I have always been of the opinion that a generation ends. When the first console of a new generation launches onto the market. That isn't to say that there are not arguments to be made about whether this console or that is powerful enough to constitute a generational leap, but in regards to the current marketplace I haven't heard anyone on these forums disputing the claim that the Wii U is a next generation console. That would indicate at least to me that the generation we have commented on for the past half a dozen years has come to an end, and we can honestly tally up the results. Even if it is just a one person race at this time.
I guess what I am angling at is this. Nintendo won the previous generation. Microsoft took second, and Sony took third. It doesn't matter to me what any of the players do now in the victory lap, because the race has been decided. In any contest if you run out of time to win that is it. You don't get to keep playing as if the final whistle wasn't blown. Any argument to the contrary is entirely self indulgent, and more importantly disingenuous. I keep getting the feeling reading some threads that the reality hasn't sunk in for some on these forums. That contest is over now, and there isn't any changing what the outcome was.
It doesn't fundamentally matter how long Sony or Microsoft can drag out their sales, or how good those sales are going to be. If Sony passes Microsoft a year from now it doesn't change the fact that they came in third, and if one of them drags it out long enough to surpass the Wii. It still won't change the fact that they lost. Once a player releases a next generation console the whole dynamic goes right out the window. When Nintendo did a reset after lapping the competition. They reset the entire race.
It just seems to me that we don't need to be generating some kind of perverted grey zone to drag the debate onward. Had it been Sony or Microsoft who had launched a new console. We would be solidly in a post game frame of mind. However since it is Nintendo, and the debate hasn't been about Nintendo going on ages. It just seems to have not registered. Well it should register, because Nintendo is positioning itself within the same demographics that Sony and Microsoft have been contesting for years. If Sony doesn't suffer a financial meltdown we are going to have three players in the core market, and to me that seems like it is going to be a hell of a lot more interesting. That is what we should be talking about. Hand out the medals and move into the next generation.
What are your thoughts on how generations end. Has this generation ended for you, or do you have different criteria that must be met. Do you even think that generations have definite end points, or is kind of like they just fade away. I think we need to kind of get a consensus going about whether it is over or not.
