On Fri, 06 Mar 2026 14:22:29 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> said this thing:



Remember Project Helix, the rumored 'next XBox' that would run PC and
console games natively? No? That's not a surprise; there's been
relatively little news --and almost nothing confirmed-- about what it
is and what it will be able to do. Will it be a proper console? A
locked down PC, a la Steam Machine? A hardware platform designed to
stream games over the Internet? Nobody knows for sure; it's all rumors
at this point.

So here's another rumor to add to the fire. There is speculation that
Microsoft intends to license the tech to manufacturers, including MSI
and ASUS, so they can build (and sell) Helix machines of their own.

Does this business model sound familiar? Your mind might first go to
Valve's 2012 attempt at the first Steam Machine (which flopped
miserably), but it's also the model behind the not-lamented 3DO
console from the early 90s. There, the 3DO company developed the tech
but left it up to third-party manufacturers to build the actual
consoles. It was a practice that led to extremely high prices for the
hardware, low uptake of the console, and incompatibility (albeit
minor) between the different variations.

There is at least one difference. Microsoft has indicated that they
intend to build a Project Helix machine of their own. (But they
haven't asserted they will be the ONLY ones who will be making Project
Helix consoles). So it's not quite like 3DO.

Personally, I think the reason for all this uncertainty is that
everything about the next console still is very uncertain... that even
in Redmond Microsoft isn't entirely sure which way they'll go. The
gaming industry is on very uneven ground right now, and it's probably especially hard to make long-term business plans right now. Will this
Project Helix be an exclusive? Will it be subscription based? Will it
even release at all? With prices and customer desires fluctuating so
much, I think Microsoft is probably tossing all sorts of ideas at the
wall trying to figure out which one makes the most sense... and we
--the lowly consumer-- are getting a very mixed impression of what the
ultimate product will look like. So I'm hesitant to make any judgment
calls at the moment.

Still, it would be interesting if Microsoft does go the 3DO route
(especially since I just wrote about that possibility last August;
luck or insight, you decide! ;-). It's something that hasn't been
tried in thirty years and while it didn't work then... maybe the
industry has changed enough that it will work in 2026.








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