Getting all this setup right isn't easy. First you need to run RetroArch on your Xbox, which you can do next by enabling developer mode, which costs $19, or going through a file A little complicated sideload process. Be warned: Archades Games, the channel behind the non-dev mode tutorial, advises that using the latter method carries a small (but real) risk of getting your Xbox Live account banned.
After setting up RetroArch on your Xbox, you can easily activate DOSBox Pure Core. Of course, this is not the end of the journey. You still need to install Windows 98 on DOS using a disk image (legally obtained, right?) of the operating system. This in itself is no small task. Then you need to transfer the images of your old games to Xbox.
After getting through everything, digital foundry Says the experience is very good. Games appear to perform well on both the S and X series (the latter's extra power obviously improves the experience slightly), although the software rendering seems to work better than the 3dfx emulation, judging by Defender Trials . There's one big caveat, though: digital foundry reports indicate that while DOSBox Pure easily recognized a keyboard connected to the Xbox, it failed to catch the mouse. This means they have to use the Xbox console to move the cursor around the screen.
Of course, for those who just want to play Windows 98 games, there are probably better options. You can install RetroArch and DOSBox Pure on a regular Windows, Mac, or Linux machine that doesn't have the ghost (albeit faint) of Xbox Live blockage hovering over you while playing. In addition, you can use a real mouse. However, I will admit that installing Windows 98 on a regular old PC won't get you the same style points as installing it on the Xbox.
Note: If the idea of installing Windows 98 from DOS is too intimidating, you're in luck. The 90's and early 2000's seem to be re-entering the nostalgia cycle, so we've seen some games from that era have been improved. In RTS games? You can buy HD versions of Age of Empires and Command and Conquer: Red Alert from Steam (check out OpenRA respectively). Ditto for Earthquake, and Monkey Island, and Half-Life (via the Blackboard Draft) and many, many games. What a good time to be alive.
