Wikipedia:WikiProject Video games/RfC on video game console grouping

When a group of new video game consoles shows up, it is universally accepted to refer to them as "next generation", and to the current or previous group as "last gen". Consoles are constantly compared to other consoles of that "generation" or "era". There is also a general consensus as to what the earliest groupings mean, and terms like "8-bit era" can be clearly defined by hardware. The problem is, as more time passes, the groupings become less distinct; release dates stagger, the hardware differences more abstract. There is no "industry standard" term for each generation of hardware.

As of now, Wikipedia's video game history articles are broken-up by numbered "generations" (such as History of video game consoles (seventh generation)). Some editors believe that this is WP:OR and WP:SYNTH, as these terms are not consistent from source-to-source, if they are used at all. Should we keep numbered generations? Should we switch to years (perhaps decades) as dividing points? Or back to hardware (like 8-bit era)? Is there some more reliable scheme? ▫ JohnnyMrNinja 06:29, 29 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Note: I have moved the previous conversations to the talk page. For the sake of clarity, please direct all discussion there, and please keep this page to simple View/Endorse format. ▫ JohnnyMrNinja 06:29, 29 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]