VGC's sponsored look back at this console generation is really just a GTA 6 hype piece

VGC put up a piece looking back at the games that defined this console generation, and the framing is basically "GTA 6 is almost here, so let's remember how we got to this point." It's a sponsored post, so keep that in mind going in.

I don't have a problem with the idea. Sitting a week or so out from November 19, a retrospective on the PS5 and Series X|S era is a fun read. It's the sponsored part that makes me squint. You can't really do a straight-faced "games that defined this generation" list when there's a bag of money attached to it. Somebody's picking those entries with a spreadsheet open.

the timing is the whole point

Everything about the piece is pointed at the launch. That's fine, it's marketing, that's how this works now. But it does mean we're going to get a flood of these over the next few days. Every outlet with a content calendar is going to run some version of "the generation that led us to Leonida."

Which is a little funny, because the honest answer to what defined this generation is that the last couple years were pretty thin on the ground while everyone waited for this one game. That's not a knock on the studios, it's just what happens when a release this size sits at the end of a console cycle.

what I'd actually put on the list

If I were writing it without a sponsor, I'd have a very different set of picks. And I'd probably spend half the word count complaining about cross-gen holding things back for the first two years. That's the real story of this generation, and nobody's going to put it in a sponsored piece.

Anyway, it's a light read. Nothing in it is going to change your mind about anything, and it's not pretending to. Just a sign that we're close enough now that the retrospectives are starting.

What game would actually top your personal list for this generation, GTA 6 aside?

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Source: VGC · Curated content.