Will NX be an 8th generation console?

[Super_Boom]

Ka-pi96 said:

Just curious about it since it seems like the NX isn't going to fit that well in to how generations have worked previously.

Take generations as literal and unique to each company and the NX would be 8thgen, PS5 5th gen and Xbox ? 4th gen. Although I don't think anyone ever describes generations that way.

Take generations as periods of time (seems most, if not all, people do this) and the NX is likely to release at a really awkward time. A couple years earlier and it would definitely be 8th gen, a couple years later definitely 9th gen. But where it is makes it difficult. Of course this may well end up a short gen for PS/Xbox as well and then suddenly it fits perfectly again.

Take generations as relative to its competition, again most people do this, but in all previous gens it has worked perfectly alongside the above definition so no one has really questioned it. The NX however kind of sticks out here, will it compete more with the PS4/Xbox One or with the PS5/Xbox ?. There are arguments for both sides, although of course like the above one we won't know for sure until all is said and done anyways so it may well be that it does fit in to the existing definitions perfectly again.

Also just to clarify I'm not really leaning towards 8th or 9th gen at the moment. I think there are arguments for both depending on how you define a generation. Hopefully as time goes on it will be made more clear and there won't be any need to debate it, however if it isn't does that perhaps mean the whole system of categorising consoles in to generations needs to be rethought rather than just where to put the NX?

It's possible it has a different designation interally, but I've never heard anyone refer to a console maker's generations in a vacuum. Sony's first home console is looked back on as a 5th gen platform, despite being available for two years prior to Nintendo releasing their 5th gen home console. It competed for some time against the SNES, and yet I don't recall anyone questioning if it was a 4th gen platform. They went on to release their next platform around a year and a half prior to the competition, which is pretty much unanimously considered the first 6th gen platform.

I don't believe competition has as much to do with the distinction outside of the initial platform. Otherwise, we'd have unique handheld generation numbers. When you consider that the 3DS and PS4 are both 8th generation devices, it seems clear that the generation label really doesn't have anything to do with the specifications of the device, timeframe of release, or even if the two devices are direct competitors. Generations, as far as I can tell, are basically just an iterative label that starts with when the platform holder entered the market.