MS confident in a 7 year Xbox 360 life span
by Dustin Burg 
{ May 14th 2008 at 10:00AM }
It is no secret that Microsoft was in a hurry to get the Xbox 360 out the door as quick as possible, leaving the original black box on the streets to fend for itself. But Microsoft sees it differently this time around and thinks the Xbox 360 will see a much longer life cycle.Chatting with CVG during the Gamers' Day festivities, Microsoft's own Shane Kim talked about the Xbox 360's life span saying that they "expect the Xbox 360 to have a long tail"' and are "confident" that the 360 will last seven years. Crunching the numbers, that means the 360 should be around until sometime in 2012, a full seven years after its November 2005 launch. Honestly, we'd love to see our beloved white box around until 2012, as long as we don't have to fear anymore RROD and as long as we can bring our achievements with us into the next, next generation.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Bert @ May 14th 2008 10:07AM
After the amount of returns I have made.... I'd be happy with a 7 month lifespan :/
DiscoGhost @ May 14th 2008 10:12AM
I'd like to see it around for at least another couple years.
I just made my first return (I blame gta). It was the lesser known E74 screen of death. Lucky for me Best Buy has this great arcade rental service: free for 30 days, all you need is $300 for a deposit.
diamondxp @ May 14th 2008 10:25AM
I think 7 years is way too long. every 5 years is a good timeframe for a new system.
mattclarkie @ May 14th 2008 11:14AM
I agree.
By 20012 the 360 will be way behind anything that a PC can do, and therefore game releases for the box would be cripple if they exist at all.
Currently we get a good stream of PC games as they are easy to port, but once the 360 is too old to handle such games I think all the good releases will dry up.
We can't rely on developers making games specifically for our consoles, we have to make it an easy task for them.
Boff @ May 14th 2008 11:38AM
In 20012 I think you'd be more worried about the Sun swallowing the Earth ;o)
Royale @ May 14th 2008 12:04PM
lolz... good one.
geen82 @ May 14th 2008 10:22AM
It's sad that the first Xbox was dropped as quickly as it was. That machine still had a few good years left.
Procris @ May 14th 2008 10:28AM
And i should hope so too. I was a little disappointed that all support for the original Xbox was dropped so quickly but thankfully the 360 has turned out to be a great console (game wise). Its got easily another couple of years life in it, if not more.
andyg8180 @ May 14th 2008 10:28AM
OOOHHH end of the mayan calendar!!!
they're only saying this because they know the world will end in 2012 lmao...
IncredibleBulk92 @ May 14th 2008 10:32AM
`So the xbox will outlast the world itself? Oh the irony!
Mrblonde @ May 14th 2008 11:14AM
Psh what do the mayan's know? The world will last longer then that.
CharleyTony @ May 14th 2008 10:48AM
now that they are making money, they will probably milk the 360 as much as they can and be better prepared for the next generation of consoles.
Unlike the xbox --> xbox360 jump which cancelled games did a quick fatality move to the big black box.
sarge @ May 14th 2008 10:51AM
I think some people mis-interpret what having a 7 year life span means. It means they will support the Xbox 360 for at least 7 years. Kim does not say that there will not be a new system until then.He only makes a statement about the span of the 360. The Xbox had only a 4 year life span (2002-2006). But it overlapped the Xbox 360 (2005-present) by one year, until they stopped all Xbox support. And by support I mean, producing systems and new games. They still sell whats in inventory. Most likely the next Xbox console will come in the fall of 2010. 5 years after the release of xbox 360. Just look at how the PS2 still goes on even though the PS3 has been out for almost 2 years.
mattclarkie @ May 14th 2008 11:18AM
I hope that is what they mean. 2010 seems a good run.
I am looking forward to buying a new console, all this out-dated technology is getting me down.
As long as the next Xbox has a real controller and not some rubbishy motion sensing junk I don't care that much.
Danjer @ May 15th 2008 12:56AM
I AGREE!!!
TerdFerguson @ May 14th 2008 11:08AM
Yeah, similar to the PS2 now. Games will still be developed for the 360 when the next generation comes out. Rumors say the Xbox 720 will be out approximately 2010
Mrblonde @ May 14th 2008 11:11AM
That is good news for me and glad to see it will be around that long as I will be not playing games for the next two years come September. Now when I get back, I won't have to buy another system.
Trekster_Gamer @ May 14th 2008 11:29AM
7 years is too darn long! Technology moves too fast. The hardware will be a dinosaur at that point! 5 to 6 at the outside then move on! Heck, by 2012 Nintendo might even have a console as powerful as the 360!
I know they want to squeeze all the profit they can but if something else comes along that puts the 360/PS3 to shame I am likely to buy it!
Trogdor @ May 14th 2008 11:58AM
This makes sense. We will still see a new Xbox before 2012, but why wouldn't MS still support the 360 if they're already making money on hardware? By then it will probably be $199 for an elite and they'd still make money.
c. thomas @ May 14th 2008 12:19PM
They said life-span. It can still live after the xbox 720 look at the ps2
WilsonGoneWild @ May 14th 2008 1:57PM
I have no problem with that span, provided that they unlock that hard drive and allow us to upgrade at our leisure like on the PS3. Also, native Quicktime HD files streaming; I'm tired of converting Diggnation HD to avi just to get it to play on the 360.