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Thread: Are the last-gen systems (Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii) and the Wii U "dead consoles"?

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    Default Are the last-gen systems (Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii) and the Wii U "dead consoles"?

    (Miscategorized. Feel free to put this in "Modern Gaming")

    All four have been out of production for 2-3 years at this point, but all have gotten game releases more recently than that:

    Xbox 360: Ended production April 20, 2016. Last release Just Dance 2019, October 23, 2018. (FIFA 19 Legacy Edition was released September 28, 2018)

    PS3: Ended production October 2016. Last release FIFA 19, September 28, 2018.

    Wii U: Ended production January 31, 2017. Last release: There have been several "indie" type games released in 2019, but the last "big name" (meaning has its own Wikipedia article) game is Just Dance 2019 on October 23, 2018.

    Wii: Ended production some time in 2017. Last release: Just Dance 2020, November 5, 2019. The last non-Just Dance game was Barbie and her Sisters: Puppy Rescue on November 20, 2015 (except for a game called "Let's Sing 2018) on October 20, 2017, which is in a similar genre to Just Dance)

    In my opinion, the Xbox 360 and PS3 are "dead consoles". They haven't seen a release in more than a year. The mainstream places like Gamestop still sell them, although they go for very low prices and aren't allotted much store space.

    The Wii U and Wii are more difficult. The Wii U is still getting non-"Just Dance" releases, although they're typically download-only and are from indie developers. The question is, are these games the tail-end of the Wii U's commercial lifespan, or the beginning of the "homebrew era". There are still games coming out for even the Atari 2600 and many older consoles, but those consoles are in the "homebrew era". I would certainly call games for Wii U in 2017 to be in its commercial lifespan and 2023 to be the homebrew era, but where is that line and have we crossed it?

    The Wii is literally being held on by "Just Dance". It was discontinued in 2017, although it faded from the common modern gaming view years earlier. If it wasn't for Just Dance, the Wii would certainly be a dead console. For the Wii, the question is, does "Just Dance" mean that it's still alive, or is Ubisoft putting games on a dead console?
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    My definition of a dead console is a console that hasnt had a physical release in brick in mortar stores for at least a year and there arent any planned releases in the future. The Wii is still played to this day. 13 years is a very impressive run for a console. thats longer than the PS2 I think which ended around 2012

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    Just Dance 2020 is the last Wii game to ever be released. Ubi announced they won't be putting anymore JD games on it. LRG had Axiom Verge on Wii U this year as the last Wii U game. They are dead.



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    I consider a platform dead when there are no more upcoming official, licensed releases coming out physically and/or digitally. The indies coming out for the last gen systems are still official, licensed releases, so I wouldn't refer to them as homebrews myself.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Aussie2B View Post
    I consider a platform dead when there are no more upcoming official, licensed releases coming out physically and/or digitally. The indies coming out for the last gen systems are still official, licensed releases, so I wouldn't refer to them as homebrews myself.
    well remember too that the N64 was thought to be dead by late 2001 and then they released Tony Hawk 3 in August 2002

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    I would assume they didn't spring the release on the public out of nowhere. I don't know when they first revealed it was coming, so maybe there was a gap where it appeared the N64 was done. Determining when a system is dead is more a matter of hindsight. The public is rarely told that a game will be a platform's last official release. But once the public can determine that, we know where it ended. Personally, I'm not going to come up with some arbitrary amount of time that has to pass with no releases before I call a system dead. If I call a system dead prematurely, then I'll correct myself when that information presents itself.

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