Technology from the past isn’t always compatible with present-day gaming consoles, but one gamer has managed to get an Xbox console to run on an old TV from the late 70s. In modern times, HDMI flatscreen monitors and televisions are the standard when it comes to displaying video game consoles like the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X, but that hasn’t stopped some from experimenting with older display models for the fun and challenge of it.
Many of these gaming experiments revolve around the boxy CRT TVs from the 90s, which will be warmly familiar to gamers who enjoyed using them to play consoles like the original PlayStation or Nintendo GameCube. Tech-savvy fans have managed to run newer titles like Skyrim, Halo Infinite, and even Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart on these cubed-shaped displays, while others have explored why older games look better on them than on newer HD monitors.
Now, one TikTok user by the handle of b_b_retro has managed to get an original Xbox console to run on an old TV from 1977. This retro set doesn’t even have the audio/video input that would normally be required to connect the console, but b_b_retro is able to get the original Halo: Combat Evolved to play on it by hooking it up to a radio adapter and touching its input cord to the TV’s antenna. Radio signals are sent through the antenna, resulting in the Halo startup screen and classic Halo intro theme playing through the monochrome set.
Commentators have praised b_b_retro for pulling this impressive feat off, and a few have shared their memories of playing older Halo games on CRT TV sets. While these types of displays have been largely discontinued, there is still some nostalgic charm in trying to get newer gaming systems to work on them – and as mentioned before, older games actually look better on them due to LCD/LED TVs stretching out smaller images to fit on larger screens.
Still, one wouldn’t expect an old TV from the late 70s to connect with a more recent gaming console like the original Xbox, especially since the TV predates the audio/visual inputs modern systems take for granted. Nonetheless, b_b_retro has managed to do just this using radio signals and the old antenna that delivered analog television signals to households in the decades before digital broadcasts became the norm, much to the amazement of gamers everywhere.