The Wii U isn't a next gen/current gen console. It's what Nintendo should have released a few years ago. Too little too late. Why pay that kind of money for the Wii U when the PS4 isn't much more and a lot more powerful? Nintendo tells everyone if you need more disk space use an external hard drive. And they didn't even bother to spend a few more dollars and put a USB 3.0 connection on the Wii U.

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 it is next gen. I mean what would make it not next gen ? The fact that it doesnt include a DDR5 ram. Honestly its a little sad to me that gaming isnt graded on the games themselves and how fun they are but based on how pretty they look or the tech thats pushing it. Example: Someone could release an amazing cell shaded action adventure game but regardless of how amazing a game may be it'll only get outdone by super realistic COD clone with mediocre gameplay due to the fact that it doesnt look real or adult enough. Im glad that technological advancements are being made but they should never overshadow the gameplay on the contrary they should be used primarily to increase games and make them more fun. The PS4 and XB1 launches are ok at best but in my opinion neither had the library to justify the purchase. And most of the games are available for the 7th gen consoles. People went from saying man the gameplay on this game is amazing to WOW OH MY GOD I CANT BELIEVE HOW REAL THIS LOOKS. I MAY BE JUST MASHING ONE BUTTON FOR 5 HOURS BUT AT LEAST THIS LOOKS GOOD. A shiny terd is still a terd and no amount of paint can make a bad game fun (looking at you Ryse). I currently have a 3ds, a vita, a ps3, and a Wii U. I didnt get a PS4 at launch because it has no GAMES that interest me at this point and no amount of AMAZING TECH is going to change that. Heck the only reason i got a vita was because i had 20 free games through PS+. So in short yes it is next gen.

I mean if specs were the marker used to define generations than PCs would be GENERATIONS AHEAD of any other gaming medium.

By literal definition the Wii-U is a next-gen console. It just so happens that Nintendo was an early adopter much like the 360 was last-gen. Unless the company themselves say otherwise this is how I will view it (though by doing so they'd be shooting themselves in the foot).

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.

I'll give it that "next-gen" status.

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

not even close to one. look at its grafix, they can barely beat the ps360. but i will concede that their pad is next gen even though i find it unpractical to use...

No

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.

The wiiu has the only good games for so called next gen. So disappointed.

No it is not. A nice little console sure but if will not be able to run or support the next gen graphics engines, the the Wii U is most definitely last gen.

It is the new gen period.

nope

nope

Without a doubt it is, at least in title alone, an eighth generation console. While technology wise,however, I do not consider it truly next gen. Nintendo is way late to the party with an HD console and the only thing that really screams next gen is the gamepad, which at the moment hasn't been utilized to it's full potential yet. With time it will though, and just as the Wii was the go to place for motion games, the Wii U will most likely become the go to place for the whole second screen thing that the big companies have been going gaga over recently.

Aside from that Nintendo will be able to hold it's own with Sony and Microsoft soon enough;perhaps not in terms of sales, more in kind with the facy that Nintendo still has a lot to offer us game wise. I personally can't wait until a new HD Zelda is revealed and we finally see Ninty get that sales boost it's been waiting for.

All in all, yes I do believe that while not necessarily being able to keep up with the competition tech wise,the Wii U is a next gen console. The games will save Nintendo's console, just as they have time and time again.