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happydolphin on 05 September 2012
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GhaudePhaede010 said:

Okay, there is much incorrect with your argument.

Since video gaming has the word, "gaming" in it, that means and expresses there is interaction. To deny interaction as a means of generational advancement is both assanine and ignorant. Here is why I say that:

NES to SNES to Nintendo 64 to Gamecube to Wii to now WiiU all have very different functioning controllers that lead to new ways of interaction with games. This is a TECHNOLOGICAL leap and therefore, a generational leap. That is not, I repeat, NOT a disputed fact.

Imagine playing SNES games with an NES controller. Something like Street Fighter would be... irratic (as it was on Game Boy) and see very little, if any success at all. Interface progressions are just as, if not more important (speaking from a sales and influencial perspective on this) than your more, "traditional" graphical leaps.

Even PS1 to PS2 to PS3 has controller advancements and same with XBOX to XBOX 360 (at least I think so) even if they are small advancements.

The problem is - and this is a first for thee industry - Wii gave us a large inteface leap at thee expense of large graphical leaps while thee HD consoles gave us large graphical leaps with minimal interface leaps (pre Move and Kinect). To be honest, Wii is very much part of this generation because of its contribution to thee other two consoles alone. Not to mention the boost in life these new interfaces gave to thee HD consoles (sales and appeal), it is obvious that technological innovation in the form of interface is very much a generational progression.

This is why your argument is totally off base. Yes, it would be nice to have both as part of a generational leap, but it is obvious in the way of sales, advertising, influence, and actual game play mechanics/interface, that what Nintendo did was create as much a generational leap (albeit in a different direction) as both Sony and Microsoft. It is time the world looks on Nintendo in this way. What they contributed to gaming with Wii, DS, and WiiU are steps forward for thee industry. Obviously, these consoles have earned their titles as, "next generation."

Where did  I disagree with any of this. Having 6 buttons on a controller is not something that was bound by technology. Graphics were. That's my point.

A generation is by birth and by definition rooted in the limitation of a specific type of hardware to perform certain tasks by reason of lacking technology (either unaffordable or not yet practically possible), and future upgrades are required to satisfy those needs. To have 6 buttons instead of 2 doesn't fall into that limitation, lacking live memory is.