Microsoft's Xbox Labs have shown off the ability to run the classic Xbox 360 'Blades' dashboard in a modern web browser. This is a significant development for retro gaming fans because it opens up a potential route to porting legacy console software to modern PCs. This demo shows that it's not just a visual clone, but that the code itself works.
Live dashboard demo confirms emulation layer is ready for future PC ports
They demonstrated it in action as a web application, with multiple versions of the Xbox 360 dashboard from history. We see the classic 2005 'Blades' interface in this demo, alongside the later versions such as the New Xbox Experience and Metro dashboards. That gives a sense of the power in the emulation layer the experimental group is building.
One key piece of evidence that it's not just a visual clone is the actual software running. The address bar of the browser shows a local URL with the official Xbox 360 dashboard Title ID, FFFE07D1. That specific ID is a clear signal that Microsoft is actually running the Xbox 360 code using an emulation/translation layer.
The Xbox Labs experiment debuted last week. It's on a mission to deliver novel web-based gaming experiences. The web browser-based Xbox 360 dashboard demo is in keeping with previous leaks about Xbox 360 games coming to PC in the future. The demo serves as a proof of concept of that vision.
Microsoft verified that the old dashboard works in a web browser context. The inclusion of the actual Title ID confirms the method of actually running the original code through emulation. That lays the groundwork for the rumored idea of Xbox 360 games coming to PCs in the future.
Source: TweakTown
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