NPD: Smash Ultimate sold 3M+ in 11 days in US,Pokemon Let's go 2M+

[kenjab]

The_Liquid_Laser said: 

SpokenTruth said: 

Because it's not defined by either.  I just told you how the industry defines it.

Switch is meant to succeed both the Wii U and 3DS as defined by Nintendo.  That makes it next gen.  It is a generation 9 system.

So you're saying the 9th gen has begun, and that Nintendo decided when it would happen?  But what if, hypothetically, a Switch successor comes in 2-3 years--only one year after the other consoles?  This is the danger of letting one console define the generations.

I think the generation confusion here is because there are two definitions of "generation".  There are video game generations (1-8) that are defined by specific time frames, or eras, similarly to how with humanity we define baby boomers, Gen X, millennials, etc based on when people were born.  But there's also each console company's generations (eg, NES->SNES->N64->Gamecube->Wii->WiiU->Switch).  I feel it's possible for a successive console to be in the same generation as its predecessor, the same way that a person who's an early millennial can have a kid that's also a millennial if the parent was young and both were born in the same era.

Right now, we can say the Switch is an 8th gen console because it's existing alongside the other 8th gen consoles.  If it continues for many years into the 9th gen (likely starting whenever the next PS and Xbox release), then the Switch would essentially bridge the generations, and may end up being considered 9th gen if it lives long enough into that generation.

Last edited by kenjab - on 18 December 2018