Xbox Project Helix Next gen Console
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Thread started by cm2
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Will it be Xbox's last console?
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Hopefully, Xbox Helix will come with a built-in disc drive for playing physical games.
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I hope so too, I hope they at least give us the option to pick a unit with a drive or without like both Sony and Microsoft did with the PS5/Series X/S.
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It won't, we'll be lucky if it comes with an addon.
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It is disappointing that Xbox won't come with a built-in disc drive, so people can also play their old and new disc games, and watch DVD and Bluray movies, and save table/shelf space by using an internal disc drive similar to many current and older consoles like the Xbox One.
Hopefully, the add-on disc drive will be affordable if it is ever released for the Xbox Helix.
I also hope the add-on drive won't be cheaply made with very low quality plastic parts which causes the drive to break if someone drop it from half an inch off the ground and the external power and drive cable or port won't breaks after unplugging and replugging in the cable a few dozen times into the port because they are moving the console and addon disc drive to another room or home, or somehow the cable got bent or damaged from moving and bending the cable too much by accident.
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Here is a pretty good breakdown on console news:
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I really like a lot of what they’re aiming for with Helix, but I’ve got two big worries: the price and, honestly, even more than that, the stability of the OS. Consoles thrive because they “just work,” and because they’re cheaper and simpler than PC gaming. That’s been the whole appeal for decades.
Xbox has been pretty good lately, but it’s still not as rock‑solid as the older generations were (hardware issues aside). And Windows hasn’t exactly been inspiring confidence either. So while the idea of merging Xbox and PC into a unified platform sounds great on paper, Microsoft hasn’t really shown they can deliver the level of consistency a console needs.
There’s also a deeper worry for me with this whole “PC game” angle. If this ends up being a halfway‑integrated setup, not fully console, not fully PC, or worse, something leaning into cloud‑based solutions, that’s going to turn a lot of people off. Gamers want a system that feels cohesive and native, not something that behaves like a PC in disguise or depends on cloud infrastructure to fill in the gaps.
The concept is exciting, but right now I’m not convinced they can pull it off in a way that keeps the reliability and simplicity that make a console a console.
Xbox has been pretty good lately, but it’s still not as rock‑solid as the older generations were (hardware issues aside). And Windows hasn’t exactly been inspiring confidence either. So while the idea of merging Xbox and PC into a unified platform sounds great on paper, Microsoft hasn’t really shown they can deliver the level of consistency a console needs.
There’s also a deeper worry for me with this whole “PC game” angle. If this ends up being a halfway‑integrated setup, not fully console, not fully PC, or worse, something leaning into cloud‑based solutions, that’s going to turn a lot of people off. Gamers want a system that feels cohesive and native, not something that behaves like a PC in disguise or depends on cloud infrastructure to fill in the gaps.
The concept is exciting, but right now I’m not convinced they can pull it off in a way that keeps the reliability and simplicity that make a console a console.
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Since they are putting someone in charge that is all AI focused, I can't see things going well.
I have similar concerns. Especially the stability of OS. And how consoles is the easy barrier of entry.
I'm not completely worried about the hybrid design's implementation. Because it's leveraging the power of the Microsoft Store. It's not a matter of implementation you should be worried about. It's how well it's implemented. The codebase is already "ready." 90 percent of the codebase is from Windows. The other 50 percent is the custom design of this SOC/CPU/GPU. If you have access to a ROG Ally X at this moment, you'll see. I've never played it, but I have a PC with Windows 11 and I made it my life's mission to uninstall copilot.
I'm more worried about the payload between console, and this PC. Hence why we have concerns around OS, because even with previous generation Xbox consoles - like let's say - Xbox Series X is using 60% to 70% of the system, because system reserves the OS for tasks. Like, for example, your HDD/SSD uses 10% to 20% of that storage to keep OS running. RAM? Like I said, being used for tasks. CPU... sigh. I don't know everything, but my point is, the shared tasks are being taken away for OS reasons, and OS reasons, only, especially if this thing is said to be using copilot....
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I’m with you on the Copilot concern, and honestly, I think it’s going to be a much bigger part of Helix than Microsoft wants to admit right now. The messaging from leadership has been confusing; we keep hearing that Microsoft is “pulling back” on AI or that the new CEO isn’t going to push it as aggressively, but none of that lines up with what’s actually happening. Asha Sharma has a deep AI background both inside and outside Microsoft, and her statements haven’t been “we won’t use AI,” they’ve been “we won’t use bad AI.” That’s a very intentional distinction.
And let’s be real: Microsoft isn’t going to look at Xbox AI features and say, “Yeah, that’s bad AI, let’s cut it.” If anything, they’re going to double down. AI isn’t leaving Windows, and every time they talk about scaling it back, the user‑facing AI footprint somehow gets bigger. So I fully expect Helix to lean into AI whether gamers want it or not.
The part you highlighted about OS overhead is exactly why this worries me. Even on the Series X, a big chunk of system resources is already reserved for the OS and background tasks. If Helix is running a more Windows‑like environment plus Copilot‑style features, that’s even more CPU, RAM, and storage being siphoned away from the actual games. And that’s the opposite of what a console should be doing.
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I just know the next console will be digital only and kill some of its sales.
The problem is with Satya Nadella. It's not just Asha Sharma, who was lead on Copilot, lead on most AI projects at Microsoft. Satya believes in A.I., and has gone so far to telling consumers, or customers that they should stop calling their A.I. - "slop" and thus associating Microsoft with the word "Slop" and even coining "Microslop" to make things worse. Thing is, they won't listen. I literally told them, in a customer survey feedback - to STOP supporting A.I. and not even 2 weeks later, Recall got blasted immediately. This copilot issue is not just Recall, it's the whole thing. It's in your options, which I have gone in and disabled. I uninstalled Copilot, even.
I FUCKING TOLD THEM. Bro, if they want to shoot themselves on the foot, by all means - do it. I'd like to see your stock go down, and watch your entire company burn.
Unfortunately.
I saw this during Xbox One, and I never even bought it, I saw all these articles talking about how Xbox One had shared tasks, and Windows gobbling most, if not all the resources. Xbox One had a custom Windows platform underneath it all. This is no different, but they're making it 100% obvious that this thing is a console hybrid between a PC, and a game console. As I predicted in a video, ROG Ally X is basically a test machine for Microsoft.