The 12 Generations of Gaming - Gen 8

On the eighth gen of gaming,
Microsoft sent to me,
The actual Xbox One,

On the eighth gen of gaming,
Sony sent to me,
Another uncreative name,

On the eighth gen of gaming,
Nintendo sent to me,
Another Nintendo Wii.

The Eighth Generation – 2012 - present

Consoles:
Xbox One
PlayStation 4
Wii U

Popular Games:
Nintendo Land
Battlefield 4
COD Ghosts
Assassins Creed
Watch Dogs
Knack
Forza 5

And so, we come to the final generation of gaming so far, eighth gen. And while it hasn't been around for very long, a lasting impression on the world is already forming. But, the home consoles are facing a new threat, one of mobility, one of easiness to use, one of... mobile devices.

In this post, I will talk about the newest three home consoles as well as three of the most influential and best games on the market.

Consoles:

Wii U:
The first console released into the eighth generation was, surprisingly, the successor to the most successful console of the last generation and a Nintendo console at that. It was released on the 18th of November 2012 in North America, 30th of November 2012 in Europe and the 8th of December 2012 for Japan. The Wii U was first conceived in 2008 after Nintendo saw that, with the power and graphical limitations of the Wii, core gamers were going to the more powerful PS3 or Xbox 360. Many people were expecting an updated version of the Wii, dubbed the Wii HD, over an entirely new console. However, Nintendo saw no reason for this and instead decided to implement better power and HD graphics into a new console. The Gamepad was created initially as a little screen to tell you announcements and was inspired from the blue light on the Wii when you got a message. It was later improved upon to make it into a full screen where you could play games. While it was originally classed as an eighth gen console, the gap in power between the Wii U and its rivals suggests that it is better off in the seven and a half gen category although it is still classed as eighth gen. One of the main additions to the Wii U is the Miiverse, a in-built social network where people can share drawings and texts about the the games they are playing. The Wii U is compatible with Wii games. While the Wii U has not sold as well as hoped, in the last few months' sales have increased by leaps and bounds thanks in no small part to first party games such as the Legend of Zelda Windwaker and Super Mario 3D World.

PlayStation 4:
The PlayStation 4 features a simpler core processor than the PS3 due to Sony wanting to make sure that the delays that the PS3 faced would not be repeated. It was released on the 15th of November 2013 in North America and the 29th of November 2013 in Europe. Japan will be getting the console in February 2014. PlayStation Move is still compatible with the PS4 but the regular controller (the Dualshock 3) is not. A new controller (dubbed the Dualshock 4, Sony really is creative when it comes to names) has been created and merges the start/select buttons into one options button as well as adding a share button and a touchpad. The Dualshock 4 also features a light bar that will flash different colours depending on what is happening in the game. For instance, if the player has low health then the light screen will turn red. The PS4 is not compatible with PS3 games. The PS Vita can be connected to the PS4 to act as a second screen. Even though the PS4 has not been out for very long it has already sold 2.1 consoles and is also the fastest selling console at launch.

Xbox One:
The Xbox One is the latest console into the eighth generation of gaming as opposed to the Xbox 360 which was first into the 7th gen of gaming. The console was released on the 22nd of November 2013 for both North America and Europe and 2014 for Japan. The Xbox One is called the Xbox One because it consists of all media devices in the home in one console. It features a new Kinect with better accuracy for its readings as well as a microphone that enables voice commands. Yet again, there are privacy concerns as the Kinnect could be used as a surveillance system. Windows Phone, Windows 8, iOS and Android devices can be connected up to the Xbox One to act as a second screen. The Xbox One does not feature backwards compatibility with Xbox 360 games. Within its first 18 days the Xbox One had sold 2 million units.

Games:

Nintendo Land:
Nintendo Land is used, much like Wii Sports was, to show off what the Wii U can do. Please read about the gameplay in the review by Satamer. It has been received positively as it shows exactly what the Wii U can do.

Knack:
Knack is a platform beat 'em up released by Sony during November for North America and Europe. The premise of Knack is that the player can incorporate metal, ice and other substances into its body in order to gain new abilities in order to save the world from the goblins. The name came from the idea that the player has the 'knack' or skill to do these things. During development, a small tile matching puzzle game was released for iOS and Android devices which, when connected to the PlayStation Network lets the player unlock special relics for Knack to use.

Forza 5:
Forza 5 was released worldwide on November 22, 2013 for the Xbox One. 200 cars from over 50 manufacturers as well as 12 tracks are included in the game and while this might seem small when compared with Forza 4's 500 cars, 80 manufactures and 27 circuits many DLC packs have been promised. The game has been received positively by most critics.

Goodbye for now, Harry

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_U
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_4
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_One
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Land
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knack_(video_game)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forza_Motorsport_5
And the blog's collective knowledge