The 7th generation of video games did start with the DS. But the 7th generation of home consoles did not start until the release of the Xbox 360. In any event the 3DS will start the 8th generation. According to the rumors it will go on sale in Japan in November. These alleged release date leaks tend to be true because there are too many people in the know, developers, production people, distributors, retailers and so on. All it takes is for one person to open their mouth.

8th generation, here we come.

Honestly, I see another 5 years to transition for Nintendo.  The Wii software market is bottoming out in Japan/Europe thanks to piracy/apathy, even if they didn't originally plan to, I think they'll need to get the next system out a year after 3DS.  Maybe they'll wait for America, but Japan will definitely get the Wii successor before 2011 is over...

It's like he thinks 3DS is simply an upgrade like DSi or something

8th Gen will start this year, with Nintendo leading the way with 3DS.

We don't even know if there is a PSP2 for sure yet.

I'm the kind of person who feels that handhelds have their own generational running. 3DS will launch handheld Gen 6, and either N6 or Xbox 3 will launch console generation 8 (i have a feeling Microsoft's moving quicker than they're letting on. Kinect as we know it is a Beta, to iron out potential issues for a hardware-integrated solution soon to come, and also because Microsoft is probably going to want to line up console and PC capabilities again, though in this case it will be a smaller adjustment)

But the handhelds and non-handhelds compete with each other for money, developers, marketing, and shelf space, and that's what the "generation" terms are really about.  They're in direct competition in the current generation.  Think of things like Dragon Quest going from PS2 to DS to Wii, or all the ugly PSP-to-Wii ports.  Now 3DS is stealing Xbox 360 exclusives like Saints Row: Drive-By.

Jarrod, if Nintendo meets its Wii forecast, this will be the third year in a row of Wii SW shipments at almost 200m units annually. The Wii is certainly seeing purchasing rates decline per user, but in terms of units sold the market is as robust as ever, especially if you look at shipped figures.

Wii SW (Bundled & Non Bundled SW Total)

FY 3 2/2009 - 202.5m

FY 3/ 2010 - 191.8m

FY 3/2011 Forecast- 197m  (165m*)

* Iwata said the 165m does not include software bundled with hardware. Given 16m Wiis will be shipped outside Japan, and two games are bundled, you can reckon the bundled figure is about 32m, depending on when the new Wii sku with two games reached the USA.

One way to look at it is if new users get two games included and buy two additional games in the FY on average, then you have 18m new Wii owners buying (16m * 4) (2m * 2) 68m games, while the existing base entering the fiscal year of 70.93m (through for Mar 2011) buys 129m / 71m games on average, or 1.82 games.

Its only when new hardware sales fall below 8-10m ( ((9m * 4) (1m *2)) = 38m) and existing users only support a 40m market or so that the Wii will really decline, and thats a bit away yet, as most third parties (who have less than 2% of the Wii sw market annually) will start to really struggle to break even at that level.

I may be wrong but I think some people say the Nokia NGage kicked off a generation (I'll check Wiki).  If so, then whichever comes first, the PSP2 or 3DS will kick off the 8th.  Portables count, too.

*edit*  Nope, I was wrong!  Wonder where I got that from.  I still think portables count, though.

PsP2> 3Ds

where exactly did you get your time machine from?

The PSP2 will be larger than the 3DS? Possibly.....but if I had to chose a handheld right now, i'd choose the one with known (and excellent) hardware and crap ton of developer support.