For me, you could look at it two ways. If PS4 Pro and Scorpio are just iterative extensions of the 8th gen, then you could, if you wanted to, also consider the Switch a second 8th gen entry for Nintendo. Or, you could see it as the first 9th gen platform, since it seems likely to me that they will incorporate some aspects of Switch into the eventual Playstation 5 and Xbox WhateverIt'sCalled. Whether it's some sort of portable functionality (whether built in or a separate device that connects to it optionally,) cartridge based game media (whether alone or in addition to optical depending on how people take to it,) or just the extremely small form factor (since in five years, they'll be able to pack hardware that exceeds the current gen's performance into a much smaller footprint,) I think that while not always ideal, Nintendo does tend to precede trends. Think about it. Analog thumbsticks, force feedback, motion control, touch... all standard to some degree or another on their competitors' subsequent platforms after they did it, regardless of how much or little they succeeded with it. The only one they haven't emulated to some extent is the second screen. But personally, the way I'll delineate it is this: if Nintendo comes out with a new system alongside or close to PS5 and XBX, then I'll consider that 9th gen, and this 8th gen. 8th gen is just a strange animal because all the companies are releasing iterations or new products without declaring a new hardware gen. If Nintendo doesn't release something new when everyone else does... then Switch is their 9th gen platform and they're just early to the party.
I think i done screwed up guys. I caught the Switch fever at the worst time, and my only option is going to TRU at launch.
I see the Switch as the 8th gen console that they should have launched in the first place. To me it seems like it compares more favorably to the original PS4/X1 when it comes to specs than it would as a 9th gen console competing against whatever the PS4/Xbox have coming at that point.
yeah just claimed my username, same as here and everywhere else, if anyone wants to add me once its out.
Thanks! Claimed optics and opt1cs. opt1cs is also my GT and PSN ID, but I think I'll just main optics.
I'd call it 9th generation just because it's so different from its predecessor. Or you could call it 8th generation of you consider the Wii and a Wii U both part of the 7th gen.
I have a real issue with this type of discussion - trying to determine what "generation" the consoles currently belong to. It's a meaningless clarification as all of the technologies have pretty much been standarised, and all we're seeing are incremental changes. There's no leap in terms of technology since the PS3/XB360 - it's the same basic tech, just different parts and a slightly different layout. And I think it's even more of a mistake to try and classify Nintendo's hardware by what the other console manufacturers are doing. Where other console manufacturers are driven by tech without an idea of what they're trying to achieve beyond more fidelity, Nintendo are guided by the concept of how people play games - what are different ways people can interact and play?
For me, hardware generation has zero to do with performance advancements. It's just a chronological, historical shorthand for delineating different "eras" of the industry. Like virtually everything else humans label, it's somewhat subjective, and largely arbitrary. It's the same way we differentiate G1. Some people consider all of G1, including the Japanese toy lines and continuities, part of G1. Others define them in terms of Western G1 and Japanese G1, separately. I've even seen some categorize G2 as "G1 G2, and 'real' (new molds) G2." In other news... Amazon just confirmed my Pro controller estimated delivery won't be until March 7th. That's a very slight bummer, but I'll make do with the grip for those three days. I'm expecting everything (such as guides and screen protectors) other than the system itself and the launch day games to arrive after 3/3.
I'll be going to a smaller game shop near me which I GREATLY prefer over Gamestop or TRU... or really any other store where I could get games. This is the first place that treat customers like actual humans and not sentient wallets.
Well I won't disagree about not owning a PS4 or XB1. I will once there are enough exclusives I really want to justify buying one used.
*sigh* you guys....I'd slap you all if I didn't like all of you so much. I guess my point is that console generational changes have two key requirements - the big competitors releasing new hardware and big advances in tech with that hardware. You really need both - and we're not getting the latter. So from my view, we're sort of stuck in the console generation started by the PS3/360 - multi core processors and fully programmable graphics pipe-lines. New console releases are separate from generational changes. And trying to class what Nintendo is doing based on the same criteria doesn't make a lot of sense - Nintendo has a completely different approach, where hardware facilitates the end goal rather than the hardware being the goal. Anyhow. I'll shut the hell up about this now. Only 10 days to go!
I don't agree with to much weaker hardware out there.. But I do think one of the problems with the modern gaming industry is to much "MAOR POWAH!" mentality. Some of the greatest games of our time... where made -because- of the limitations. Now so many companies don't want to work within the limitations, instead just want to scream about how they need more and more power. *Please note..I am not adversed to more specs.. but it shouldn't be a driving force. Especially when one of the most Iconic characters in gaming -is- that way because of limitations. Hell.. While not as good as the 16 bit games... Even sonic made decent 8 bit games. Even now, newer games made for the old systems show how amazing some things can be made within restrictions*
I've never considered radical hardware advancement a criterion for considering something being the start of a new gen. For me, it's simply a chronological and thematic distinction. The new systems always tend to be more powerful, but it's not always an enormous leap. Wii U is an 8th gen console, but is roughly on par by most estimates with Xbox 360, a 7th gen platform (maybe a little more powerful.) The PS2 was significantly less powerful than both Gamecube and Xbox, but was still considered part of that hardware generation. (Though, to be sure, it was a leap up from PSX.) But, see, this is why I said it's just an arbitrary distinction. Hardware gens don't really "exist" in the first place. They're just arbitrary and to some extent totally subjective shorthand terms we use to demarcate eras for convenience when talking about a certain "time" in gaming. Nothing more. I can't tell anyone else what to consider part of which "gen," I can only say what gen I consider something part of. And, it's also entirely possible we're entering a new phase where that distinction doesn't even have any meaning, since it looks like increasingly console manufacturers are going to follow the smart phone model of releasing iterative updates and only every so often full refreshes. There are also increasingly diminishing returns for more powerful hardware now. We're never going to see a leap again like we did from 2D to 3D, and every gen the improvement we do see becomes less impressive imo.
But there really isn't a reason for Nintendo to continue putting out the weakest consoles, three generations in a row now. There games are still great, wonderfully optimized, and usually the best at launch titles around, but I still sit back and wonder why in the world they don't at least try. Especially when they makes games like Breath of the Wild, that are super ambitious, look amazing, but are guaranteed to not run as smoothly as possible because of hardware limitations. And I'm fine with the actual handheld performance of the Switch, but I still think an external GPU within the dock would have been the ideal method to handling the situation.
Because we don't need a third console in the same space, and Nintendo realizes that. The last console they put out that was superior technically was the Gamecube, and they got burnt on it. Then they put out the Wii which was underpowered but sold like crazy, because it innovated. Innovation isn't about power, polygons, or specs. It's about providing new and different gameplay experiences.
