What makes a console "next-gen"...?

[kain_kusanagi]

curl-6 said:

Mazty said:

curl-6 said:
"Next gen" refers to the next iteration of hardware. Power isn't part of the equation. You're not in the same generation as your kids just because you're as tall as them.

 

Thats a contradiction. How can you determine the next iteration of hardware if you are not looking at power?

 

Because the Wii U is the successor to the Wii, which was 7th gen, and was the successor to the GCN, which was 6th gen.

 

 

kain_kusanagi said:

True.

 

However if a man has two sons and the first son has a child in 1950 and the second son has a child in 2000, both those children are of the same generation.

If the first son has a second child in 2000, all three are of the same generation.

If the first son's first child has a girl in 2000 she is of the next generation even though she is the same age as the second son's child and the first son's second child.

Make sense?

Yes, but the Wii U/ PS4 + 720 release time gap will likely be no bigger than the one between the PS2 and the GCN/Xbox.

But I'm not talking about the span of a few months, I used a 50 year gap an analog for a full console generation. I was just illustrating how generations work and how they can get confused when they don't fall into nicely divided categories.

Wii U is next gen because it is Nintendo's follow up to the Wii which was the follow up to GCN and so one. The Xbox was 6th gen because it was a considerable upgrade from the 32/64 Bit era. The Xbox 360 was both a significant upgrade and a follow up.

The only way the Wii U could have not been considered next gen is if it was underpowered and was not preceded by a 7th gen Nintendo home console.

But that doesn't mean that all consoles in a  generation stand on equal footing. It just means that they exist in the same circle.