seventh generation
The seventh generation is a video game consoles era in the history of computer and video games that began November 22, 2005 with the release of Microsoft's Xbox 360. The transition into the seventh generation is still ongoing in 2006 with the expected release of new video game consoles from Nintendo: (The Wii) to be between November 19th and December 9th 2006 across the globe, and the Sony (PlayStation 3) in November 2006 and March 2007.
Microsoft has labelled this generation as the "HD Era" due to the fact that its own seventh generation console, Xbox 360, (and Sony's seventh generation console, PlayStation 3) supports 720p, 1080i and 1080p HD (High-Definition) video-output, in the same way that the fifth generation was known as the "3D Era". Nintendo on the other hand has self-claimed Wii (originally code-named "Revolution" by Nintendo) as the "true new generation" and stated it will not compete directly against the consoles by Microsoft or Sony, Nintendo's Wii is meant to be soley game oriented, while Microsoft's and Sony's seventh generation consoles are both game and multimedia oriented (with many music and video playback features).