For a brief window earlier today, a promotional blurb for the EA-published Wild Hearts noted that it was coming to "gen 5 consoles," reminding us all that nobody actually has any idea what console generation we're in.
The official site for Wild Hearts initially noted that the game "will be available on gen 5 consoles and PC," meaning PS5, Xbox Series X and S, and the usual combo of Steam, Epic, and the EA app. The message has since been replaced with a generic "consoles and PC," but the internet never forgets.
guess we're calling it "Gen 5" consoles now and not "Gen 9"i love marketing pic.twitter.com/Et1rneCZYsSeptember 28, 2022
It seems EA quickly learned the lesson that everyone eventually must: console generations are made up and the numbers don't matter.
The idea of console generations has been around for years, describing the jump in technology between, say, the PlayStation to the PS2. The issue is that there's no real accepted numbering of generations. If people have an idea of how the generations should be numbered, it's probably based on a Wikipedia article, which starts with a first generation of the Magnavox Odyssey and home Pong consoles, and ends in a ninth generation with the Xbox Series X and PS5.
I guess EA can't technically be wrong here if this is all made up by Wikipedia editors - please enjoy the talk page arguing about whether the Switch is eight or ninth gen - but the weird part of all this is that there's no interpretation where PS5 and Xbox Series X are "gen 5 consoles."
Seriously, I've been trying to figure out this generation math all day. Is it because we're in the PS5 generation, ignoring all the 2D-focused consoles that had come before? That's a pretty arbitrary stopping point! I mean, all the stopping points are arbitrary and none of this matters, obviously, but once you start talking about generations, this is the mess you land in.
Anyway, Wild Hearts comes out on February 17. It's developed by Koei Tecmo, and it's a Monster Hunter-like with smaller parties than Monster Hunter.
For more traditionally-accepted gen 5 games, check out the best PS1 games and best N64 games. Or the best PS5 games and best Xbox Series X games. I don't know.
