So, was the Nintendo Switch an 8th or 9th generation system?
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mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
And it can't play 9th generation-ONLY 3rd party games.
Kvally
Member
Speaking of logic, the Switch started the 9th gen, followed by Xbox Series and PS5.
Baemono
Member
Yes and no, it has Mortal Kombat 1 and Bright Memory which are 9th gen only games
MSduderino
Member
Firmly in the 9th in my mind. Doesn't really matter, but I think haters trying to shove Switch into same gen as the Wii U. They released 5 years apart and there isn't really a precedent of putting back to back consoles by the same manufacturer in the same gen. Switch 1 wasn't a midgen refresh and it competes with PS5 and Xbox Series, unlike the dying consoles of other generations.
Kacho
Member
Yes way. Generations aren't determined by software or power. Switch 2, PS6 and Nextbox are all gen 10 consoles regardless of software and power.
normalguy09x
Member
9th gen started with the Xbox series and PS5, and now the Switch 2
kpopSuperstar
Member
How is that hard to understand?
Nintendo ended the Wii U because it flopped and launched a new 8-gen console.
PS5 started the 9th console gen.
Early consoles was a little more wild west and different, but recent home tv consoles is built to run games of similar make because they need third party devs to be able port to their systems.
PS5 is built to run different games than the previous gen and is hence not 8th gen. Switch is not which makes it 8th gen.
This is how consoles gens have worked and been defined for 20 years now.
T4keD0wN
Member
Does anyone even know what the hell 8th or 9th generation are?
Switch came out during the time PS4 and Xbox One were current so its the part of same generation.
Likewise Switch 2 is coming out before PS6 so its a part of the same gen as PS5 and Series X/S
Anyone disagreeing is wrong.
Switch came out during the time PS4 and Xbox One were current so its the part of same generation.
Likewise Switch 2 is coming out before PS6 so its a part of the same gen as PS5 and Series X/S
Anyone disagreeing is wrong.
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apple_of_enlightenment
Member
Switch shared 3 years of the PS4 gen, and overlapped the PS5 by 5 years. Plus power isn't everything.
That said, Wikipedia agrees with you.
Kvally
Member
Switch 2 is the first gen 10 console.
PaintTinJr
Member
The most telling piece of evidence that the Switch is 8th gen is that it doesn't have its own Mario Kart game, MK8D is cross-gen, and Mario Odyssey and other first party games were developed originally for the WiiU and only skipped the console because they were pushing the Switch to replace the WiiU.
A modern day Nintendo home console without a new Mario Kart for it IMHO communicates that even Nintendo don't believe the Switch is 9th gen.
A modern day Nintendo home console without a new Mario Kart for it IMHO communicates that even Nintendo don't believe the Switch is 9th gen.
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Exactly! To me it's obvious. And nothing is wrong with the Switch 2 being a 9th gen device.
apple_of_enlightenment
Member
I rarely do this, but ChatGPT:
Is Nintendo Switch the 8th generation or 9th generation of consoles?
The Nintendo Switch is generally considered part of the 8th generation of video game consoles.
Here's a breakdown:
- 8th Generation includes:
- PlayStation 4 (2013)
- Xbox One (2013)
- Nintendo Wii U (2012)
- Nintendo Switch (2017)
- It replaced the Wii U, Nintendo's 8th-gen console.
That's a great question — and it's one that's been debated in the gaming community and among analysts. While the Nintendo Switch is widely classified as 8th generation, there's a valid argument that it could be considered 9th generation, depending on how you define console generations.
awwr999999
Member
The 'game console generation' thing was thought up by non-technical people who didn't understand how video games or video game console HW works.
It's overly simplistic and doesn't tell us anything about a console other than the fact that it launched in roughly the same 'era' as other game consoles.
NeoGAF needs to be above that level of simplistic generalization.
If there are going to be "game console generations" they have to be specific to a platform to mean anything.
Switch 2 is Nintendo Switch's 2nd generation.
PS5 is PlayStation's 5th generation.
It's overly simplistic and doesn't tell us anything about a console other than the fact that it launched in roughly the same 'era' as other game consoles.
NeoGAF needs to be above that level of simplistic generalization.
If there are going to be "game console generations" they have to be specific to a platform to mean anything.
Switch 2 is Nintendo Switch's 2nd generation.
PS5 is PlayStation's 5th generation.
TGO
Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
It was a replacement rather than a successor for the Wii U to compete in the 8th Generation.
But the mental gymnastics of it is....it was part of the 9th Gen when the PS4 finished the generation with 117m and was in its own market so it wasn't competing but was a 8th Gen suddenly when it finally caught up years after and now in competition after the generation was pretty much over and then it was a 9th Gen when fans started comparing it XSX & PS5 sales.
That's how it usually works
But the mental gymnastics of it is....it was part of the 9th Gen when the PS4 finished the generation with 117m and was in its own market so it wasn't competing but was a 8th Gen suddenly when it finally caught up years after and now in competition after the generation was pretty much over and then it was a 9th Gen when fans started comparing it XSX & PS5 sales.
That's how it usually works
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PaintTinJr
Member
The question of handheld console or true hybrid still factors into this question too IMO, and it was only the other day when I needed 6x JoyCon halves charging at the same time did feel the stupidity of being unable to charge JoyCons independent of the console unit a big cross in the true hybrid classification.
That got me thinking and is probably an important question for Switch 2 I don't know the answer to. Do Switch 2 JoyCons provide usb type c charging in addition to console connected charging?
That got me thinking and is probably an important question for Switch 2 I don't know the answer to. Do Switch 2 JoyCons provide usb type c charging in addition to console connected charging?
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crackajack
Member
And a lttp but super successfull 8th gen home console.
1st gen hybrid was probably the Sega Nomad
2nd gen, PSP with its TV out variants
and the Switch's older brother the Nvidia shield was the first 3rd gen hybrid.
(Vita could have been in between but Sony chickened out and its mystery port was never used, iirc not even wired at all, even though the PS TV clearly proved that some HDMI out would have been no problem. Failing to be the Switch before the Switch is possibly one of Sonys biggest invisible what if failures.)
Switch 2
10th generation Nintendo console. A 4th gen hybrid. And a 8(.5) gen home console.
Making gens strictly chronological without huge overlap makes no sense with products emphasizing very different things even when the games themselves are mostly the same. Putting GB and SNES into the same gen makes imho already no sense, even though they count as 4th gen of console and handheld respectively, so very different categories at least. But GB (and Game Gear) are imho rather late 3rd gen devices. All handhelds are better counted as at least a gen behind. Considering also release time I would sort them into a more suiting pile by controls and power, which might happen when other devices already have been released. GB is more alike a NES than a SNES, and Switch I+II are more alike to less than and a bit more than PS4 gen.
LordOcidax
Member
Lol, Some people making their own rules to fit their logic is amazing to read… 
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
ChatGPT is right, at the end there.
Kacho
Member
It's pulling from Wikipedia lol