We were once accustomed to seeing rumors about a next generation console being developed by Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo every couple of months but with the launch of the PlayStation 3 Slim, the push for new motion tracking controllers and the transition to three-dimensional gaming, it seems console makers were telling the truth when boasting that the PS3 and the Xbox 360 would be around for at least ten years.
New statements from a Microsoft executive enhance this idea. Chris Lewis, who is the man in charge of the Xbox 360 in Europe, told Gamesindustry.biz that “I think 2010 will be a very big year for us, it is in many ways for us a mid-lifecycle. What you've seen is with this new sleek design and Kinect for Xbox 360 we've got at least another five years of this generation where we continue to offer great experiences for people.”
Ever since Kinect, the motion tracking system formerly known as Project Natal, was first unveiled, the software giant has made a lot of noise about treating the launch as if it was that of a whole new gaming console. The official unveiling before the E3 trade show, which also presented the first titles that would be using Kinect, was a grand affair with the Cirque de Soleil brought in to visually push the idea that it is a revolutionary technology that would change not only gaming but the world forever.
Sony has maintained that it has a ten-year plan for the PlayStation 3 ever since the home console was outed, and Microsoft appears to be getting ever closer to the same idea. The two companies have not released any numbers but analysts are speculating the Research & Development costs associated with the PS3 and the Xbox 360 were so big that they are not interested in spending the same sums again to create true next-gen consoles and prefer incremental changes to the already existing hardware.
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