Console Generations for Dummies

Game console generations tend to overlap. We are in transition from Generation 8 to Generation 9.

Wii U and 3DS are Generation 8.

The successor to both of those is the Switch. The Switch is Generation 9.

What is confusing people is that the Switch software isn’t Generation 9 just yet. Breath of the Wild and Mario Kart 8 are Wii U ports. It would be like launching the SNES with NES ports.

PS4 and Xbox One were launched in 2013. They are four years old. Both consoles are reaching their climax. This is why Microsoft and Sony are putting out more hardware because they have no idea what to do for Generation 9.

Switch will confuse many people because it is the ONLY handheld console left. People keep trying to act like Switch is chasing PS4 or Xbox One. They couldn’t be more long. Switch is defining the market of Generation 9. It will be difficult for Sony, who has failed in the handheld space, to respond to the Switch.

3DS was launched in 2011.

Wii U was launched in 2012.

The average span for a generation is 5-6 years. Switch is definitely the Next Gen to 3DS and Wii U. No one can say otherwise without looking ridiculous (but when has that ever stopped the hardcore?).

Console generations are defined by time, not by ‘power’. The Switch is not more powerful than the PS4 or Xbox One not because it is ‘in their generation’, but because Switch offers handheld portability as its console value.

People have been trying to re-write the past for a decade now. Analysts were trying to get PlayStation 1 to be ‘Generation 1’ back in Gen 7 (which I am sure the NES and Sega Genesis came from the Land Before Time, yes?).

We are in a year long transition to Generation 9. At E3, Nintendo will show off their Gen 9 software.

/malstrom

Why is generation 9 three times weaker than generation 8?

Or are we in generation 8.5?

Why the f*ck does it matter?

@charizard1605: now everyone knows how to count

Gens are no more. We might as well count the Wii U, X1, and PS4 the last of console generations. We're going to hybrid, innovative and/or, upgradeable consoles, where in MS's case, no one gets left behind.

Read silversix_ post

No

are you sure?

Or is @primorandomguy right that we are in the MS gen?

I see that you just skimmed the post. The entire point is measuring next gen isn't power, it's the next iteration of hardware, which is what the Switch is. It's the successor of the Wii U and 3DS. Like NES is to the SNES and Master System to the Genesis. All the talk about "power" is nothing more but marketing that fanboys use to measure how better their system of choice is than the competition.

@FireEmblem_Man: believe me, I read the whole thing :P

@primorandomguy said:

This.

Hardware generation cycles are dead. For Nintendo, it was already dead starting with the Wii. For Sony and MS, PS4 Pro and Scorpio signify the future of iterative hardware. The consoles might become much more like PC, where instead of having to look for new generation games, you need to look for the "minimum spec" of your consoles.

Great, time to believe in hardware companies BS

@primorandomguy: @2Chalupas:

I'm sorry but just the thought that console generations are dead because of what Spencer speculated at a point is just asinine and frankly, stupid. Not Sony or even Microsoft are planning to use console upgrades as a new trend. They literally SAID it openly! The Scorpio is a part of the Xbox One line just as the PS4 Pro with the regular PS4. They aren't meant to outlive the original models at any point.

@killered3: Didn't spencer say it was the end of generations for MS at least?

There have always been mid-gen consoles:

1.5 - Nintendo Color TV Game

2.5 - ColecoVision, Atari 5200, Sega SG-1000

3.5 - Sega Master System

4.5 - Neo Geo, Sega CD/32X, 3DO, Jaguar

5.5 - N64

6.5 - Wii

7.5 - Wii U

8.5 - Switch, PS4 Pro, Scorpio

No, stop giving into that idea of "Mid-Generation" Consoles, Switch is the successor to the Wii U and 3DS generation PERIOD!

The term 'Generation' seems so arbitrary now. Don't really see why people care.

@primorandomguy: "We're going to hybrid, innovative and/or, upgradeable consoles, where in MS's case, no one gets left behind."

Except for gamers since gaming is an afterthought for M$

Switch isn't next gen Bwahahahahaha, Nintendo fanboys are the worst. The switch isn't even gen 8, kids.

Since I've played games it's always been "the next iteration means a new generation has started". The only time which it has skewed from that is when on SWs.

I'll compare Nintendo console to their previous installment rather than Sony or ms current console. Is it more powerful than their previous?! YES. So it's a new gen for Nintendo.

So the Pro & Scorpio are next gen also right?

@i_p_daily: as much as the gameboy color.

The Switch is next gen. Pro and Scorpio are new iterations of current gen. The PS5 and xbone2 (lol) will be also next gen. It's not that difficult.

ITT: Sheep in denial

Switch is hardly a "new" generation. I think we must start counting Nintendo consoles on a generation of their own

This would be more accurate than saying the Switch is generation 9 since both the PS4 Pro and Scorpio are slight upgrades to pre-existing consoles... just like the switch

I dont see any media outlet saying something in the lines of "the new generation has arrived" or somethin... not even the media recognizes the Switch as part of the new generation

The easiest way to count a new generation console is when a console is released that has games that don't run on the previous iteration. Taking into account power, features, time of release. etc is just too arbitrary and will be filled with exceptions and gray areas. This definition is simple and straightforward and is somehow technically accurate since two different systems are supposed to not be 100% compatible. I agree with the ones saying that Nintendo is kind of doing things on their own and separate from the market where M$ and Sony are competing but that doesn't change the fact that Switch is a whole new system that will have games that WiiU won't have so I would count it as a new generation system.

Only a Nintendo fanboy would have to justify a change in console generations. The other console manufacturers clearly distinguish their hardware generations with big leaps in power as it has always been. Nintendo may put out new systems, but that does not mean that they begin a new generation.

Yep. It's a clusterfuck and people will interpret it however they wish no matter what. Been this way since the Wii dropped, but obviously the lines are blurred even further now. What's the point?

Though at least it's funny to see how invested people can get in this stupid and literally pointless debate. Even PC gaming cucks get in on the action, and for what? Their platform doesn't even coincide with traditional console generations.

Gamers. Dumbest fan base ever.

Pretty sure Nintendo switch is from generation 5

@FireEmblem_Man: after the gamecube Nintendo is no longer in the same gen cycle. They dont even target the same aduience any more. My aunt bought a wii/thread

Similar to Samsung notes in the phone industry compared to iphone and galaxy.

You just dont put them in the same boat

You guys realize that the marketing term generation for consoles actually has no real meaning right? The Switch is not Nintendo's 9th system now is it? Nor is it using any kind of 9th generation hardware...what the hell is 9th generation hardware supposed to be anyway lol? Nintendo is on their 7th console release or if you count the handhelds it would be somewhere around the 51st generation since you'd have to count all their hardware game releases such as game and watch series less you just count cart swappable only releases which is somewhere around 10 or so.

Furthermore what difference does any of this matter, the generation number has only been used by the gaming media to differentiate, fans use it as self marketing hype and any ad campaign would use it purely for marketing purposes.

Oh also forgot the arcade hardware releases, what generation are those supposed to be?

@pimphand_gamer said:

You guys realize that the marketing term generation for consoles actually has no real meaning right? The Switch is not Nintendo's 9th system now is it? Nor is it using any kind of 9th generation hardware...what the hell is 9th generation hardware supposed to be anyway lol? Nintendo is on their 7th console release or if you count the handhelds it would be somewhere around the 51st generation since you'd have to count all their hardware game releases such as game and watch series less you just count cart swappable only releases which is somewhere around 10 or so.

Furthermore what difference does any of this matter, the generation number has only been used by the gaming media to differentiate, fans use it as self marketing hype and any ad campaign would use it purely for marketing purposes.

Oh also forgot the arcade hardware releases, what generation are those supposed to be?

It made sense for home consoles at some point, especially when it was easy (i.e. moving from 8 bit systems to 16 bit systems then to 32 bit systems). Hardware generations could have been defined along those lines. They weren't exactly, but almost. Nowadays it makes no sense at all anymore.

@primorandomguy:

He said that he believes that console generations MIGHT be over but that was around the time the ps4 Pro was about to release and was under the nickname, "Ps4K or Ps 5". Now with it known just as ps4 Pro, we all acknowledge that it's just a ps4 with more oomph. Even Microsoft isn't expecting enormous sales from Scorpio either which tells you how little they're riding on its success.

@pimphand_gamer said:

You guys realize that the marketing term generation for consoles actually has no real meaning right? The Switch is not Nintendo's 9th system now is it? Nor is it using any kind of 9th generation hardware...what the hell is 9th generation hardware supposed to be anyway lol? Nintendo is on their 7th console release or if you count the handhelds it would be somewhere around the 51st generation since you'd have to count all their hardware game releases such as game and watch series less you just count cart swappable only releases which is somewhere around 10 or so.

Furthermore what difference does any of this matter, the generation number has only been used by the gaming media to differentiate, fans use it as self marketing hype and any ad campaign would use it purely for marketing purposes.

Oh also forgot the arcade hardware releases, what generation are those supposed to be?

9th Generation means that it's the 9th time new hardware has come out since its inception with the Magnavox Odyssey and Atari's Pong which is considered Generation 1 of home console games. Nintendo releasing the latest hardware after their successor with the Wii U and 3DS is considered next hardware, so therefore it's considered 9th Gen since the release of home console gaming devices.

The Switch is NOT next gen no matter how you try to spin it. A new generation of consoles has always been based on the hardware. The Switch is sporting PS3 and 360 gen specs which is decades old. Everything that the Switch is running can be done the PS3 and Xbox 360. There is barely any real advantage the hardware offers to the PS3 and 360 era. The system is not even in the same league as the vanilla PS4 and soon to be vanilla Xbox One. As I have said numerous times, the PS4 and Xbox One are more of an upgrade to their counter parts than the Switch to the WiiU. The Pro and the Scorpio is also more of an upgrade to that of the Switch to the WiiU. Yet morons are calling the Pro and Scorpio "slightly" faster. If the Pro and Scorpio are "slightly" faster then the Switch is a WiiU with no performance gains.

There are really only two options: Either we stop using gens or we accept the Switch as a new gen. Easy as that.

Also, to define a gen by power is insane, unless we start counting PC as gen 12, since a PC can have 4 980s Ti in SLI

To define gen by power is only insane if you believe the Switch is next gen. Base on that asinine logic Nintendo can release a system with Nintendo 64 specs as their new console and you will consider it next gen. :|

We are playing remakes from last gen and the two generations before it. We want games from 1999 and 1989 to get enhanced editions or spiritual sequels. The most popular game is Minecraft, which looks like... Well, like Minecraft. Shovel Knight is huge. The entire Fire Emblem franchise was rebooted and revitalized in 2013 with graphics that were way, way behind the two previous console games. Bravely Default and Dragon Quest are proving that the whole "Turn based combat is obsolete" crap was nonsense. Call of Duty is going back to WWII. The retro market is thriving, even though emulation is technically better than ever, and big chains like Gamespot want a piece of it.

The AAA dogma is fading. There's room for such games, of course, but now they are but one of the many niches that make this hobby appealing. "Generations" is a borderline obsolete term.

Who said that generations are based on power? Are generations really based on chronology?

No one cares about Nintendo's ass backwards hardware bullshit.

Releasing the long overdue Nintendo 360 in 2012 didn't start a new gen. Nintendo fans finally getting to play Ass Creed, Batman and Tekken many years late didn't change gaming in any way. Neither did 3DS multiplats and safe sequels. The X360 and PS3 ended that gen in style in 2013 with GTAV, Bioshock Infinite and The Last Of Us. Then the 8th gen began with the PS4 and XONE.

Ditto for this console. The Switch has some neat ideas and features but it's not a new generation. It's just Nintendo playing catchup.

To the "it's time not power!" crowd, why didn't the Ouya or any other of the retro/micro consoles start a new gen?

Oh I do consider the Switch next gen and I really have no idea why anyone would deny that. This is simple counting. If Nintendo releases a new system withh N64 graphics, this will be the next "new gen". A gen is pretty much a number on which iteration we are.

That aside, the Switch IS stronger than any handheld of the current gen. So why exactly does this board even have an issue with its power?

Based on your logic this is Nintendo's 7th generation console. Also the Switch being stronger than any other handheld is factually irrelevant with regard to home consoles because every home console has been faster than handhelds since the beginning of gaming. And because of its lameness it is incapable of running any next gen games.

I just could not care less about where people argue these lines fall.

For me, the only thing I care about is: WITHIN a manufacturer's line, when a new system is released, does it offer some reason to buy it? Either as an "upgrade" or an "addition to my library"... whatever. Does it sell itself to me? If the answer is yes, then I buy it. If the answer is no, then I skip and see what the next product from that manufacturer offers.

So the Switch is a Gameboy colour then, thanks for clearing that up.

@i_p_daily: It's a minor upgrade to a existing console. Thanks for being stupid.

Man you guys are fun to play with.

So is the Pro & especially the Scorpio, they are more powerful then their PS4/XB1 counterparts, so by your definition they are indeed next gen, again thanks for clearing that up.

The Pro and Scorpio is next gen according to many of these flaky definition. What more surprising is that no one wants to address the fact that the both the Scorpio and Pro are a larger upgrade to that of the Switch but yet they call these system mid gen or half ass. LMAO.

the concept has never really made sense when you consider that pc has always had extra-generational dominance over the puny console scum.