List of Xbox video games compatible with the Xbox 360

This is a list of Xbox games that are compatible with the Xbox 360. Additionally, the manner in which compatibility is achieved and the software errors associated with it are discussed in brief.

How compatibility is achieved
According to Microsoft, each game needs an emulation profile to run. These profiles can be downloaded through the Xbox Live service or from Xbox.com and burned on CD or DVD recordable media. They are also routinely distributed as part of the content on the Official Xbox Magazine monthly discs. The profiles are downloaded as a single bundle, and hence only need to be applied once per update (if doing so offline), or are automatically downloaded the first time a compatible game is inserted.

The Xbox 360 hard disk is required to play the games on this list. The hard disk is used not only to store the emulation software, but also to store saved games, store downloaded content, and to serve as a data cache for titles which utilize disk caching. Since games for the original Xbox were designed with the expectation that a hard drive would always be available, most titles rely heavily on the presence of one.

An early version of the emulator for playing Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 offline was included with the Xbox 360 hard drive at launch. Xbox 360 hard drives manufactured later include updated emulation profiles which allow a greater range of titles to be played out of the box without updating. Whenever new sets of emulation profiles are released, drives manufactured after that date automatically include the latest update.

The original Xbox controller is not compatible with the Xbox 360, due to its different connector and its marginally different button layout. Specifically, the white and black buttons are not to be found on the 360 controller, having been replaced by the "bumpers" found above the left and right triggers. When playing an Xbox game on the Xbox 360 (using an Xbox 360 controller), the white button is mapped to the left bumper and the black button to the right.

List of compatible titles
In the following chart, any Xbox game with a "Yes" for its region will work in that region, and only in others which also have "Yes" (although cross-region compatibility is not guaranteed). "Yes" in the 60 Hz column indicates that the PAL title supports 60 Hz output mode, and thus is compatible with the Xbox 360 VGA cable.

A game with "Yes" in the widescreen column has built-in support for widescreen, and will fill high-definition displays. If the widescreen column is "No", pillar boxing is used to preserve aspect ratio on high definition displays. Note that all compatible games will stretch to widescreen (potentially distorting the aspect ratio) if the Xbox 360 is configured for standard definition (480i / 576i) or enhanced definition (480p / 576p).

Compatibility
When an original Xbox game has been emulator patched in accordance to Microsoft instructions it may still refuse to play on the Xbox 360. The following error message displayed on the Xbox 360 dashboard signifies this failure:


 * "This original Xbox game is not supported on your Xbox 360 console. An update to support this game may be available. For more info, go to www.xbox.com/games. X: 2689.0  B: 1884.0"

This message is identical to the one displayed when trying to play an unsupported or unpatched game for the first time. At this time no reference to the significance of the X and B variables can be found on the Microsoft Xbox website. This may be related to international region compatibility; a Microsoft disclaimer notes


 * "Currently the North American versions of these games are the only ones supported as backward compatible titles on Xbox 360."

Note that Microsoft terms the compatibility of Xbox titles on the Xbox 360 consoles as "backward compatibility" whereas in fact it is the console that is being made backward compatible, and the titles are being made forward compatible.

PAL games that do not support PAL-60 cannot be played using the VGA HD Cable. There is an article about this on the Microsoft Knowledge Base.

Additionally, many listed Xbox titles still contain emulation errors or glitches. These are often minor, but can include problems with graphics, sound, loading/saving, or gameplay. In some cases, Microsoft has subsequently updated the emulation profiles for individual titles, such that incidence of these issues is reduced or eliminated.

Occasionally, switching from 720p/1080i/1080p mode to 480p will make a previously unplayable game workable (assuming it's on the BC list). Changing the display setting, usually from widescreen to normal, should fix any game on the list.

Currently the only way to transfer save files from the original Xbox to the 360 is via a special transfer kit which requires the original system's memory card or a modded Xbox. Without modding an Xbox, this also limits saves that can be moved to those that can be stored on a memory card. Some game saves on the original Xbox could not be moved due to either file restrictions or size limitations.

Another limitation applies to downloadable content. No content can be moved between systems.