THQ Boss Claims End Of Single Console 'Cycle'

THQ president and CEO Brian Farrell used to say the industry was dominated by a single five-year cycle of new home consoles -- not anymore. His new opinion is that each different type of hardware will divvy up into at least three "sub-cycles," as he explained at the Pacific Crest 10th Anniversary Technology Leadership Forum, as reported by consumer website MTV Multiplayer. “We used to always think of this industry as ‘the cycle.’ I think the reality now is there are several sub-cycles,” Farrell said. Farrell's separate sub-cycles consist of the handheld market, the Wii and the more expensive Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. He also suggested that the “online world” was another emerging sub-cycle. “It’s hard now to talk about ‘the cycle’ - I think we have to talk about all of the cycles,” said Farrell. “The way we think about it at THQ is we plan our business around each of those platforms, not around ‘the cycle.’”