For those of us who hang on to our console just a little to long Microsoft is there for you as you can see by this report by mercurynews.com, sounds like a good idea to me since i still know a bunch of guys and girls out there that just don't like to move on to the next thing all at once.


MercuryNews.com reports: Microsoft will rely on its Xbox 360 game console for longer than the previous version because it's getting harder to persuade consumers to upgrade, the head of the company's entertainment unit said.

The world's largest software maker will focus on improving the Xbox's games and features rather than rushing to introduce a new model, President Robbie Bach said in an interview. The Xbox 360 started selling in 2005, replacing the original Xbox, which debuted in 2001.

Bach made his entertainment and consumer-device division profitable last fiscal year after losing more than $3 billion in the previous two years. Now the executive said the quality of graphics on the Xbox 360 and its competitors, Nintendo's Wii and Sony's PlayStation 3, is so good that it will be more difficult to get gamers to buy a new version.

"Just coming up with something that's faster and prettier isn't going to be sufficient," said Bach, 47. "The life cycle for this generation of consoles — and I'm not just talking about Xbox, I'd include Wii and PS3 as well — is probably going to be a little longer than previous generations."

The Xbox improvements are also aimed at winning more users for the company's online gaming service. The Xbox 360 has helped Microsoft boost the number of users for the service, called Xbox Live, to 17 million.

U.S. consumers bought 3.3 million Xbox 360 machines in the first 11 months of 2008, according to researcher NPD
Advertisement Group in Port Washington, N.Y. Wii sales totaled 8 million, while PlayStation 3 sales stood at 2.8 million.

Nintendo, based in Kyoto, Japan, accounted for almost three-quarters of the 10 percent growth in U.S. sales of video games, players and accessories in November, according to NPD. That left the rest of the industry with growth of 3 percent or less, as consumers curbed spending to cope with the recession.

"When you look at consumers, they are going to be more value-conscious," Bach said.

"We want to make sure that as the economy does start to recover, that we're positioned well."

The company is also looking to improve the software for its Zune digital music player, Bach said. The software is designed to differentiate Zune, introduced in 2006, from Apple's best-selling iPod and other players, he said.

Microsoft, which is stepping up its investments in the mobile-phone market, doesn't plan to match Apple's iPhone with a single device, opting instead to get its software into many different phones, Bach said.

Microsoft's Windows Mobile program is in 11 phones that have sold 1 million units or more, Bach said. The company is betting that it can achieve higher volumes by installing the operating system in several types of handsets.

"You should definitely think of our approach as being about choice," Bach said. The market isn't "going to consolidate into four types of phones, and so, if you want to be a high-volume player, you have to service that breadth."

News-Source: MercuryNews.com