The lights are on
Now that the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 have launched, we are officially in the next-generation of video gaming. The Wii U launched last year. Do you consider it a next-gen console?
Technically, next-gen is no longer an applicable term. With the new consoles upon us, we are now in the current-gen, but the question still remains: when we talk about the current (or next, depending on what you're comfortable with) generation of gaming, is the Wii U part of it?
I have a lot of love for the Wii U, especially after playing Pikmin 3, Super Mario 3D World, and Wind Waker HD this year. Despite my personal appreciation for the Wii U, however, I still catch myself thinking in terms of the next-generation consoles... and the Wii U. I don't group them together, and I'm not sure why. As the Wii U's library expands, I think it can certainly compete with the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and even though it started out with disappointing sales, it has been showing a lot of growth.
What do you think? Do you group the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Wii U together, like we did the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and GameCube? Or is Nintendo just off to the side, doing its own thing, bucking trends, and mostly ignoring the competition in its own non-current-gen world?
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For me, next-gen doesn't mean prettier graphics, it means brand new experiences that games were never capable of on previous gen.
It technically is next gen from its leap from the Wii and the playstation 3 was similar to the 360 on how it came out.
How 360 came out year before ps3.
But we still call the 360 a 7th gen. So Yes.
Yes, but looking under the hood says otherwise.
Of course it is! Have you seen the graphics in Pikmin 3? Even the controller itself is very next-gen to me!
I think the Wii U should be considered a Next-Generation Console. Even though it came out a ear only, the way I see it is it is Nintendo's Next-Gen console, Even if it isn't as good as the PS4/Xbox One.
Gameplay wise, absolutely. More innovation here with Nintendo than with Sony and Microsoft. Graphics wise, it obviously doesn't compare, but graphics don't make the generation
It's a mix between current and next-gen currently, but that could change.
It has to be, because I certainly wouldn't say that the wii was a generation behind the 360 and ps2, so unless the xbox one and ps4 are actually gen 9 and the wiiu is gen 8 which would have only lasted for about a year. Look back at the SNES generation (4th gen) where there were consoles clearly much more powerful than the SNES and Genesis (like the Turbografx-16 for example), yet those weren't considered a generation past them.
It is the new gen period.