Xbox 360 kicking around as a media streamer, or simply haven't upgraded to an Xbox One yet, then this should be a welcome effort from Hulu. It's also just pretty interesting that, as The Verge notes, the Xbox 360 is getting the new interface before newer platforms, like PlayStation 4 and Roku.

In any case, you can grab the update and sign up to test Hulu's live TV offering on your Xbox 360 now.

Microsoft has announced a scheduled maintenance period for June 20 that will impact Xbox 360 titles and services. Taking place between the hours of 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. ET (8 a.m. to 10 a.m. UTC), the maintenance will affect games and services on Xbox 360 and Xbox 360 backward compatibility on Xbox One.

During the maintenance period, Microsoft says, you may be disconnected from Xbox Live "one or more times" while playing. While maintenance is ongoing, you can check up on the status with the Xbox Live Status page.

Aside from backward compatibility, it's important to note that this won't have any impact on Xbox One titles at all. Speaking of which, Microsoft recently announced Xbox 360 games will be joined by original Xbox titles on backward compatibility soon.

The Xbox One's backward compatibility emulator for the Xbox 360 is one of the console's key differentiators against the competition, but what if it could be even more?

In an exchange on Twitter, Xbox head Phil Spencer said "never say never" with regards to getting Xbox 360 games running on Windows 10 via emulation.

Spencer noted that it would be difficult to get backward compatibility running reliably across all the different types of PC hardware configurations out there, but closed with some degree of optimism.

The idea of getting the Xbox 360 emulator running on Windows 10 certainly fits in with Microsoft's "Play Anywhere" vision, by which your digital library of content travels with you, regardless of the device you're using. Naturally, the technical hurdles to get this running reliably would be significant, but the Xbox software engineering team seem to enjoy a challenge.

Whether we see X360 games on Windows 10 or not, Xbox is set to have a tremendous year with the upcoming Creators Update, various headline games including Halo Wars 2, State of Decay 2, and Sea of Thieves, and of course, the next Xbox, Project Scorpio.

Phil Spencer hailed this year's Xbox One line-up, saying that they're aiming to ship more first-party IP than in 2016.

Would you want to see your Xbox 360 digital library on Windows 10? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Microsoft's Larry Hryb has revealed just what titles are included in this weeks Deals with Gold. The weekly promotion sees a bunch of Xbox One and Xbox 360 games discounted to help gamers bolster their collections. We're looking at the likes of Forza Horizon 2, Knight's Squad, Terraria, and more.

Xbox One

• Alekhine's Gun - 67% off
• Bridge Constructor - 50% off
• Brothers: a Tale of Two Sons - 75% off
• DC Universe Online 3-Month Membership (Add-on) - 33% off
• Forza Horizon 2 Complete Add-Ons Collection - 60% off
• Forza Horizon 2 Deluxe – 10th Anniversary Edition* - 40% off
• Forza Horizon 2 Standard – 10th Anniversary Edition - 60% off
• Forza Horizon 2 Ultimate – 10th Anniversary Edition* - 30% off
• Forza Motorsport 5: Racing Game of the Year Edition - 60% off
• Forza Motorsport 6 and Forza Horizon 2 Bundle - 45% off
• Forza Motorsport 6 Platinum Edition Bundle - 15% off
• Homefront: The Revolution - 60% off
• Homefront: The Revolution 'Freedom Fighter' Bundle - 70% off
• Knight's Squad - 67% off
• Professional Farmer 2017* - 50% off
• Rock Zombie - 50% off
• Terraria - 80% off
• Uno - 33% off
• WRC 5 eSports Edition - 80% off

Xbox 360

• Bound by Flame - 75% off
• Brothers: a Tale of Two Sons - 80% off
• Contrast - 75% off
• Farming Simulator - 75% off
• Persona 4 Arena - 30% off
• Persona 4 Arena Ultimax - 60% off
• RAW – Realms of Ancient War - 75% off
• Terraria – Xbox 360 Edition - 80% off
• WRC 5 FIA World Rally Championship - 80% off

Microsoft's Larry Hryb has revealed what Xbox One and Xbox 360 titles are included as part of this week's Deals with Gold. The promotion runs every week, allowing gamers on both platforms to take full advantage of some sweet discounts. This week, we're looking at the likes of Resident Evil Revelations 2, Devil May Cry 4, and Rock Band 4.

Xbox One

• Adam's Venture: Origins - 50% off
• Cannon Brawl - 33% off
• Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition Demon Hunter Bundle - 50% off
• DmC Devil May Cry: Definitive Edition - 67% off
• Lichdom: Battlemage - 67% off
• NBA 2K17 35K Virtual Currency (Add-on) - 20% off
• NBA 2K17 75K Virtual Currency (Add-on) - 25% off
• Resident Evil Revelations 2 Deluxe Edition - 60% off
• Resident Evil Revelations – 2 Season Pass (Add-on) - 60% off
• Reus - 25% off
• Rock Band 4: Fueled by Ramen Pack One (Add-on) - 30% off
• Rock Band 4: Iron Maiden Pack 01 (Add-on) - 30% off
• The Swindle - 75% off
• The Technomancer - 50% off
• Tiny Troopers Joint Ops - 67% off

Xbox 360

• Counter-Strike: GO - 50% off
• Darksiders II - 80% off
• Darksiders II Season Pass (Add-on) - 75% off
• DiRT 3 - 75% off
• DiRT Showdown - 75% off
• MX VS ATV Supercross - 75% off
• Zombie Driver HD - 75% off

Have you picked up any games from this week's promotion? Sound off in the comments!

Microsoft has announced a new Xbox 360 Super Sale for those still rocking the last-gen console. You'll be able to find a vast collection of games discounted, including the likes of Call of Duty 2 and the original Borderlands. If you still game on the Xbox 360 and wish to bolster your vintage collection slightly, this is the time to pick up a few titles.

There are a ton of titles on sale so prepare to unleash your wallet. Let us know in the comments if you'll be picking any up!

• Assassin's Creed III Season Pass (Add-on) - 50% 360 off
• Assassin's Creed IV Season Pass (Add-on) - 50% 360 off
• Assassin's Creed Revelations — The Lost Archive (Add-on) - 40% 360 off
• Boom Boom Rocket - 75% off
• Borderlands - 60% 360 off
• Borderlands 2 - 60% 360 off
• Borderlands: The Pre-sequel - 80% 360 off
• Bully Scholarship Ed. - 35% 360 off
• Call of Duty 2 - 50% 360 off
• Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare - 60% 360 off
• Call of Duty: Black Ops - 67% 360 off
• Call of Duty: Black Ops III – Bundle - 50% 360 off
• Dead Space - 67% 360 off
• Deadpool - 50% 360 off
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution - 75% 360 off
• Devil May Cry HD Collection - 75% 360 off
• Diablo III: Reaper of Souls – Ultimate Evil Edition - 50% 360 off
• DmC Devil May Cry Games - 80% 360 off
• Dungeon Siege III - 75% 360 off
• EA SPORTS NHL Legacy Edition - 67% 360 off
• Far Cry 3 - 60% 360 off
• Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon - 60% 360 off
• Far Cry 3: Deluxe Bundle DLC (Add-on) - 50% 360 off
• Far Cry 4 - 60% 360 off
• Far Cry 4 Season Pass (Add-on) - 50% 360 off
• Gears of War 2: All Fronts Collection (Add-on) - 50% 360 off
• Gears of War 3 Season Pass (Add-on) - 67% 360 off
• Gears of War Judgment VIP Pass (Add-on) - 50% 360 off
• Grand Theft Auto IV - 50% 360 off
• Grand Theft Auto V - 35% 360 off
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - 35% 360 off
• Halo 4 - 51% 360 off
• Halo 4 War Games Map Pass (Add-on) - 62% 360 off
• Hitman HD Pack - 75% 360 off
• Hitman: Absolution - 75% 360 off
• Hitman: Blood Money - 75% 360 off
• Just Cause 2 - 75% 360 off
• Madden NFL 17 - 25% 360 off
• Mafia II - 80% 360 off
• Metro 2033 - 75% 360 off
• Metro: Last Light - 75% 360 off
• Mirror's Edge - 67% 360 off
• NBA JAM: On Fire Edition - 67% 360 off
• Prey - 75% 360 off
• Prototype Biohazard Bundle - 63% 360 off
• Puzzle Fighter HD - 67% 360 off
• Red Dead Redemption - 35% 360 off
• Resident Evil CODE: Veronica X - 75% 360 off
• Resident Evil Revelations 2 – Season Pass (Add-on) - 60% 360 off
• Rocksmith 2014 Edition – Arena Rock Singles – Dio – Holy Diver (Add-on) - 30% Spotlight Sale
• Rocksmith 2014 Edition – Bachsmith Song Pack (Add-on) - 30% Spotlight Sale
• Rocksmith 2014 Edition – Bon Jovi Song Pack (Add-on) - 30% Spotlight Sale
• Rocksmith 2014 Edition – Disturbed Song Pack (Add-on) - 30% Spotlight Sale
• Rocksmith 2014 Edition – Green Day Pack (Add-on) - 30% Spotlight Sale
• Rocksmith 2014 Edition – Green Day – American Idiot (Add-on) - 30% Spotlight Sale
• Rocksmith 2014 Edition – Green Day – Basket Case (Add-on) - 30% Spotlight Sale
• Rocksmith 2014 Edition – Iron Maiden Song Pack (Add-on) - 30% Spotlight Sale
• Rocksmith 2014 Edition – Iron Maiden – Fear Of The Dark (Add-on) - 30% Spotlight Sale
• Rocksmith 2014 Edition – Linkin Park Song Pack (Add-on) - 30% Spotlight Sale
• Rocksmith 2014 Edition – Motorhead – Ace Of Spades (Add-on) - 30% Spotlight Sale
• Rocksmith 2014 Edition – Muse Song Pack (Add-on) - 30% Spotlight Sale
• Rocksmith 2014 Edition – Oasis Song Pack (Add-on) - 30% Spotlight Sale
• Rocksmith 2014 Edition – Oasis – Wonderwall (Add-on) - 30% Spotlight Sale
• Rocksmith 2014 Edition – Radiohead Song Pack (Add-on) - 30% Spotlight Sale
• Rocksmith 2014 Edition – Radiohead – Creep (Add-on) - 30% Spotlight Sale
• Rocksmith 2014 Edition – Rage Against The Machine – Killing In The Name (Add-on) - 30% Spotlight Sale
• Rocksmith 2014 Edition – Sum 41 Song Pack (Add-on) - 30% Spotlight Sale
• Rocksmith 2014 Edition – System Of A Down Song Pack (Add-on) - 30% Spotlight Sale
• Rocksmith 2014 Edition – The Cranberries – Zombie (Add-on) - 30% Spotlight Sale
• Rocksmith 2014 Edition – The Lumineers – Ho Hey (Add-on) - 30% Spotlight Sale
• Rocksmith 2014 Edition – The Smashing Pumpkings Song Pack (Add-on) - 30% Spotlight Sale
• Rocksmith 2014 Edition – The White Stripes – Seven Nation Army (Add-on) - 30% Spotlight Sale
• Rocksmith 2014 Edition – Toto – Hold The Line (Add-on) - 30% Spotlight Sale
• Saints Row - 75% 360 off
• Saints Row 2 - 75% 360 off
• Saints Row IV - 75% 360 off
• Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell - 75% 360 off
• Saints Row: The Third - 75% 360 off
• Shank 2 - 50% 360 off
• Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution - 80% 360 off
• Sleeping Dogs - 75% 360 off
• Spec Ops: The Line - 80% 360 off
• SSX - 75% 360 off
• Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition - 75% 360 off
• Street Fighter X Tekken - 80% 360 off
• Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix - 75% 360 off
• Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Editon - 50% 360 off
• Supreme Commander 2 - 75% 360 off
• Thief - 75% 360 off
• Ultra Street Fighter IV - 60% 360 off
• Watch Dogs - 60% 360 off
• Watch_Dogs Season Pass (Add-on) - 40% 360 off
• World of Tanks: T-15 Recruit Kit (Add-on) - 50% 360 off
• XCOM: Enemy Within - 80% 360 off

Developers Mojang and 4J Studios are rolling out a new content update for Minecraft on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One. It includes a number of new blocks, along with additions like polar bears and igloos.

Mojang states:

Minecraft Xbox owners can also purchase and download the Chinese Mythology Mash-Up DLC pack, which includes a pre-made world, along with 41 new skins and 13 musical themes for $4.99.

See on the Microsoft Store

Microsoft updated its list of Xbox 360 games that can be played on the Xbox One via its backwards compatibility feature today. The latest update includes the classic fantasy RPG Lost Odyssey, but that game is only available in disc form.

Yes, Lost Odyssey is one of the few games on the list that is not available digitally via the Xbox Store. The development of the 2008 fantasy RPG from developer Mistwalker was headed up by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakuguchi and published by Microsoft on four discs. If you want the game Amazon is currently selling a new copy for $78 98, or you can get a used version for a much cheaper price

See Lost Odyssey at Amazon

The other two new additions on the list include the movie-based family game Toy Story 3 and Guwange, a Japanese top-down shooter from developer and publisher CAVE.

Microsoft has updated its list of Xbox 360 games that can be played on the Xbox One, adding four new titles. The biggest edition is the WWII-based shooter Call of Duty World at War.

First released in 2008 from developer Treyarch and publisher Activision, World at War is the last game in the Call of Duty shooter series to be set in World War II. It's also the first game to include the popular co-op Zombie mode that has since been included in most of the subsequent games in the series.

Download Call of Duty: World at War from the Xbox Store

The other three games that were added to the Xbox One backwards compatible game list include the music-based shooter E4, the family game Encleverment Experiment and the Chinese tile game FunTown Mahjong, all from Microsoft Studios.

• Download E4 from the Xbox Store
• Download Encleverment Experiment from the Xbox Store
• Download FunTown Mahjong from the Xbox Store

Microsoft has revealed that the first Forza Horizon racing game for the Xbox 360 will be delisted from the Xbox Store after October 20, along with all of its post-release DLC content.

Microsoft posted word of the game's delisting as part of its weekly Forza community update post:

The first Forza Horizon game was first released in 2012 from developers Playground Games and Turn 10 Studios. The game was recently made available to play on the Xbox One as well via its backwards compatibility feature. The second game in the series, Forza Horizon 2, was released in 2014 for both Xbox One and Xbox 360. Microsoft's latest game in the series, Forza Horizon 3 has just been released for the Xbox One and Windows 10 for people who bought the Ultimate version, and will be released for everyone else on September 27.

See at Xbox Store

Microsoft has posted a rather short list of games that are included in this week's Xbox Deals with Gold promotion. Games like Just Cause 3 and Dragon Age Inquisition are discounted from now through Sept. 26.

Here's a look at the list of Xbox One and Xbox 360 games you can save money on for the next seven days if you have an Xbox Live Gold subscription:

Xbox One

• Dovetail Games Euro Fishing - 33% off
• Dragon Age: Inquisition – Game of the Year Edition - 60% off
• Just Cause 3 - 60% off
• Just Cause 3 XL Edition - 60% off

Xbox 360

• Akai Katana - 50% off
• Deathsmiles NA - 50% off
• Guncraft: Blocked and Loaded - 60% off
• King of Fighters XIII - 50% off
• Risen - 75% off
• Risen 2: Dark Waters - 75% off
• Risen 3: Titan Lords - 75% off
• Sacred 3 - 75% off
• Sacred Citadel - 75% off

Which game or games on this list will you be buying this week for your Xbox One or Xbox 360 console? Let us know in the comments!