The original Xbox launched in November of 2001, and Microsoft stopped manufacturing the console in early 2006. Microsoft expects its successor, the Xbox 360, to enjoy a significantly longer life span.

Its days are numbered...somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,650 days.

Speaking with tech blog VentureBeat this week, Microsoft games division executive Shane Kim said the company believes that the Xbox 360 will enjoy a 10-year lifespan. The system originally launched in November of 2005, and Kim said Microsoft has projected the 360 life cycle to run through 2015.

The 10-year life cycle is Sony's long-standing goal for the PlayStation line of systems. Sony discontinued the original PlayStation more than 11 years after its debut, while the PlayStation 2 will celebrate its ninth birthday later this year.

According to one industry observer, this week's announcements of motion-sensing control systems for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 will help those platforms achieve such goals. Lazard Capital Markets' Colin Sebastian released a note to investors in which he said the new technology could provide the next big growth driver for the industry, as well as extending the current console cycle.