Unless you've been living under a rock, then you've known about the release of the Xbox 360, the mother of all video game systems...well at leats until the Playstation 3 comes out in addition to the new Nintendo box currently code-named "Revolution." Anyway, by the end of the year, the Xbox 360 will have about 25 or so titles to choose from. And by the end of 2006 there should most likely be at least 100 titles. If you've seen the games in action then you know just how powerful this new system is when compared to the original Xbox or any other game console currently available. The games are nothing short of breathtaking. If there were more systems available then impulse buying for this thing would probably be through the roof. And finally you have the backwards compatitbility of the 360 that allows you to play the majority of the original Xbox games.
Now having said all of this, one would think that the life expectancy of the original Xbox is short at best. But is this really the case? Let's look at a few more details.
At this point the scarcity of the 360 is driving the price at places like Amazon and Ebay through the roof. I've seen prices as high as $1500 for some packages. Even if you get one for the retail price, it's still 3 times higher then the original Xbox, which is now typically in the low hundreds range. But the biggest reason the Xbox will not go away quietly is the same reason the Playstation 2 is still going strong...the games. People who've been buying and trading games for years now are not going to see the need to upgrade their system right away. At least not for a while. But even if they do, all one has to do is look at the success of the GameBoy and Playstation 2 and the loyalty of their users. Game developers still make games for these consoles because they still sell like hotcakes. It really is all about the games. Its the main reason you see free Xbox giveaways, and also the reason Microsoft takes a loss with every system they sell...or so they say.
So while the Xbox 360 may be the big boy on the block right now, don't write off the original Xbox just yet. It'll be around for a while and the best may be yet to come!