[daydream]

Looks like the Xbox 360 will get more than 18 years of online store support. That's a really long time considering it launched in 2005.

I would take 18 total years online support for the Switch. It's been out for 6 so far, so even if I "only" got 12 years out of my unit (I just bought one recently) that would be pretty good...

...but not excellent. I bought a Wii in 2008 and after a long time in storage I pulled it out again a few years ago. Since then it's been used at least once every two weeks and mostly weekly. It's 15 years old and everything including the game CDs have held up surprisingly well.

Will I want to use my Switch and the digital games I purchased, in 15 years? Can't rule it out based on past history.

Wikipedia says >132 million Switch units have shipped, and Zelda Tears of the Kingdom just launched 6 months ago. Adding it all up, shutting down the Switch backend services in even 4 or 5 years seems insane at best.

[14]

I got my original NES over 30 years ago. I had to swap a couple capacitors but still hook it up occasionally and show the kids games like Duck Hunt(required an old tv as well) and Tetris and Blaster Master. These digital games that suddenly stop working simply due to no server support is a hard pill to swallow. At that point I really think companies should be forced to release source code and keys and allow anyone who wants to offer support a chance to run the games.

[voakbasda]

The transition to not owning my own games sealed my decision to stop buying them. To me, it is insane to allow a company to determine how long I get to enjoy my purchase. More gamers need to take a stand.

[nebula8804]

Effectively Xbox 360 can have a human lifetime's worth of support because they have a jailbreak. I worry about the subsequent xbox consoles. They haven't been cracked right? They are the ones with a real ticking clock unless someone finally gets to cracking it.

[chrisandchris]

I still have an Xbox 360, and as I'm not a regular gamer it's still my go-to. We maybe bought in in '06-'08. if they would shut down only services (and I could still play offline), that's totally ok for me. 15 years for a console is a long time.

[Foobar8568]

Nothing approached the Kinect, Just Dance of that era just owns.

[bozhark]

Not if you’re black