My Take on Gaming: 8th Gen

8th Generation gaming is among us following the launches of Sony's PS4, Microsoft's Xbox One and Nintendo's Wii U. Nintendo's Wii U was launched last November and gave us a glimpse to what 8th Generation or more commonly known as Next Gen gaming had in store. Many in the gaming community do not consider the Wii U a true Next Gen console due to its weaker hardware specs when compared to the PS4 and Xbox One, however in this blog, the Wii U is considered Next Gen. Xbox One and PS4 have taken some of what the Wii U offers to the next level like online communities and social apps. Wii U has excelled in other areas such as second screen interaction and remote play.

The first thing that needs to be established is, What is Next Gen? Next gen is short for "the Next Generation of video gaming consoles". We are in the 8th generation of gaming and naturally this new generation of gaming will continue the tradition of improving the business and increasing the appealing qualities of video games on home consoles. Each generation of gaming has a standard of performance to which a console must meet and exceed if it wants to stay alive in such a fierce market or become the latest Atari Jaguar, Neo-Geo, or Dreamcast of its generation. Each of the "Big 3" of gaming consoles: Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony have their own perspectives of what the gaming public is hungry for and feeds their market accordingly. This generation has a higher standard with more points of interest than past generations.

Last generation introduced 3 additional core mechanics to home consoles; structured online gaming, social-media applications, and motion controls to add with improved graphics and game-play like previous generations before this one. These five core mechanics are what truly define gaming consoles this generation and of the Big 3 Companies, all consoles meet these criteria. It has always been my opinion that the best qualities of each gaming company are as follows:

Sony = Power
Microsoft = Online
Nintendo = Innovation
Depending on what quality appeals to you is probably the console you are going to prefer. Preference is gaming's' greatest motivator of competition among consoles. Preference ignites a never ending fire within a gamer to declare his choice of console the Supreme console each generation. This fire is similar to that of going a on a massive steak of kills like playing the Call of Duty, and closely ties into a gamers competitive nature. The very point of a game is to win so likewise a need to have a winner in preference of gaming console is only logical. It is debated who won last gen in gaming, but in realty the true winner was the gaming industry as all three consoles dominated in a respective area. This does not sit well with gamers, but for business, it's a dream come true.

Last generation proved all three consoles strategies effective, like Sony showed that gamers will pay a premium price for a more powerful console. Xbox displayed the diversity of gamers interests by incorporating online applications better than anyone else in gaming history. Nintendo once again motivated the industry with innovative gameplay, introducing motion gaming, proving innovation is a powerful tool to producing record breaking sales. Still in many eyes last gen ended without an undisputed champion, so what does that mean for this generation of consoles? Will there ever be another Undisputed best gaming console like the PlayStation 2?

I say the answer is yes and most fitting of all is that in this 8th generation of gaming, with all of gamings advancements, the determining factor will be all about the games. Graphically, all the consoles will be close enough that it will factor as much as watching a movie in 720p or 1080p at roughly 30 to 60 fps. Online application wise, all the consoles will offer their consumers a pretty good package. Power wise in gaming is tricky, its not about having the most powerful, but having adequate power and knowing how to best use that power at a consumer friendly price-point. The only true measuring stick this generation will be the games that are created, how they perform and the experience they provide to those playing.

[caseh]

The Neo-Geo had a 7 year lifespan with software spanning about 14 years and was the first, last and only 'hardcore' console. How that fits in with two consoles which didn't last this long combined has me baffled.

[Damd_Bowsr]

The relation between the Neo Geo, Jaguar and Dreamcast is that although they were great consoles for their Generation, ultimately the failed to achieve success in remaining relevant in the console business.

Thanks for the Comment.

[caseh]

Neo-Geo as a console was a success, they failed to release a new console when the PSX/Saturn came about and instead released the Hyper64 arcade board which didn't succeed and ultimately buried SNK.

There is no comparison to be made with the Dreamcast or Jaguar.