The lights are on
In the last console transition, Microsoft kicked the unprofitable Xbox to the curb in favor of the 360. According to an MS executive, things will be much different this time around.
Microsoft chief marketing and strategy officer Yusuf Mehdi stresses that the company plans to keep supporting the Xbox 360 long into the Xbox One lifecycle. Mehdi said, "We are going to continue to invest in Xbox 360 and the two devices can work in concert. So it isn't like the day we ship the Xbox One your [Xbox 360] won't work. We will continue to support it. In fact, we're going to ship over one hundred new games on Xbox 360. So you'll be able to still play your games, just not on the same exact box."
He cited reduced production costs and a large installed based as reasons why the system could remain very profitable in the future.
[Source: Gamespot]
Our Take:Once again, Microsoft is learning from past mistakes. Sony has always stressed that its home consoles have a 10-year lifecycle, and has continued to release new version of past PlayStations while remaining focused on next-gen. It's just good business. For one, there are emerging markets around the world that are ripe for older, lower-priced hardware. In addition, new software can sell to a huge, mature installed base. And, as manufacturing costs continue to drop, each sale of an old system becomes more and more profitable. It's also a win for gamers who might not have the money to invest in the latest and greatest hardware.
Whopdy freaking do dah!
Well good, win win. Because I'll buy more games on 360, but I'll never drop a dime on the xbox1.
I'm upgrading as soon as i can but its good to know i can still 100% some of the games i'm working on.
WTF the *** happens to our XBLA games
Great to here. I don't plan on upgrading until at least until fall of next year
Wait wait wait...what happened to supporting the system for five years??? I swear I read somewhere that Microsoft was going to support the 360 for that long. Now it is three? Geez....next you know they will drop support day one after the XBox One is released.
remember you saying 5 years at E3 though? however 3 years is long enough. Just happy to hear you're not bailing on the 360
3 years isn't long at all...
Great news. I'm in no rush to to buy an Xbox one or ps4 until I see where the two machines end up at least a year or even longer from launch. See what sort of games both have to offer as developers become more comfortable with and adept at using the new tech. Plus gta v while no doubt be all for I need for at least the next couple months.
Thats awesome!!! I am still selling my 360 this saturday. I can use it to pay off my GTA 5 I got suckered into pre ordering and go back to New Vegas on my PS3.
Neat, but still no backwards compatibility...
Didn't they originally say they were going to support it for 5 years?
I told myself I was going to wait before getting the XB1 and this time span seems more than sufficient. Besides, I still have some games I want/need to finish.
They better.
"But it will stop working one day", is what I'm taking away from this. It's good to know if my 360 ever dies all those 40+ games I downloaded on it are gone forever. Thanks Microsoft!