Is Nintendo Switch 8th or 9th generation?

What do you think?

  • 8th gen

    Votes: 3 15.0%
  • 9th gen

    Votes: 12 60.0%
  • 8.5th gen

    Votes: 5 25.0%

  • Total voters
    20

EmployeeAMillion

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There hasn't been an official topic for this discussion, but it's a subject of debate among Nintendo fans.

There has always been confusion as to the generations of certain consoles. There are the obvious ones like "NES is Generation 3" and "PlayStation is Generation 5", but there are some that are harder to pinpoint.
For example, the Game and Watch series of handhelds, if you even classify them as video games in the modern sense, started in 1980 (in the middle of Generation 2) and ended in 1991 (when Generation 4 was getting off the ground). Likewise, the HyperScan came and went within a year of the PS3 and Wii's release, but didn't live to see the GameCube exist the market.
Now here we are with another conundrum. What exactly is the Nintendo Switch? It has hardware similar to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 (Generation 8), but it's come out much later and has more sophisticated features like the HD Rumble and the Off TV-Play. What makes this even more confusing is Nintendo's mixed answers on whether or not it's a true successor to the Wii U, their 8th Generation console. There's also the question as to when this console is going to be replaced for a proposed 10th Gen console (if we're looking at a lifespan of 6-7 years, it'll probably come around 2023-2024) and given Sony and Microsoft want to keep their consoles around for longer, I'd say their future offerings would come out in the early 2020s as well.
I personally believe that, until further notice, we should refer to it as Generation 8.5, like how some consoles from the early 90s like the Atari Jaguar and 3DO weren't exactly 4th Gen but didn't last far into the 5th Gen.
Then again, this could be another example of Nintendo straying away from stereotypes and focusing on a new way to look at games.
 

KarateSponge

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To me, it should be 8th because of how the generations really work now. To me, it seems only if a big company in the market (Sony & Microsoft) make a new console, and say it's the successor to the PS4/Xbox One. With Nintendo, if it's a handheld, to me, it has really it's own generation inside of that generation, and it's named after Nintendo's handheld, so through the DS/DS Lite's lifespan, from about 2004-2013 or something like that, the 5th generation-4th generation would have a sub-generation called the "DS/DSi/3DS Generation", so as of right now, the 8th generations "3DS Generation" to me would now be renamed to "3DS/Switch Generation", but if Nintendo brings out a fully fledged console, then a new generation is to come very soon.
 

EmployeeAMillion

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To me, it should be 8th because of how the generations really work now. To me, it seems only if a big company in the market (Sony & Microsoft) make a new console, and say it's the successor to the PS4/Xbox One. With Nintendo, if it's a handheld, to me, it has really it's own generation inside of that generation, and it's named after Nintendo's handheld, so through the DS/DS Lite's lifespan, from about 2004-2013 or something like that, the 5th generation-4th generation would have a sub-generation called the "DS/DSi/3DS Generation", so as of right now, the 8th generations "3DS Generation" to me would now be renamed to "3DS/Switch Generation", but if Nintendo brings out a fully fledged console, then a new generation is to come very soon.
But the Switch isn't a handheld or a home console, it's described as a "hyrbid".
 

Honest Slug

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Depends on when the PS5 and the next Xbox comes out, if they do by 2019 then the Switch is definitely 9th gen, if by 2020 then it depends on how long Nintendo plans on supporting the Switch, if by 2021 then it'd be 8th gen.
 

Ihavedahswag

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KarateSponge said:
Still, to me, hybrid's are in that category.
I agree with this. Technically, most of the workings are inside of the tablet, not the dock. Using the dock may increase performance slightly, but it's main job is merely taking info from the tablet and transmitting it to the TV screen.

IMO, the Switch can't be classified in a generation yet. Maybe in a few years when we see the release of other new systems, we'll be able to assess it better.
 

KarateSponge

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Ihavedahswag said:
I agree with this. Technically, most of the workings are inside of the tablet, not the dock. Using the dock may increase performance slightly, but it's main job is merely taking info from the tablet and transmitting it to the TV screen.
IMO, the Switch can't be classified in a generation yet. Maybe in a few years when we see the release of other new systems, we'll be able to assess it better.
Exactly, all the dock does is give it some more power, and upgrades the resolution, but everything is really in the tablet part.
 

Stinkoman 20X6

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8.5 might be an apt term.

It's definitely built to succeed the Wii U and present an ascended library of games, yet I think it's still going to co-exist alongside the PS4 and Xbox One.

It still doesn't have any graphical advantage over the two, so unless Microsoft and Sony both announce new consoles like, TOMORROW, I think we're still quite a ways away from the advent of the 9th Generation.
 

hfjs

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Very early 9th generation. Nintendo definitely seems to be sweeping the Wii U under the rug at this point, I don't see another console coming out a couple of years after this. I would define the Switch as a home console that's portable and not the other way around, from what I've seen you can play it on a TV with some extra cords. Things like MK8Deluxe don't help the new gen case though
 
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