Now that we all know that the Xbox One will hit stores on Nov. 22, the big question is how quickly the many millions of Xbox 360 consoles will become obsolete, especially when you consider that the new console will not play the games that Xbox users have spent the last eight years purchasing.

Microsoft’s Marketing and Strategy Chief for Xbox, Yusuf Mehdi, tried to quell those concerns yesterday by saying that the company will continue to support the 360 “for another three years.”

“We’re going to continue to invest in the Xbox 360 and the two devices can work in concert,” he added. “It’s not like the day we ship the Xbox One your 360 won’t work; we’ll continue to support it. In fact, we’re going to ship over 100 new games on Xbox 360. So you’ll still be able to play your [older] games, just not on the same exact box.”

Mehdi’s statement, while vague, is in line with Sony’s stated plan to support the PlayStation 3 through 2015.

The previous generation of consoles continued to receive support from their manufacturers well beyond the release of the Xbox 360 and PS3 in 2005 and 2006, respectively.

Microsoft let Xbox Live for the original Xbox linger until 2010, while Sony continued actually making the PlayStation 2 until December 2012.

Microsoft: Xbox 360 support to “go for another three years” [ArsTechnica]

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