10 Year Life Cycle

 

 

Sometimes you can beat me over the head with something and I just wont have it.  What am I getting at ? Well fellow writer SUPERGHOST and myself have been having this debate about the this so called “10 Year Life Cycle” of gaming consoles. He's for it …I'm not.

The PS2 is a Phenom when it comes to consoles with over 10 years of active sales and with well over a 1000 titles available world wide. There continues to be support for the PS2, minimal… but support none the less. At $99.99 the PS2 still continues to sell, sometimes out selling its younger and more powerful buddy the PS3.

So a console can last 10 years maybe even more. Did Sony know this would happen or even plan for it ? I really doubt it. So last years at E3 when Sony started talking about the “10 year life cycle” of consoles it was really something they had to play up considering that the PS3 was just having poor sales in general.

So can the Xbox 360 have a life span of 10 years? Sure it can, but will it ? I think the Wii is the new 10 year console of this generation of gaming. Its cheap and has not shown any sign of slowing down. The PS2 is in the same boat. A consumer that doesn't wanna spend a lot of money on gaming can buy a PS2 at the best value and a Wii for the gimmick if they choose to.

The PS3 and Xbox 360 are so far more advanced I just don't ever see them going any lower then $200.00. Do you ever plan on seeing a $99 PS3 w/ Blu-Ray ….didn't think so. Yes the 30 Arcade SKU is already at $199.99 but it really is a poor option for some one looking to get into the next generation of gaming. Its really just a quick fix for your RROD when you need a new console. In fact Microsoft and Sony both made a mess for consumers this gen with so many SKU’s.

So this all boils down to the rumor that Microsoft would be re-launching the Xbox 360 with Project Natal built in as well as newer chip sets. Another SKU great. Well its is kind of. If they can release the “newer” system at a affordable price and still have just one other SKU like the 60 GB Pro System ay a valued price that would clear things up for the consumer. The Elite is on its way out and will only be for limited edition packages and the Arcade really needs to go with no hard drive.

So Microsoft  looks to be taking the right steps towards extending the life of the 360. In these economic times it would be silly not try and get as much out of one console. Just like Sony and MS are still trying to do anything to get the crowd that the Wii already own which seems like an up hill battle. Microsoft trying to accomplish something Sony didn't even know they had till they were desperate for anything positive seems like a shot in the dark at this point.

For me I’ll buy the new improved Natal version of the 360, but I'm still banking a new full blown console buy fall of 2012. Are you willing to play your 360 for 10 years before jumping into the next generation of console gaming ? That being said the 360 will not last 10 years for me, Ill be moving on to bigger and betters things.

-TX