Since November 2013 a lot of what we do here, and a lot of what you play at home, has revolved around two video game platforms: the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One. As we’ve welcomed both console’s successors in the last week, first the Xbox Series X and then the PlayStation 5, now seems the perfect time to say our goodbyes to their forebears.
As the sun sets on the eighth generation of home console gaming, we’re going to spend the rest of the month looking back with a series of posts remembering some of our fondest, most important and at times least favourite memories of the outgoing console generation.
Older readers may remember we did the same thing back in 2013 as we said goodbye to the PS3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii, and back then, Kirk prefaced the week by saying:
Some of these articles will focus on big ideas, on the innovations and trends that came to define gaming at large. Some of these articles will focus on small ideas—they’ll recognize the little things that deserve no less recognition for their small stature. We’ll talk about games in addition to hardware—our favorite characters and stories, and the best ideas and worlds that came into being. Basically, we’ll talk about everything.
Needless to say, we’re all pretty psyched.
Same deal this time around! And just like last time, we’re keeping this strictly to the departing consoles that defined the generation in the first place, so don’t expect coverage of PC games, or phone games, or anything else unless it played a part in helping shape our collective impressions of Sony’s fourth console and Microsoft’s third.
As for Nintendo, well, bailing on the Wii U and replacing it in 2016 with the Switch, right in the middle of its competitors’ console cycles, kinda excludes them from such sweeping generational chat, but I’m sure we’ll find some room in the next week to talk about their disruptive and hugely successful moves as well...
You can read all our Last Generation stories here.