Last generation: Ps3, 360, Wii - who won?

[Tron Bonne]

I would explain the reasoning behind creating an "underpowered" console with the Wii U, but I'm seeing that it just goes ignored considering how many times I've done so before.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

I would explain the reasoning behind creating an "underpowered" console with the Wii U, but I'm seeing that it just goes ignored considering how many times I've done so before.

i want to hear it. tell me.

the wii was pretty much as powerful as the xbox yeah? so that means wii games in general were not a huge step up from gamecube

so although wii u games are a step up from from wii, i have to wonder, why. why do it again.

tell me tronbonne

 

[Tron Bonne]

i want to hear it. tell me.

the wii was pretty much as powerful as the xbox yeah? so that means wii games in general were not a huge step up from gamecube

so although wii u games are a step up from from wii, i have to wonder, why. why do it again.

tell me tronbonne

Well, the simple answer is this: the Wii was Nintendo's most successful home console ever. You don't have that kind of success and go, "**** that, we should do something totally and completely different". It's easy for forum goers to be armchair analysts and say, "well, of course, the market wasn't there and blah blah", but that's not how it works most of the time. A lot of bad decisions are either calculated risks that flopped, or just bad in retrospect (Nintendo's choice to go with carts over discs for the N64 is a good example of the latter, despite what people may want to tell you).

There's also the fact that is often denied or just not accepted by internet fandom that power really doesn't matter. There's a lot of issues that caused the Wii U to underwhelm, a lot, and I would probably put system power at the lowest on the list. I won't go into a huge amount of details about why, since I'm rather exhausted talking about that particular point, but there were much, much bigger problems, in my mind, to the Wii U's dilemma than power.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

Well, the simple answer is this: the Wii was Nintendo's most successful home console ever. You don't have that kind of success and go, "**** that, we should do something totally and completely different". It's easy for forum goers to be armchair analysts and say, "well, of course, the market wasn't there and blah blah", but that's not how it works most of the time. A lot of bad decisions are either calculated risks that flopped, or just bad in retrospect (Nintendo's choice to go with carts over discs for the N64 is a good example of the latter, despite what people may want to tell you).

There's also the fact that is often denied or just not accepted by internet fandom that power really doesn't matter. There's a lot of issues that caused the Wii U to underwhelm, a lot, and I would probably put system power at the lowest on the list. I won't go into a huge amount of details about why, since I'm rather exhausted talking about that particular point, but there were much, much bigger problems, in my mind, to the Wii U's dilemma than power.

okay but they had to notice all that 3rd party support drop. and the fact that, I remember gamepro or famitsu or some gaming network conducted a report and found out that 60% of wii owners never even play their console. and there had to be other statistics of wii owners also owning either a Ps3 or 360 to make sure they get the real current gen games.

they fell behind again with the wii u. how could they have not seen that coming?

 

[Tron Bonne]

okay but they had to notice all that 3rd party support drop. and the fact that, I remember gamepro or famitsu or some gaming network conducted a report and found out that 60% of wii owners never even play their console. and there had to be other statistics of wii owners also owning either a Ps3 or 360 to make sure they get the real current gen games.

they fell behind again with the wii u. how could they have not seen that coming?

How could Sony not see it coming that $600 for a PS3 was way too much? How did MS not see it coming that their DRM ideas for the Xbone would be rejected so heavily? Like I said, it's very easy to see a mistake in hindsight, but don't think it's that easy to see it before it happens. And you have to keep in mind, these things are not decided on whims. The development of the Wii U was most likely in full swing quite a long time ago, just like the price of the PS3 or the DRM of the Xbone was decided well before they were actually revealed to the general public.

Plus, the 3rd party support didn't drop for the Wii until the later part of its life. They may not have been getting the core franchises, but companies all were getting in on that Wii money for a long time. Yes, a lot of it was shovelware, but still, companies were behind the Wii. Had the Wii U took off like that did, it would've been a similar situation, I'm sure, for better or worse.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

How could Sony not see it coming that $600 for a PS3 was way too much? How did MS not see it coming that their DRM ideas for the Xbone would be rejected so heavily? Like I said, it's very easy to see a mistake in hindsight, but don't think it's that easy to see it before it happens. And you have to keep in mind, these things are not decided on whims. The development of the Wii U was most likely in full swing quite a long time ago, just like the price of the PS3 or the DRM of the Xbone was decided well before they were actually revealed to the general public.

Plus, the 3rd party support didn't drop for the Wii until the later part of its life. They may not have been getting the core franchises, but companies all were getting in on that Wii money for a long time. Yes, a lot of it was shovelware, but still, companies were behind the Wii. Had the Wii U took off like that did, it would've been a similar situation, I'm sure, for better or worse.

it took sony a while but they eventually learned from their mistakes and made the Ps4 $200 cheaper at launch than the Ps3. that was last gen to this gen. Nintendo on the other hand DIDN'T learn from their (I guess since they made so much money and sold the most consoles, you can't technically call this a) mistake and went again with last gen hardware, competing with 2 consoles that have new gen hardware. and when the 2 new consoles launched it kinda bit them in the ass and i'm pretty sure the Nintendo ceo said something about it.

as for the xbone drm stuff, honestly, I feel like they just explained it really really bad. and that don mattrick guy didn't help at all. at the end of the day there were more than just subtle benefits to the drm weren't there? if they had promoted it or just explained it more properly it wouldn't have been rejected so badly.

I can't think of any software from 2006 or 7 off the top of my head. one game that really stood out to me in the 6th gen was soul caliber 2, and it was really huge with the whole special characters thing.

SC4 came out in 2008 and did not see a wii port. considering the last generation lasted 7 years, I'd say that's early on in the Wii's life cycle.

 

[Tron Bonne]

it took sony a while but they eventually learned from their mistakes and made the Ps4 $200 cheaper at launch than the Ps3. that was last gen to this gen. Nintendo on the other hand DIDN'T learn from their (I guess since they made so much money and sold the most consoles, you can't technically call this a) mistake and went again with last gen hardware, competing with 2 consoles that have new gen hardware. and when the 2 new consoles launched it kinda bit them in the ass and i'm pretty sure the Nintendo ceo said something about it.

as for the xbone drm stuff, honestly, I feel like they just explained it really really bad. and that don mattrick guy didn't help at all. at the end of the day there were more than just subtle benefits to the drm weren't there? if they had promoted it or just explained it more properly it wouldn't have been rejected so badly.

I can't think of any software from 2006 or 7 off the top of my head. one game that really stood out to me in the 6th gen was soul caliber 2, and it was really huge with the whole special characters thing.

SC4 came out in 2008 and did not see a wii port. considering the last generation lasted 7 years, I'd say that's early on in the Wii's life cycle.

The Wii U is not "last gen" hardware. Power has nothing to do with generation.

But anyway, like I said, I explained all this already. Nothing said here really can't be addressed by what I already posted above. You even say how there's wasn't really a mistake with the Wii (anyone who thinks the Wii was a mistake for Nintendo from an objective standpoint is just out for their agenda). All of that stuff about Sony and MS doesn't matter, I was just using that as an example about how mistakes are not as easy to see, for any company, as people like to believe.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

The Wii U is not "last gen" hardware. Power has nothing to do with generation.

But anyway, like I said, I explained all this already. Nothing said here really can't be addressed by what I already posted above. You even say how there's wasn't really a mistake with the Wii (anyone who thinks the Wii was a mistake for Nintendo from an objective standpoint is just out for their agenda). All of that stuff about Sony and MS doesn't matter, I was just using that as an example about how mistakes are not as easy to see, for any company, as people like to believe.

I beg to differ. if this were true, then last generation we wouldn't have seen AAA Ps3 & 360 multiplat titles with gimped versions or no versions at all on the wii. If the Ps4 and xbone barely upgraded from their predecessors a lot more people would be pissed off about it. That would make them WAY too similar to last generation and everyone would barely have a reason to upgrade.

if the wii u ain't last gen hardware, why then when game ports are being made for it are developers using similar game code used in the 360? which IS a last gen console?

and yeah, i'm not saying the wii was a mistake, but it sure as hell was a (successful) experiment. instead of continuing to go down to soft route I think Nintendo should've upgraded the hardware to current gen. and yo it does matter... I mean agree with you mistakes are sometimes not easy to see but it definitely also had something to do with ego. sony had an ego after the Ps2's run and Microsoft had an ego after the 360's run. that's one reason for both of them why they expected plans to follow through with the consumers.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Generation of hardware is determined by timeframe, not power. The Wii is a 7th generation console. The Wii U is an 8th generation console.

And no, none of that matters to this conversation. You can call it "ego" or whatever, but it doesn't change what I was saying. You're looking too much at an example to illustrate a point.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

Generation of hardware is determined by timeframe, not power. The Wii is a 7th generation console. The Wii U is an 8th generation console.

And no, none of that matters to this conversation. You can call it "ego" or whatever, but it doesn't change what I was saying. You're looking too much at an example to illustrate a point.

I have no doubt that the wii u is an 8th generation console, but its hardware is extremely outdated. its hardware compares to the consoles of the LAST generation, not the one it is a part of. tron bonne, the timeframe kinda demanded the wii make a considerable double leap so that it may keep up with its competition. therefore at least to me and I know can't be alone in thinking this, the generation is also determined in part by a standard of hardware capability.

i'm not saying it is completely necessary since the wii u is probably doing fine in sales but there's more than a few reasons why the Ps4 was such a bestseller at launch. the leap in hardware may not've been as high from Ps2 to Ps3, but it was a substantial improvement. The gamecube to the wii wasn't.

honestly man I guess we don't have to talk about it anymore if you don't want to, but I still think Nintendo made a mistake with the wii u hardware.

 

[Tron Bonne]

I have no doubt that the wii u is an 8th generation console, but its hardware is extremely outdated. its hardware compares to the consoles of the LAST generation, not the one it is a part of. tron bonne, the timeframe kinda demanded the wii make a considerable double leap so that it may keep up with its competition. therefore at least to me and I know can't be alone in thinking this, the generation is also determined in part by a standard of hardware capability.

I want you to really re-read this paragraph, because you totally contradict yourself here.

But again, no, hardware capabilities do not, nor have they ever, determined what generation a piece of hardware is in. You want to call it underpowered, sure, but it's not "last gen".

i'm not saying it is completely necessary since the wii u is probably doing fine in sales but there's more than a few reasons why the Ps4 was such a bestseller at launch. the leap in hardware may not've been as high from Ps2 to Ps3, but it was a substantial improvement. The gamecube to the wii wasn't.

honestly man I guess we don't have to talk about it anymore if you don't want to, but I still think Nintendo made a mistake with the wii hardware.

Nah, the Wii U is selling pretty weak, but to put this in perspective, this generation is the first generation since the SNES era where the most powerful console has headed the lead in sales, so no, I don't think the PS4's power advantage added to it very much. Power is an internet fandom obsession, you look at sales through the years, and it's easy to see that power has little pull to the general public.

But yeah, we should probably stop talking about it if you think a console that sold 100+ million units, all at a profit even after a price cut, and saw huge software sales from first and third party games was a "mistake" from an objective standpoint. If you just personally think so, because you didn't like the Wii or whatever, that's fine, but I just can't take the claim that it was some objective mistake from Nintendo when it's been one of their hugest successes to date.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

I want you to really re-read this paragraph, because you totally contradict yourself here.

But again, no, hardware capabilities do not, nor have they ever, determined what generation a piece of hardware is in. You want to call it underpowered, sure, but it's not "last gen".

I'll tell you personally in real life I lack common sense sometimes, so out of pity, I'd really appreciate it if you pointed out to me where I contradicted myself.

if it's about me saying the Wii u is a current gen system but running on last gen hardware yeah, that to me is the fact of the matter and I know I can't be the only person thinking that too. come on...

Nah, the Wii U is selling pretty weak, but to put this in perspective, this generation is the first generation since the SNES era where the most powerful console has headed the lead in sales, so no, I don't think the PS4's power advantage added to it very much. Power is an internet fandom obsession, you look at sales through the years, and it's easy to see that power has little pull to the general public.

so are you saying at this point that the xbone and wii u are just fighting for 2nd place? and no, I'm not saying the ps4's power is the only or even main reason why it is selling better, but it definitely has something to do with it.

the main reason the Ps4 is selling the best is because it was $100 cheaper than the xbone at launch. the wii u is the cheapest period (as was the wii) but it's cheaper price point didn't help maintain its lead this time.

But yeah, we should probably stop talking about it if you think a console that sold 100+ million units, all at a profit even after a price cut, and saw huge software sales from first and third party games was a "mistake" from an objective standpoint. If you just personally think so, because you didn't like the Wii or whatever, that's fine, but I just can't take the claim that it was some objective mistake from Nintendo when it's been one of their hugest successes to date.

bro, what the hell. I've said in my OP, and numerous times in this thread, that although the Ps3 was my console of choice last gen, that the wii was the winner of the 7th gen. look at the poll. just like I've answered you before about how I wanted this thread to go; I wanted bias and favoritism to be put aside in favor of really analyzing and thinking about who last gen's winner was. it's not as clear cut as the 6th generation because the 7th generation saw the highest selling console lose a lot of 3rd party support and cater very highly to a casual audience.

I'm also not saying the wii was a mistake, but the wii u was, for not making the double leap it should have. that way we could've gone back to the 6th gen days where there were 3 more or less equivalent versions of a multiplat game on consoles. if there are indeed going to be 3 versions of a multiplat game this gen more often than 2, then 2 out of the 3 versions will look similar & better, and one of them will resemble performance of last generation.

I meant to say Nintendo made a mistake with the wii u hardware not wii. my bad.

 

[Tron Bonne]

I'll tell you personally in real life I lack common sense sometimes, so out of pity, I'd really appreciate it if you pointed out to me where I contradicted myself.

if it's about me saying the Wii u is a current gen system but running on last gen hardware yeah, that to me is the fact of the matter and I know I can't be the only person thinking that too. come on...

Yeah, pretty much. You can't really have it both ways. I mean, you and anyone can continue to call it "last gen" hardware or whatever, if that's what you want to say. I do understand you mean "underpowered" but I just wanted to point out that it really isn't a technically correct term.

so are you saying at this point that the xbone and wii u are just fighting for 2nd place? and no, I'm not saying the ps4's power is the only or even main reason why it is selling better, but it definitely has something to do with it.

the main reason the Ps4 is selling the best is because it was $100 cheaper than the xbone at launch. the wii u is the cheapest period (as was the wii) but it's cheaper price point didn't help maintain its lead this time.

Had something to do it, possibly, but I would really only say so to a very small minority of people

bro, what the hell. I've said in my OP, and numerous times in this thread, that although the Ps3 was my console of choice last gen, that the wii was the winner of the 7th gen. look at the poll. just like I've answered you before about how I wanted this thread to go; I wanted bias and favoritism to be put aside in favor of really analyzing and thinking about who last gen's winner was. it's not as clear cut as the 6th generation because the 7th generation saw the highest selling console lose a lot of 3rd party support and cater very highly to a casual audience.

I'm also not saying the wii was a mistake, but the wii u was, for not making the double leap it should have. that way we could've gone back to the 6th gen days where there were 3 more or less equivalent versions of a multiplat game on consoles. if there are indeed going to be 3 versions of a multiplat game this gen more often than 2, then 2 out of the 3 versions will look similar and better and one of them will resemble performance of last generation.

I meant to say Nintendo made a mistake with the wii u hardware not wii. my bad.

Okay, yeah, that does make the difference. I do, also, think Nintendo made mistakes with the Wii U, but power isn't high on my list.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

Yeah, pretty much. You can't really have it both ways. I mean, you and anyone can continue to call it "last gen" hardware or whatever, if that's what you want to say. I do understand you mean "underpowered" but I just wanted to point out that it really isn't a technically correct term.

while the Ps4 and xbone are getting games like batman arkham 4 and assassins creed 5, the wii u has gotten games like Me3 and TTT2, which were popular titles on consoles LAST gen. they don't even look any better on the wii u as they did when the games first came out.

the new gen multiplat titles that've come out on wii u, such as watch dogs, were developed with similar game code to the 360, and resembled it in performance, meaning it compares to LAST gen versions of this new gen title.

with all this being said, i'd say it's pretty justified to call the wii u hardware not only underpowered, but last gen as well.

Had something to do it, possibly, but I would really only say so to a very small minority of people

lemme put it this way. the wii u is the cheapest console and the weakest in hardware. the same could be said in 2006 with the wii, except it came out on top.

now, the Ps4 is on top, and it is more expensive than the wii u and it is also more powerful. and the average consumer probably knows both of these facts, seeing as how like I said in this post, most of the multiplat games coming out on it are pretty much on par with the Ps3/360.

so there's no way it's just a small minority of people who knew about Ps4's power and flocked to it just because of that. the wii u was just more of the same (more demonstration of 7th generation gaming power, since that's what it looks like in practice)

Okay, yeah, that does make the difference. I do, also, think Nintendo made mistakes with the Wii U, but power isn't high on my list.

graphics are not the most important thing in a game, but i'm not gonna say they don't matter at all. and when I see things like the Uc4 trailer, it becomes desirable to see such visuals running and being played on my console.

 

[Tron Bonne]

while the Ps4 and xbone are getting games like batman arkham 4 and assassins creed 5, the wii u has gotten games like Me3 and TTT2, which were popular titles on consoles LAST gen. they don't even look any better on the wii u as they did when the games first came out.

the new gen multiplat titles that've come out on wii u, such as watch dogs, were developed with similar game code to the 360, and resembled it in performance, meaning it compares to LAST gen versions of this new gen title.

with all this being said, i'd say it's pretty justified to call the wii u hardware not only underpowered, but last gen as well.

None of that really matters to what generation a hardware belongs to, but at this point, I don't see how else to convince you. I'll explained it as well as I can.

lemme put it this way. the wii u is the cheapest console and the weakest in hardware. the same could be said in 2006 with the wii, except it came out on top.

now, the Ps4 is on top, and it is more expensive than the wii u and it is also more powerful. and the average consumer probably knows both of these facts, seeing as how like I said in this post, most of the multiplat games coming out on it are pretty much on par with the Ps3/360.

so there's no way it's just a small minority of people who knew about Ps4's power and flocked to it just because of that. the wii u was just more of the same (more demonstration of 7th generation gaming power, since that's what it looks like in practice)

graphics are not the most important thing in a game, but i'm not gonna say they don't matter at all. and when I see things like the Uc4 trailer, it becomes desirable to see such visuals running and being played on my console.

I already addressed this earlier. This generation is the first in the home console where the most powerful has head sales since the SNES. There has never a handheld console generation where the most powerful console has had more sales. That's honestly enough to convince that power is not a huge issue in the general public, and remains something much more obsessed over on internet forums. There's other, much more important factors to the buying public at large.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

None of that really matters to what generation a hardware belongs to, but at this point, I don't see how else to convince you. I'll explained it as well as I can.

how does it not matter dude?? the wii u, ps4 and xbone are all 8th generation gaming consoles, so their ports of the same game should in theory, all look alike.

this was the case with the gamecube, ps2, and xbox1, but in this case, the wii u ports are looking the same as the predecessors of the console they're competing with.

there's no convincing me coz I just don't agree here... so if you fully understand what i'm saying, like we're at an understanding, maybe we should just agree to disagree?

I already addressed this earlier. This generation is the first in the home console where the most powerful has head sales since the SNES. There has never a handheld console generation where the most powerful console has had more sales. That's honestly enough to convince that power is not a huge issue in the general public, and remains something much more obsessed over on internet forums. There's other, much more important factors to the buying public at large.

I get what you're saying here, but you have to also take into account that we just came from a generation where one of the 3 consoles competing was WAY behind in hardware in comparison to the competition. the xbone and ps4 do not have immediate differences in common practice, but the wii u obviously does. and it is not selling well, you said yourself. that's why hardware in one way or another is a little more important to the consumer than it used to be.

 

[Tron Bonne]

how does it not matter dude?? the wii u, ps4 and xbone are all 8th generation gaming consoles, so their ports of the same game should in theory, all look alike.

this was the case with the gamecube, ps2, and xbox1, but in this case, the wii u ports are looking the same as the predecessors of the console they're competing with.

there's no convincing me coz I just don't agree here... so if you fully understand what i'm saying, like we're at an understanding, maybe we should just agree to disagree?

I fully understand what you're saying, but the truth is, it isn't accurate. As I said, generations are not based on power of the consoles. Yes, it's true to give a generalized statement that each generation comes with a power, but again, that is not the deciding factor. Wii is a 7th generation console because it was released in the timeframe of the 7th generation. Wii U is an 8th generation, because it has been released in that timeframe.

I get what you're saying here, but you have to also take into account that we just came from a generation where one of the 3 consoles competing was WAY behind in hardware in comparison to the competition. the xbone and ps4 do not have immediate differences in common practice, but the wii u obviously does. and it is not selling well, you said yourself. that's why hardware in one way or another is a little more important to the consumer than it used to be.

Just because one generation the lesser powered system is selling the least does invalidate what I'm saying. It would have to be a trend for generations upon generations. For generations upon generations, the opposite of what you said has been true time and time again. And right now, we have a handheld generation that is proving quite significantly with the 3DS outselling the Vita by a huge margin.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

I fully understand what you're saying, but the truth is, it isn't accurate. As I said, generations are not based on power of the consoles. Yes, it's true to give a generalized statement that each generation comes with a power, but again, that is not the deciding factor. Wii is a 7th generation console because it was released in the timeframe of the 7th generation. Wii U is an 8th generation, because it has been released in that timeframe.

No way man. The truth is that the wii u's hardware is last gen. The wii is a 7th gen console, being released in the timeframe of the last generation, but the timeframe demanded there to be a substantial upgrade in hardware, which is why microsft & sony did so. the wii was an experiment and a successful one. and because Nintendo did not opt to satisfy the demand for upgrades, they lost a whole bunch of 3rd party support.

the timeframe of this generation again demanded higher power, but Nintendo put hardware in the wii u that was made purposely to match the Ps3 and 360. even if the wii u has the slight edge compared to them, in practice, their ports of games don't look any better.

Just because one generation the lesser powered system is selling the least does invalidate what I'm saying. It would have to be a trend for generations upon generations. For generations upon generations, the opposite of what you said has been true time and time again. And right now, we have a handheld generation that is proving quite significantly with the 3DS outselling the Vita by a huge margin.

i'm not saying your points aren't on point, but I think mine are too. the 5th and 6th generation video games were all traditional and didn't have much motion controlled gaming. not till the wii came about. and yeah I don't doubt the most powerful system isn't always the winner - it is NOW thus far because of circumstances from the last generation.

 

[Tron Bonne]

No way man. The truth is that the wii u's hardware is last gen. The wii is a 7th gen console, being released in the timeframe of the last generation, but the timeframe demanded there to be a substantial upgrade in hardware, which is why microsft & sony did so. the wii was an experiment and a successful one. and because Nintendo did not opt to satisfy the demand for upgrades, they lost a whole bunch of 3rd party support.

the timeframe of this generation again demanded higher power, but Nintendo put hardware in the wii u that was made purposely to match the Ps3 and 360. even if the wii u has the slight edge compared to them, in practice, their ports of games don't look any better.

I'm be honest: this makes absolutely no sense at all. Your original point was simple: the hardware was more like the PS3/360, therefore "last gen" (despite the fact that you admit the Wii was also "last gen"). I get that you mean "underpowered" there, I just wanted to point that out. If you want to call that "last gen" based on power, then you know. Whatever you've wrote here, though...I don't know, totally lost.

For what it's worth, you are, by no means, alone in your thought process. It's really a common mistake to think that power determines a console's generation. It's understandable, too, since up until the Wii, power did increase fairly significantly generation to generation. But, strangely, people ignore handheld generations, in which you have almost always had machines with vast power differences (GB(C)/GameGear, DS/PSP, 3DS/Vita), but there's never been confusion about what generation those are respectively part of.

i'm not saying your points aren't on point, but I think mine are too. the 5th and 6th generation video games were all traditional and didn't have much motion controlled gaming. not till the wii came about. and yeah I don't doubt the most powerful system isn't always the winner - it is NOW thus far because of circumstances from the last generation.

Your logic is basically, as far as I can tell, that since the PS4 is now the winning console as far as sales, it invalidates a very long history of the opposite happening (including one that is happening now with the 3DS/Vita).

Well, all I can say is okay. Not a whole lot else I can say. I guess we've reached the agree to disagree stage.

 

[Thundercrack85]

I'd say the Wii U has much more in common with the last gen, not just power wise, and has games directly ported from the other last gen consoles. Though it is ironically the first console to come with an HDMI cable.

Personally I've always found the idea of console generations to be a bit problematic (take the 5th gen for example), but everyone else uses the terminology. And it's downright meaningless with handhelds post 8-bit.

 

[Tron Bonne]

It's not meaningless at all, if you understand what it actually implies, but I do agree in can be problematic in some situations. Such as Sega and where some of their failed projects would fit (I've heard it argued that the Dreamcast is a very late 5th generation console, and I could actually see that). But if you look at the major players, it's obvious which generation is which.

 

[Thundercrack85]

To me a generation only makes sense if the consoles share distinct features. Gross commonalities. Similar specs.

Which I think works for the most part. All the 6th gen consoles had optical disc technology, all the 7th gen consoles had online play, wireless controllers etc.

If it's defined entirely based on an arbitrary date of release, it's meaningless.

 

[Tron Bonne]

I don't see how that's meaningless at all, considering how just about everything that happens is measured in timeframe to some degree or another. But you know, guess we all have our own standards of stuff.

 

[Brother Jack]

Sony had easily the best hardware with the PS3. The only downside to it was that its cell processor made developing multi-platform games on it especially hard, which is why many of the multi-platform games began as Xbox exclusives. But in terms of how well the system performed, what it could do, and how simplistic and polished the interface was the PS3 was the best as a console. Beyond that it gets much more subjective with best game libraries.

 

[Tron Bonne]

I agree with most of what you said there, Jack, outside the PS3 UI. I hated that. Somehow, even with folders, it looks like such a mess to me.