Microsoft: "There's no need to launch a new console"
With launch of Natal, 360 may not even have reached "midpoint," says product director
A Microsoft senior director has reiterated his company's stance on a 360 successor, saying it has no need to launch a new console.
"I think it's important to say that the Xbox 360 is the console of the long future for us. There is no need to launch a new console, because we're able to give this console new life either with software upgrades or hardware upgrades like Project Natal," said David Hufford, senior director of Xbox product management, speaking to The Guardian at this year's Consumer Electronics Show.
"The Xbox 360 was designed for a long life," he added, "and I don't even know if we're at the midpoint yet."
In response to quizzing on a possible move to more modern chip technology, which would lower manufacturing costs of the console, Hufford said the company was currently content with its pricing.
"We love our prices right now," he said. "I don't want to say that technology stops, but we believe we have a high quality console, and we stand by that quality with an unprecedented warranty, so we think we're in a good place now heading into the Natal era."
Following the news last week of Sony's commitment to a dedicated 3D TV network and confirmation the PlayStation 3 was upgradable to 3D via a firmware update, Hufford also higlighted to Microsoft's own 3D efforts, saying the 360 didn't need an upgrade in order to support 3D games.
"Avatar is on Xbox and we have a 3D game, Scrap Metal, in our booth right now," he pointed out. Microsoft also used this year's CES to announce a new retro-focused Game Room for XBL, and the expansion of its Zune video marketplace into 10 new countries later this year.