Head of Microsoft Studios on the 360: “We’re Committed for the Long Term”

I was a little surprised to hear this especially after reading that “analysts” were predicting all new consoles for Microsoft and Sony platforms for late next year. This speculation is all based on conversations these “analysts” had with so called “industry players” at this year’s E3. Well they should have had a conversation with the head of Microsoft Studios Phil Spencer, who denies the next Xbox will be available any time soon.  What do these “analysts” know anyways? Maybe they just wanted attention. Spencer insists that the 360 still has some mileage left in it, especially with revelations such as SmartGlass technology and their ever-expanding partnerships with companies like Nickeldoeon and ESPN.

“Microsoft entered this space with the original Xbox 11 years ago, and we’re committed for the long-term,” Spencer told GameSpot during an E3 interview this week. “The nice thing about the Xbox 360 right now is–if you look–we’re the number one console globally. We’re able to bring in new content and still support the best of the core games.”
 
“It’s a platform that has really reached scale; this is the time when you really see the great content showing up. The future in a lot of ways is always tomorrow: [things like] the SmartGlass technology and Windows 8 [show that] things are going to constantly evolve. The world where everything gets centered around one console and when that comes out–we kind of have to evolve away from just thinking about that, [especially] with the service-based nature of games today.”
 
“Right now the Xbox 360 is really healthy and it’s doing incredibly well. I think the 360 has a lot more than two years [left]. It has legs for a long time.”

He actually makes a great point. The Xbox 360 has been doing remarkably well, sellling more than 67 million units since its release in November 2005 and beating out the PS3 by 3 million units. Xbox Live subscriptions are through the roof as well. I guess there’s no need to rush. They may as well eke out as much dough as they can.

They won’t have to worry about falling behind either if the PS4 launches next year as many predict. Hey mabye those “analysts” got something right. If the specs for the new Xbox are as great as rumors have it, they should be able to quickly drop the 360 and release the next-gen console to compete with Sony by 2014 or so.

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