Console Lifespans

[drunken monk]

If it was up to you how long would you want a console generation to last?

My answer to this question would have been very different years about but I would have to say 8-10 years. This would give developers more then enough time to learn the consoles inside and out. Developments cost would eventually go down and that would let companies take more chances on original IPs. And as time goes on they would be able to release games at a cheaper price. I miss the PS1 days when I could go and buy a brand new game for 40 bucks. An of course the price of the systems would also drop making it affordable for everyone.

Considering how amazing current gen games look now I dont see the reason for a new console every 5 years. I also think this would give PC gaming a boost if consoles only received an upgrade every 8-10 years.

Im my mind it would be a win win situation for everyone if the console cycles lasted longer.

[moogle]

Well, conole lifespans should be extremely long now. I say "should"... but I doubt that's how it'll play out. Now that Internet connectivity is standard and motion controls are the new "thing", the only new innovation I can think of beyond improved graphics is head tracking (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw).

The way I see it, if it weren't for the Wii, gaming would have kept focusing more on photorealism and less on gameplay, and eventually we'd lose all sense of creativity in our games. I'm sick of seeing games made by hundreds of people being the standard, instead of just a few, like in the old days. The harder they make it for indie gaming companies to compete, the worse off we'll be. I just hate how all popular games these days have to look like Halo/Gears of War/whaever. Nothing looks original anymore.

[Sushi_b]

I don't think that I could personally make a claim for life span. I think that it's nice when something can hang around for at least 6-8 years. It's not fun when something new is constantly being released 2 years or less (looking at your handheld department Nintendo) because then I get stuck buying the new system.

Sony seems pretty committed to making the PSP and PS3 last for 10 years, just as the PS2 is starting to push that number. Microsoft doesn't strike me as a company that will do quite that long a number and neither does Nintendo.