Shane Kim: Xbox 360 has 7 year lifespan

Author: Joe Martin
Published: 14th May 2008
Comments (17) Stumble
Shane Kim: Xbox 360 has 7 year lifespan

The Xbox 360 is planned as having a seven year lifetime according to Microsoft boss Shane Kim.

The original Xbox didn't last all that long when you look back at the history of the console and, as an owner of big black box, that was admittedly quite disappointing. So disappointing in fact that some people are worried that the Xbox 720 might soon appear and replace the ubiquitous towel warmer.

No fear though - Microsoft boss-man Shane Kim has said that he believes the current plan for the Xbox 360 is for it to have a seven year life time for consumers, which is slightly less than Sony's plan for a ten-year PlayStation 3.

"We said from the beginning that we expect the Xbox 360 to have a long tail. Clearly we didn't do that with the original Xbox, which was a strategic decision we made. Admittedly, we don't have any experience doing this, but we're pretty confident 360 will have a long tail," said Kim in an interview with CVG.

"You're going to continue to see technical innovation, it might be additional capabilities to the current format — but honestly we haven't made those kind of decisions yet," Kim continued.

"As far as technical limitations? We're not seeing those. I think there's the potential for more multi-disc titles, we've already shipped a few of those already. But I don't think this is so drastic that people will start saying that Microsoft missed a trick with not using Blu-ray. I just don't believe that...What we've been able to see with the vast majority of titles on Xbox 360, is the range of experiences that haven't been restricted with the lack of a hard drive and a larger capacity disc."

That's all well and good Shane, but at the moment we're only two and a bit years in to that supposed seven year lifetime. As technology advances faster and faster, might the Xbox 360 get left behind? Let us know what you think in the forums.
Quote RotoSequence 14th May 2008, 10:43
Its a bit of an extreme example, But look at what people have done with Commodore 64s. Just because technology is advancing doesn't mean it's obsolete and useless - at least not as much as the computing industry would like you to believe.

It's cheaper for the consumer in the long run as well.
Quote r4tch3t 14th May 2008, 10:57
Didn't MS say that games wouldn't need the space offered by HD disks as a dual layer DVD would be plenty?
Quote bowman 14th May 2008, 10:58
The consoles already look and run worse than a decent, mid-range low budget gaming pc - imagine in 2010 and on how woefully outdated they will seem.

If anything they are digging their own grave. Maybe some outsider will challenge them on their turf in the midlife of their consoles, like MS did with the Xbox originally.
Quote Tomm 14th May 2008, 11:00
I guess this is all based on Sony's strategy. If the PS3 is going to be around for ten years then why would MS need to release another console until around that time?
Quote Hustler 14th May 2008, 11:14
7 year lifespan does'nt mean no new console for 7 years, just means they will continue to support the 360 AFTER they have released a follow up in 2010/2011.
Quote badders 14th May 2008, 11:16
It occurs to me, that with all the RRoD's happening, then your xbox only has a 3 year lifespan. as soon as the Warranty's up and you get one, you're stuffed!
Quote cjoyce1980 14th May 2008, 11:35
i would expect new xbox around 2010/2011, and sony and nintendo to have there machine aready around then too i'm sure.

consoles usually have a 5 year life span, buy that time graphics technology in PC's have jump so far above consoles, that new console have to appear just to appear to be keeping up.
Quote Bauul 14th May 2008, 12:25
Well the PS2 is still having games brought out for it and it's nearly eight years old now. Remember Sony only brought the PS3 out 6.5 years after the PS2 first went on sale, and no-one complained they'd waited far too long. A 7 year life-span is about right in my opinion.
Quote SNIPERMikeUK 14th May 2008, 12:39
I think in 7 years it is safe to say you will get a red ring, microsoft will be so busy.....
Quote tuaamin13 14th May 2008, 12:40
If they can get the reliability of the system up so that it doesn't matter if there's a 3 year RROD warranty, then I have no problem with a 7 year lifespan. I wouldn't mind getting a new console every 6-7 years; I'll have my PC for bleeding edge.

Multiple systems gets you the best of the gaming world.
Quote Hg80 14th May 2008, 13:12
Quote:
Originally Posted by bowman
The consoles already look and run worse than a decent, mid-range low budget gaming pc - imagine in 2010 and on how woefully outdated they will seem.

If anything they are digging their own grave. Maybe some outsider will challenge them on their turf in the midlife of their consoles, like MS did with the Xbox originally.

The PS2 came out in late 2000 and its still on sale now with plenty of games in its catalogue. A seven year life cycle doesn’t seem crazy to me, saves people having to buy a new console every few years…
Also as we have seen with the PS2, graphics will improve over the xbox360's life span due to developers refining their code for the machine and possibly new updates in the firmware etc.
Quote scarrmrcc 14th May 2008, 13:37
yeah, the 360 is plenty scale-able.

with firmware, and software updates, and the occasional add-in hardware, it is like a lesser PC.
i can see it going for 7 years.....if they can just keep the things running.
Quote DXR_13KE 14th May 2008, 14:40
Quote:
Originally Posted by scarrmrcc
and the occasional add-in hardware

that worked very well for the genesis
Quote devdevil85 14th May 2008, 16:38
I wonder if they'll make it smaller like the PS2 later on.....but they'll have to get past the RRoD first....
Quote slugbug 14th May 2008, 16:42
A seven year lifespan? I've already been through three of them in a little over two
Quote devdevil85 14th May 2008, 18:56
Quote:
Originally Posted by slugbug
A seven year lifespan? I've already been through three of them in a little over two
LOL! Idk, I see everyone jumping ship just like the with the original Xbox, so this 7-year lifespan thing is (probably) more geared towards the "casual" owners of the system *cough* arcade *cough* that won't just go out and buy the next generation.....
Quote parallaxscroll 5th June 2008, 19:30
I expect the next generation Xbox to arrive in 2010 or 2011, and no later than 2012. The Xbox 360 will have been on the market for an absolute minimum of 5 years before the next-gen Xbox arrives, but most likely, 6 years, because I think the next Xbox is most likely to launch in 2011.

I expect PS4 to arrive no sooner than 2011 (2011 is unlikely but somewhat possible) probably / most likely 2012, yet no later than 2013, thus, no longer than 7 years after PS3's 2006 launch.

When Sony said PS3 would have a 10 year life, they meant it would be on the market for 10 years, but *NOT* that PS4 would launch 10 years after PS3, in 2016. The PS1 lasted for about 10 years but PS2 launched 5-6 years after PS1. The PS2 has been on the market 8 years and will last 10, yet PS3 launched just over 6 years after PS2. It'll be roughly the same with PS4, 6-7 years after PS3.
Log in

You are not logged in, please login with your forum account below. If you don't already have an account please register to start contributing.







Mobile Phones

LG Arena ReviewHTC Magic Review

Compare over 250 mobile phones &
52,000 deals!



Broadband

Mobile Broadband

Compare over 100 broadband & mobile broadband deals online!