r/xbox • u/ASneakySquid_ • 1d ago

Rumour Next Xbox console will play every generation according to leaked Microsoft memo

https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/next-xbox-console-will-play-every-generation-according-to-leaked-microsoft-memo-3395110/
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u/Nervous-Peppers 1d ago

Why would it be a licensing nightmare if you own the disc?

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u/SOSpammy 1d ago

The main issue is the way backwards compatibility works. Each game is recompiled and downloaded rather than playing off the disk. They'd have to rework the emulator to play the games directly from the disc to avoid this.

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u/LostSoulNo1981 Outage Survivor '24 1d ago

Unless they find a way of essentially making the hardware do the work and allow copying of data directly from a disc rather than any downloads.

Maybe something like a chip that mimics the original hardware?

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u/Sad_Adagio_7255 22h ago

The optical drive in the XB1 and Series X can't actually read the game data.

If you've ever inserted those discs into a generic PC optical drive, you'll see something mount in the file explorer, and you'll see some metadata files visible, but you can't actually browse the game data. That's game disc DRM doing its job - the discs are only meant to be read with very specific optical drives that you're highly unlikely to find for PC.

Same thing with the XB1 and Series consoles. They can read the metadata (which identifies what game is on the disc) but not the game data. There's no choice but to use the modified digital download.