For many of us, nine years was far too long to wait for a new generation of consoles. Although the PlayStation 3 and especially the Xbox 360 were as much platforms for continued growth as they were gaming consoles, many would argue that the industry was going limp by 2013. There were plenty of standout releases, but if anything was going to reinvigorate developers, it would be new hardware.
We’re only a few months into the latest generation, but that hasn’t stopped curious gamers from wondering how long this one will last. Speaking with TechRadar at a recent Xbox event, Xbox UK marketing chief Harvey Eagle said that despite Sony’s early lead, the race has only just begun.
“Look I mean the Xbox 360 generation is 9 years old and still going strong,” said Eagle. “I think [Xbox One] is going to be around for equally long time and if you think about it we’re really at the very start and I am very optimistic about the future.”
Eagle has good reason to be optimistic — this week Microsoft announced that Xbox One sales had doubled following the removal of the Kinect and subsequent $100 price drop.
As for the negative feedback preceding the release of the Xbox One, Eagle says the team is just lucky that they have such passionate fans.
“In one sense we’re quite lucky that we have bunch of people that care and want to tell us how we can make it better,” he said. “I’ve been around the business for 14 or 15 years and we didn’t have the benefit of that insight in the past. You didn’t get that real time feedback and I think we’re quite lucky and I’m really proud that we listen and act and we’ve done that quickly.”
