Guide: Retro Emulation on the Xbox Series S/X and Xbox One 

HELP! I ACCIDENTALLY DOWNLOADED FARMING SIMULATOR 19!

So for the people who missed it.... Don't forget to check the link for the Full written guide 😂... Awesome video 👌, can't help it to check your video's instanly when they come out 🙄

Just to let everyone aware, when you're about to access retroarch to set up the files, according to the tutorial you're supposed to access the S: drive, but something changed recently and now you'll have to access unit D:. Don't know what happened, but that's working nice.

I set this up through developer mode on my Series X when I first got it last year and I learned how to do it all through Archades' channel... Kudos to you for giving him props on this. He had a guide up for it so early on, he def deserves a lot of credit!

As a playstation fan I'm honestly finally going to buy an Xbox specifically to emulate all my old favorites! This is incredible!

Thanks for this, this is the best walkthrough I’ve ever seen for this. I highly appreciate the work you put into this.

why am I even watching this I dont have an xbox

11:45 in the bio’s folder it only shows me Parent Directort, Use this directory, and no items.

Just tried this today. You may want to update the guide. The files cannot be found on S:\ any longer. Had to find out on Reddit that with the current build of Retro Arch and the current dev kit activator, the files are now found on D:\ when you want to reconfigure the default directories or scan a directory of your ROMs. Thanks for the good work though!

Best video I’ve seen on this. Great stuff. Two things: 1) I very much recommend also installing Safe Exit, as mentioned by Archade, and using that to quit out of DevMode, so you don’t ever risk not unticking the “please delete everything” box. 2) Mupen randomly sometimes just boots games with sound only, and a black screen. Are there any known fixes, or do we just wait until Retroarch gets updated? Thanks. 😊

I followed your instructions and did this on my series x and I now have the best emulator I've ever had (I've never had a good PC lol). Thanks so much. You've got my like and subscription

Of all the tinkering I've been doing with retro gaming over the last year or so (thanks to your great guides and videos), this is easily my favorite device. Having a neat, clean, powerful box that can do modern games, a big library of games to try from GamePass, all of the retro consoles I want, and media streaming in a compact, reliable, good-looking box makes this my go-to right now. The only place where the Series S rates lower for me is with the controller options. I might have to pick up the 8bitdo xbox wired controller for this. Otherwise I suspect this box is going to be with me for a long time. Sidenote, I appreciate your great technical writing and documentation skills. You don't get enough credit for that! Clear writing (like in your guides) is such a treasure to find. Hope your "retirement" transition goes well and we'll all look forward to seeing more videos from you.

I’m going to have to stop watching your videos now that I know you invert the Y axis… oh my days

A used office PC, suped-up with added components? On earth are you talking about XD. Fuck does that even mean. If you want your content to be taken seriously I would avoid saying dumb shit like that. Just tell it how it is. Imaginary used PCs need not be mentioned.

Hey guys, when I try to launch some PS2 games I got this error: 'could not read content file' Help?

I am thinking about changing on PlayStation with Xbox series x, because of the backwoods compatibility, Retro Artch, and game pass.

when i select scan this directory to add a games library to a playlist scanning bar comes up but stays at 0 percent and will not create a playlist no matter how long i wait. if i load a game through the load content option it plays just fine. help please lol

If you switch the country to turkey you can get it for three dollars

Not only did you make me want to unpack my Hyperkin Megaman x91 (I even forgot I had it) But you also named Archades' channel as a place of incredible resource. I learned all I know on retrograding my Series box from Archades' channel. But you sir easily earned a new subscriber with this. Thanks.

Really don't know what I did wrong. Retroarch just won't scan my files! N64 and GC files. Help!

If ever the Series S/X was jailbroken and you could install Windows on it properly it would be the bargain of the century.

Dolphin retroarch link in the written guide isn't working. I get an error during the unzipping process (thats what she said)

Dont forget the first time you enter dev mode you may need to re-enable your wifi settings inside of the developer settings tab or the remote connect ion to the PC wont work.

I followed every step, and when I tried to do a scan, the process just got stuck. It shows "scanning" for games, but no progress at all. Any idea why?

I'm lost in 11:40. When I try to change the directory. It shows nothing on /S

None of the internet steps work as shown in the video. Once you type in the Xbox 11443 coffee on your dev mode, there's no option on Internet browser to push through. It says can't be reached and that's it. Literally stuck with no way to continue

Hi, buddy! I am trying to follow ur steps but I am stucked into the 11:35 part that I have to sync the new folders with RetroArch. Basically when I select the S:\ the program files > windows apps folders didn't exist. I have created into the x64 folder, following step by step but I am stucked here. Someone could help me, pls?

Every time I go to my s: folder nothing pops up ,what can I do?

MVG just reported that developer mode on xbox will be cancelled if you are not an active developer. Thats the end of emulation using this method.

Great guide and thanks for all you do for the retro gaming community!!

Well. The family are out today so I’m home alone, wish me luck.

Great video like always. I was actually convinced to get a series S from this video and the last one. I was able to set up everything easily thanks to your tutorial and the written guide.

Great vid! Regarding controllers, I actually like the Xbox ones but the Hyperkin pads aren't the best for the long term so I would only consider it on sale. As far as the Brook Wingman, I dont have that particular model but I have the similar one for using modern pads on Sega Saturn and Dreamcast. They are good but just be ready for some initial cumbersome button mapping depending on the controller you use, and always check for firmware updates out the box. After setup though, they are solid.

you're really great at explaining things, i usually have to rewind multiple times to understand these tutorials

Can I use my phone to set it up

Is there a way to do this with Mac instead of windows 10?

Nothing in my S drive when I go to retroarch.. anybody please help me

I haven't owned a Xbox since 360...got a PS5 but this will seriously make me consider getting a series S

11:40 I don't have anything in my S drive. Can someone please tell me what I'm doing wrong?

After selecting directories make sure to save new configuration instead of current. If you dont select new then it will pull from the q: directory with no assets. I just found this out following this guide. BTW thank you for showing us how to do this!

Does this still working ??? I wanna try it on my Xbox

For the option for storage size can you use a external hard drive instead of the system memory?

Will this work if I use a mac

When i go to the S: drive i dont have windows apps folder. What did I do wrong?

So i got all the way to the part were i click on the S:\ there is nothing there can not figure out what i did wrong Please Help.

Thanks heaps for taking the time to make this vid 👍Have previously played with RetroPi on an underpowered Linux Mint lappy but this was a whole different story ... can finally get all the good stuff and currently have SNES and PCEngine/GrafX up and running nicely thanks to you with the written guide being a bonus. Slow and steady from here on in. Again TYVM 😁

I found Hori Pad Pro for Xbox to be one of the best all-purpose controllers for emulation on the Xbox Series. The d-pad is amazing (soft like SNES).

I have 2 questions first my pc won't install what I downloaded? Second the xbox website won't open the 1 I wrote down the address for it can't be found. What should I do I paid my 19.00.

Not only is this clear and concise, you also provide a written guide and are crediting your main source of information. Well done, thanks for the guide!

When setting up the new folders under directory, there is no options for "games". Does the games folder go under "downloads"?

It was going great for me until I reached the part in which I have to select a directories. In bios if i select the S: drive i dont have any folders. Tried every letter and nothing... Im stuck :(

is anyone else having the issue of not being able to activate the Dev mode app.... I've called Xbox support and they are zero help

Thank you for creating such a detailed video guide on how to do this. Great stuff. Will Microsoft ever remove that awful option at the end to delete everything? That’s the stuff of nightmares.

Will this get my account and Xbox banned

Hi! I always find your videos well made and informative. Keep up with the good work, huge thanks!

dude you need to spend time explaining, hey do this, and if that doesn't work, then try this, or if you run into this error or problem do blah blah

Note: Anyone following this setup now will not be able to scan directories. The latest XBOX Series/One Retroarch builds scan function are currently broken ... a link to a previous Retroarch build would be appreciated. If you are patient enough, you can generate playlist manually with a manual scan. You'll have to setup parameters yourself, but it can be done.

i keep getting an error whenever i boot a game saying "failed to open librerto core"

when I press the Microsoft partner center link it looks completely different then yours

it says. this site cannot be reached The connection was reset. when i search xboxone:11443 or the IP i dont know what to do about it

This was going great until I got to scan in my games, found the proper folder in directories (i am uploading them to internal storage through my computer as done in the video), and the scanning on retroarch even says “0/16: Scanning [the name of my first game]” but it’s just resting on 0% and won’t load. Please, any advice?

I keep getting redirected to a different page on the microsoft website that shows insights and my access is anyone else having that problem?

Hi! Thank you so much for this tutorial, but I've got a problem to solve: RetroArch just doesn't scan anything in any format. I've already tried from my external HD and also putting the ROMs directly inside the system, without having any success. If I choose to "load content" and then navigate to where the ROM is and pick it up, it runs with no issues, but it would be nice to have playlists etc.. Would you know what could be wrong? Thanks once more and keep up the awesome work ;)

Only major problem I am having now is when trying to start Dev Mode, my screen is stuck on "Almost There, You're almost ready for development, but first we need to update your xbox" and wont go to the screen at 4:15.

This is very helpful and informative thanks . Hope to see more of this sort of stuff on this channel in the future .

This is so far from simple

Videos like this helped me decide to change from PS4 in to the Xbox universe. NES, Megadrive, Saturn, Dreamcast, PS2, PS4, Xbox series X. Full circle.

@retro Game Corps When I click on system bios it only parent directory use this directory and no items and I have followed step by step what you said in this video. Any tips on where I went wrong or why the single letter folders arent showing

This is so well structured. Can't wait to try it out

Instructions unclear ended up with skyrim for the ps9

Set this up last night on my series s . When i finished I left developer mode and powered down my console today retroarch is completely gonr from the console...did i do something wrong? HELP PLEASE and thank you

My question is does this get's you banned on the Xbox or not ? And does it work on Xbox one s ?

I can’t get registered

Can this run PS3 and vita games?

I keep getting an error saying that the site can't be reached when I insert the remote access URL in my browser, any help would be greatly appreciated!

So I had a retro arch build made for me of like 4 or five gigs that works with a nvidia shield tv is there anyway for me to get what’s on there on to my Xbox series s or Xbox one x. I also have a ps mini retro arch harddrive build I use on the ps mini

Is compatible with ADATA external SSD 1 Terabyte?

Can anyone explain how I get the bios to play games?

Great video and great guide. I'm having a problem with activation URL link. It takes me to the site and it looks different than the video and nothing comes up on the page to register my XBOX One. Anyone else getting this?

I want to do this but I need to know will I be able to use my Xbox as normal when I’m not emulating? Update, game etc?

I went into the s file and nothing was there. What the fuck did I do wrong?

Great video! Question, each time I update cores (series x) n64 and gamecube games dont load up, I have to restore cores to get them running. Any help?

Can this mess up my Xbox series x

I installed Dev Mode on my XBox One and entered the authorization code, but it's still saying that it needs to update itself, but the update isn't installing.

Question I hope you can answer. Did the latest update break retroarch/ dev mode things. I can't see external on file explorer and can't scan games in retroarch

It can be done on a mac. After some time I was able to do so

so I found a bug in developer mode. sometimes when you go to leave developer mode you lose control of your controller and it'll just let you push okay to delete everything, just turn off your Xbox without accepting this prompt. you should be able to leave developer mode once you start it up again.

Can you just come over and set all this up for me

Dev Mode will be shut down soon unfortunately

I cant get to the registration part when i click the first link it takes me to a worksite page

Every time you update you have to re-set all the directories again. So bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can’t even get to the damn Microsoft page to register. Is it different for windows 11? I can’t find any Xbox stuff

just me having problems buying a developer thing?

Can anyone please tell me what I connect to the games directory

i am stuck on 11:50. the part where i have to see my "program files". I am stuck on this part and i dont know what to do next. i dont want to continue on incase i might mess something up

Why does the coolest things never work for me even if I try to use the tutorial for 3 hours

Anyone getting stuck on step 4 of the dev mode on Xbox one? I keep getting the message “You’re almost ready for development, but first we need to update your Xbox. After the update, come back to this app and you’ll be able to switch to developer mode” but my Xbox is already on the newest update so I’m not sure what to do and the dev mode using settings just drops to like 360 quality so it’s hard to navigate.

"OG Xbox one s" never thought I'd hear those words lol

My s drive is empty when I go in system bios what am I missing?