The Xbox 360 will be backward compatible with the old games - this is done using something called an "emulation profile" which tells the new console how to play your old game - one is needed for each game. The top 100 selling games will have their profiles on the Hard Drive so titles such as Halo 2, Forza, and Project Gotham Racing 2 etc will play fine on the new console. Games outside the top 100 will also be supported as additional profiles will be available to download.

No, PC games cannot be played on the Xbox 360 also burned discs or discs from other video game systems cannot be played either.

Yes! Xbox 360 can play DVDs and is a progressive scan DVD player so DVDs will look as good, plus up-scaling to High Definition may be possible but has not been confirmed. The remote control is not required but this allows access to regular DVD controls plus Media Center features for the built in Media Center Extender.

No, you need no external hardware to enjoy Xbox 360 games in high definition. The only “extra” thing you’ll need is either the Xbox 360 Component HD AV Cable or the Xbox 360 VGA HD AV Cable.

Microsoft Game Studios is bringing Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo, and Project Gotham Racing 3 to Xbox 360 this holiday. Also exclusive to Xbox 360 is Call of Duty 2 from Activision, Inc., and QUAKE 4, which they developed with id Software. You'll also see Dead or Alive 4 from Tecmo and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion from Bethesda Softworks/2K Games, among many others.

The Xbox 360 will use DVD-9, the standard dual-layer DVD used in the Xbox. This is the currently announced format for games, HD-DVD is supported via the HD-DVD Add-on drive (sold seperatly) but this is for High Definition Movies only and not games.

No. The Xbox 360 is at least slightly easier to develop for. The whole PS3 architecture is quite different from anything of the past, so programmers will need some time to get a grasp of the hardware fully. That's not to say that it's too hard to develop games for the PS3, but the Xbox 360 is easier to develop for initially.

Yes, but only video downloaded from the Xbox Live Marketplace or preloaded on the Xbox, not your own videos.

Yes it can. However some files play pretty slow, not know the reason. (my H264 encodes work fine, 2-3 other files I tried play very slow.)I’ll have to do some tests to find the reason. Remember that Xbox doesn’t have the fastest CPU out there(Pentium 3 733 MHz) So actually the nice playback of most H264 files attracted me. About the new Xbox 360, I don’t know.

Yes it can. However some files play pretty slow, not sure why it happens (my H264 encodes work fine, 2-3 other files I tried play very slow). I'll have to do some tests to confirm what caused that. Remember that Xbox doesn't have the fastest CPU out there (Pentium 3 733MHz) so to be honest the nice playback of most H264 files impressed me.

The first 75 people to join will receive an Xbox 360 after they solve the first tier 3 or tier 4 issue that is sent to them.

Yes, developers and publishers will still support the Xbox throughout 2006 and beyond. Just as an example of how serious developers and publishers are about Xbox development after the launch of the Xbox 360 you have EA's BLACK, developed by Criterion Games. You shouldn't wait for an add-on that might never see the light of the day and that will only be used for HD DVD movie playback.

Yes! All Xbox 360 games support custom soundtracks music can be stored on the 20GB hard drive which is included with the console, or streamed from a music device like iPod, PSP, Zune and others when plugged into one of the two USB ports on the front of the console.

Yes, all games that are genuine Xbox 360 titles must support at least 720p. Following the October 25th relaunch of Xbox.com there were several games including Oblivion and NBA2K6 that had pages stating that they supported 480i. This is a bit of misinformation or oversight that will be corrected soon. Every indication from Microsoft is that every game that is ever released for the platform must support at least 720p.

The Xbox CAN play PS1, Gameboy, Nintendo 64, Sega Megadrive\Genesis, etc. These are commonly referred to as 'Roms'

Xbox games are designed to make use of the Xbox video game system's superior hardware and online gaming capabilities. It is not possible to play these games on a personal computer or any other video game system.

Depends upon the game. If it's a DOS game, try DOSEmu (apt-get install dosemu in Xebian to install). Afterwards, you'll likely need to run dosemu not as dosemu, but as xdosemu. If it's a Windows game, Wine (apt-get install wine) may *or may not* run it. Regardless, there is no 3-D support on the XBox, so all games will run at lower resolutions/details (assuming they run at all). Try searching around for a site regarding the particular game you want to run (Half-Life, for instance) for more info.

No and this includes demo discs from the Official Xbox Magazine. Additional info (thanks to Byron Hinson): Here is the official quote I got on it the other day from Microsoft. "The North American box will only play North American games. The regional encoding is set when it passes through certification and in to the authorized replicators.

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