toms hardware Determined modder gets 'Halo 2' running at 720p on the original Xbox — after tweaks to the console.

[ENTERPRISE]

Quote

Ever wanted to see an original Xbox run Halo 2 at HD resolutions — or at least a non-distorted widescreen image at 480p? Hardware and game modder Ryan Miceli, aka grimdoomer on GitHub, has made the dream of Halo 2 in HD on Xbox a reality, though you'll need to make some modifications. Miceli has listed the project on GitHub and described it in depth on his blog.

Source 

 

I love these sort of tweaks, just taking something and improving it...just because you can. Especially something like this where its more challenging to get the performance uplift. Makes me want to get an Xbox again just to nerd out lol.

[UltraMega]

Utilizes extra RAM if you have 128MB RAM upgrade.

 

 

Spoiler

 

Sega Chihiro: An officially-licensed arcade cabinet powered by the Xbox’s motherboard. Here’s what you need to know:

1. What Is Sega Chihiro?

   • Chihiro, also known as Sega Chihiro, is an arcade system board developed and used by Sega for high-end arcade releases in the early-to-mid 2000s.
   • It was originally released in 2002 alongside The House of the Dead III.
   • Chihiro is a successor to the NAOMI series of boards and is based on Microsoft’s Xbox console.
   • It’s Sega’s last arcade board to be based on a particular console, with each successor (starting with Lindbergh) based on traditional PC architecture.
   • The hardware specs include:
     • CPU: Intel Pentium III model running at 733 MHz.
     • GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 3 series variant.
     • RAM: 128 MB of DDR-200 RAM for shared memory (double the RAM used for the standard Xbox).
     • Storage: It uses GD-ROM discs (similar to NAOMI and Triforce hardware), which are copied to RAM before the game starts to prevent loading times. Some games were also distributed on Compact Flash cards or CD/DVD-ROM discs.

2. Games and Legacy:

   • Chihiro powered several popular arcade games, including OutRun 2, Virtua Cop 3, and House of the Dead III.
   • Unfortunately, Virtua Cop 3 never received an official port, but if you upgrade your Xbox’s RAM, you can play it unofficially.

3. Emulation and Scene:

   • While the original Xbox has been extensively explored, emulating Chihiro remains challenging.
   • The Xbox is still considered one of the worst consoles for emulation, especially beyond the 32X and System 32 arcade board.

4. Fun Fact:

   • The Sega Chihiro arcade cabinet is a unique blend of console and arcade gaming history, bridging the gap between home entertainment and public arcades.

Remember, this fascinating collaboration between Sega and Xbox brought us some memorable gaming experiences!

 

 

 

The OG Xbox is basically just a Sega designed arcade board with less ram. It is possible to upgrade the ram on an OG Xbox, and that basically gives it the same functionality as a Sega Chihiro. Moder Vintage Gamer has covered this. The OG Xbox is basically a successor to the Dreamcast, developed by Sega. 

 

Edited April 21 by UltraMega

[ENTERPRISE]

37 minutes ago, UltraMega said:

Utilizes extra RAM if you have 128MB RAM upgrade.

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Sega Chihiro: An officially-licensed arcade cabinet powered by the Xbox’s motherboard. Here’s what you need to know:

1. What Is Sega Chihiro?

   • Chihiro, also known as Sega Chihiro, is an arcade system board developed and used by Sega for high-end arcade releases in the early-to-mid 2000s.
   • It was originally released in 2002 alongside The House of the Dead III.
   • Chihiro is a successor to the NAOMI series of boards and is based on Microsoft’s Xbox console.
   • It’s Sega’s last arcade board to be based on a particular console, with each successor (starting with Lindbergh) based on traditional PC architecture.
   • The hardware specs include:
     • CPU: Intel Pentium III model running at 733 MHz.
     • GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 3 series variant.
     • RAM: 128 MB of DDR-200 RAM for shared memory (double the RAM used for the standard Xbox).
     • Storage: It uses GD-ROM discs (similar to NAOMI and Triforce hardware), which are copied to RAM before the game starts to prevent loading times. Some games were also distributed on Compact Flash cards or CD/DVD-ROM discs.

2. Games and Legacy:

   • Chihiro powered several popular arcade games, including OutRun 2, Virtua Cop 3, and House of the Dead III.
   • Unfortunately, Virtua Cop 3 never received an official port, but if you upgrade your Xbox’s RAM, you can play it unofficially.

3. Emulation and Scene:

   • While the original Xbox has been extensively explored, emulating Chihiro remains challenging.
   • The Xbox is still considered one of the worst consoles for emulation, especially beyond the 32X and System 32 arcade board.

4. Fun Fact:

   • The Sega Chihiro arcade cabinet is a unique blend of console and arcade gaming history, bridging the gap between home entertainment and public arcades.

Remember, this fascinating collaboration between Sega and Xbox brought us some memorable gaming experiences!

 

 

 

The OG Xbox is basically just a Sega designed arcade board with less ram. It is possible to upgrade the ram on an OG Xbox, and that basically gives it the same functionality as a Sega Chihiro. Moder Vintage Gamer has covered this. The OG Xbox is basically a successor to the Dreamcast, developed by Sega. 

 

That was a really interesting video. I knew there was a business relationship between Sega and Microsoft but didn't really consider the deeper relationship with respect to the hardware level. I would say that MS definitely built upon the Dreamcast foundations for the XBOX.

[neurotix]

Sega Dreamcast was a great era for Sega and the first console capable of running arcade games 1:1. It didn't have ports of arcade games, it had full on arcade games identical to the arcade like Crazy Taxi and many Capcom and SNK 2D fighters.

 

And yes, I've known about the Dreamcast/Xbox successor thing for years. Sega actually released quite a few games for the Xbox that are really good like Panzer Dragoon Orta, Crazy Taxi 3, and Shemmue 2.

 

I'm unsurprised someone did this. The Xbox came stock with 64MB RAM I believe, and if you're good enough at soldering you can remove the stock chip and replace it with a 128MB chip. People have been doing this already for years to allow soft modded Xboxes to play back 720p video streams in XBMC (Xbox media center- what turned into Kodi).

 

I have a soft modded Xbox myself and used to watch 480p anime on it, until I upgraded to a Raspberry Pi 3b with Kodi. The Xbox was filled with emulators and other "stuff" but unfortunately, it's clock capacitor is dead and that's basically CMOS for the thing, meaning if I turn the thing on I just get the dashboard instead of my modded XBMC interface. It also has a broken DVD drive that is stuck and won't open, preventing me from reinstalling the hack by loading a glitched savegame in Tom Clancy Splinter Cell. So I'd need to fix the DVD drive and clock capacitor before I could get it back to running the soft mod.

 

*Shrug* I have a retropie with emulators and it's way more portable, can run it at 1080p if I want, it is way smaller and lighter.

 

Still cool someone got a game running at 720p that isn't supposed to but this RAM mod people were doing in 2004.

Edited May 15 by neurotix

[UltraMega]

8 hours ago, neurotix said:

Sega Dreamcast was a great era for Sega and the first console capable of running arcade games 1:1. It didn't have ports of arcade games, it had full on arcade games identical to the arcade like Crazy Taxi and many Capcom and SNK 2D fighters.

 

And yes, I've known about the Dreamcast/Xbox successor thing for years. Sega actually released quite a few games for the Xbox that are really good like Panzer Dragoon Orta, Crazy Taxi 3, and Shemmue 2.

 

I'm unsurprised someone did this. The Xbox came stock with 64MB RAM I believe, and if you're good enough at soldering you can remove the stock chip and replace it with a 128MB chip. People have been doing this already for years to allow soft modded Xboxes to play back 720p video streams in XBMC (Xbox media center- what turned into Kodi).

 

I have a soft modded Xbox myself and used to watch 480p anime on it, until I upgraded to a Raspberry Pi 3b with Kodi. The Xbox was filled with emulators and other "stuff" but unfortunately, it's clock capacitor is dead and that's basically CMOS for the thing, meaning if I turn the thing on I just get the dashboard instead of my modded XBMC interface. It also has a broken DVD drive that is stuck and won't open, preventing me from reinstalling the hack by loading a glitched savegame in Tom Clancy Splinter Cell. So I'd need to fix the DVD drive and clock capacitor before I could get it back to running the soft mod.

 

*Shrug* I have a retropie with emulators and it's way more portable, can run it at 1080p if I want, it is way smaller and lighter.

 

Still cool someone got a game running at 720p that isn't supposed to but this RAM mod people were doing in 2004.

Just a quick note, arcade games released on dreamcast were not 1:1 ports. Usually lower frame rate and/or visuals. Daytona for example was 60 fps and higher res in the arcade vs 30 and lower res on dreamcast. 

 

As for Xbox mods, I believe the Sega arcade version of the original Xbox hardware not only came with double the ram, but also a had option for a faster CPU. There are also mods to replace the original 733mhz CPU with a ~1.4GHZ CPU. 

Edited May 16 by UltraMega

[neurotix]

17 hours ago, UltraMega said:

Just a quick note, arcade games released on dreamcast were not 1:1 ports. Usually lower frame rate and/or visuals. Daytona for example was 60 fps and higher res in the arcade vs 30 and lower res on dreamcast.

 

You might be thinking of the Sega Saturn, the Dreamcast's predecessor... Yes, Daytona USA was awful on it. 30 fps and no antialiasing.

 

Afaik DC arcade ports were identical to the arcade or very close. See Sega Naomi. Yes, it was more powerful than the Dreamcast but Sega purposely scaled the games back a bit on the arcade versions to have them also run on the Dreamcast.