Play Xbox 360 Games On Mac

  

Whether you’re trying to no-scope that enemy on COD or score a last-minute slam-dunk on NBA, the touchpad just doesn’t do it.

Dec 30, 2013 How to simply connect an Xbox 360 controller with a Mac to play some games! You will need; - Mac - Xbox 360 controller - Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver Xb. Dec 15, 2009 Play Your Xbox 360 on Your Mac Adapter allows users to connect game consoles, Blu-ray players and more to an iMac. How to stream Xbox One games on Mac The first step is to head to the OneCast website and download the app. Open the DMG file that you’ve just downloaded, and drag the OneCast app into your Applications. Open the OneCast app on your Mac. Make sure that both your Mac and Xbox One are connected.

So, we thought we’d share the best tips on how to connect an Xbox 360 controller to your Mac, to make them tense gaming moments a little easier.

Before you do: Clean up your Mac

BUT, before we get into all the juicy techy stuff, let’s remind you of how beneficial cleaning up your Mac can be.

Before installing any new hardware, it’s important to have an un-cluttered file space so the new software can run efficiently, and you can keep an eye on what’s where.

With CleanMyMac X, it’s easy. It’s one-click cleaning approach and powerful scanning means you can swiftly dispose of useless documents and apps which may be slowing your Mac down.

So, to get optimal controller connectivity, you should download CleanMyMac and tidy up your digital space – prior to any installations. Now, onto how to use an Xbox 360 controller on a Mac.

How to use the Xbox 360 controller on Mac

Not many of us know it, but there could be a handy use for all those old Xbox 360 or Xbox One controllers lying around. But, before you get set up, you need to have the correct hardware installed on your Mac to enable connectivity.

Here’s how.

First of all, you will need either a wired or wireless Xbox controller. Both work fine, but for all those passionate gamers with a tendency to erupt, a wireless device would be best to save any damages to wires (or opponents). These wireless receivers can be bought for around $20 on Amazon, and can handle up to 4 Xbox 360 controllers.

Free Drivers

Obviously, Macs don’t have an in-built driver for Xbox controllers as Apple are in no way affiliated with Microsoft. Similarly, Microsoft doesn’t supply drivers for Mac users for their hardware, which leaves us wanting users having to find our own way.

So back in 2006, it was music to gamer’s ears to hear that Tattie Bogle had developed their own driver free of charge to users across the gaming globe. However, this driver hasn’t been updated since 2012, and is therefore sticky when it comes to compatibility with MacOS X.

For a more streamlined approach to this conundrum, download GitHub’s free driver – it’s maintained and updated frequently and is free to all Mac users.

1. Install the driver

After opening the GitHub link, double click on the DMG file visible under ‘Assets’. This will start the installing process, where you will have to follow the appropriate instructions.

Remember though, as with any new program installation, it will reboot your Mac, so don’t panic. After the restart, you should be able to find ‘Xbox 360 Controllers’ in the system preferences.

2. Connect the Xbox 360 Controller to your Mac

Now you’ve installed the driver, the next step is to connect the controller, which is simple and only needs to be done once.

  • Firstly, you need to plug the USB receiver into a free USB port on your Mac. Once plugged in, the USB receiver’s light should start blinking

  • Press the big Xbox logo button on the controller so it lights up green

  • Press the button on the USB receiver

  • Press the connect button on the controller, which can be found at the top - in-between the left and right toggles

  • The top left quarter of the circle around the Xbox button should now light up, indicating you are the first controller connected

Now the controller and Mac are linked - so in the future if you want to connect again, all you need do is press the big Xbox logo button to get going. Told you it was simple!

3. Test the Controller

As with all things techy, there’s always loopholes. So, it’s important to test the connections to ensure the controller works before we embark upon a mobile-gaming-gallivant.

Go to ‘System Preferences’, ‘Xbox 360 Controllers’ and you’ll see a screen like below.

This is a control pad, which indicates whether all the buttons on the controller are working properly. That’s about all you can do on this, as well as shutting the controller down by clicking ‘power off’.

4. Configuring for multiple games on your Mac

We all have different tastes in games - some of us like sports and some of us like military, there’s no right or wrong (asides from Half-Life, that’s just awesome and it’s not up for debate).

With these different games come different control configurations, which can get tedious when you only have one type of controller.

For full flexibility of use, there are many tools and apps available which allow you to play any game with any Mac compatible joystick or controller – even the ones that are not compatible with joysticks.

5. Use Joystick Mapper

Out of the many apps to choose from, Joystick Mapper is our pick. And at only $4.99 from the App Store, it’s real value for money – especially when considering the amount of effort it takes to develop such a complex tool.

Here’s how it works –

Once you download the Joystick Mapper app, you need to create a pre-set for your game preferences. To do this, open the app and click ‘Add new pre-set’.

Enter a name for future reference such as ‘My Game’, and for each joystick, click ‘Add a new joystick’.

Now that you’ve identified the joystick, you need to ‘bind’ joystick inputs to keyboard or mouse movements - which is easier than it sounds.

Click on ‘Add new bind’, and then ‘Scan’, and press the button of your game controller that you’d like to use. Next select a mouse or keyboard action, and that will ‘bind’ the chosen inputs.

Simply repeat this process until you’ve bound all the buttons you’d like to use.

If by chance you’re using a controller other than an Xbox 360 or Xbox One, you can replicate these actions and apply them to different controllers. To do this, simply click the ‘Clone’ icon in the top right corner. To put the pre-set into action, set a checkmark before the preferred pre-set/profile you’ve created for the game you’re about to play. Now, you’re good to go!

BUT – don’t close the Joystick Mapper app before starting the game, it needs to keep running to work. Simply select ‘cmd + H’ to hide the window.

Declutter your Mac to make more room for games

Remember, all of these processes won’t work as effectively if you have a messy Mac.

On average, there is a whopping 62GB of junk found on Macs, with jam-packed caches and folders full of useless documents cluttering the hard drive.

Play xbox 360 games on mac

This considerably slows down the performance of your Mac, preventing quick and easy installations, and can even hinder the controller connectivity.

CleanMyMac X is an app dedicated to cleaning your Mac head-to-toe. It scans everything on the computer - even old folders that have been evading your wrath for years - identifying what needs to be removed.

Can I Play Xbox 360 Games On Mac

The Mac is inspected rigorously, and with its smart one-click clean-up, CleanMyMac sweeps away the unwanted rubbish to organize folders and speed up performance.

Furthermore, CleanMyMac X is free to download. So, what are you waiting for? Download it for free here.

These might also interest you:

If you want to play Microsoft Xbox games on your Mac there are two easy ways to do so. One is by running Windows on your Mac using Parallels and the other is via an app called OneCast.

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Xbox 360 Games On Mac

Here’s an overview of both ways so you can choose the best one for you.

1. Parallels

Parallels is our favorite way to run Windows on a Mac and the latest version of Parallels 15 supports Xbox Beta from the Windows store which allows you to play Xbox games in Windows 10.

You also need an Xbox pass but you can get one for an introductory offer of $1 for the first month and then $5 per month afterwards.

Even better, you can connect your Xbox controller via Bluetooth meaning you can enjoy the full Xbox experience on your Mac.

Installing Windows on your Mac also opens up a whole world of other advantages allowing you to install PC only apps and games on macOS.

Mac

Can I Play Xbox 360 Games On My Mac

2. OneCast

OneCast allows you to stream Xbox One games to macOS in 1080p and connect an Xbox controller to your Mac via Bluetooth or USB.

OneCast is extremely easy to setup, there’s almost no lag when playing and you can setup multiple profiles for multiple Xboxes.

You can try OneCast for free although after 14 days it costs $10 to buy a license key for the full version. It’s normally $20 but it’s currently 50% off until April 1st. You can also watch OneCast in action playing NBA Live on Mac here.

Before starting, make sure that your Mac and Xbox are connected to the same internet router at home. Then follow these instructions to start streaming Xbox games to your Mac for free:

Play Xbox 360 Games On Pc

  • Download the trial version of OneCast for free and open the DMG file downloaded.
  • Drag the OneCast app to your Applications folder.

How To Play Xbox 360 Games On Mac

  • Click on the OneCast icon in your dock to launch it.
  • OneCast will then automatically detect your Xbox on your home network (assuming it’s switched on) and allow you to connect to it. OneCast will prompt you to login into your Xbox with your Microsoft account details. Just use the same username and password that you use to log onto your Xbox One.
  • Finally you simply need to connect your Xbox One controller to your Mac which you can do by activating Bluetooth on your Mac via System Preferences. Alternatively you can also connect it via USB.

You can stream your Xbox on your Mac in either windowed mode or full screen mode. You can even connect your Mac to your Xbox away from home too although this requires a few simple manual network configuration changes which are explained in the OneCast user manual.

Although there is some lag at times, most games run pretty smoothly in 1080p using OneCast and it’s generally very impressive. If you find that lag becomes a problem, you can try changing the video quality when you launch OneCast from “Very High” to “High”, “Medium” or “Low”.

It is also a good idea to shut down all other applications while using OneCast as it’s quite GPU intensive and your Macs cooling vents will kick in pretty quickly if you’ve got lots of other applications open.

The Mac gaming scene is really hotting-up this year with NVIDIA GeForce Now already allowing Mac users to play Windows only Steam games on Mac.

Previously the only way to run Xbox games on Mac was to install Windows on Mac for free using Boot Camp but both Parallels and OneCast are definitely easier and more efficient.

If you’re having any problems playing Xbox games on your Mac, let us know in the comments below.