Much of the gaming talk at CES this month has been focused on motion-control and 3D technologies, with Microsoft now stating that it has no current plans to release a successor to the Xbox 360.
Microsoft's Project Natal, along with other new software and content services, are being developed to prolong the life of the Xbox 360, instead of the company focusing on any type of entirely new 'Xbox 720' style successor to its current console.
Microsoft's David Hufford, senior director of Xbox product management on Project Natal told an interviewer this week that, "it's important to say that the Xbox 360 is the console of the long future for us," adding that the company feels there "is no need to launch a new console, because we're able to give this console new life either with software upgrades or hardware upgrades."
3D-capable Xbox gaming
Hufford added: "The Xbox 360 was designed for a long life, and I don't even know if we're at the midpoint yet."
And as far as 3D gaming support on Xbox 360, while Microsoft has not proactively pushed the 3D gaming PR message at CES 2010, Hufford is also quick to stress that the consoles is capable of 3D, claiming: "Avatar is on Xbox and we have a 3D game, Scrap Metal, in our booth right now."
It seems that the bottom line is, well, the bottom line. The Xbox 360 has almost shed its image as an unreliable console that breaks (the 'red ring of death') and it now has a pretty impressive line-up of games, from the ultra-casual through to the achingly-hardcore.
"I don't want to say that technology stops, but we believe we have a high quality console, and we stand by that quality with an unprecedented warranty, so we think we're in a good place now heading into the Natal era," said the Microsoft man.
Via The Guardian
Your comments (2) Click to add a new comment
nitebot
January 11th 2010
2. There's no doubt that Microsoft's R&D teams are looking at future possibilities for the console. But I can understand why all console makers are keen to put the skates on. The console world is in flux and the era of the standalone console may be coming to an end.
I see console gaming tech becoming part of TV set top boxes and PVRs. The terms Xbox and PlayStation may in future refer to gaming services rather than hardware.
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perplexer
January 11th 2010
1. I can understand the reasons for extending the life of Xbox 360 for as long as possible (and that of the PS3). But it is a little short sighted to not think about the next gen. They could be left behind by the competition.
Or are they waiting for Sony to announce that they are working on their next gen console before committing to their own?
Who is to say that someone at MS/Sony are not already working on the next gen?
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