Microsoft Aims for PS2 Length Lifespan For 360

Following comments from Nintendo president Satoru Iwata on what he anticipated would be the end of the traditional five year generational console cycle, Microsoft executive Mindy Mount has suggested that the company is looking to emulate the PlayStation 2’s lifespan with the Xbox 360. Speaking to a the BMO Capital Markets conference, as reported by the Reuters news agency, the chief financial officer of Microsoft’s entertainment division commented: “"Look at the PS2; they've gone long-time and seem to have pretty good legs on what they are doing." "If we were able to do that, as CFO I think that's great, because every year you draw it out you increase profitability," she added. In comments very similar to those made by Iwata, Mount suggested that a rush to create a new generation of consoles was not necessary until there was a compelling hardware feature to justify it. "At this point from the technological perspective, there are some real advances ... that make it worth having a next-generation console," said Mount. "Right now there aren't that many things on the horizon that you think, wow, that's going to be a game-changer." The original Xbox was criticized for having only a four year lifespan, before been superseded by the Xbox 360. The PlayStation 2 has remained one of the industry’s best selling consoles now for over seven years, having recently hit a record breaking 120 million lifetime unit sales.