# How do you know if an Xbox game is playable on Xbox 360? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 10, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-if-an-xbox-game-is-playable-on-xbox-360/488987 "2009-03-10T18:30:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-if-an-xbox-game-is-playable-on-xbox-360/488987/1 "2009-03-10T18:30:36Z")
My son and I want to play Justice League Heroes, but it says for Xbox. We have the Xbox 360. I’ve heard some games are playable on the 360 and some aren’t. How can I tell which are available for my system? Thanks, mm ---
**Author:** ![Shark\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Shark\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-if-an-xbox-game-is-playable-on-xbox-360/488987/2 "2009-03-10T18:39:55Z")
[http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/backwardcompatibilitygameslist.htm](http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/backwardcompatibilitygameslist.htm) ---
**Author:** ![footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9f8e36/32.png) [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/footballisplayedwithyourfeet)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-if-an-xbox-game-is-playable-on-xbox-360/488987/3 "2009-03-11T12:42:46Z")
Also note that you need to ‘install’ some kind of plugin to play it, you can either get through the internet or download the program and put it on a cd. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-if-an-xbox-game-is-playable-on-xbox-360/488987/4 "2009-03-11T13:39:35Z")
> [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](#): > > Also note that you need to ‘install’ some kind of plugin to play it, you can either get through the internet or download the program and put it on a cd. If your 360 has a network connection and is on xbox Live already, it does it automatically when you put in the original xbox disk. You don’t have to do anything beyond pressing A a few times. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-if-an-xbox-game-is-playable-on-xbox-360/488987/5 "2009-03-11T15:21:21Z")
One of my favorite old Xbox games, **Voodoo Vince** , isn’t on the compatibility list, alas. I think it’s because the company that produced it was a small endeavor that only produced that one game, and then disappeared. So, no company, no one to help program the emulation. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-if-an-xbox-game-is-playable-on-xbox-360/488987/6 "2009-03-11T16:28:21Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > One of my favorite old Xbox games, **Voodoo Vince** , isn’t on the compatibility list, alas. I think it’s because the company that produced it was a small endeavor that only produced that one game, and then disappeared. So, no company, no one to help program the emulation. ??? Voodoo Vince was published by Microsoft themselves. And besides that, fixing the games one at a time is not how the Xbox -\> Xbox 360 emulation works. Microsoft alone works on the emulation code and they do it in batches of games that use similar programming structures. Which is why something like Barbie Horse Adventures is backwards compatible and Voodoo Vince isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-if-an-xbox-game-is-playable-on-xbox-360/488987/7 "2009-03-11T18:34:29Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > And besides that, fixing the games one at a time is not how the Xbox -\> Xbox 360 emulation works. Microsoft alone works on the emulation code and they do it in batches of games that use similar programming structures. Which is why something like Barbie Horse Adventures is backwards compatible and Voodoo Vince isn’t. Well, that’s [one theory](http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/01/09/). ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-if-an-xbox-game-is-playable-on-xbox-360/488987/8 "2009-03-11T18:37:31Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Well, that’s [one theory](http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/01/09/). I was hoping someone would pick up on my choice of which less than stellar game I used as an example. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-if-an-xbox-game-is-playable-on-xbox-360/488987/9 "2009-03-11T19:38:02Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > ??? > > Voodoo Vince was published by Microsoft themselves. > > And besides that, fixing the games one at a time is not how the Xbox -\> Xbox 360 emulation works. Microsoft alone works on the emulation code and they do it in batches of games that use similar programming structures. Which is why something like Barbie Horse Adventures is backwards compatible and Voodoo Vince isn’t. “Published” and “programmed” are very different things. Microsoft provided funding and whatnot, but **Voodoo Vince** was actually written by programmers at Beep Industries. Beep was formed in 2000 and released **Voodoo Vince** in 2003, after which, according to a statement on the company website, “the company went on to enjoy great success as a clearance house for slightly used office furniture and computer equipment. The name and logo were left in a paper cup by the side of the road shortly thereafter.” Because **Vince** was created by this small upstart, I reckon it’s not much like anything else out there, code-wise, and thus it would involve too much effort to program the emulator. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-if-an-xbox-game-is-playable-on-xbox-360/488987/10 "2009-03-11T20:22:18Z")
From their careers page: > [@](#): > > Beep Industries currently has no openings. This is a good thing. Any number of career paths are better than game development. Lots of jobs are more lucrative and far less work. We hear marketing and animal husbandry are filled with potential. I like these people. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-know-if-an-xbox-game-is-playable-on-xbox-360/488987/11 "2009-03-11T20:38:48Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > “Published” and “programmed” are very different things. Microsoft provided funding and whatnot, but **Voodoo Vince** was actually written by programmers at Beep Industries. Beep was formed in 2000 and released **Voodoo Vince** in 2003, after which, according to a statement on the company website, “the company went on to enjoy great success as a clearance house for slightly used office furniture and computer equipment. The name and logo were left in a paper cup by the side of the road shortly thereafter.” > > Because **Vince** was created by this small upstart, I reckon it’s not much like anything else out there, code-wise, and thus it would involve too much effort to program the emulator. Which doesn’t change the fact that Microsoft has all of the code in their cavernous office park somewhere and could set any number of internal teams on the job if they wanted to.