Talk:Eighth generation of video game consoles

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Cool it on the Switch Generation specifics right now[edit]

I think most of us are on the same page that the Switch is 8th-gen because it was released to compete with the Xbox One and PS5 and they spent the most time competing with each other so far, and I want to point out that this happened multiple times in previous generations, i.e. the Atari 2600 released in 77, the 5200 released in 83, and the next generation started in 83, the 5200 was targeted to compete with other 2nd gen consoles not the new 3rd gen ones. Generations span a long time with a lot of overlap, the last 4th gen console was discontinued after the first 6th gen consoles had started production. The PS2 lived from 2000-2013, living until the Wii was discontinued, that doesn't make it a 7th gen console, it didn't compete with the Wii, the PS3 did. Nobody marketed them against each other.

If Nintendo releases an upgraded Switch and markets it as a competitor to the Xbox Series/PS5 then *that* can be gen 9. Wintergreen0354 (talk) 22:46, 27 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

The Switch is already marked as a competitor to the PS5 and the XBX|S. Every industry outlet and even NPD is already pitting it with Sony and Microsoft's current gen systems. 61.9.108.144 (talk) 02:34, 16 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
The argument over how things should be classified here strikes me as entirely original research. Console generations are arbitrary groupings defined by reliable sources, and sources don't seem to agree on where the Switch belongs, e.g.:
  • Wired ([1]): Nintendo hasn't made its ninth-generation intentions known yet. A souped-up Switch is likely on the horizon, but will it still retain the form factor?
  • BBC ([2]): Is Switch eighth gen or ninth gen? We don't know. Let's say it's ninth because we're running out of space.
That is unsurprising. If generations are defined simply by how companies market them, then the Switch and WiiU wouldn't be in the same generation, as the Switch was marketed as a direct successor and WiiU production was discontinued prior to the Switch's launch ([3]). When the Switch launched it was sometimes referred to with terms like Nintendo's next-generation game console, but there wasn't otherwise a "new generation" of consoles it was being contrasted against (e.g. [4]). Most early reporting on the "ninth generation" platforms focuses on the Xbox Series X and PS5, likely because of launch timing and marketing (e.g. [5]). Reporting on console sales at the time the Switch launched compared its sales against the PS4 and Xbox One (e.g [6], [7]), while current reporting on console sales compares the Switch to the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S (e.g. [8], [9]).
Most reporting seems to use terms like "current generation" to describe what is actively competing at the time of reporting (i.e. the distinction isn't about whether a company has released a successor console, but just that the "current generation" is current major consoles, so in 2018 that'd have been the Switch, PS4, and Xbox One, and in 2022 it was the Switch, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S). Explicitly numbered terms like "eighth generation" and "ninth generation" are somewhat rare in reporting. Plenty of sources argue that they don't exist at all, and plenty of those which do use these terms cite them back to Wikipedia, as noted in this Gamesradar article ([10]): The issue is that there's no real accepted numbering of generations. If people have an idea of how the generations should be numbered, it's probably based on a Wikipedia article.
The Switch likely should be mentioned on both pages. I think the honest problem is the continued insistence on categorizing consoles neatly into numbered generations regardless of whether it is supported by sources. Dylnuge (Talk • Edits) 21:57, 2 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Nintendo switch is a 9th gen not an 8th gen console[edit]

End of story Gahex220 (talk) 13:51, 12 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Just show us reliable sources that classify it as a 9th generation console and we'll update it. Hint: this has been discussed to death and no one has been able to show any reliable sourcing for this. Masem (t) 13:54, 12 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]
What source is used for the basis of the numbered generations in the first place? Did Nintendo ever call either the Wii U or Switch an 8th generation console? On their website they refer to the Switch (and not the Wii U or 3DS) as "current generation". I don't think they factor competitors into their concept of a generation. 222.118.236.159 (talk) 16:15, 20 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Third party reporting has been sorting consoles into generations for many years, and those are the sources we use. First party categorization can be mentioned, but has the inherit risk of those first-parties confusing marketing with reality (eg Xfinity's "10G" internet service). Darkage7[Talk] 18:19, 20 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]
This has been debated to death, you're certainly not going to move the needle with a non-argument like that... Sergecross73 msg me 14:46, 12 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]
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