Topic: current gen or next gen

This thread has descended into petty bickering.

More power than the current gen equates to next gen, regardless of the size of the step.
I agree.

Current gen is the newest thing on the shelf that's in production, next gen is the thing that's not on the shelf yet. So the Wii U was next-gen and the 360/PS3 current gen but now it's current gen along with the PS3/360. The PS4/720 are currently next-gen but as soon as they hit stores they become current-gen and the 360/PS3 become last gen.

No need to be anymore complicated than that I think.

i personally would say the wii u is "next" gen.
look at the tech thats gone in to the console thats completely different to "current" gen consoles (xboxps3)
it does some completely new things never seen before, in my opinion its alot more next gen than the ps4 and nextbox are looking to be, just more of the same.

The interesting question is whether PS4 is next gen because it looks like a PS3 with a facebook button.

It depends on your perspective.

In terms of of numbered generations, retail phases etc - and especially from a Nintendo perspective - it's 8th gen. So 'next' if you want to round things up.

If however, you base the label on respective power leaps, using the other guys as the bar, no, it is 'current'.

Anyone struggling with this should take a pick and get over wondering.

If anything, the Wii U is more qualified to be considered "next-gen" than the Wii was. Really it's just stupid though, a generation isn't determined by the power of the system, but by the new line of systems. I guess it just shows how gamers and developers think these days though, everything is about the power.

If there's such a huge emphasis on controls then Oculus Rift is the real next gen.

So what you're saying is you took my ironic "my opinion is the most important" shtick seriously.

Oh the irony. It's...beautiful! ;__;

It's part of the next generation of consoles. Period. End of story.

As we all know when the term is used in other areas of life, a new "generation" doesn't even mean better in any way. It just means the next iteration of a line of something. In this case, the Wii U is Nintendo's next home console and is, in all senses of the word, part of the next generation of consoles.

Thank you and /thread

All I can say that game sells a console.

I personally don't think it's about whether or not a console is next-generation at this point. Instead, I believe it's more about whether or not everyone persist at this "bigger and more is better" manifestation beyond this point. It just doesn't seem to be the healthy thing to do now >.<

Exactly. If it's the next in line of consoles, it is automatically "next gen" regardless of its specs. If dressed and talked like somebody from the 50s, and only listened to 50s music and watched 50s TV shows, does that mean that I am not a part of my generation? No. By standard definition, Wii U is "next Gen". And that's all there is to it.

Too often do I see people using words like "generation" and "gimmick" incorrectly. In fact, they use them in such a way as to describe something negative. Saying "generation" is based on power (which it isn't), and then making a comparison of one thing to another to give a false sense of progress on the lesser of the two.

Whew- thank you! I was so afraid of checking back and seeing the usual bickering. It seems that there are more people out there who actually understand the denotation of the word "generation"!

It's current gen as far as I'm concerned. A late-game, 32X-esque upgrade that was made a full console so they can get out a few sales before the Next generation really takes hold.

It may be current gen as far as you're concerned, but as far as the English language and standard definition is concerned, it is next gen, as @rallydefault and I have already stated. Specs have LITERALLY NOTHING to do with it. Nintendo could release something with the specs of a freaking SNES and it would still technically be considered next gen.

The specs are better anyway. Current gen started last year when Wii U came out.

Get with the times, bros.

I know the specs are way better, and I agree that current gen started when Wii U was released, I was simply making a point.

Let's be technical about this. Wii U is 8th gen as are Xbox wutever and PS4!

There, now everyone is happy, yes?

I'm happy, but you've still got your grumblers who refuse to accept the basic definition of "generation" and would rather whine about the specs of the Wii U for absolutely no reason at all.

Easy way to look at it would be to consider what the actual hardware manufacturers mean when they say generation. Back in 2010 Nvidia had GPUs of the 4XX generation. 410, 420, 450, 460, 470, 480. The first number was their number to denote the generation of GPU, the second number denoted how much power it had and the last number was sometimes used to denote half steps.

Next generation they have 510, 520, 550, 560, 570, 580. Same thing and they were all a "new generation" of GPUs. However in terms of performance the new generation GPUs were generally only more powerful than the cards in the same "class" from the previous generation. A 520 wouldn't have much of a chance of beating a 460 for example.

Now the current generation is the same again. 610, 620, 650, 670, 680. They are called "current gen" because that's what you get when you go into the shop and ask for a Nvidia graphics card. Next gen isn't out yet but no doubt that some of the "next gen" will be less capable than what's already out there. That doesn't make it any less "next gen".

The fact that Sony/MS are releasing their consoles this early in the Wii U's life says something. The last console generation lasted 7-9 years so releasing something new in the first year of the Wii U is more than enough to say it's of the same generation. No doubt people will still be debating this in 2021 when the next console generation starts