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The definition of "last generation"

L

LonelyGreyWolf

Banned
I was thinking: when the Wii U launches, will every Wii, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 game become games that we refer to as "last generation"? For instance, will Bioshock Infinite, which is coming out in February next year (several months after Wii U), be referred to as a "last-gen" game on it's release day? And by this logic, wouldn't all current games be last-gen, as the next generation has already started with the 3DS and Vita?

What does GAF think? When the Wii U launches, will you refer new X360/PS3/Wii games as current gen even though that'd be incorrect? It seems really strange to buy a brand new game that just released and it being a "last-gen" game. Also, do you think "generations" will start disappearing, in the sense that we no longer refer to consoles as last-gen, current-gen and next-gen?

EDIT: Some people didn't quite understand the topic. The Wii U is a next-gen system; there's no debate about that. When it launches it'll be a current-gen system. But will the X360 and PS3 become last-gen, and more importantly, will people refer to them as last-gen. Will a brand new X360/PS3 game released after the Wii U is released be referred to as last-gen? And will the term "generations" start disappearing or always be there?
 
T

Thoraxes

Member
It's not tied to time period, it's tied to system progression and successor.

When I own a Wii U, I will call my Wii titles last-gen.
When I own a Xbox 127391, I will call my 360 titles last-gen.
When I own a PS4, I will call my PS3 titles last-gen.

Also, you don't go from last-gen to next-gen. There's a middle that's called current.
 
TheContact

TheContact

Member
I'd say wii u and the new systems will be considered next gen, then we look back on titles like gears of war 3 and gta iv as last gen
 
S

StuBurns

Banned
Why would we even need to? You only need to talk about generations when looking forward or back, current releases are irrelevant.
 
E

Eusis

Member
To me it starts when the new generation's been out awhile. Wii U may be the successor to the Wii, but there'll be no PS4/Xbox 720/8/whatever to be seen, so I can't really call the PS3/360 games "last gen" especially as the Wii will be effectively dead while those two thrive.

Actually, yeah, I guess Wii would be "last generation" then PS3/360 will be "last generation" when their successors arrive. Though hell, 360/PS3 felt next-gen for quite awhile, probably because the PS2 just wouldn't die.
 
C

cajunator

Banned
When the next ones release, including wiiU, then current gen becomes last gen.
Its pretty much the easiest thing in the world to explain. Im not sure why people seem to have difficulty understanding it.
 
Boss Doggie

Boss Doggie

all my loli wolf companions are so moe
LonelyGreyWolf said:
Not sure if trolling, but your parents belong to a generation, you belong to a generation and your children will belong to a generation. The Wii U is the first next-gen home console.
Click to expand...

Honestly, in this day and age people like to twist words contrary to their original meaning.
 
S

sTeLioSco

Banned
LonelyGreyWolf said:
Not sure if trolling, but your parents belong to a generation, you belong to a generation and your children will belong to a generation. The Wii U is the first next-gen home console.
Click to expand...

no,this is a different situation lol.

we talk about man-made devices not organics that made dirrectly the next generation.
you can develop 80s hardware and sell it today(example for novelty). the date you sell it doesnt change the fact tha is old tech!

wiiu is current gen with a different control method.
at least thats what it showed untill now!!

the ooya console in what generation is it??
next gen according to you!!!!

the same with wiiu that came after the current consoles.
but they don't do anything thats "next gen".only their niche(open android console,screen on controller console)


OOYA the next gen console, preorder now and get a free last gen xbox 360(kinect sold seperatly)
 
C

Currygan

at last, for christ's sake
cajunator said:
When the next ones release, including wiiU, then current gen becomes last gen.
Its pretty much the easiest thing in the world to explain. Im not sure why people seem to have difficulty understanding it.
Click to expand...

/thread

WiiU is next gen, whether you try to spin it with idiot trolling or not
 
E

Eideka

Banned
Wii U technically speaking is "next-gen", not current-gen.

If we go by hardware definition then the line between the two becomes a little bit more blurry.
Power wise it's known for a fact that the Wii U has the edge over the PS360 but the extent of which remains to be seen. So far I've not seen a single Wii U title falling under the "dat graphics" category.

Of course this is due to them being early ports. I'm positive we will see great looking games later in the Wii U cycle. Unfortunately it's likely that when this will happen the Orbis/Durango would have already produced titles far above anything possible on Wii U.
 
J

JordanKZ

Member
I really don't understand why people think the WiiU isn't "next gen". That'd be like saying the Dreamcast was the same generation as the Saturn/PS1/N64.

Just because it's a so-called 'half step' console doesn't mean it doesn't belong with the next Playstation and XBOX.
 
C

Coxy

Member
Thoraxes said:
It's not tied to time period, it's tied to system progression and successor.

When I own a Wii U, I will call my Wii titles last-gen.
When I own a Xbox 127391, I will call my 360 titles last-gen.
When I own a PS4, I will call my PS3 titles last-gen.

Also, you don't go from last-gen to next-gen. There's a middle that's called current.
Click to expand...

well, you've never been a sega fan I guess.
 
B

Brazil

Living in the shadow of Amaz
LonelyGreyWolf said:
Exactly my point. So then you will be referring all Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 games as last-generation as soon as the Wii U launches?
Click to expand...

I will, yes, but most people will keep calling them "next-gen". But that doesn't mean they're right.
 
T

Thoraxes

Member
StuBurns said:
What if you're a parentless clone with some genetic alterations, but still born thirty.
Click to expand...

My own age won't matter as much as I still need a point of inception.

I can be born thirty, but I would still only have existed for a time less than that. Or I would incubate for 30 years I guess.

The main point here, is that I will totally be eating my dinners using:

jbkB5RX25X5Edd.jpg
 
S

StuBurns

Banned
JordanKZ said:
I really don't understand why people think the WiiU isn't "next gen". That'd be like saying the Dreamcast was the same generation as the Saturn/PS1/N64.

Just because it's a so-called 'half step' console doesn't mean it doesn't belong with the next Playstation and XBOX.
Click to expand...
The Dreamcast was massively superior to the PS1/N64.
 
T

ThoseDeafMutes

Member
Stu, wtf are you talking about? Console generation is based on release date, not hardware specs. By accepting that WiiU is a next generation console, you're not implying anything about it's quality or power or what have you. It is what it is.
 
S

sTeLioSco

Banned
JordanKZ said:
I really don't understand why people think the WiiU isn't "next gen". That'd be like saying the Dreamcast was the same generation as the Saturn/PS1/N64.

Just because it's a so-called 'half step' console doesn't mean it doesn't belong with the next Playstation and XBOX.
Click to expand...

show me a technical achievement of wiiu that's a half a step ahead of today.

you can do a pack-in of current consoles and still get what the wiiu does.
its matter of presentation and marketing.
other sell standard controllers and accesories. wiiu packs different accessories with the console.(controller with screen.sells standard controller as accessory)
 
J

JordanKZ

Member
StuBurns said:
The Dreamcast was massively superior to the PS1/N64.
Click to expand...

sTeLioSco said:
show me a technical achievement of wiiu that's a half a step ahead of today.

you can do a pack-in of current consoles and still get what the wiiu does.
its matter of presentation and marketing.
other sell standard controllers and accesories. wiiu packs different accessories with the console.
Click to expand...

At this point, we're fairly sure that the WiiU has a significantly more powerful GPU and far more RAM than either of the other current gen consoles. From rumour, it's processor isn't all up to snuff, but we'll see how much that starts to hamper in a couple of years from now.

I firmly believe that the second wave of WiiU titles will be significantly better looking than anything on the console market right now.
 
C

Cipherr

Member
The word 'generation' already has a definition. I have never seen fit to try and rewrite it for any random reason. The second a successor is introduced, the prior console becomes the 'last generation' version of it.

Now maybe there's some circle of peter pan-esque 'lost boys' who hate authority (and Websters) and live by the seat of their pants etc etc who have their own world where things are different. But the above is how I have always interpreted it. If I ever want to talk about the clock speed and technical hardware components of a console, I'm capable of doing that by referring to the GPU and other components themselves directly.
 
S

StuBurns

Banned
JordanKZ said:
At this point, we're fairly sure that the WiiU has a significantly more powerful GPU and far more RAM than either of the other current gen consoles. From rumour, it's processor isn't all up to snuff, but we'll see how much that starts to hamper in a couple of years from now.

I firmly believe that the second wave of WiiU titles will be significantly better looking than anything on the console market right now.
Click to expand...
Maybe, although it was blatantly clear from day one the Dreamcast was.

Jokes aside, I'm firmly on the side of whatever comes next, is next-gen. Power is a pointless measurement, because it'd put the 3DS in the previous generation for example.
 
L

LonelyGreyWolf

Banned
Brazil said:
I will, yes, but most people will keep calling them "next-gen". But that doesn't mean they're right.
Click to expand...

That's precisely what I'm trying to say.

Ugh, there's going to be a lot of flame wars and fanboyism around this. Someone will say that Halo 4 is last-gen and that someone is going to get trolled to death.
 
S

sTeLioSco

Banned
JordanKZ said:
At this point, we're fairly sure that the WiiU has a significantly more powerful GPU and far more RAM than either of the other current gen consoles. From rumour, it's processor isn't all up to snuff, but we'll see how much that starts to hamper in a couple of years from now.

I firmly believe that the second wave of WiiU titles will be significantly better looking than anything on the console market right now.
Click to expand...

show me.

thx
 
C

Currygan

at last, for christ's sake
who gives a shit about how much powerful a console is? The Wii came out this gen along with PS3/360. That is current gen. The WiiU is its successor, so it's another generation. Next gen

jesus christ guys, it's the fucking simplest thing ever
 
M

meta4

Junior Member
JordanKZ said:
At this point, we're fairly sure that the WiiU has a significantly more powerful GPU and far more RAM than either of the other current gen consoles. From rumour, it's processor isn't all up to snuff, but we'll see how much that starts to hamper in a couple of years from now.

I firmly believe that the second wave of WiiU titles will be significantly better looking than anything on the console market right now.
Click to expand...

The problem is that the first wave of PS4 and 720 titles will start coming out that will likely look better than the second wave WiiU titles. Either ways this current gen next gen terms is just merely semantics since there seems to be no general consensus on what defines next generation - is it hardware or just the date of launch.
 
S

sTeLioSco

Banned
Currygan said:
who gives a shit about how much powerful a console is? The Wii came out this gen along with PS3/360. That is current gen. The WiiU is its successor, so it's another generation. Next gen

jesus christ guys, it's the fucking simplest thing ever
Click to expand...

ooya what gen is it?
 
P

plufim

Member
The Playstation 3 and xbox 360 were being referred to as "next gen" for years AFTER THEY WERE ALREADY OUT. Ever since the Wii came out and was underpowered, "next" was taken by many as "better", dictionary meaning be damned. "Next" and therefore "Last", when it comes to gaming, means nothing any longer.

So to heck with it. Once WiiU comes out, PS3 and Xbox360 will be referred to as "grapefuit generation".
 
C

Coxy

Member
Ookami-kun said:
To be fair, the "next gen" buzz word did originate in that generation so yeah, you have idiots throwing "next gen" on a current generation console (i.e. HD twins).
Click to expand...

lolno, next gen was being thrown around as a buzz word in 1995 for virtua fighter both for 32x and saturn.
 
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