The Nintendo Switch is generation...

[Shiken]

Pemalite said:

Shiken said:

Gen 1 of hybrid devices. There is really no other way to look at it. I mean, it has all of Nintendo's 1st party console games...so it is a console. But it also has many games on the eshop that you would expect on a handheld...so it is a handheld. Plus all of those console games can be taken on the go.

The WiiU was a hybrid device.

No it wasn't, you were always tied to being where your TV was.  Just because you could play on the tablet controller right by your TV does not mean it offered portable gameplay.  I could not play mine from my truck during my break at work like I can the Switch or a dedicated handheld device, therefore it is not a portable by any means.

The Sega Nomad could have been considered a Hybrid device as it was a portable device that could also be connected to your TV and play Sega Genesis carts.
Also can't forget the nVidia shield either. - https://nyko.com/products/nvidia-shield-dock

Fair enough.  3rd gen, but first gen as a mainstream device.  Neither of those made the impact that the Switch is now.

So I don't think we can consider the Switch to be in the same generation as those devices.

Shiken said:

Bottom line is that there is really nothing else like the Switch out there. It can be used as a console or a handheld, and therefore it is a hybrid. Sure it is essentially a handheld with an HDMI out, but it also steps of the processors and pushes the device further docked than it would handheld, which makes it a little more than just a handheld in reality. Not to mention there are some who play exclusively docked making is a console for them specifically.

There are tons of devices out there, usually Android powered.

If we are going to group them in with android powered devices, then we may as well group the PS4 and X1 into the same category as different PC builds.  That would certainly put them anywhere else than the "gen 8" most people try to put them in.

At the end of the day, anyone can twist things and place any device in any given generation.  However we are talking about the major consoles and handhelds in the industry, not devices that most people never knew existed.  If we covered every device on the face of the planet, the entire discussion becomes meaningless and void of any real point.