The Xbox 360 Marketplace may be dead, but I still use the original console with this handy upscaler

I’m sure most gamers no longer have an Xbox 360 hooked up to their living room TV, and to be honest, I can’t blame them. I mean, the fact that the console’s digital marketplace is closing today might be reason enough for those of you who have long since traded in your physical games, but it also looks a bit shabby on modern TVs. At least if you just plug it in directly, which is why I play all my favorite seventh-gen adventures with a handy upscaler, and I don’t think I could use Microsoft’s console without it anymore.

I promise I’m trying not to call the Xbox 360 one of the best retro consoles, but in some ways the 2000s platform suffers the same fate as old-school systems. Sure, you can still use it with the best gaming TV options today thanks to HDMI cable capabilities, but in terms of performance, it’s anything but contemporary. Low frame rates and aliasing plague the system with visual issues that modern system owners and PC gamers struggle with, and while I don’t have a cure for the former, there are certainly ways to smooth things over.

OK, let’s get into the specifics of the setup – the upscaler I use for both Microsoft’s oldies and gaming handhelds in my living room is the Marseilles mClassic. I usually talk about this dongle in the context of beefing up the graphics of the Nintendo Switch, but I actually use it with most older consoles with HDMI output. The reason? Well, it’s a great way to easily upscale things up to 1440p on compatible screens, and it combats aliasing using a nifty algorithm.

Admittedly, I’ve actually been playing Xbox 360 games on two different setups recently, as I couldn’t resist playing The Darkness on the 65-inch LG OLED G4 I recently reviewed. However, fans of gaming monitors will be happy to hear that I currently have the console hooked up to the Samsung OLED G6, and let’s be honest? I think it’s more worthwhile to play on a smaller QHD display. That’s mainly because TVs annoyingly lack 1440p support, but the mClassic’s anti-aliasing efforts are better even when you’re not blowing things up.

An Xbox 360 graphics redux

Samsung Odyssey OLED G6 connected to Xbox 360 using mClassic upscaler with Alice: Madness returns to the screen

(Image credit: Future / Phil Hayton)

Of course, mClassic doesn’t give the Xbox 360 the same features it does on the Series X, as the new-gen console renders compatible releases in 4K. The big, dumb problem with opting for this approach is that the number of games supported is extremely limited, so unless you want to revisit your physical collection or even games you downloaded from Marketplace before it died, it’s best to stick with the OG system.

I’ve experimented with both approaches and can vouch for the results the classic delivers. In terms of scaling, the dongle does a far better job of upgrading from 720p to 1440p than the inner workings of your display, avoiding typical latency issues and blurriness. As a nice bonus, you also have the anti-aliasing formula mentioned above, which works hard to smooth out any weird edges or blurry text – something that makes a huge difference when jumping back and forth between old and new systems (such is the bane of a hardware editor).

It’s worth bearing in mind that results will vary with Xbox 360 games, especially those releases that keep aliasing to a minimum. Still, I could see the benefits immediately when playing both Alice: Madness Returns and The Darkness. In American McGee’s gothic platformer, you don’t even have to head to Wonderland to notice the difference, as the 3D model of the main menu features smoother strands of hair and eyeliner. In-game, you can also enjoy fewer inconsistencies and less pixelated nonsense, bringing the adventure closer to the Steam version than ever before (it’s a world of difference, but the point remains).

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Close-up of the character model from Alice: Madness Returns with mClassic turned off on Xbox 360 — Close up of Alice with mClassic upscaling turned off(Image credit: Future / Phil Hayton)

The Darkness is an example of a game that handles aliasing well, so admittedly I felt less of a benefit from mClassic’s algorithms. What I can say is that the game’s contrast and colors seemed more balanced when using the dongle, not to mention that the 1440p boost is better than messing around with 720p and monitor scaling. You’ll notice slightly smoother edges if you focus on straight edges and some textures, even if there’s less to work with error-wise.

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The Dakrness runs on Xbox 360 with Samsung Odyssey G6 and mClassic turned off — The Darkness Xbox 360 gameplay with mClassic upscaling turned off(Image credit: Future / Phil Hayton)

If you plan on really diving into the Xbox 360’s library but would rather stick with physical media, the mClassic is a good investment. It’s relatively unobtrusive, acting as an intermediary between your console and the HDMI cable, and you can even run it over USB with Microsoft’s 2005 system. I’ll probably spend much of my summer rediscovering old favorites with this dongle, and now that the Marketplace has been laid to rest, I have the perfect excuse to buy new games for my already full shelf.

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