Barely a month has passed since the new consoles launched, and some are finding ways to exploit some guarded features to run games that would never be officially released for the system.
Some have discovered that using ‘Developer Mode’ on an Xbox Series S/X console can allow them to run an application that isn’t sanctioned to run on the system officially, thereby being able to run emulators that can play games from the PlayStation 2, SEGA Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, and many more consoles.
The news spread like wildfire, which has seemingly brought more interest to the 1TB expansion cards so gamers can store more of these games for their console.
Let’s look into what ‘Developer Mode’ is, and what games have been tested so far.
What’s Developer Mode?
When a company is creating an application for the console, be it a game or something that users can pay to watch on, they need to be able to simulate a way of using their app on a console, as though a user is trying it out for the first time.
This allows an application to be run on the console as if its from the Xbox Store itself. These apps are called a UWA or a ‘Universal Windows Application’.
Because of this certain applications like ‘RetroArch’ are now being installed onto many Xbox consoles, running games at full speed thanks to its hardware being so similar to a high-end PC in 2020.
This has resulted in many games running as if they have been optimised for the console, when they’re merely identifying a PC running an emulated environment.
READ MORE: Xbox Series X Restock; When will they be available next?
What Can Be Played?
Users are already capturing videos of some games that have next to no chance of being released officially on the Xbox consoles.
Games such as:
- Onimusha 3
- Mario Galaxy
- Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
- Tekken 4
- Soul Calibur II
- Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Each game almost-impossible to see a release on the Xbox, but as the videos demonstrate, they run impressively well.
Of course, we won’t be showing a how-to here, but it’s an interesting showcase of how powerful these Xbox consoles are. It’s also curious as to whether the PlayStation 5 may show a vulnerability where we will be seeing similar games being emulated as well.
READ MORE: PS5 Restock; When will they be available to order again?
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