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Forums - Sales - Is nintendo the winner of the 8th gen or the 9th gen?

 

Is the switch an 8th gen console

Yes its 8th gen 19 41.30%
 
Yes its 9th gen 27 58.70%
 
Total:46

TBH I dont even know what generation we are in right now, so I choose 9th but i dont know what the 9th generation consists of.



我是广州人

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curl-6 said:
angrypoolman said:

I mean, you can group them based on simple common sense. Lol.

"Common sense" isn't objective either though, it means different things to different people.

You could argue that it's "common sense that Switch is Gen 9 cos it's the successor to the Gen 8 Wii U/3DS" and you could argue that it's "common sense it's Gen 8 cos blah blah etc etc."

Well let me ask you this curl 6, what in life really is objective in the first place? I think therefore i am? I think i simple look at context and historical precedent can get you to the right answer on this question. There can at least be a consensus made. 



Total Championships: Nintendo - 4, Sony - 2, Atari - 1, Microsoft - 0, Sega - 0

mutantsushi said:

Neither.
Nintend explicitly announced it´s blue ocean strategy, and Switch´s unique hybrid format mean it isn´t competitor to win vs PS or Xbox home consoles.
If Nintendo was winning anything, you would think they would be bragging about it, even if the framing was subjective like generations.
Yet they don´t really frame their success relative to broader market at all.
Fanboys who have emotional need for personalized competition doesn´t trump real business dynamics.

This whole paragraph is wrong.  Ill debunk it later if i feel like it



Total Championships: Nintendo - 4, Sony - 2, Atari - 1, Microsoft - 0, Sega - 0

angrypoolman said:
curl-6 said:

"Common sense" isn't objective either though, it means different things to different people.

You could argue that it's "common sense that Switch is Gen 9 cos it's the successor to the Gen 8 Wii U/3DS" and you could argue that it's "common sense it's Gen 8 cos blah blah etc etc."

Well let me ask you this curl 6, what in life really is objective in the first place? I think therefore i am? I think i simple look at context and historical precedent can get you to the right answer on this question. There can at least be a consensus made. 

I would say historical precedent can go both ways; there's precedent for instance for a "midway" console being seen as kicking off the next gen (Dreamcast) and being part of the current gen. (Colecovision)



The console gen term has less meaning now than it used to. But I have a check list with criteria I go through, if I want to determine which gen it belongs to:
In terms of horse power, which gen is it closest to: 7th gen
In terms of technology overall, which gen is it closest to: Tegra X1 is 2015 tech, so newer than 8th gen competitors, but not by much: 8th gen
Of competing systems, which launch dates is it closer to: 8th gen
Which gen of systems was it intended to compete against: Debatable, but probably 8th gen
Which gen of systems did it end up sharing most of its lifetime with: 9th gen
In terms of multiplats, which gen did it share most games with: 8th gen

The Switch is therefore an 8th gen system.

As for Switch 2 however:
In terms of horse power, which gen is it closest to: A bit more convoluted because of mid-gen upgrades, but looking at base console it is probably right between 8th and 9th.
In terms of technology overall, which gen is it closest to: Nvidia made a new costum chip, so 2025 tech: 10th gen
Of competing systems, which launch dates is it closer to: Seems PS6 and a new Xbox is not so far in the future, so 10th gen
Which gen of systems was it intended to compete against: Debatable, but probably 10th gen
Which gen of systems did it end up sharing most of its lifetime with: Hard to guess, but 10th gen seems more likely

Which puts Nintendo in the weird situation of having two 8th gen systems, a 10th gen system, but no 9th gen system. Then again they also had a 1st gen system, but none in the 2nd gen before releasing the NES in the 3rd gen.



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"Generations" only have meaning when devices are following the same general timetable in order to keep pace with the competition. Without that criteria, it loses relevance and most people stop caring. Trying to force things into generations kind of feels like a nostalgia response.

As soon as people start to disagree about generations, then it should be clear that it no longer matters.



curl-6 said:

Honestly, I think it no longer makes sense to group Nintendo's consoles into the same categories as PS/Xbox as they release on different timelines now.

Ultimately, categories like Gen 8 or 9 are completely arbitrary.

This and game engines are super scalable.  Generations do not exist anymore.  Back in the day engines had a lot of customization and couldn't run on weaker hardware, that died a long time ago.

Games can run in a gtx 1660 all the way up to a rtx 5090.. and 5090 is 600% higher performance.  But again, most games can run on both.  

Generations do not exist anymore.

Edit 

As a real life example, minimum for SH F is a 1070ti, and gpu from 2017...  almost a decade ago.  Yet, still runs SH F.

Game engine scaling killed generations.  

It is also why nobody should be surprised the S2 can run x, y and z.  Just a question of resolution, fps and graphical settings.

Last edited by Chrkeller - on 07 January 2026

“Consoles are great… if you like paying extra for features PCs had in 2005.”

Every brand has its own "generations" now. Switch won/dominated the period 2019-2023 in most relevant metrics.



TomaTito said:

It's 9th gen. Check the front page "Consoles Hardware Sales" and the 8th generation option has no Switch.

Switch 2 is a 10th generation console.

OP, I think VGChartz is the wrong place to ask this question. See here, there is someone that says Switch 1 is 9th gen because it's listed on the main page, but at the same time says the switch 2 is a 10'th generation console, even though it's still listed under 9th gen consoles on the front page. I tried asking trunks (site admin) if the Switch 2 will be added to the PS6 10th gen console section once the PS6 releases but I got no reply. We really need an answer to the question" Why is Switch 2 listed as a 9th gen console on VGChartz" to debate this here. It's inconsistent. How can Switch 1 and 2 launch over 8 years apart and still be in the same generation according to the admins of this website. 



pokoko said:

"Generations" only have meaning when devices are following the same general timetable in order to keep pace with the competition. Without that criteria, it loses relevance and most people stop caring. Trying to force things into generations kind of feels like a nostalgia response.

As soon as people start to disagree about generations, then it should be clear that it no longer matters.

I disagree with this. Switch is 8th gen.



Total Championships: Nintendo - 4, Sony - 2, Atari - 1, Microsoft - 0, Sega - 0