Speaking to CVG, Microsoft Game Studio head Shane Kim expressed confidence in the Xbox 360's long-term chances. Specifically, he believes that the console will have a lifespan that will at least cover the planned Too Human trilogy, which would give the console a minimum lifespan of seven years. Kim's statements are not unlike what Sony has said about the PS3's "ten year plan."

"We said from the beginning that we expect the Xbox 360 to have a long tail," said Kim. "Clearly we didn't do that with the original Xbox, which was a strategic decision we made. Admittedly, we don't have any experience doing this, but we're pretty confident 360 will have a long tail."

Kim was then asked about any technical limitations that might plague the system long term, specifically the lack of a standard hard drive or an internal HD disc format. Kim played down those differences and added that additional capabilities might be added to the Xbox 360 in the future.

"You're going to continue to see technical innovation, it might be additional capabilities to the current format - but honestly we haven't made those kind of decisions yet," detailed Kim. "As far as technical limitations? We're not seeing those. I think there's the potential for more multi-disc titles, we've already shipped a few of those already. But I don't think this is so drastic that people will start saying that Microsoft missed a trick with not using Blu-ray. I just don't believe that."

"What we've been able to see with the vast majority of titles on Xbox 360, is the range of experiences that haven't been restricted with the lack of a hard drive and a larger capacity disc," he ventured.