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.
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I can live with that, I'll be upgrading if I want to by then.
This was one of my biggest fears. Nice to hear that Microsoft will still support the Xbox 360. Right now I am the transition of moving over to PC, and I will probably not pick up a next gen console until a few good exclusives come out for it.
It's only natural. People aren't all gonna drop the 360 when the X-Box One comes out, for all those peeps that just don't have cash. #NoBrainer.
What this means:
No Halo 3 PC until 2016.
I mean it, they'd do it. They still keep refusing to give it to us even though we're at the same point when they gave us Halo 2.
Nice. I suspect I'll be getting my Xbox One around the time Titanfall comes out, good to hear I can wait.
Hey, that's nice.
Sweet, maybe I can get one by the time I am 21.
I'll believe it when I see it, besides Halo 4, and Gear 3.5, 2012, and 2013 sucked; Xbox exclusive wise. I hope they meant fully developed 360 game, and not a hammy port of an One game like Titanfall.
It makes sense. The 360 is still a great contender in the console world, as is the PS3. Both still have amazing visuals and performance, as opposed to the PS2/Xbox when their new counterparts took over, so both current and next-gen will be able to work together much longer than the last generation could. Plus, with GTA V and Online coming out in less than a month, that will keep people on the current systems for quite some time, at least until the game moves to next-gen, which could happen.