Sony and EA predict shorter console life cycle this generation

EA Studios vice president, Patrick Söderlund and Sony's UK managing director, Fergal Gara, both seem to agree that the life cycle of consoles will be shorter this generation.

Gara revealed his thoughts in an interview with Techradar: “It's probably a sign of the times and how much has changed in seven years, but I think the willingness and the appetite to pick up new technology fast has probably changed quite a bit,”

People are always going to want the latest and greatest, thats why so many people upgrade their phones and tablets so often.

EA's Patrick Söderlund says that the last generation lasted a little longer than he wanted and expects cycles to be a bit shorter from now on:

“You have seen games like The Last of Us and GTA V at the end of a cycle which perhaps you would not have expected a few years ago,” he added. “But a five, six year gap is what I expect going forward.”

Both views conflict with comments from Microsoft's camp. Xbox's Canadian head of marketing, Craig Flannagan, while speaking to GameIndustry International, said: “It's probably going to be a pretty long generation. We're probably here for a while because we're built for the future. This is a console that will last you, conservatively a decade, if I had to put a bet down today.”

KitGuru Says: Microsoft might be a little too optimistic, from what we've seen so far- the Xbox One isn't all that future proof. It struggles to keep up with the 1080p standards of today and with 4K right around the corner, neither console seems to stand much of a chance. That said, one of the advantages of a console is its long life cycle compared to a PC. What do you guys think? Should consoles update their hardware more often? 

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