Does Wii to Wii U not qualify as a 'significant' performance upgrade?
*spin-off* Defining "Next-Gen"
- Thread starter XpiderMX
- Start date
Does Wii to Wii U not qualify as a 'significant' performance upgrade?
The problem here is that we're getting a upgrade from the motorola razor to the original Iphone in 2012 while the competitors are putting out Galaxy S IIIs
Not relative to technological progress overall and the rest of the industry, which is the vernacular use of the term.
It's worth pointing out that even among the science of categorisation where people have to categorise things for exact, scientific purposes, there are disagreements, so people shouldn't get too hung up over trying to pin down this one. For the sake of discussion, personally I'll adjust my understanding of 'next-gen' given the context of its use. Sometimes it'll mean chronological generations where Wii U will get grouped into the same lot as PS4 and XB3 (eg. "can Wii U win next-gen"), and sometimes it'll be used technologically (“This is also what I been hearing within the industry, too bad since it will shorten its life a lot when new gen starts,” he said.)
Prophecy2k
Veteran
Glad some here get it
You can't simply look at the Wii and WiiU when defining the generation of said consoles. They don't exist in a vacuum and are and will be subject to comparisons with competing HW.
No-one who walks into a shop and sees a PS4 playing a game, next to a Durango, next to a WiiU, will say WiiU is a powerful console because it's more performant than the Wii. No, they'll say "those WiiU games look like last-gen games next to the PS4/Durango".
You can in context, like a discussion on the history of Nintendo.
"From the success of Wii, Nintendo's next-generation console was the Wii U yada yada."Prophecy2k
Veteran
You can in context, like a discussion on the history of Nintendo.
What I actually meant was that if you define each generation by a step change in HW performance for all products available for sale in a given market, then you won't measure some products by their performance over the ENTIRE lot of last generation HW, and other by only a cross-section. So you won't say PS4 and Durango are next-gen because they represent a 10x jump in processing performance from the PS3/Xbox360/(and much moreso)Wii, and then go on to say that WiiU is next-gen because it represents a 10x jump from Wii alone. Because WiiU isn't a 10x jump from PS3/Xbox360, and the WiiU will have to compete in Gen7 against those console's successors.
From a developer standpoint, generations are clearly defined as being able to use similar game assets and engines when porting a game from one system to another. Any console that lands outside of that construct is clearly in a different generation (because it costs a whole lot more money to support a console with radically different specs). As such, the WiiU isn't "next-gen", much like how the original Wii is far closer to the PS2 than the Xbox 360 and PS3.
The real side effect however is how development studios end up treating that console. We've seen this story before. The Dreamcast was not so clearly defined as being "next-gen" when it was released in 1998, and it was doomed to failure because 3rd parties didn't support it enough. I feel like the Wii U is destined to have a similar fate.
I think we all agree that Nintendo can really only pull the Wii "Blue Ocean" strategy once. 2012 is nothing like 2006. Nintendo is competing with far more than just Microsoft and Sony in home consoles, they have to deal with iPod Touches, iPads, iPhones, Nexus 7s, Kindle Fires, Android phones, Facebook games, you name it. Ultimately, a kid only has so many dollars to spend for Christmas or their birthday.
The real side effect however is how development studios end up treating that console. We've seen this story before. The Dreamcast was not so clearly defined as being "next-gen" when it was released in 1998, and it was doomed to failure because 3rd parties didn't support it enough. I feel like the Wii U is destined to have a similar fate.
I think we all agree that Nintendo can really only pull the Wii "Blue Ocean" strategy once. 2012 is nothing like 2006. Nintendo is competing with far more than just Microsoft and Sony in home consoles, they have to deal with iPod Touches, iPads, iPhones, Nexus 7s, Kindle Fires, Android phones, Facebook games, you name it. Ultimately, a kid only has so many dollars to spend for Christmas or their birthday.
There are two very common ways to think and talk about videogame console generations:
1- Historical generations, game consoles released during a similar time frame and competed against each other for market acceptance. Comonly tied to Technological generations but not necessarily so.
2- Technological Generations, systems that have comparatively similar technical features, capabilities and structure. Games can be ported between consoles of the same Technological Gen and still retain relative similarity.
1- is the most usual intended intended interpretation of console generation of game discussion and analysis as seen in most gaming media with the exception of game development or technical discussions. Most of this forum's discussion fall withing the latter.
As far as technology goes, WiiU is definitely within the same technological generation as PS360, also refered to as the HD gen.
Historically speaking, it remains to be seen. More probably it won't, but if ps4 or xbox1080 only launch in the year of 2020 (highly unlikely, but still hypothetically possible as of now) it could end up just becoming Nintendo's second console release inside the same historical gen.
If ps4 and 1080 launch within 2013-2015 (most likely) wiiU will be competing mostly agains those two, and hence, will be categorized as part of their generation despite being technologically inferior. The same was observable with the wii.
1- Historical generations, game consoles released during a similar time frame and competed against each other for market acceptance. Comonly tied to Technological generations but not necessarily so.
2- Technological Generations, systems that have comparatively similar technical features, capabilities and structure. Games can be ported between consoles of the same Technological Gen and still retain relative similarity.
1- is the most usual intended intended interpretation of console generation of game discussion and analysis as seen in most gaming media with the exception of game development or technical discussions. Most of this forum's discussion fall withing the latter.
As far as technology goes, WiiU is definitely within the same technological generation as PS360, also refered to as the HD gen.
Historically speaking, it remains to be seen. More probably it won't, but if ps4 or xbox1080 only launch in the year of 2020 (highly unlikely, but still hypothetically possible as of now) it could end up just becoming Nintendo's second console release inside the same historical gen.
If ps4 and 1080 launch within 2013-2015 (most likely) wiiU will be competing mostly agains those two, and hence, will be categorized as part of their generation despite being technologically inferior. The same was observable with the wii.
I wonder if there was a thread like this when the wii came out? hmmm...
" I can only tell you what isn't next gen and that's the Wii. I'm still playing gamecube games on it. "
lolz. The 360 is how many years old? the sooner it dies the better. Ninty may be helping you guys out. lol
" I can only tell you what isn't next gen and that's the Wii. I'm still playing gamecube games on it. "
lolz. The 360 is how many years old? the sooner it dies the better. Ninty may be helping you guys out. lol
Last edited by a moderator:
The most common generational grouping for consoles is based on release timeframe. It's the definition that makes the most sense to me as regardless of technical capabilities the consoles released in a similar time-frame are directly competing in the market for gamers' dollars. As such, the Wii U is the first of the 8th generation systems. (Rangers's definition of the generations leaves out the pre-2600 era).
