Haha, no kidding. Still, that was only half of my definition. I can't exactly go down to the store and buy a new Dreamcast (or even Dreamcast software) and it's been that way for a very long time. It's dead, man.

I'm including all regions, so it's both halves of your definition. In Japan the console itself was still being produced in 2006, so you would have walked into a store and seen new Dreamcasts for sale alongside PS3.    Sega Genesis was dead in the USA by the late 90's, but it lived on in Brazil past 2000.

I think a better definition of a console's lifespan should be the date where it stops being manufactored by the console developer. Xbox might get a game or 2 per year but its not possible to purchase it at a retail level anymore unless through second had.

With regards to the list, the dreamcast would be dead since 2001 where Sega abandoned the console to its fate, but there were still minor game being produced on the system once in a while (mostly Japan only) and it had a fairly active homebrew scene.

The Sega Genesis (Megadrive) on the otherhand is STILL being manufactored in an official capacity in Brazil by Tec Toy albeit in a handheld iteration (released in 2007).

Sega officially began to discontinue the the Genesis in 1995 but sold the license to other parties for specific regions.

 You must not have read the rest of the thread, new Dreamcasts were still being produced in 2006, competing for shelf space with Wii.

Some info from Wiki so its not 100%. But other source can confirm this:

Though Dreamcast was officially discontinued in early 2001, commercial games were still developed and released afterwards, particularly in Japan.

Sega would sell the last Dreamcast units in stock through the Sega Direct division of Japan in early 2006. Although they were only refurbished units

On a manufacturing level, it was discontinued at 2001, but back then there were millions of dreamcasts held by Sega in factories and very little retail support to dispose of those stocks.

As I stated in my original post, I am refering to date of manufactoring stopage no retail stopage.

To further clarify:

With regards to the list, the dreamcast would be dead since 2001 where Sega abandoned the console to its fate

The above line obviously refer to my own definition.

well off the topic of definitions and onto questions :p I think what happened with the short life of the 5th gen was the fact that 3D graphics were increasing really fast at that stage and what was on the consoles was getting outdated. The 6th gen is similar.

I think after the initial 2D phase where game play seemed to rule the roost, 3D took over and said "big and beautiful is better" And so a rush to the 6 generation and then the 7th were made to keep up with technology. this is just what I think though, based on my thoughts now, could be totaly off.

this generation I think the video game industry has hit an all time high and no one specific developer is rushing into the next gen or making threats of bringing out an all powerful console designed to thwart the plans of the competition.

It's almost as if all the developers have a secret agreement not to release a new console any time soon. The wii is going to sell for ever! and so nintendo has no need to rush the market to the next gen. And both sony and ms have built powerhouses designed to carry them for quite a few years where as last gen and the gen before that the consoles didnt quite have that lasting processing power that would keep up with gamers wants and needs.

EDIT:

And in adition i think the ability to produce the games on the system also play a factor. The consoles abilities need to reflect the ability of a developer to make a game. we all know how expensive it is to make current gen HD games and that cost would only increase if the games were being made even better on an even better console. game developement costs need to catch up with the generation before the next can be released. Other wise a new console that can handle graphics 22x this gen would be pointless if devs cant afford to make a game to suport that power.

The Metal Gear Solid Essential Collection included a re-release of the original Metal Gear Solid's PS1 disc.

Does that count? If so, the PS1 needs a few more years tacked on.

Hrm, I don't know. Do you think a re-release counts? I was originally counting new games. Did the MGS PS1 disc include any new content?

mibuokami: I stand corrected

the official end to the consoles lifespan should end on the day its successor is released

So the PS2 is ended? Funny since its still selling millions in both software and hardware. Not bad for a 'dead console'.