Microsoft thinks 360 can last longer than the typical five-year lifespan

[Scott]

Microsoft sees long-life potential for Xbox 360
Published: Tuesday, November 06, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO -- Microsoft Corp sees potential for its Xbox 360 video game console to stay on the market longer than the five-year lifespan that is typical for gaming hardware, an executive said Tuesday.

Asked about long-term prospects for the game industry, Mindy Mount, chief financial officer for Microsoft's entertainment division that includes the Xbox, pointed to Sony Corp's PlayStation 2, which is still going strong after 7 years on the market.

"Look at the PS2; they've gone long-time and seem to have pretty good legs on what they are doing," Mount told a BMO Capital Markets conference on interactive entertainment.

"If we were able to do that, as CFO I think that's great, because every year you draw it out you increase profitability," Mount said.

Microsoft launched the Xbox 360 in November 2005, replacing the original Xbox that debuted four years earlier to challenge Sony for dominance in a video game industry that is on track to hit $40 billion this year.

Mount said features such as high-definition graphics make new machines attractive when compared against older hardware, but hinted that she sees less need to rush out an all-new console.

"At this point from the technological perspective, there are some real advances ... that make it worth having a next-generation console," Mount said. "Right now there aren't that many things on the horizon that you think, wow, that's going to be a game-changer."

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6 years ( 2005 to 2011) before Xbox 720 arrives is what I think is the most likely course of action by MS.

The Xbox 360 should still get support for 1-2 years after Xbox 720 arrives.

Original Xbox didn't really get any support after Xbox 360 arrived-- but 360 owners should have a total of 7-8 years of support, as far as games--even assuming Xbox 720 comes out 6 years after 360 launched.

[Ghost]

terrible idea

console lifespans should be no longer than 3-4 years max

[Toxic]

I'll hold my breath on that one. Not to mention that I think it is fair to say that software support for the 360 will outlast our console's reliability.

Heck, even if there is an Xbox 720, I could not imagine how bad the launch would be due to the paranoia of buying another broken launch console like last gen.

[Scott]

If X720 comes out 6 years after X360, I would expect a much larger leap in gaming performance, graphics, etc over X360, compared to the relatively modest leap that X360 is over Xbox... and much of that (the modest leap) was because of the move to HD resolutions for most games.

Going from 480p to 720p sucks 3 times the pixel performance (and lots of bandwidth, lots of RAM) out the door, for the same graphics, before the actual graphics are improved. after going to HD resolutions the Xbox 360 did not have a HUGE amount of additional performance left over to improve the graphics over Xbox. while Xbox 360 graphics are definitally better than Xbox graphics, they're not a massive improvement like you'd expect from one generation to another. the PS3 is in the same boat compared to Xbox. although PS3 improved alot over PS2 since PS2 was pretty weak graphically.


With that said it'll great for the X720 generation, because we won't go to yet higher resolutions. Games will still 720p and 1080p. Obvsiouly there will more 1080p games next gen,0 but not another 3x to 6x leap in resolution over this gen. Current HDTV resolutions will still be the cap for next-gen. We won't be going to Ultra High Definition (7680 ? 4320p) for a few decades. That (the same resolutions) combined with the longer time between new Xbox consoles should allow for a huge leap because silicon will have more time to advance in 6 years compared to 4 years. that is why I believe X720 will be a larger leap over X360 than X360 was over Xbox.

[DeadCell]

Now, wouldn't it be a shame if there was no BC from 360 to the 720?

That worries me.

[Toxic]

Now, wouldn't it be a shame if there was no BC from 360 to the 720?

That worries me.

Well they need to because people will expect Halo 3 to be BC. In addition, many would hate to see their xbox 360 games go to waste. Due to the bad reputation of the hardware reliablity, there is a good chance that gamers will not have a working 360 to play them on anymore. Once age kicks in, these things will die off. Can't say that about my Dreamcast or Xbox1 so far..........(knock on wood)

[Scott]

terrible idea

console lifespans should be no longer than 3-4 years max

no, a 3-4 years lifespan does not give the console provider enough time to turn a profit.
It does not give developers enough time to get the most out of a console.


when was the last time we had a 3 year console lifespan?

Sega Master System I believe ?

(Japan: Sega Mark III 1985 to MegaDrive 198
(U.S. Master System 1986 to Genesis 1989)

and 4 year lifespans don't work either

(U.S. Saturn 1995 to Dreamcast 1999)
(U.S. Xbox 2001 to Xbox 360 2005)

Microsoft planned a 4-year lifespan for Xbox, but that was just to gain a foothold on console market quickly because they feared Sony taking over completely with the PS2. Microsoft always planned that the 2nd Xbox would go longer than 4 years. 6 years is about right IMO.

[Ghost]

no, a 3-4 years lifespan does not give the console provider enough time to turn a profit.
It does not give developers enough time to get the most out of a console.

either make it 3 years or make the consoel upgradeable


that is the only way to make them a viable gaming platform

[Scott]

Heck, even if there is an Xbox 720, I could not imagine how bad the launch would be due to the paranoia of buying another broken launch console like last gen.

even IF there is an Xbox 720?

regardless of what the next-gen Xbox is called (it won't be called Xbox 720 ) Microsoft has been working on the 3rd generation of Xbox for more than a year now. they also said before the 360 launched that, even if 360 doesn't beat Sony, they would "play again" next generation. Microsoft so far is beating Sony worldwide, giving them even more reason to launch a 3rd-gen Xbox now that they know they can beat Sony.

[TeknoVagrant]

they always say this.