I personally think (hope?) that console lifespans will increase as each respective generation comes. To the *average consumer* the increase in quality from an Xbox "720" would not be near enough to justify jumping to a new console already, especially at the huge price that they would no doubt have to charge. I really don't expect a new generation for another 8 years, minimum. Honestly, many people are just now getting a 360 or a PS3...how are those folks going to react when three years down the line, a new one is already out and the thousands of dollars they invested in games, accessories and the console itself are essentially worthless?

I mean, there are people still buying PS2's! There is a large gap between those who are early adopters and those who are johnny come latelys, and guess which one brings the dollars? Not the minority (vocal minority, but minority nonetheless) that buys a system at launch, that's for sure. The Xbox didn't make money, and the 360 hasn't done MS any favors yet, either. There's simply no way that MS is going to go headfirst into developing ANOTHER console already when the first two have yet to bring in any profit. Consoles need an 8-10 year lifespan nowadays to really take advantage of all the consumer money that's out there and avoid turning off the very fickle casual gamers that they are trying so hard to pander to.

Seeing a tagline with "Sonic", kinda hurt my gamers' pride. It shut down, like being buried deep in shit; that you begin to feel like you're suffocating. Not a warm feeling in any sort of way; but a cheap shot at the groin, just to see a grown man cry.

I don't feel like that about Sonic, its just the feeling we're getting being pushed to buy a "new" system all over again. This pushing point doesn't make sense, and the delivery was a total failure.

Now everyone has to constantly look in awe, and worry "is my 360 next". Let alone a friend of mine just lost their's recently. These types of things aren't meant to happen.

For all of those that "passed away", they should definitely be refunded, or even a new console. And with the upcoming CES announcement, thanks for another "shot in the arm". Seriously, where is this real "next-gen" console after all.

This is the kind of stuff that could send the industry into another crash, this and all the new different models of the same console, MS, and Sony seem to be pumping out lately. Really aren't consumers getting fed up with this kind of treatment?

R&D never really stops. When you release a new product a company almost immeadiatly starts thinking and planning a new one if previous versions have been successful. It doesn't say anything to me but "well duh" they are working on a new system. Its better to start planning a new system sooner rather than later since a gaming console, I would think, takes a while to plan and develop, dev kits, hardware, overall design, features, software compatibility, the list goes on and on. If you started to do that a few years after the system launched you would be way behind your competitors. At least thats the way I see it anyway, no clue if this is how it actually works, but it made sense as I typed this finishing up my dinner at work.

It's safe to say this current gen has been a mess! We went from a PS2/Halo/Nintendo last world. Where everything was stable, to a world of Sony gone mad. MS creating a system that breaksdown every second and Nintendo ruling the world, with basically a last gen system. WTF!

I hear the death rattle:
http://www.destructoid.com/blogs/DiseaseFactory/i-hear-the-death-rattle-of-the-xbox-360-and-the-wii--63065.phtml

yup I smell microsucks doom.

they really should merge playstation and xbox together.

While I'm certain the Xbox 720 or whatever it will be called is in development, I think that it's far too early to be making games for it.

Ok just as a note to all the people who are all ready to buy next gen Xbox already, and this is an opinion....let me just say your retarted.They have yet to realize this system's full potential, instead they just make it seem that way with newer and less impressive SKU's with constand price fluctuations and yet you wanna get raped with a new higher price cause in case most people haven't noticed systems are not getting any cheaper. Christ we all just bought new shiny consoles for 399$ and up and now you want new ones...bright indeed.

@ JohnTheReaper-

Exactly. A five year console "generation" is just too short anymore...especially if you're not an early adopter because you don't want to wait in line forever/pay inflated prices/deal with early hardware issues and lack of great games, and you end up with maybe just 2 or 3 years til the next gen comes out when you finally get on board.

Luckily, it would make ZERO sense for MS to release a next-next-gen console anytime in the next several years. They're not even close to making money off the 360 yet, and like I pointed out earlier, people are still buying PS2's!

It seemed early to me as well until I thought about it a second. Couldn't this game be Halo 4? Each of the previous Halo's took roughly 3 years to develop (or at least there were 3 years between 1 and 2, and then 2 and 3). Halo 3 came out 2 years into the cycle, and while they could probably release a Halo 4 as one of the later games to come out for the 360, add another 3 years and we're at the 5 year mark... or, when new console's are often launched. Yeah, MS said the 360 would last more than 5 years, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Someone at MS probably just realized that they'd be getting pretty close to the end of this cycle by the time this game is finished, so why not just make it a must buy launch game for the next system? It would be a pretty smart move.

-Jeff
http://alinktothefuture.com

I'm hoping they at least develop DirectX11 and implement it as staging grounds for the new xbox. If not, it will fall behind in technology half way through the development cycle again. Was somewhat stupid to release DX10 a year after 360's release. I'm really praying for software (and sufficient hardware) that blows Crysis out of the water within a year of release of the next generation. I don't care about motion detection, being a player for the next disc format or price if it proves itself. But, if they have another major design flaw, someone will feel my wrath. Would be hilarious for Microsoft to release their next platform before PS3 gets on it's feet with double digit stellar exclusive hits..

@JohnTheReaper

No, "your retarted"

I don't know where you guys are coming up with this "5 years is the normal console life" stuff. Let's look at the company that has been most successful in the disc-based era, Sony:

Playstation- Released 5 years before PS2.
Playstation 2- Released 7 1/2 years before PS3, and over a year after the PS3 launch, still has a decent number of new titles coming out and pretty good sales.

Like I said, the console's lifespans are increasing as technology gets better. It's getting harder and harder to improve upon existing consoles in an impressive enough way to justify the high price tag when a consumer just bought a high-priced console a few years prior. Combine that with the fact that less and less are being early-adopters and there is a lot of lag between gens for many consumers, and there's no stopping this trend. I could see a 7 year lifespan but even then there will be many who just bought a PS3 or 360 in 2008, 2009, or even 2010 and who won't be interested in going to a new generation already. Just like with digital downloads, you guys don't realize that it's not just about technology being ready. This is a BUSINESS, and the consumer has to be ready for the leap or the whole thing is pointless. (see: next-gen DVD)

It could be.