For those who have noticed the silence recently, I apologise. I have been overseas exploring Japan, having the time of my life. Unfortunately, I still had to do some work, and between that and being on holiday, I had limited writing time. Having said that, I have been following the gaming world, and one story in particular has been on my mind for a while.
There have been a few rumblings from Microsoft regarding Project Helix. As we all pretty much know at this point, it will be a hybrid PC/Console. The problem is that a lot of people fear it will lack a disc tray. Given that the world is going digital, I think everyone expected this, but it still is an issue for those of us with physical libraries.
Project Positron rumours are interesting at the very least
Although this might be an issue that Xbox is already in the midst of solving. Or is it? I am referring to Project Positron. Before we get too deep into the weeds, let’s be clear. Microsoft has confirmed nothing about this. All we have are tidbits from the likes of Windows Central, and they could be way off. But I find what has been said very interesting.
Positron is reported to be a disc-to-digital conversion program, which could mean a multitude of things. The most exciting idea is that you pop your disc into some disc tray, run Positron, and it then creates a digital licence that adds it to your library. Of course, if the Helix lacks a disc tray, this would have to be done on your computer or with an external disc drive.
It might save us all space and time
If this is the case, I can see both positive and negative outcomes. To be a bit doom and gloom, the housing situation pretty much worldwide is a right state. So, people are forced into smaller houses or flats, meaning limited space. Digitising your game library would help with that.
Second is just the pure ease. Having your whole library in one easy-to-browse place sounds brilliant. Imagine playing something like Forza Horizon 6, then immediately switching to the Xbox 360 classic that is Blue Dragon. And that leads me to the biggest plus point.
Positron sounds like the ideal solution for backwards compatibility. I am not a developer, so I don’t understand the ins and outs. But I imagine it would be simple for Xbox to stick an emulator in the Helix that can play old Xbox ISOs after Positron crates them. And speaking of the actual process, let’s head to the negatives.
You might lose your physical and digital collections
The odds of Microsoft allowing us to digitise our disc collections and then passing the discs on to someone else to do the same, or selling them to the likes of CEX, are very slim. Especially if EA gets involved, the rumoured Family Game Pass can attest to that. Allegedly, of course, but the murmurs that EA killed it are most likely correct.
Back on track, I would presume that Positron would brick your disc somehow. Whether that’s by deactivating a licence, not that I am sure old physical discs have individual licenses, or perhaps a good old-fashioned formatting. Whatever the method, we can assume its bye-bye disc.
Who is going to police the second-hand sales?
Of course, that would inevitably lead to one thing: scumbags selling bricked discs online. eBay would be awash with people selling old games for hundreds of pounds, only for them to have been Positroned and not working. Good luck getting your refund then.
I also have some conservation concerns. Like I said earlier, if you look at Xbox or 360 games, I can see ripping an ISO and running it on an in-built emulator being a solid solution. But what of Xbox One or Series X games? I doubt you can emulate these games, so in these cases, Positron might just create a digital license.
Server shutdowns are a serious concern
In that situation, then what is to stop Microsoft from taking that access away one day? We have the whole Stop Killing Games movement happening for this very reason. So it is a serious concern that you run a disc through Positron, brick the disc, and then the game gets taken offline, and then what? You have lost the digital licence on your physical disc.
As someone moving towards a fully digital library, Project Positron sounds very intriguing. Especially for the space-saving aspect. If I can digitise my games, then I would have so much more shelf space for figures and plushies. But then, I don’t want to run my rare games through this and forever lose access if a server gets taken down. Or rather, when they do. Handing full control of your library to a corporation can’t be a smart idea.
Having said all of this, there is the very real possibility that Project Positron is something else entirely. It could have nothing to do with discs; it might not even be Xbox-related. Nothing has been officially said. So, take all of this with a pinch of salt. But it is interesting to think about, isn’t it?
