45 thoughts on “This Is Officially the Longest Nintendo Generation”
So it seems that all these years I've somehow been unaware that most Game Boy Color games DO, IN FACT, work on the Game Boy. I guess it was just coincidence that EVERY SINGLE GAME I TRIED just happened to be on the list of GBC exclusives LOL and I could have sworn I heard people saying how GBC games were exclusive, too. Funny how these things can just slip under the radar.
Kinda insane to think that the Switch is already nearing a decade old, I mean 2017 still feels like a short time ago but now theres already a successor around the corner thats just crazy
The problem with calling the Game Boy Color a separate generation from the Game Boy is that by that same logic you have to call the New 3DS a separate console from the 3DS. Nintendo lumps them in as the same console, so I consider the Color as basically the "Game Boy Pro".
man please nintendo make a actual real new console at the end of this year because portable handheld switch is getting very boring to play on now. god i hope the next console have actual 4k resolution graphics because alot of us are so extremely sick of seeing awful 1080p from year 2006 resolution its now 2025 come on now nintendo us younger people want the new tech already. at least make it upscaled to 4k like the PS4 pro because i refuse to play Metroid Prime 4 in terrible 1080p screw that. also no more terrible joy cons we want an actual real controller this time like the GameCube or PS4 PS5 or something also using real rumble feedback & this is coming from a 19 yr. old soon to be 20. just cant do another nintendo console or portable using dumb joy cons anymore
I remember buying mine in 2018 while I was finishing middle school and I found botw too difficult, now its the console I own the most games for and im starting my second year of university. Its been great.
I'm honestly kind of disappointed that this generation is coming to an end. There's no reason to make us spend hundreds of dollars on a new console when objectively not much is going to change about the actual capabilities of the system. People forget, the jump from 8-bit to 16-bit was massive. 16-bit to 3D was insane. But the change from Wii U to Switch was… barely even noticeable, hence all the games that were able to be quickly ported over with basically no changes. The same thing happened with GameCube to Wii with cross-platform titles like Twilight Princess showing that they were basically the same exact hardware. I think Nintendo is at a point where they can basically make anything they want to make on the current console. Super Mario World couldn't exist on the NES. Ocarina of Time couldn't exist on SNES. But I can't imagine whatever game Nintendo has in the works for the Switch 2 is so advanced that it couldn't be made for the Switch, which makes it feel like a huge bummer to have to not only buy a whole new console, but to have to "start over" building a game collection.
I've been following this little machine since Day 1. Back in 2017, I was all over the NX Leaks with my friends, we watched the trailer for Mario Odyssey again and again, all the Smash reveals from Inkling to Sora, my wishlist becoming longer and longer as the console got hundreds of just amazing looking games.
And finally, after all this time, I am going to buy one.
I can see a power boost for the Switch. There doesn't leave much innovation for Nintendo for future consoles, only refinement. Nintendo Switch Pro controller could use paddles similar to Xbox Elite Controller. Nintendo can tackle the PC market, seems like they are missing a chunk of that audience, maybe Nintendo console can connect with PC and play games on a stronger rig? Better hardware, same form factor. The days of dual screen are gone. 3D single screen on Switch could be a possibility? But like 3DS most people will turn it off anyways. Switch 2 has to be pretty beefy if it wants to do VR properly. I can see it's success mimic that of 3DS compared to DS, and SNEW compared to NES.
There's a lot of stuff Nintendo does that I don't like, but they've absolutely been knocking it out of the park with the Switch. Almost every first party game has been a modern classic. Besides, what competition do they even have now? Sony and Microsoft have been sitting in the corner eating paste this gen. We don't know how many Steam Decks (which is a great system BTW) have been sold, but 1% of Switch sales I think is probably not too far off the mark. It's still printing money, has a massive install base, so there's just no pressure to replace it.
When you mentioned the switch from NES to N64, I actually remember that! I used to play on my mom's NES when I was like 5 and then just a few years later the N64 was out and I was playing that. I was so little and didn't understand system lifetimes or any of that, now but looking back it really blows my mind just how much improvement there was so quickly.
If we are talking about just the time between console releases then the switch would be the longest but games were still made for consoles even after their successor had come out. The NES's last official game came out in 1995, almost 4 years after the SNES Debuted.
Well even if GBC games didn't work in a normal gameboy I don't think that's enough to call it a new generation. The technology is still relatively they same, id consider it a different system for sure, just not a new console. Kind of like the "NEW" 3ds having exclusive games because of the new c stick controls and hardware being a bit stronger.
Unless they fix the joycon problem I'm not getting a switch 2. Every time I go to a work party or a friend's house I see a switch and get excited to play a party game till they hit me with that "ahhh sorry, only 1/5 controllers actually works😬"
Idgaf what anyone says it's planned obsolescence, I know because every household has a 4 year old switch lite with no problems and 6 joycons with drift. As someone who does a lot of mods and repairs I can say nintendo hardware used to have the best architecture possible, their stuff wouldnt break from a carpet bombing.
You talk about genres. Back in 2017, platform fighters were still just Smash, weren't they? Back then people accused them of being Smash clones, right? It wasn't fully established as a gaming genre that's going to have multiple games like it. Cartoon Network did one, and there was apparently an anime one with the old big 3 included. Idk if there were any others.
I think the Switch generation is technically not done soon. Or moreover, it's still going to be supported longer than other generations were after the next console was introduced, by small games. At least I kind of hope that to be the case I think, going by that, the Switch might just hit 10 years, possibly. It won't hit 12 years like Nintendo says Gameboy would have, but I would personally agree that it was its own generation, even if that might technically mean New Nintendo 3DS was its own short generation as well due to Xenoblade Chronicles 3D. Also, this new way of looking at it would probably extend other generations as well.
Very few gameboy color games were exclusive to gameboy color, for instance pokemon Gold and Silver were GBC games but could be played on the original gameboy
It's my favorite console ever, so I personally feel like it deserves that honor. It isn't perfect, but it was definitely a case of Nintendo playing to all of their strengths in a way they never had before.
On the topic of console lifespans, I still play my PS3 pretty often bc of the several amazing games that aren’t available on PS4/5 like GTA IV or Metal Gear Rising
It's 7 years old and some change, and within spitting distance from being the king of consoles by lifetime sales. It still has at least 3 years of support after the successor goes live.
I remember when the switch was coming out, they literally said "We're planning for the Switch to last about 10 years maybe" but then EEEEEVERYONE on the internet said "y'all are stupid that's never going to happen"
I was one of the few weirdos who believed them when they said what they said sjgskahskah
So it seems that all these years I've somehow been unaware that most Game Boy Color games DO, IN FACT, work on the Game Boy. I guess it was just coincidence that EVERY SINGLE GAME I TRIED just happened to be on the list of GBC exclusives LOL and I could have sworn I heard people saying how GBC games were exclusive, too. Funny how these things can just slip under the radar.
Kinda insane to think that the Switch is already nearing a decade old, I mean 2017 still feels like a short time ago but now theres already a successor around the corner thats just crazy
The problem with calling the Game Boy Color a separate generation from the Game Boy is that by that same logic you have to call the New 3DS a separate console from the 3DS. Nintendo lumps them in as the same console, so I consider the Color as basically the "Game Boy Pro".
Never understood why people pooled the switch rather with home consoles than handhelds.
Like if I could plug my GBA into my monitor and just connect different controller would you say its more a home console now?
Or the valve steam deck for example, it basically is a direct competitor to switch but people never call that a home console
man please nintendo make a actual real new console at the end of this year because portable handheld switch is getting very boring to play on now. god i hope the next console have actual 4k resolution graphics because alot of us are so extremely sick of seeing awful 1080p from year 2006 resolution its now 2025 come on now nintendo us younger people want the new tech already. at least make it upscaled to 4k like the PS4 pro because i refuse to play Metroid Prime 4 in terrible 1080p screw that. also no more terrible joy cons we want an actual real controller this time like the GameCube or PS4 PS5 or something also using real rumble feedback & this is coming from a 19 yr. old soon to be 20. just cant do another nintendo console or portable using dumb joy cons anymore
high level bullet bill gameplay
But is it longer than the Nintendo love hotel generation?
I remember buying mine in 2018 while I was finishing middle school and I found botw too difficult, now its the console I own the most games for and im starting my second year of university. Its been great.
I'm honestly kind of disappointed that this generation is coming to an end. There's no reason to make us spend hundreds of dollars on a new console when objectively not much is going to change about the actual capabilities of the system. People forget, the jump from 8-bit to 16-bit was massive. 16-bit to 3D was insane. But the change from Wii U to Switch was… barely even noticeable, hence all the games that were able to be quickly ported over with basically no changes. The same thing happened with GameCube to Wii with cross-platform titles like Twilight Princess showing that they were basically the same exact hardware. I think Nintendo is at a point where they can basically make anything they want to make on the current console. Super Mario World couldn't exist on the NES. Ocarina of Time couldn't exist on SNES. But I can't imagine whatever game Nintendo has in the works for the Switch 2 is so advanced that it couldn't be made for the Switch, which makes it feel like a huge bummer to have to not only buy a whole new console, but to have to "start over" building a game collection.
I've been following this little machine since Day 1. Back in 2017, I was all over the NX Leaks with my friends, we watched the trailer for Mario Odyssey again and again, all the Smash reveals from Inkling to Sora, my wishlist becoming longer and longer as the console got hundreds of just amazing looking games.
And finally, after all this time, I am going to buy one.
Sometimes I think to myself man where did the time go then I consider how much actually has happened and changed in my life in the last 7 years
Gameboy OG was supported for longer than that.
I feel as the switch is gonna last alot long between a next one, there isn't much to gain from another generation yet tbh.
I wonder if execs know people are hurting world-wide and can't afford a new major console.
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is a good Metroidvania I never see/ anyone talk about.
The one most worth pirating too lol
The switch came out when I was in elementary school and I am now graduating high school. This shit defines my existence atp it’s scary
One thing I really hope they do with the successor to the switch is make sure we can download eshop games we already own
Remember when 3d platformers were a dead genre? Outside of Mario? This Gen has totally revitalized the indie 3d platformer.
I can see a power boost for the Switch. There doesn't leave much innovation for Nintendo for future consoles, only refinement. Nintendo Switch Pro controller could use paddles similar to Xbox Elite Controller. Nintendo can tackle the PC market, seems like they are missing a chunk of that audience, maybe Nintendo console can connect with PC and play games on a stronger rig? Better hardware, same form factor. The days of dual screen are gone. 3D single screen on Switch could be a possibility? But like 3DS most people will turn it off anyways. Switch 2 has to be pretty beefy if it wants to do VR properly. I can see it's success mimic that of 3DS compared to DS, and SNEW compared to NES.
There's a lot of stuff Nintendo does that I don't like, but they've absolutely been knocking it out of the park with the Switch. Almost every first party game has been a modern classic. Besides, what competition do they even have now? Sony and Microsoft have been sitting in the corner eating paste this gen. We don't know how many Steam Decks (which is a great system BTW) have been sold, but 1% of Switch sales I think is probably not too far off the mark. It's still printing money, has a massive install base, so there's just no pressure to replace it.
When you mentioned the switch from NES to N64, I actually remember that! I used to play on my mom's NES when I was like 5 and then just a few years later the N64 was out and I was playing that. I was so little and didn't understand system lifetimes or any of that, now but looking back it really blows my mind just how much improvement there was so quickly.
If we are talking about just the time between console releases then the switch would be the longest but games were still made for consoles even after their successor had come out. The NES's last official game came out in 1995, almost 4 years after the SNES Debuted.
Well even if GBC games didn't work in a normal gameboy I don't think that's enough to call it a new generation. The technology is still relatively they same, id consider it a different system for sure, just not a new console. Kind of like the "NEW" 3ds having exclusive games because of the new c stick controls and hardware being a bit stronger.
My guess is the Switch Successor will have a 10-year lifespan with a “pro” iteration 5-6 years in.
Unless they fix the joycon problem I'm not getting a switch 2.
Every time I go to a work party or a friend's house I see a switch and get excited to play a party game till they hit me with that "ahhh sorry, only 1/5 controllers actually works😬"
Idgaf what anyone says it's planned obsolescence, I know because every household has a 4 year old switch lite with no problems and 6 joycons with drift.
As someone who does a lot of mods and repairs I can say nintendo hardware used to have the best architecture possible, their stuff wouldnt break from a carpet bombing.
🎶Everything stays, right were you left it, everything stays, but it still changeeessss🎶
I was still in elementary school when the switch dropped, and i graduated high school a few months ago.
Time flies.
if you consider GameBoy and GameBoy Color as the same "gen" then that lasted like 13 years
I graduated highschool when the switch came out, it’s been such a big part of my adult life.
You talk about genres. Back in 2017, platform fighters were still just Smash, weren't they? Back then people accused them of being Smash clones, right? It wasn't fully established as a gaming genre that's going to have multiple games like it. Cartoon Network did one, and there was apparently an anime one with the old big 3 included. Idk if there were any others.
I think the Switch generation is technically not done soon. Or moreover, it's still going to be supported longer than other generations were after the next console was introduced, by small games. At least I kind of hope that to be the case
I think, going by that, the Switch might just hit 10 years, possibly. It won't hit 12 years like Nintendo says Gameboy would have, but I would personally agree that it was its own generation, even if that might technically mean New Nintendo 3DS was its own short generation as well due to Xenoblade Chronicles 3D.
Also, this new way of looking at it would probably extend other generations as well.
Switch Will go ten years
Very few gameboy color games were exclusive to gameboy color, for instance pokemon Gold and Silver were GBC games but could be played on the original gameboy
It's my favorite console ever, so I personally feel like it deserves that honor. It isn't perfect, but it was definitely a case of Nintendo playing to all of their strengths in a way they never had before.
Unpopular opinion: console generation should be 8 years
who evers playing odyssey sucks assssssss 😂
wow, Shadow Complex is one of my favourite games from the XBOX 360 arcade. I can't believe I'm not the only one that remembers it.
6:30 Love Metroidvanias, love Shadow Complex. Shadow Complex is what got me to buy an Xbox 360 back in the day. Looking forward to your video.
The Switch came out when I was a stoner burnout right outside of high school… And now I'm married and looking for a house with my wife. Time is weird.
If the Gameboy and Gameboy Color are the same generation, then the Gamecube and the Wii are the same generation
On the topic of console lifespans, I still play my PS3 pretty often bc of the several amazing games that aren’t available on PS4/5 like GTA IV or Metal Gear Rising
It's 7 years old and some change, and within spitting distance from being the king of consoles by lifetime sales. It still has at least 3 years of support after the successor goes live.
Wii U era: Lasted 4 years, felt like 8 years
Switch era: Will last for 8 years, felt like 4 years
I remember when the switch was coming out, they literally said "We're planning for the Switch to last about 10 years maybe" but then EEEEEVERYONE on the internet said "y'all are stupid that's never going to happen"
I was one of the few weirdos who believed them when they said what they said sjgskahskah