What Can A Jailbroken Xbox 360 Do?

What Can A Jailbroken Xbox 360 Do?
Written by Bobby Anhalt in Microsoft,Xbox 360
Xbox 360 models
The Xbox 360 might be several generations old at this point, but the console has gotten a second wind thanks to jailbreaking (also referred to as “hacking” or “modding”). Despite not being on store shelves for some time, the modding community really makes a compelling argument for dusting off the old 360 today.

What can a jailbroken Xbox 360 do? Installing custom firmware on an Xbox 360 allows for dozens of new and improved features, including but not limited to:
Playing emulators/ROMs
Running game backups from a hard drive
Playing modded games
Downloading and installing cheats
Playing homebrew games
This, of course, is an overview of some of the most notable features that come with hacking an Xbox 360, but it is, by no means, an exhaustive list of every single additional aspect. The modding community continues to develop homebrew games and apps for custom firmware, so the landscape for these consoles is currently evolving – albeit, at a much slower pace than in previous years. (And if any of these additional features don’t quite make sense to you at the moment, don’t worry as we cover each one in more detail just below.)

Note: This is by no means a guide to hacking an Xbox 360 console. Doing so incorrectly could cause irreparable damage to the console. This is merely an educational walkthrough of some of the different features that are available to those who decide to install custom firmware onto their Xbox 360.
Running Emulators/ROMs
Xbox 360 Controllers
As a quick disclaimer, we don’t condone the use of pirated software as it is illegal, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention this feature as it is one of the leading reasons gamers decide to hack their consoles in the first place.

In addition to playing its own fantastic library of games and backward compatible titles, Xbox 360 consoles can gain access to generations of retro classics through emulation. Performance may vary from emulator to emulator and even from game to game, but expect titles from most consoles prior to the original PlayStation and Nintendo 64 generation to run quite smoothly. In fact, expect to get solid performance from most Nintendo 64 and PS1 games.
Again, emulation quality can vary considerably even from game to game, so getting specific titles to play properly might take some research and light tinkering. Some games are simply notoriously difficult to run properly on emulators, but most retro games prior to the N64/PS1 generation should run relatively smoothly without tweaking any settings. Additionally, handheld console games all the way up to the PSP and Game Boy Advance perform quite well on the 360 too.

Running Game Backups From A Hard Drive
Collecting video games means amassing quite the collection of physical discs, but installing backups to a hard drive helps to keep hard copies safe from regular wear and tear. Scratches, scuffs, and regular play can really add up over time and render discs unreadable after extensive use. Also, disc drives on consoles are usually among the first components to break down, so it’s not just games that are at risk here.

In addition to mitigating the risk of wearing down your favorite games and console, having a fully digital library is also more convenient. Sure, swapping discs isn’t the most tedious of tasks, but why risk damage and exert more effort if you don’t have to.

Playing Modded Games
Modded games can really mean anything from entirely new fan-generated modes to fun cheats, exploits, and everything in between. Mods can vary considerably from game to game, but they can add a lot of additional replayability to some of your favorite titles.

Also, some games even have fan-developed patches online. These can be as simple as performance-enhancing patches all the way up to full translations of foreign-language titles. Again, this only refers to a relative handful of games, but these patches can be real game-changers. For example, dedicated fans have taken to developing full translation patches for games that were only ever released in Japanese. So, if there’s a game you’ve always wanted to try that never got a translation to your native language, it might be worth seeing if there is a fan-translation patch out there.
Downloading And Installing Cheats
Similarly to game mods, cheats can add a ton of additional replayability to titles. Tons of games Buy Xbox 360 – both retro through emulation and those made specifically for the 360 – have great cheats that only work with custom firmware. All in all, downloading and installing cheats is pretty self-explanatory, and it can also be a ton of fun.

Playing Hombrew Games
Homebrew games can range from original, amateur-developed titles to mods of popular titles. Either way, there are a ton of homebrew games to check out – all of which range in scope and quality. A couple of famous examples of homebrew games include indie darling Cave Story and mobile hit Flappy Bird. These games have since been made widely available in various forms, but they both started as homebrew titles.

There are also a ton of video game hacks from classic franchises that are definitely worth trying out for those who are curious. Halo has a pretty famous homebrew ‘de-make’, and the Pokémon franchise is absolutely riddled with ROM hacks and fan-developed efforts that take the base game and change it up quite considerably.
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