Topic: Are Android consoles part of the 8th generation?

[tendoboy1984]

Are Android consoles like the OUYA, NVIDIA Shield, GameStick, etc. part of the 8th generation of consoles (PS4, Xbox One, Wii U)?

[marvel_moviefan_2012]

No there is no such thing as an 8th generation that is a term fanboy made up to try and start school yard fights. Wii U is not in the same hardware league as PS4 and Xbox 1 that is an entirely different generation of hardware, console generations are a lame and arbitrary line drawn in the sand that makes no sense at all. Where do you place 3DO? Is it in the same generation as PS1, Saturn, Sega CD, NEO GEO, Jaguar, SNES or CD-I?


There are no such things as generations there are markets, market segments, and the consoles are an entirely different market segment than the Android things. Who decides when a generation begins is it when Nintendo releases a new console? Is it when a new console that is more powerful than before is released? Tell me where does the Vectex fall? or the TG16, or the SMS, or the Colecovision, or the Xbox 360 or even the Dreamcast? Who gets to decide what is and isn't a "generation"?

In terms of hardware and market segments Wii U is not even in the same generation as PS4 and Xbox One, neither was Wii in the same "generation" as PS3 and Xbox 360. Where do you draw the line is it technology based comparable technology competing in comparable markets? Or do you just go by some arbitrary date on a calender that is a moving target?


If you go by time line where do you draw the line? A decade, five years? What is a "generation" mean in other technology fields? Well outside of fanboy gamers, a technology generation is when the old model is replaced with a current model period. So Nintendo has an "8th" generation console but PS4 is Sony's fourth generation of Playstation console so they do not even have an 8th Generation console. In terms of hardware PS4 and Xbox one are in the same league but they are different "generations" because Xbox One is only the third Xbox iteration. Unless you count revisions as a new generation in which case SNES had 2 and N64, Game Cube, and Wii had at least five that I am aware of, so actually Wii U is somewhere between 12th and 18th generation for Nintendo.


Does that answer your question? Since it is all subjective if "YOU" consider them the same "generation" then to YOU they are, but to me that word is so loaded and if your not going to specify what the parameters are for a "generation" then the question is unanswerable.



If you are asking if they are gaming consoles that is an entirely different question which I would contend they are not but I have a very strict definition of what a gaming console is, none of the Android Devices, not even Ouya, fit that definition.

[Soren]

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: Yes, they are part of the 8th generation of modern video game consoles.

EDIT: Why must we complicate this stuff? Also I would put Steam machines in there as well, since they'll be basically running Steam OS.

[marvel_moviefan_2012]

Let me reverse it, why do people need to simplify and label things? Are you black? Are you white? Are you African American? Are you Indo-European with ___ and ___ ancestry? Are you a nerd? A geek? A jock? a duchebag? Labels are harmful and simplifying things is stupid.

[Soren]

Let me reverse it, why do people need to simplify and label things?

Human nature?

[Oblivion]

Let me reverse it, why do people need to simplify and label things? Are you black? Are you white? Are you African American? Are you Indo-European with ___ and ___ ancestry? Are you a nerd? A geek? A jock? a duchebag? Labels are harmful and simplifying things is stupid.

Because that's what human brains are designed to do? It's shorthand for the brain. Get over it.

[UncleBob]

Yes.

Just like the original Game Boy is considered Third Generation, even though it's much weaker and on a different scale than the NES or Master System.

[Oblivion]

I think a better comparison would be something like the 3DO or other failed consoles. Something that would never beat the juggernauts but would still be considered a part of that generation.

[marvel_moviefan_2012]

Like I said, if YOU consider it such then yes, but I spelled out reasons why I don't in case he might agree with my line of thinking, don't have to take it so personal also if you are going to reply GIVE A REASON like I did don't just say human nature because that is a cop out, it is also human nature to categorize things like I did and to ask questions that need clarification, which I provided, none of the other responses gave their logic, Uncle Bob gave good examples kudos for that, but how do you know if the OP agrees with your line of thinking or if they want something to ponder? None of us are right by the way but at least I backed mine up with reasons, fail to do that and well your not even answering the question.

[pokepal148]

I think they will likely be considered 8th gen in the same way the virtual boy would be considered 8th gen.

But what makes something fit into a certain gen? Is it a matter of power because the Wii and Wii U both would fall into a previous generation. Is it a matter of timing because if so the dreamcast exists in it's own little world.

Is my aging desktop which is basically awaiting the scrapyard despite coming out in 2006 considered to fall with the 7th generation despite being unable to run far cry at a framerate of more then 6 fps. If I successfully manage to repurpose the hard drive as an external drive for the Wii U would it become an 8th gen system by association?

[marvel_moviefan_2012]

I think they will likely be considered 8th gen in the same way the virtual boy would be considered 8th gen.

But what makes something fit into a certain gen? Is it a matter of power because the Wii and Wii U both would fall into a previous generation. Is it a matter of timing because if so the dreamcast exists in it's own little world.

Is my aging desktop which is basically awaiting the scrapyard despite coming out in 2006 considered to fall with the 7th generation despite being unable to run far cry at a framerate of more then 6 fps. If I successfully manage to repurpose the hard drive as an external drive for the Wii U would it become an 8th gen system by association?

That was sort of my assertion. I think a generation should be hardware based, not timeline based but I think each market should be defined, hand helds are in their own generations separate from consoles, if that helps.

It also depends on what you consider a console, where does V Smile fit, or Tiger hand helds, or plug n play tv games? Or Atari Flashback consoles?



I think we need some simplification sure but we also need to keep things defined in an organized manner otherwise it gets too confusing. If you think V Smile is a game console which generation is it in? I consider it education toy and not in any "generation"but again what is a generation, hell even in people generations are not clearly defined, who here is Gen X, Gen Y, Millennials?



I don't mean to be rude I want to offer ideas but I really think that people use the word differently, in fact until recently there were no talks of past generations or numbering gens, they just used the term next gen to refer to the new product, hence my reasoning because it fits what was the norm for a long time, now what is being retroactively applied.


Let me ask this, what is the first gen? Do you count Pong consoles, or do you start with Odyssey or VCS? Which generation is the Intellivision or the Coleco Vision they can't be the same their hardware is too different and they were released in different times frames. Who decides is what I want to know and what is their criteria. Are you just going by Wikipedia or are you only curious so you can edit Wikipedia?


Up until about five or six years ago there was no numbers to the "generations" this is a new thing that began with Wikipedia and other gaming fan sites. Wii U is Nintendo's 8th console so it is their 8th generation gaming console, PS4 is only Sony's fourth generation of Playstation it is not an 8th gen console.


The "current gen" is technology based by most accounts, even developers the people who make the games refer to Wii U as "last gen" only ones who refer to it as current gen or next gen are fans. For Nintendo it is next gen because it follows their last gen, but it is not current gen, it's not even current it's over a year older than the new gen. In smart phones generations last a year tops, in PC's they go from OS to OS, so there is that. With video game consoles things are not any different than any other field, these game consoles are new to market they are in their first generation when a new batch comes out they would be in their second generation. You can't just lump all "video game" players into a single entity and a single generation, that only began recently and as far as I can tell NOBODY agrees on what it even means anyways.



So to recap, NO they are not in the same league as game consoles so they are not even in the same generation, they are not in the same hardware category so they are not even competing they are a different market reaching a different audience period. There are TWO current gen game consoles Xbox One and PS4, when Steam Box or Steam Machine releases it will be in it's own generation, and so on. Generations are arbitrary and pointless get over it.



EDIT:  The only reason people care is so they point to the best seller and declare it having won the console war that generation so take that into consideration and reevaluate why your even interested in the first place.

[BranDonk Kong]

More importantly - who cares?