System Life Cycle

How important is this to you? What does it mean in the console war? Let's say Microsoft dropped support for the 360 and moved on to making some other console... would that mean the PS3 wins by default? Or vice versa. How long SHOULD a system's life cycle be? What are your projected life cycles of the PS3, Wii, and 360?

How important is this to you? What does it mean in the console war? Let's say Microsoft dropped support for the 360 and moved on to making some other console... would that mean the PS3 wins by default? Or vice versa. How long SHOULD a system's life cycle be? What are your projected life cycles of the PS3, Wii, and 360?

Messiahbolical-

The how many units a console sells during it's life cycle all over the world is what determines the winner of a console war. Personally I think that support for a console should continue until the console's technology is maxed out.

The 360's natural decline is starting to set in, and it's hitting the 5 year mark which is the average shelf life for a console, so I would say the 360 will probably last another 2-3 years left before you start seeing it phased out to make way for the 720. The PS3 and Wii are just now hitting their peaks, so they have probably have 4-5 good years left before you start seeing the PS 4 and Wii 2 taking their places, however Sony's policy is that the Playstations last 10 years each.

I think the Wii2 will be the first console out of the gate next gen, with Microsofts brief history with consoles they'll probably drop support of the 360 long before the other current systems, and Sony probably won't bring out the PS4 until several years after the other consoles come out.

Ninty will launch first for sure, and beyond that it's anybodys guess

I think the Wii2 will be the first console out of the gate next gen, with Microsofts brief history with consoles they'll probably drop support of the 360 long before the other current systems, and Sony probably won't bring out the PS4 until several years after the other consoles come out.

Bigboi500

What do you mena by history? There is no pattern of MS dropping support, just one instance where they abondoned their failure of a debut system.

This gen, they are doing much better and I see them juicing out as much as they can from the 360. MS cut their losses with last gen and foolishly tried to get a head start by releasing a crappy piece of hardware. But they had Halo and Sony decided to come along and shoot themselves in the foot with a $600 console. MS had it made at that point, if it wasn't for the Wii.

Sony has the better hardware and I'm sure they'll last their "cycle" and I do see the Wii being the first to make a new console. I really do think Sony needs to come out before the 360, but they need to pace themselves: They have created a console that will take longer to fully utilize unlike the 360 which is much more limited. Of course this is in terms of pushing the hardware, and I'm sure having inferior hardware doesn't limit a console's life cycle. My point is that Sony may not juice out their system before next gen because MS will try to come out before them.

I think this ultimately means that the PS4 will have to be much more affordable in order for Sony to overthrow MS next gen.

I think the Wii2 will be the first console out of the gate next gen, with Microsofts brief history with consoles they'll probably drop support of the 360 long before the other current systems, and Sony probably won't bring out the PS4 until several years after the other consoles come out.

Bigboi500

The System Life Cycle seems more relevant with 1st party support and 3rd party exclusives.

As long as it goes for at least 5 years, I'm good.

The Playstation came out in 1994, the PS2 came out in 2000, and the PS3 came out in 2006, so I do like the extra year the Playstation's got going on between systems.

As far as lifecycle goes, don't assume when the next console comes out, the original console MUST DIE. Look at the PS2, it is almost 10 years old come this March!:)

[QUOTE="Messiahbolical-"]

How important is this to you? What does it mean in the console war? Let's say Microsoft dropped support for the 360 and moved on to making some other console... would that mean the PS3 wins by default? Or vice versa. How long SHOULD a system's life cycle be? What are your projected life cycles of the PS3, Wii, and 360?

snakes3425

Here's the thing about this gen and why it's different from other gens... nobody really cares about the console technology being maxed out anymore. I know some people do but that's not the point. I don't think people care as much this gen because graphics are already so good that there isn't much more they can do to impress us next gen. New graphics? Meh, the graphics we have right now look great. Motion controls? Already lost their gimmicky charm. Multimedia center? Already done.

Also, I want to add that this gen is also different because the consoles were a lot more expensive than in the past. People don't want to let their $250-600 investments phase out and drop support early like other gens.

[QUOTE="Bigboi500"]

I think the Wii2 will be the first console out of the gate next gen, with Microsofts brief history with consoles they'll probably drop support of the 360 long before the other current systems, and Sony probably won't bring out the PS4 until several years after the other consoles come out.

Duckyindiana

[QUOTE="Duckyindiana"][QUOTE="Bigboi500"]

I think the Wii2 will be the first console out of the gate next gen, with Microsofts brief history with consoles they'll probably drop support of the 360 long before the other current systems, and Sony probably won't bring out the PS4 until several years after the other consoles come out.

Bigboi500

[QUOTE="Bigboi500"]

[QUOTE="Duckyindiana"] I laugh everytime i see someone say MS brief history with consoles as if they have done it several times! It happened once and that was because they where losing lots of money on the Xbox now that is not a problem and i see the 360 lasting just as long as the others.Duckyindiana

As a 360 consumer I am hesitant to buy lots of games for it because of that and because of how fast Microsoft dumped the original Xbox last gen. That's why I'll only buy the exclusives I want for it. That means it can take a nap until Alan Wake comes along.