Personally I like longer console generations because tbh I don't want to pay $300-500 for a new console and I tend to buy all the consoles in a generation so multiply that by 3...  I understand people that get sick of the graphics of current consoles, but that doesn't really affect me, if I'm having fun I could care less.  Also if you look at the 360 and PS3 I think they have some of the best gaming libraries of all time because this gen was 7-8 years and now I'm finding so many great games that I can get for cheap.  Now obviously at some point I'm gonna be forced to buy a new console and I think this upcoming gen will be longer than this one, I'm guessing 10 years, so I'm happy that if I have to spend $400 or $500 on a console then I know new games will be coming out for 10 years.  So what do you guys think?  Do you like longer or shorter generations?

Definitely longer generations! I basically agree with everything you say! Also consoles in my country tend to be a lot more expensive...

Depends. If it's like the Wii? Hate it. Like the PS3? Don't mind it at all. Two huge contrasts there relative to the ending of a console's life-cycle. Imagine if the end of the PS3 and 360 had been like the Wii.

idc as long as the games keep coming in

I love long gens. It becomes more serious. People can invest in a long gen, and feel the stability and security.

Short gens, all these new products make people stressed. Your old device quickly becomes obsolete and you must hunt for the latest tech. Look at smartphones and tablets, how quickly they are replacing them with a new version, a new generation. I hate that.

But perhaps more importantly, a long generation becomes more meaningful from a cultural perspective. Consoles become part of gaming history, and are discussed and admired decades after they have gone out of production. A long generation puts a stronger imprint in history and our awareness. People will be able to categorize and memorize something much easier when there's a significant difference between one gen and the next, when there's multiple titles that represent an era. Thereby a console comes to represent something much more than just that year's technology, that year's version.

I like 5 to 6 year gens, with notable support continuing for at least another year. That's long enough so that early adopters can enjoy having a relevant product for over half a decade, but short enough so that the tech doesn't ever become ancient enough to limit software. In my mind, 7 or 8 years leads to a great library of games for a single console, but you either end up with laughably outdated tech by the end (see the Game Boy minus Pokemon) or you have a very expensive beginning of the generation (see the PS360).

Of course, this is based on the assumption that my game consoles will play older games too (based on my experience with the Game Boy series, PS2, Wii, and Wii U), so the new policy of removing backwards compatibility may change my mind about short generations.

Hate it.
No console ever really stays interesting longer than 5 years.
By 2011 the 7th gen had gotten stale and dull, and I was longing for the 8th.

Its not really the consoles that gets old, it's really the games that make them feel tiring.

After 2008, the consoles started to get litter with mostly realistic shooters lately while their were some good games during that time.

Though new hardware is needed, it's not the consoles that get old, it's the games that's given to us.

6-7 years max, tech changes too fast. before you know it a cell phone has equal power.

epic response, couldnt have said it better my self