Gamepad support doesn't necessarily mean original Xbox controllers only. This means you'll be able to get the full Xbox experience if your video game files will play well with the emulator. Xemu advertises gamepad support, state save capabilities, system linking, and render scaling capabilities. The app can update itself to the latest version, provided you choose that setting.
The video game image should be extracted with 3rd party software from your original discs. In this case, you'll need to add the BIOS file, the Boot ROM, and the video game file.
The main issue with these programs, as always, is being able to grab the original console firmware to install for use with the emulator. In fact, while this app is still in development, according to the developer it can play about 60% of the Xbox titles well, with an extra 2% functioning exactly as on the original console. Having the ability to play more than half of the games for one of the most important consoles in history is no small thing. Just like the name might suggest, xemu is an emulation program for the original Xbox console.
