The 360 Premium ('Pro') and Elite versions play about 300 original Xbox games. The arcade does not play old games, so I would rule that version out. The arcade doesn't come with a hard drive either, so its a waste of time if you want to use Xbox live to download games, demos, videos etc., which is one of the best bits about owning a 360! I can't say how well they run the old Xbox games, although I would presume they run fine seeing as the hardware is better. I think the xbox website has a list of all the compatible games...
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/backwardcompatibilitygameslist.htm There's the BC list, it's the final update, they have now dropped support for adding any more games to the list. As for how they play, it's hit or miss. Some games play perfectly, others suffer serious frame rate issues, especially during cut-scenes. The above link gives information as to what issues which games have. For the above posters, it has nothing to do with the capabilities of the 360 hardware. The games run off of emulation, not original hardware, so it depends on how well Microsoft was able to emulate each game, unfortunately on a game-for-game basis.
I have the Elite and i've played almost all my classic games. I did have a few cases where cut scenes had on audio but nothing too crazy. Oh u don't get achievement points for playing your classic games (well at least i haven't for the games i've played)
1. I think some play better then others ****2.! GET the arcade, and the 60 gig XBL starter kit. Same price (300) as the pro, but you get a headset, 60 gig HDD, and 3 months of live, not to mention 214 MB of MU spacein the arcade. Its the best deal*****
Get the Xbox Elite, and it does play some originals (list at xbox.com) and some of them are kinda glitchy, so it's best to try and avoid buying originals.
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