History of video game consoles (eighth generation)
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In the history of video games, the eighth generation is the 2013 iteration of video game consoles, following the previous seventh generation: Nintendo's Wii, Sony's PlayStation 3, and Microsoft's Xbox 360. This includes Nintendo's home console successor, the Wii U, which was released in the fourth quarter of 2012. The PlayStation 4 was officially announced on February 20, 2013, and is anticipated for a Christmas release.[1] The successor to the Xbox 360 will be revealed on May 21, 2013.[2] It is rumoured to be released by November–December 2013.[3]
For video game handhelds, the generation began in February 2011 with the release of the Nintendo 3DS, successor to the Nintendo DS, in Japan, followed by a North American and European release in March. The successor of the PlayStation Portable, the PlayStation Vita, was released in December 2011 in Japan, and Western markets in February 2012.
Claims have been made that the eighth generation of video game consoles will face stiff competition from the smartphone, tablet, and Smart TV gaming markets.[4][5][6][7][8][9] Due to the proliferation of the aforementioned devices, some analysts speculate the eighth generation to be the last generation of home consoles.[9] Meanwhile, the multi-million dollar pre-sale success of Ouya through crowdfunding has raised open-source development and the free-to-play model as key issues to be addressed by 8th generation consoles.[10][11]
Other consoles such as the Shield Project, Steam Box, and GameStick are also attempting to compete in this market; however these are seldom referred to as "eighth generation consoles".[12][13][14]
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Transition
Though prior console generations have normally occurred in five to six-year cycles, the transition from seventh to eighth generation units has lasted more than six years.[15] The transition is also unusual in that the prior generation's best-selling unit, the Wii, is the first to be replaced in the eighth generation.[15] Microsoft have stated they have begun looking at their next console, but as of 2011, they, along with Sony, consider themselves only halfway through a ten-year lifecycle for their seventh-generation offerings.[16][17][18][19] Sony and Microsoft representatives have stated that the addition of motion controllers and camera-based controllers like Kinect and PlayStation Move have extended these systems' lifetimes.[20] Nintendo president Satoru Iwata had stated that his company would be releasing the Wii U due to declining sales of seventh generation home consoles and that "the market is now waiting for a new proposal for home consoles".[21] Sony considered making its next console a digital download only machine, but decided against it due to concerns about the inconsistency of internet speeds available globally, especially in developing countries.[22]
Home consoles
Wii U
In November 2010, Nintendo of America CEO Reggie Fils-Aime stated that the release of the next generation of Nintendo would be determined by the continued success of the Wii.[23] Nintendo announced their successor to the Wii, the Wii U, at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2011 on June 7, 2011.[24] The Wii U was released in North America on November 18, 2012, in Europe on November 30, 2012 and in Japan on December 8, 2012.
After the announcement, several journalists classified the system as the first eighth generation home console.[15][25][26] However, prominent sources have brought this into speculation because of its comparative lack of power with respect to the announced specifications for PlayStation 4 and the successor to the Xbox 360.[27][28]
The Wii U's main controller, the Wii U GamePad, features an embedded touchscreen that can work as an auxiliary interactive screen in a fashion similar to the Nintendo DS/3DS, or if compatible with "Off TV Play", can even act as the main screen itself, enabling games to be played without the need of a television. The Wii U is compatible with its predecessor's peripherals, such as the Wii Remote Plus, the Nunchuk, and the Wii Balance Board.
PlayStation 4
On February 20, 2013, Sony announced the PlayStation 4. The release date is set for Q4 2013.
The PlayStation 4's main controller is the fourth iteration of Sony's DualShock controller series. Similar in design to its predecessors the DualShock 4's new feature a 2 point touchpad with click mechanism and capacitive type and two new buttons called "Options" and "Share" instead of the "Select" and "Start" buttons seen in the previous models. The PlayStation 4 will be also compatible with the PlayStation Move controller and it was announced that some games may be played with the PlayStation Vita including being viewed with the portable's screen.
Home console comparison
| Name | Wii U | PlayStation 4 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Logo |  |
 |
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| Manufacturer | Nintendo | Sony | ||||||||
| Console |  |
Console design is yet to be revealed | ||||||||
| Release dates |
|
Q4 2013 | ||||||||
| Launch prices | Basic Model
Deluxe/Premium Model
|
TBA | ||||||||
| Units shipped | Worldwide: 3.45 million (as of 31 March 2013)[29] | N/A | ||||||||
| Best-selling game | Nintendo Land, 2.6 million units (as of 31 March 2013)[30] | N/A | ||||||||
| Media | Wii U Optical Disc @ 22.5MB/s 25 GB (single layer)[31] |
Blu-ray, DVD | ||||||||
| CPU | Tri-Core IBM PowerPC "Espresso"[32] | Octa-Core AMD "Jaguar" | ||||||||
| GPU | AMD Radeon "Latte" GPGPU @ 550 MHz[33] | Custom AMD Radeon | ||||||||
| Memory | 2 GB DDR3 RAM (1 GB available for games / 1 GB available for system) |
8 GB GDDR5 RAM | ||||||||
| Storage | 8 GB (Basic), 32 GB (Deluxe/Premium) flash memory Supports up to 32 GB SDHC memory cards and up to 2 TB USB hard disk drives[34] |
TBA | ||||||||
| Video |
† Resolutions other than 576i and 480i available via HDMI and YPBPR only. |
|||||||||
| Integrated 3DTV support | Yes[35] | Yes | ||||||||
| Second screen | Off-TV Play | Remote Play | ||||||||
| Audio |
|
TBA | ||||||||
| Peripheral abilities | ||||||||||
| Controller |
|
|||||||||
| Online services |
|
PlayStation Network | ||||||||
| Regional lockout | Yes[41] | TBA | ||||||||
| List of games | List of Wii U games | List of PlayStation 4 games | ||||||||
| Backward compatibility | Nintendo optical discs
Downloadable only
|
Optical disc/download
Not compatible with PlayStation 3 titles; other systems unannounced Gaikai cloud streaming (not at launch)
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Handheld systems
Nintendo 3DS
The Nintendo 3DS is a portable game console produced by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Nintendo DS. The autostereoscopic device is able to project stereoscopic 3D effects without the use of 3D glasses or any additional accessories.[43] The Nintendo 3DS features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS series software, including Nintendo DSi software.[43] Announcing the device in March 2010, Nintendo officially unveiled it at E3 2010,[43][44] with the company inviting attendees to use demonstration units.[45] The console succeeds the Nintendo DS series of handheld systems,[43] which primarily competes with PlayStation Portable.[46] It competes with Sony's handheld, the PlayStation Vita.[47]
The Nintendo 3DS was released in Japan on February 26, 2011; in Europe on March 25, 2011; in North America on March 27, 2011;[48][49] and in Australia on March 31, 2011. On July 28, 2011, Nintendo announced a major price drop starting August 12. In addition, as of September 2011 consumers who bought the system at its original price have access to ten Nintendo Entertainment System games before they are available to the general public, after which the games may be updated to the versions publicly released on the Nintendo eShop. In December 2011, ten Game Boy Advance games were made available to consumers who bought the system at its original price at no charge, with Nintendo stating it has no plans to release to the general public.[50]
On June 21, 2012, Nintendo announced a new, bigger model of the 3DS called the Nintendo 3DS XL. It has 90% larger screens than the 3DS and slightly longer battery life. It was released on July 28, 2012 in Europe and August 19, 2012 in North America.
PlayStation Vita
PlayStation Vita is a handheld game console developed by Sony Computer Entertainment.[51] It is the successor to the PlayStation Portable as part of the PlayStation brand of gaming devices. It was released in Japan and parts of Asia on December 17, 2011[52] and was released in Europe and North America on February 22, 2012.[53][54]
The handheld includes two analog sticks, a 5-inch (130 mm) OLED multi-touch capacitive touchscreen, and supports Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and optional 3G. Internally, the Vita features a 4 core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processor and a 4 core SGX543MP4+ graphics processing unit, as well as LiveArea software as its main user interface, which succeeds the XrossMediaBar.[55][56]
The device is fully backward-compatible with PlayStation Portable games digitally released on the PlayStation Network via the PlayStation Store.[57] However, PS One Classics/TurboGrafx-16 titles were not compatible at launch.[58] The Vita's dual analog sticks are supported on selected PSP games via button mapping. The graphics for PSP releases are up-scaled, with a smoothing filter to reduce pixelation.[59]
Handheld comparison
| Name | Nintendo 3DS / 3DS XL | PlayStation Vita | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Logo | .svg){kind=small} |
 |
||||||||
| Manufacturer | Nintendo | Sony | ||||||||
| Console |  |
 |
||||||||
| Release dates | Nintendo 3DS
Nintendo 3DS XL
|
All versions
|
||||||||
| Launch prices | Nintendo 3DS
Nintendo 3DS XL
|
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi+3G
|
||||||||
| 2013 prices | Nintendo 3DS
Nintendo 3DS XL |
Wi-Fi
Same as launch prices
Same as launch prices |
||||||||
| Units shipped | Worldwide: 31.09 million (as of 31 March 2013)[29] | Worldwide: 2.2 million (as of 30 June 2012)[66] | ||||||||
| Best-selling game | Super Mario 3D Land, 8.29 million units (as of 31 March 2013)[30] | N/A | ||||||||
| Display | Top:
Bottom:
|
5 in (130 mm) OLED 960 × 544 px[67] | ||||||||
| 3D enabled | Yes | No | ||||||||
| CPU | Dual-core ARM11 MPCore | Quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore[67][68] | ||||||||
| GPU | Digital Media Professionals PICA200 | PowerVR SGX543MP4+[67] | ||||||||
| Memory | 128 MB FCRAM, 6 MB VRAM | 512 MB RAM, 128 MB VRAM[69] | ||||||||
| Camera | One front-facing and a set of two rear-facing 3D 0.3 MP (VGA) camera sensors | Front and rear 0.3 MP (VGA) camera sensors[67] | ||||||||
| Storage |
2 GB (1.5 GB usable) NAND flash internal storage
|
No internal storage 4 GB to 32 GB of proprietary removable memory sticks |
||||||||
| Media | Nintendo 3DS Game Card (1–8 GB) Nintendo DS Game Card (8–512 MB) |
PlayStation Vita Game Card (2–4 GB) | ||||||||
| User interface |
|
|||||||||
| Battery | Nintendo 3DS
Nintendo 3DS XL
(determined by screen brightness, Wi-Fi, sound volume, and 3D effect) |
All versions
(determined by screen brightness, Wi-Fi, sound volume, and whether 3G is active) |
||||||||
| Connectivity | ||||||||||
| Stylus | Nintendo 3DS
Nintendo 3DS XL
|
N/A | ||||||||
| Weight | Nintendo 3DS
Nintendo 3DS XL
|
Wi-Fi model
Wi-Fi+3G model
|
||||||||
| Dimensions | Nintendo 3DS
Nintendo 3DS XL
|
All versions
|
||||||||
| Online services |
|
|
||||||||
| Preloaded applications |
|
|
||||||||
| Regional lockout | Yes[78] | No[79] | ||||||||
| List of games | List of Nintendo 3DS games | List of PlayStation Vita games | ||||||||
| Backward compatibility | Nintendo Game Cards
Downloadable only |
Downloadable only |
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