When the Xbox 360 turned 5 years old this week with no known successor on the horizon, and no new imminent PlayStation or Wii either, it may well have signaled the demise of one of the video game industry's most longstanding truisms.
Since at least the mid-1980s, major console makers have generally come out with new models every five years or so. For example, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) came out in 1985, followed by the Super NES in 1991, the Nintendo 64 in 1996, the GameCube in 2001, and the Wii in 2006. Sony put out the first PlaySation in 1995 and followed up with the PS2 in 2000 and the PS3 in 2006. And Microsoft introduced the original Xbox in 2001 and released the Xbox 360 in 2005.
The release by Microsoft of the Xbox 360 Slim--with more features and a lower price--could help the platform avoid replacement for a few more years.
But now, with the Xbox 360 having turned five, and the PS3 and Nintendo's Wii both having just hit their fourth birthdays, many industry observers see the ongoing success of each of the three major platforms as evidence that neither Microsoft, Sony, nor Nintendo have any intentions of following up in the next year or so. And why should they? Consumers are still buying the machines by the hundreds of thousands each month, and ramped-up online initiatives are breathing new life into the systems.
Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-20023926-52.html#ixzz16hLTukwF
For the first time perhaps ever, we have three video game systems still going very strong 5 years in...so I can see them continuing this gaming war for another two years. Just a guess.
ReplyDeleteWell I think PS3 will remain strong even for more time...but WEE and X BOX already has used almost all of their potential.
ReplyDelete