NEWS - Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Microsoft Sees Long Life for Xbox 360
Speaking at a BMO Capital Markets conference on interactive entertainment, Microsoft chief financial officer Mindy Mount has expressed an interest in extending the Xbox 360 lifespan beyond that of the original Xbox. "Look at the PS2; theyve gone long-time and seem to have pretty good legs on what they are doing," said Mount. "If we were able to do that, as CFO I think thats great, because every year you draw it out you increase profitability." The original Xbox was given only four years on the market, before it was replaced by the Xbox 360. However, a much longer lifespan for the Xbox 360 is on the cards. "At this point from the technological perspective, there are some real advances ... that make it worth having a next-generation console," Mount said. "Right now there arent that many things on the horizon that you think, wow, thats going to be a game-changer." Of course with this generation of consoles, the Xbox isnt playing second fiddle to the PlayStation so there should not be such a desire from Microsoft to abandon the platform in favour of a more powerful successor.Source: http://www.pro-g.co.uk