In August of 2006 Kaz Hirai was quoted saying he and Sony saw the Playstation 3 as “having a 10 year life cycle.” By the time the PS3 was released that November, Sony was being attacked by many and defended by only a few stalwart cheerleaders of the brand. At that point Sony’s public relations nightmare was only beginning. The high price point, the missing exclusives, the lack of rumble—the internet critics found much to despise in the former golden child. Fast-forward to more than two years later, and the PS3 is trailing the Xbox 360 by a significant margin.

How comfortable is Microsoft with their latest system? This should give you an idea: today Microsoft’s President of Entertainment & Devices Division, Robert Bach, had this to say in The Mercury News of San Jose, “Just coming up with something that’s faster and prettier isn’t going to be sufficient.The life cycle for this generation of consoles — and I’m not just talking about Xbox, I’d include Wii and PS3 as well — is probably going to be a little longer than previous generations.”

This can only mean good things for gamers. Not only do we have a few years to save up for the next generation of hardware, but Sony and Microsoft have more time to develop that hardware. Hopefully this means we will avoid another Red Ring type debacle, though given Microsoft’s track record, there is no guarantee. Also, allowing the current crop of consoles to build on their install base means that we should see excellent software developed for these machines for years to come. The original Xbox was ditched quickly by developers once the 360 was underway since it had a relatively short time to build it’s following. This is held in clear contrast to the PS2 which was around far longer, had a much larger base, and still had major games released for it near the very end of its life cycle. God of War II is the perfect example of this, being released four months after the debut of the PS3.

Despite this, Microsoft’s shortening of the original Xbox’s life was understandable. As a company they were just beginning to understand the gaming market. To repeat this move, however, would make no sense. Now that the 360 is turning a profit and Microsoft has a decent lead on Sony it logically follows that the Xbox 360 would have a longer life than the original.

Using the economy as an excuse for this prolonged lifespan is a convenient half-truth employed by Bach. Ailing economy or not, a new batch of consoles would have been a hard sell in a year or two when this generation is only just getting its legs. The truth is more likely that, depending on the success of the 360, this was Microsoft’s plan all along. Economic worries after a year of steadily increasing profits made it a great time to announce their intentions. Now the question on my mind, and I’m sure the one that burns in the minds of literally dozens: what is the Zune’s life cycle?

-Matt Frank

Tags: featured, Microsoft, PS3, Sony, Xbox 360, Zune

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