Sources are coming out of the woodwork with claims (of all things) that Microsoft is planning to include support within Windows 8 to allow Xbox 360 games to be played on Windows 8. This sounds more than a little bit unbelievable, if you ask us. Still, we have spoken to some of our folks who are in the know, and they claim to be hearing the same thing; and this is compounded by a number of articles on sites all over the Internet, including Gamespot and VG247 proclaiming the same thing.

Why do we remain skeptical? Well, there are a number of serious logistical issues that would make this a difficult (but not impossible) feat if the emulation of the Xbox 360 hardware would occur using just a software layer. In addition, if you were to do it all in software, you would need a very fast CPU and a higher performance DirectX 10/11 GPU to likely get the job done. With an emulation helper card, if you will, this might be a bit easier; but I have to wonder if (depending how much it costs) I would not be better off by buying an Xbox 360 console?

To Microsoft’s credit, if they were to make a move like this it would jump start gaming on the PC in a very positive way; and by combining Games for Windows with Xbox Live to create a single marketplace offering, the company would be able to offer a one-stop shop. In addition, the 360 support in Windows 8 would give the company additional time to rake in revenue from Xbox 360 titles while the company moves to the next generation console, or the Xbox 720, if you will.

While we will be monitoring this as it develops, we think that the work Microsoft would have to put into such an offering would not yield the kind of return on investment to make it worthwhile for Microsoft. While the company has no comment and no official release date for Windows 8, we don’t even want to speculate if there is really a shred of truth in this wild rumor.