What defines a Generation?

[Jon-Erich]

Miguel_Zorro said:
The definition of generation is clearly very fuzzy.

One of the weirdest examples for me is the Atari 2600/5200. The 5200 was far more powerful and was released 5 years later, but for some reason, they're both "2nd generation".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_generation_of_video_game_consoles

You also needed an adapter to play 2600 games on the 5200, so the "same games" argument doesn't really hold up.

It doesn't seem to be based on power - there's obviously a big range of power within a generation, with some consoles deemed to be part of a generation actually having specs closer to the previous generation.

I think the only reason the 5200 still falls into the 2nd generation category is because of the videogame crash. When the crash happened, it was the end of an era. The 5200 along with other consoles that had no chance got caught up in it. By the time the third generation came along, there was a new world order. In many ways, it was a new industry, at least in North America. I think had the crash not happened, the 5200 would be seen as a 3rd generation console and a competitor to the NES, even if it wouldn't have ben successful.