Eighth Generation Video Game Console

From GM-RKB
Jump to navigation Jump to search

An Eighth Generation Video Game Console is a video game console that was release between 2011 and 2013.

References

2020

  • (Wikipedia, 2020) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighth_generation_of_video_game_consoles Retrieved:2020-12-8.
    • The eighth generation of video game consoles primarily includes the home video game consoles of the Wii U released in 2012, the PlayStation 4 family in 2013, and the Xbox One family in 2013; the handheld game consoles of the Nintendo 3DS in 2011, and the PlayStation Vita in 2011; as well as the hybrid game console, the Nintendo Switch in 2017, which played as a handheld but could be docked and played like a home console. Additional microconsoles, including several retro gaming consoles featuring emulated games from past console generations, were also released during this period.

      Unlike in most prior generations, there were few new innovative hardware capabilities to mark this generation as distinct from prior ones. Sony and Microsoft continued to produce new systems with similar designs and capabilities as their predecessors, but with improved performance (processing speed, higher-resolution graphics, and increased storage capacity) that further moved consoles into confluence with personal computers, and furthering support for digital distribution and games as a service. Motion-controlled games of the seventh generation had waned in popularity, but consoles were preparing for advancement of virtual reality (VR); Sony introduced the PlayStation VR in 2016. Sony focused heavily on its first-party developers and console exclusives as key selling points, while Microsoft began further expansion of its gaming services, creating the Xbox Game Pass subscription service for both Xbox and Windows computers, and its xCloud game streaming service. Both consoles saw mid-generation refreshes, with high-end revisions PlayStation 4 Pro and the Xbox One X, and lower-cost PlayStation 4 Slim and Xbox One S models that lacked some features. As of 2019, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One families have sold an estimated 106 and 46 million units, respectively.

      Nintendo remained on a separate path from either Sony or Microsoft in its blue ocean strategy. The Wii U was designed to be a more robust model of the Wii to meet needs of dedicated gamers, but its means and purpose were lost in how it was marketed. The Wii U substantially undersold Nintendo's projections, selling only 13.5 million units by its discontinuation in 2017, and many of the design and marketing faults of the Wii U were considered in the conceptualization of the Switch, designed to meet a broad range of global demographics and possible gaming situations. Later, Nintendo released the Nintendo Switch Lite, a version lacking the docking capabilities but with other component optimization and otherwise compatible with all games. By June 2020, the two Switch models had shipped over 61 million units combined.

      Handheld consoles fought against increasing pressure of mobile gaming. The Nintendo 3DS and 2DS continued the prior Nintendo DS line, while the PlayStation Vita was the successor to the PlayStation Portable. Combined shipped units of the Nintendo 3DS/2DS family had reached 75 million by September 2019, but the Vita was estimated to have only sold about 10 million by the end of 2015. Sony discontinued the unit in 2019 and stated it had no present plans for handheld systems. Nintendo discontinued the Nintendo 3DS in 2020.

      In addition to growth of the mobile gaming sector, the eighth generation console market was affected by events in China, where the ban on video consoles was lifted in 2015, and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which delayed a number of game releases but saw a significant increase in video game purchases by people quarantined at home.

      Both Sony and Microsoft have previously announced and subsequently released, the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S, respectively in November 2020. Considered to be their highly anticipated next-generation systems, they continue the trend from the eighth generation of overall general improved computational performance, graphical output, and with strong backward compatibility support to minimize the disruption of upgrading to the new platform.

Retrieved from "http://www.gabormelli.com/RKB/index.php?title=Eighth_Generation_Video_Game_Console&oldid=854352"