Taking inspiration from the last thread, I'd like to put together what I believe are the cusps for each generation.

Basically, these are the years where you can go either way for each generation, depending on what culture you grew up on.

Gen X/Boomers: 1961–64
Gen X/Gen Y: 1977–84
Gen Y/Gen Z: 1994–97
Gen Z/Gen Alpha: Probably 2009–2013 or something like that, basically Obama/post-Snowden era

Agree? Disagree? Thoughts? Date trimmings, extensions?

Those boundaries are mostly pretty accurate.  My personal take:

Boomers/X - 1963 to 1966:  Basically people who were born during the rapid decline of the American birth rate.  They may have been fans of MTV while in college, but weren't totally immersed in it during high school.  They probably have some memories of the civil rights era, but were not old enough to fully process its significance at the time.  Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, and color tv became popular while they were still children, but probably didn't shape their lives to quite the same degree as those born slightly later.

X/Y - 1977 to 1982:  Basically spans those who were only vaguely old enough to have grown up with Atari and remember the impact of Ronald Reagan first becoming President (through your parents), to those who only partially grew up with edgy franchise like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Sonic the Hedgehog.

Y/Z - 1996 to 1999:  Basically comprises of people too young for millennial era trends like Pokémania and teen pop to have been a major part of their childhoods, but old enough to have still used a fair amount of analog technology growing up.  They were alive in the 90s, but not old enough to have really remembered them.

Z/Post-Z - 2011 to 2015:  This will be easier to gauge after at least a few more years have passed.  I currently set the absolute cutoff at 2013 (so the cusp would probably be approximately 2011 to 2015), but that date is definitely subject to change.

This is how I'd mix it up:

Baby Boomers/X: 1959-1966 - Main Saturday Night Fever Cohort

Leaning BB: 1959/1960

Leaning X: 1965/1966

Main Cusp Years: 1961-1964


Gen X/Gen Y: 1977-1984 - Main Clueless Cohort

Leaning X: 1977/1978

Leaning Y: 1983/1984

Main Cusp Years: 1979-1982


Gen Y/Gen Z Cusp: 1993-2000 - Main Hunger Games Cohort

Leaning Y: 1993/1994

Leaning Z: 1999/2000

Main Cusp Years: 1995-1998


Gen Z/Gen Alpha Cusp: 2009-2016?

2009/2010: Leaning Z

2015/2016: Leaning Alpha

Main Cusp Years: 2011-2014

This is how I'd mix it up:

Baby Boomers/X: 1959-1966 - Main Saturday Night Fever Cohort

Leaning BB: 1959/1960

Leaning X: 1965/1966

Main Cusp Years: 1961-1964


Gen X/Gen Y: 1977-1984 - Main Clueless Cohort

Leaning X: 1977/1978

Leaning Y: 1983/1984

Main Cusp Years: 1979-1982


Gen Y/Gen Z Cusp: 1993-2000 - Main Hunger Games Cohort

Leaning Y: 1993/1994

Leaning Z: 1999/2000

Main Cusp Years: 1995-1998


Gen Z/Gen Alpha Cusp: 2009-2016?

2009/2010: Leaning Z

2015/2016: Leaning Alpha

Main Cusp Years: 2011-2014

I think the main cusp years are long enough for cusp years. 7 year intervals seem to be a bit too long. But that's just my opinion.

Well the reason why I have it as 7 is because while those from the oldest and youngest end are definitely part of their respected generations they are not core either.

So in the case for 1993 & 1994 borns, while they are most definitely Gen Yers, they do not have all of the traits or requirements of Y like spending most of their kid years in the 90's and spending a good chunk of their teens in the 10's.

While those from 1995 or 1996, while by some are considered the tail end of Y, have tons of Z traits like spending all of their elementary years in the 2000's and coming of age in the core 2010's.

So 1995/6 are the peak of the cusp (with some concluding to have more of a slight Y basis) while those from 1993 & 1994 are on the cusp but definitely have a lot of core traits as well

Well the reason why I have it as 7 is because while those from the oldest and youngest end are definitely part of their respected generations they are not core either.

So in the case for 1993 & 1994 borns, while they are most definitely Gen Yers, they do not have all of the traits or requirements of Y like spending most of their kid years in the 90's and spending a good chunk of their teens in the 10's.

While those from 1995 or 1996, while by some are considered the tail end of Y, have tons of Z traits like spending all of their elementary years in the 2000's and coming of age in the core 2010's.

So 1995/6 are the peak of the cusp (with some concluding to have more of a slight Y basis) while those from 1993 & 1994 are on the cusp but definitely have a lot of core traits as well


I don't personally agree with this but I respect your opinion. Though, as someone born in 1993, I definitely didn't spend most of my teen years in the 2010s. I was 13-16 in the 00s. And I was 16/17-19 in the early 2010s. So I guess it's sort of split. However if you don't count 18-19, most of my adolscence was in the 00s. But it's still pretty subjective I guess. If you think I'm a cusper, then that's your opinion. Honestly I don't care too much

These are some other cusps i believe exist
greatest generation/silent:1924-1927 were not old enough to fully participate through all of ww 2 since they were 11 to 15 years when it started in 1939 but they could have joined in the war later on.
silent/baby boomers: 1942-1945 they witnessed the civil rights movement along with older boomers. Have no memories of WW2 like most of the silent generation has.

I don't personally agree with this but I respect your opinion. Though, as someone born in 1993, I definitely didn't spend most of my teen years in the 2010s. I was 13-16 in the 00s. And I was 16/17-19 in the early 2010s. So I guess it's sort of split. However if you don't count 18-19, most of my adolscence was in the 00s. But it's still pretty subjective I guess. If you think I'm a cusper, then that's your opinion. Honestly I don't care too much


Oh ok. Yeah 1993, is tricky because while they spend most of their teens in the 00's they were the first to have spent a decent amount of their HS years in the 10's. I have a question for you, since you said in the past that you do not agree with being separated with 1992 borns, how would u define Gen Y and or the cusp periods in general?

Y/Z - 1996 to 1999:  Basically comprises of people too young for millennial era trends like Pokémania and teen pop to have been a major part of their childhoods, but old enough to have still used a fair amount of analog technology growing up.  They were alive in the 90s, but not old enough to have really remembered them.


What other trends would you consider as apart of the millennial era besides Pokémania?

I was born in 1986, where do I fall at?  :(

I was born in 1986, where do I fall at?  :(


You're core Y without a doubt, though on the older side of the core, but still smack dab in the middle of the generation

You're core Y without a doubt, though on the older side of the core, but still smack dab in the middle of the generation

And all this time I thought I was Gen X.... thanks for clearing that up.

I think its too soon to define the end of Generation Z.  We still don't know what trends or traits will define the generation.  Today's teenagers are Y/Z cusps and today's early twentysomethings are still late Y.

What other trends would you consider as apart of the millennial era besides Pokémania?


In terms of what would have appealed to young audiences, teen pop, as I stated, as well as Nintendo 64, Crash Bandicoot, late Disney Renaissance films, Roller Coaster Tycoon, furbies, Cartoon Cartoons, Klasky Csupo Nicktoons, Kenan & Kel, and the Internet in general being the badass, "cool kid" technology.

What other trends would you consider as apart of the millennial era besides Pokémania?

Other anime shows were popular among Millenials like Dragonball Z, Inuyahsa, and Sailor Moon, plus the game YuGiOh was a Millenial craze. Disney Channel shows like That's So Raven were widely viewed, plus others that were teen oriented.

Gaming went from Super Nintendo and original Gameboys or N64 as children, to PS2/Xbox as teenagers.

Fashion for middle school and high school involved alot of jeans (flared for girls, baggy for boys) and name brand logos of mall stores on shirts. Casual was in. There were fad accessories such as jelly bracelets and butterfly hair clips and certain haircuts were popular at different times. The mid 2000s for girls saw alot of short in the back, long in front layers, and boys used to frost their hair blond in the Millenium era.


I think its too soon to define the end of Generation Z.  We still don't know what trends or traits will define the generation.  Today's teenagers are Y/Z cusps and today's early twentysomethings are still late Y.

Anyone born in 2000 is only 15, and the late 90's borns who have more Z than Y traits are also yet in high school. YZ cusp mid 90's borns I associate with the Tumblr social justice crowd and the weird trends such as the partially shaved heads, unnaturally colored hair, and oversized glasses half of them probably don't need. Pure Z I hope breaks that trend.

In terms of what would have appealed to young audiences, teen pop, as I stated, as well as Nintendo 64, Crash Bandicoot, late Disney Renaissance films, Roller Coaster Tycoon, furbies, Cartoon Cartoons, Klasky Csupo Nicktoons, Kenan & Kel, and the Internet in general being the badass, "cool kid" technology.


Ok, cause I saw you put that 1996-1999 were too young for millennial era trends which confused me at first, but a lot of what you listed were pre-2001, like Crash Bandicoot, late Renaissance films, teen pop, Kenan & Kel, and Nintendo 64. So I get what you're saying. Even though Cartoon Cartoons and and Klasky Csupo cartoons were still relevant in 2002 & 2003.


Other anime shows were popular among Millenials like Dragonball Z, Inuyahsa, and Sailor Moon, plus the game YuGiOh was a Millenial craze. Disney Channel shows like That's So Raven were widely viewed, plus others that were teen oriented.

Gaming went from Super Nintendo and original Gameboys or N64 as children, to PS2/Xbox as teenagers.

Fashion for middle school and high school involved alot of jeans (flared for girls, baggy for boys) and name brand logos of mall stores on shirts. Casual was in. There were fad accessories such as jelly bracelets and butterfly hair clips and certain haircuts were popular at different times. The mid 2000s for girls saw alot of short in the back, long in front layers, and boys used to frost their hair blond in the Millenium era.


While I'm on the Y/Z cusp, I can remember Dragon Ball Z on your list and if Yu-Gi-Oh is considered as a millennial craze (if we still consider 2002 & 2003 as apart of the millennial) then I definitely consider it as apart of my time, even though I preferred Pokemon much better. Also, I would not consider That's So Raven as a millennial show, that show debuted in late 2002/early 2003, and the most popular episodes premiered throughout 2003-2005. It's a core 2000's show. Although, I do believe That's So Raven is a Y/Z cusp show in terms of who watched it at the time. As a child I played both the Gamecube and the XBOX, so I don't know if that counts lol. Not the biggest expert on fashion from the millennial era, but that's pretty interesting.

In terms of what would have appealed to young audiences, teen pop, as I stated, as well as Nintendo 64, Crash Bandicoot, late Disney Renaissance films, Roller Coaster Tycoon, furbies, Cartoon Cartoons, Klasky Csupo Nicktoons, Kenan & Kel, and the Internet in general being the badass, "cool kid" technology.


But I experienced a good chunk of those things you listed, I remember teen pop since I had older sisters who were into NSYNC & Britney Spears, I never owned N64 but I played it a lot at cousins and friends houses plus I had Crash 2 & 3 on my PS1 on top of that I started gaming 2000 & 2001 which were both firmly in the 5th generation of gaming and most people my age started gaming in that era, I played Roller Coaster Tycoon dozens of times on the computer, I most certainly remember Furbies during their peak in popularity and I remember being scared of them, Cartoon Cartoons & Klasky Csupo Nicktoons I most certainly remember as well, and of course I do remember the internet being seen as a luxury.

The only items on your list that I don't remember during the peak of their popularity was Kenan & Kel although I do vividly remember watching the reruns in the early 2000's, and the late Disney Renaissance films although I do remember watching films like Hercules & Mulan when they were still seen as recent and I remember getting Tarzan on VHS right when it came out for it.

So in the grand scheme of things, how does that make me that dramatically different to some one only a year or two older than me? Wouldn't that make me core Y (based on your definition) as well since I remember a lot of these quintessential millennial era things along with a pre 9/11 world?

And all this time I thought I was Gen X.... thanks for clearing that up.

Yeah, I know. I always saw late Xers and Early Y era in the same vein when I was a bit younger.

In terms of what would have appealed to young audiences, teen pop, as I stated, as well as Nintendo 64, Crash Bandicoot, late Disney Renaissance films, Roller Coaster Tycoon, furbies, Cartoon Cartoons, Klasky Csupo Nicktoons, Kenan & Kel, and the Internet in general being the badass, "cool kid" technology.

Aww yes!! :D

Ok, cause I saw you put that 1996-1999 were too young for millennial era trends which confused me at first, but a lot of what you listed were pre-2001, like Crash Bandicoot, late Renaissance films, teen pop, Kenan & Kel, and Nintendo 64. So I get what you're saying. Even though Cartoon Cartoons and and Klasky Csupo cartoons were still relevant in 2002 & 2003.

Exactly, I'm focusing strictly on trends from about the last third of 1996 through 9/11.  The Yu-Gi-Oh!/GameCube/Lizzie McGuire era isn't exactly the same thing.

While I'm on the Y/Z cusp, I can remember Dragon Ball Z on your list and if Yu-Gi-Oh is considered as a millennial craze (if we still consider 2002 & 2003 as apart of the millennial) then I definitely consider it as apart of my time, even though I preferred Pokemon much better.

Yu-Gi-Oh! definitely wasn't a millennial era fad unless you grew up in Japan.  Just because the youth culture of 2002/2003 was mostly targeted towards Generation Y doesn't make it the same as the late 90s.  There were a lot more distinctions between culture of the late 90s and early 2000s than most of you people give credit for.  Heck, even most of the classic late 90s Cartoon Cartoons and Klasky Csupo Nicktoons (Powerpuff Girls, Dexter's Laboratory, Hey Arnold!, etc.) were well beyond their prime by the time early 2000s culture was in full gear.


But I experienced a good chunk of those things you listed, I remember teen pop since I had older sisters who were into NSYNC & Britney Spears, I never owned N64 but I played it a lot at cousins and friends houses plus I had Crash 2 & 3 on my PS1 on top of that I started gaming 2000 & 2001 which were both firmly in the 5th generation of gaming and most people my age started gaming in that era, I played Roller Coaster Tycoon dozens of times on the computer, I most certainly remember Furbies during their peak in popularity and I remember being scared of them, Cartoon Cartoons & Klasky Csupo Nicktoons I most certainly remember as well, and of course I do remember the internet being seen as a luxury.

You mostly seem to mention how you knew about these trends through your older siblings rather than people the same age as you.  That doesn't really count.  I thought people here said my younger sister (who's two years older than you) was ridiculously young to be fully appreciating Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys at the time of their peak, so I especially don't see how people from your age would be a part of that cohort.  Also, with Roller Coaster Tycoon, I mostly mean the task-driven first game in the series, not the Six Flags-promoted sequel with a scenario editor, though I can understand why a late millennial would have owned and played the first game.

I was familiar myself with a lot of stuff from the early 90s and even late 80s; I played the Super Nintendo a lot at my mom's 24 Hour Fitness' daycare, my dad still had his old NES before I got my N64, several of my old CD-ROMs were from the early-mid 90s, we owned all of the Disney Renaissance movies on cassette except for The Rescuers Down Under and Tarzan, and I knew about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles through the pinball machine at my local Chuck E. Cheese.  Does all of this then make me an early-mid Y cusper and not a mid-late cusper?  No, because I wasn't old enough to embrace these Bush '41/Early Clinton-era trends full-on back when they first came out.

The only items on your list that I don't remember during the peak of their popularity was Kenan & Kel although I do vividly remember watching the reruns in the early 2000's, and the late Disney Renaissance films although I do remember watching films like Hercules & Mulan when they were still seen as recent and I remember getting Tarzan on VHS right when it came out for it.

The Disney Renaissance movies are a very different experience if you were old enough to remember back when they were brand new.  I can probably attribute much of my general preference of Hercules and Mulan over Aladdin and The Lion King to my age, having grown up with the spin-off merchandise for the former two and talked to other kids my age about them, neither of which I was able to do with the latter two.  Also, Mulan is really the last film with that same effect, since it was a Broadway-style musical instead of a post-Renaissance-esque movie with Phil Collins singing all of the songs.

So in the grand scheme of things, how does that make me that dramatically different to some one only a year or two older than me? Wouldn't that make me core Y (based on your definition) as well since I remember a lot of these quintessential millennial era things along with a pre 9/11 world?


Remembering a pre-9/11 world and late 90s trends doesn't automatically make you core Y; it simply means you're not from Generation Z.  People your age predominantly remembered and exposed themselves to late 90s and very early 2000s culture, but stuff from the post-9/11 early 2000s and mid-2000s were more likely to have been most integral to their childhoods, since they were new and exciting at the time.  Core Y'ers were much more likely to prefer the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color, whereas Late Y'ers would have gravitated more towards the GameCube and Game Boy Advance.  Core Y'ers would have listened a lot to Britney Spears and *NSYNC a lot as kids, whereas late Y'ers were more likely to have grown up with Hilary Duff and Ashlee Simpson.  Core Y'ers are very likely to have played or even owned an SNES or Sega Genesis, while late Y'ers would have seen the Nintendo 64 as the gently retro video game console at the time.  Core Y would have tended to cherish Power Rangers and Pokémon as kids, while late Y would have been invested in Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! equally, with only a vague familiarity with Power Rangers.

What other trends would you consider as apart of the millennial era besides Pokémania?

Here are a few more, Kobe and Shaq laker dynasty, Roswell, Buffy, Angel, teen pop craze, St.Louis Rams greatest show on turf, Yankees dynasty, early dreamworks movies, anime craze, Kids WB, Clintons final years, Columbine, 1999 women's national soccer team, 2000 olympics, 2000 election, dots com bubble bust, Y2K, Dreamcast, WWF wrestling.

You mostly seem to mention how you knew about these trends through your older siblings rather than people the same age as you.  That doesn't really count.  I thought people here said my younger sister (who's two years older than you) was ridiculously young to be fully appreciating Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys at the time of their peak, so I especially don't see how people from your age would be a part of that cohort.  Also, with Roller Coaster Tycoon, I mostly mean the task-driven first game in the series, not the Six Flags-promoted sequel with a scenario editor, though I can understand why a late millennial would have owned and played the first game.

I was familiar myself with a lot of stuff from the early 90s and even late 80s; I played the Super Nintendo a lot at my mom's 24 Hour Fitness' daycare, my dad still had his old NES before I got my N64, several of my old CD-ROMs were from the early-mid 90s, we owned all of the Disney Renaissance movies on cassette except for The Rescuers Down Under and Tarzan, and I knew about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles through the pinball machine at my local Chuck E. Cheese.  Does all of this that make me an early-mid Y cusper and not a mid-late cusper?

The Disney Renaissance movies are a very different experience if you were old enough to remember back when they were brand new.  I can probably attribute much of my general preference of Hercules and Mulan over Aladdin and The Lion King to my age, having grown up with the spin-off merchandise for the former two and talked to other kids my age about them, neither of which I was able to do with the latter two.  Also, Mulan is really the last film with that same effect, since it was a Broadway-style musical instead of a post-Renaissance-esque movie with Phil Collins singing all of the songs.

Remembering a pre-9/11 world and late 90s trends doesn't automatically make you core Y; it simply means you're not from Generation Z.  People your age predominantly remembered and exposed themselves to late 90s and very early 2000s culture, but stuff from the post-9/11 early 2000s and mid-2000s were more likely to have been most integral to their childhoods, since they were new and exciting at the time.  Core Y'ers were much more likely to prefer the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color, whereas Late Y'ers would have gravitated more towards the GameCube and Game Boy Advance.  Core Y'ers would have listened a lot to Britney Spears and *NSYNC a lot as kids, whereas late Y'ers were more likely to have grown up with Hilary Duff and Ashlee Simpson.  Core Y'ers are very likely to have played or even owned an SNES or Sega Genesis, while late Y'ers would have seen the Nintendo 64 as the gently retro video game console at the time.  Core Y would have tended to cherish Power Rangers and Pokémon as kids, while late Y would have been invested in Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! equally, with only a vague familiarity with Power Rangers.


Well while yes I do remember NSYNC & BSB and the like because of my older sisters, HOWEVER many other trends from that time I do remember being engaged in without the help of my sisters (especially since they were born in the mid 80's and had outgrown most of these trends by this point), I had female cousins and friends who had furbies, I watched CCF & the Klasky Csupop Nicktoons on tv, I have played the ORIGINAL Roller Coaster Tycoon before the Six Flags version came about, I had a Gameboy Color, I watched Pokemon when it was at its peak in popularity from 1999-2001 and played the card game with friends at school, I remember those bizzare Gushers commercials, I would eat the original Wonderballs, I gamed on the N64 & PS1 for much of 2000-2003 until I started to gravitate more to newer systems in mid 2003, I owned the orange Nickelodeon VHS Tapes with shows like Blues Clues & Rugrats, I remember watching Zoog Disney at relatives houses and DCOMs like Brink & Halloween Town, and among many other trends through my own personal experiences.

I understand that everybody has different opinions on when Gen Y ends and begins or the cusp periods and what not, and I do agree that most of my core childhood was spent in the cultural early 2000's of late 2001-2003, but you said that those from 1996-1999 are on the cusp of Y & Z, so how does that make 1995 not on the cusp as well especially since they wouldn't remember the teen pop era unless they had older siblings themselves and also spent most of their core childhoods post 9/11 as well? Minus the Windows 95 definition of cutting off Gen Y/Z, or in your case core Y & Y/Z Cusp, there isn't much of a difference between a 1995er and a 1996er. If a 1995er could remember all of the things you mentioned being popular in the late 90's & pre 9/11 00's while also being in their core childhoods mostly in the post 9/11 early 00's, then I don't see how a 1996ers couldn't remember any of those things...

Exactly, I'm focusing strictly on trends from about the last third of 1996 through 9/11.  The Yu-Gi-Oh!/GameCube/Lizzie McGuire era isn't exactly the same thing.

Yu-Gi-Oh! definitely wasn't a millennial era fad unless you grew up in Japan.  Just because the youth culture of 2002/2003 was mostly targeted towards Generation Y doesn't make it the same as the late 90s.  There were a lot more distinctions between culture of the late 90s and early 2000s than most of you people give credit for.  Heck, even most of the classic late 90s Cartoon Cartoons and Klasky Csupo Nicktoons (Powerpuff Girls, Dexter's Laboratory, Hey Arnold!, etc.) were well beyond their prime by the time early 2000s culture was in full gear.

You mostly seem to mention how you knew about these trends through your older siblings rather than people the same age as you.  That doesn't really count.  I thought people here said my younger sister (who's two years older than you) was ridiculously young to be fully appreciating Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys at the time of their peak, so I especially don't see how people from your age would be a part of that cohort.  Also, with Roller Coaster Tycoon, I mostly mean the task-driven first game in the series, not the Six Flags-promoted sequel with a scenario editor, though I can understand why a late millennial would have owned and played the first game.

I was familiar myself with a lot of stuff from the early 90s and even late 80s; I played the Super Nintendo a lot at my mom's 24 Hour Fitness' daycare, my dad still had his old NES before I got my N64, several of my old CD-ROMs were from the early-mid 90s, we owned all of the Disney Renaissance movies on cassette except for The Rescuers Down Under and Tarzan, and I knew about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles through the pinball machine at my local Chuck E. Cheese.  Does all of this then make me an early-mid Y cusper and not a mid-late cusper?  No, because I wasn't old enough to embrace these Bush '41/Early Clinton-era trends full-on back when they first came out.

The Disney Renaissance movies are a very different experience if you were old enough to remember back when they were brand new.  I can probably attribute much of my general preference of Hercules and Mulan over Aladdin and The Lion King to my age, having grown up with the spin-off merchandise for the former two and talked to other kids my age about them, neither of which I was able to do with the latter two.  Also, Mulan is really the last film with that same effect, since it was a Broadway-style musical instead of a post-Renaissance-esque movie with Phil Collins singing all of the songs.

Remembering a pre-9/11 world and late 90s trends doesn't automatically make you core Y; it simply means you're not from Generation Z.  People your age predominantly remembered and exposed themselves to late 90s and very early 2000s culture, but stuff from the post-9/11 early 2000s and mid-2000s were more likely to have been most integral to their childhoods, since they were new and exciting at the time.  Core Y'ers were much more likely to prefer the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color, whereas Late Y'ers would have gravitated more towards the GameCube and Game Boy Advance.  Core Y'ers would have listened a lot to Britney Spears and *NSYNC a lot as kids, whereas late Y'ers were more likely to have grown up with Hilary Duff and Ashlee Simpson.  Core Y'ers are very likely to have played or even owned an SNES or Sega Genesis, while late Y'ers would have seen the Nintendo 64 as the gently retro video game console at the time.  Core Y would have tended to cherish Power Rangers and Pokémon as kids, while late Y would have been invested in Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! equally, with only a vague familiarity with Power Rangers.

Okay so where do I fit into this, I got my N64 in 1999 and game color in 2000. I actually liked NSYNC because I would see them on Zoog Disney sometimes, remember when Kobe and Shaq won their titles, remember the last two Renaissance movies while they were released, I loved power Rangers and Pokemon before yu gi oh, also watched Nick, Cartoon network, Disney channel, Fox kids, kids WB, and even a little bit of Toon Disney all during the "millennial period".

I'm having a bit of a identity crisis right now so you guys be the judge going based on MY memories of my early childhood:

1999:

While mostly vague memories, I do vividly remember the old house I used to live in. I remember that summer like it was yesterday, being baby sat by my older sisters, playing with my cousins, watching Kids WB, Fox Kids, ABC One Saturday Morning and Nick Jr., being a huge fan of Blues Clues and Little Bill on Nick Jr. and Pokemon and Animaniacs on Kids WB, going to a family reunion in Georgia and becoming potty trained on that same trip, etc. I remember my sisters being into NSYNC, Destiny's Child & Britney Spears back in the day and I remember hearing Cher's song Believe on the radio. I also remember Fall of 1999 pretty well, starting pre school, going on the school bus for the first time, watching shows like Rugrats on those orange VHS Tapes, remembering my first Halloween, Christmas of 99' and getting tons of toys, my parents being scared of Y2K, and New Year 2000

2000:

While my memories are still pretty vague, they start to clear it up much more. I remember when we moved from our old house in Queens NY to our new house Brooklyn in or around April of 2000. I remember when we first got there that the backyard of the house had tons of weeds, so I remember me and my family working as a team to get out the weeds. I remember watching WWF with my cousins and we would pretend that we were the wrestlers on tv and kick each other assess. I played the SNES, PS1, Dreamcast, & N64 for the first time at my cousins house and one of my favorite games of all time being Ocarina of Time. I also remember watching Disney films with my family every weekend including the recent (albeit at the time) renasaincce films like Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast, along with my favorite from my early childhood which I remember vividly getting the VHS copy for, that being Tarzan. I remember summer of 2000 like it was yesterday, going to summer camp for the first time, going on various trips with the camp including one to Fun Time USA and another one to a Carnival, I remember my parents taking me to Coney Island for the first time this year and I remember getting a kiddy ride by myself and on the himalaya ride with my dad, I also went to Orlando, Florida and I remember going to Disney World for the first time this year and I remember the fireworks and such and being scared of some of the rides there like Magic Mountain, We also went to Universal Studios and I remember getting on the Twister, King Kong, E.T, Jaws, & Men In Black rides. Around Fall of 2000, is when my memories started to become substantially clearer. I was heavily into Pokemon at this point and I remember kids at my pre school playing the card game. I learned how to play the card game and became a fan of it ever since. I eventually got a Gameboy Color that Christmas with Pokemon Red (although I didn't know how to read so when I played it was doing random stuff without progressing the story, I eventually beat the game in 2003) & Tetris. I also along got tons of toys that year including a Reptar toy, and my first Hess Truck. I vividly remember my sister 5 years my senior getting a HitClip that year as well.

2001:

Now this was when my memories became VERY Clear. I would go to pre school for much of the 2000-2001 school year, learning about the alphabet and such. I would play my Gameboy Color almost all the time I was in the car. For my 5th birthday in March of 2001, we had a huge party at my house and I remember getting a Playstation 1, which came with that month's issue of Playstation Underground, along with the Playstation Underground Demo Disc. The first game I got with it was Tarzan, it was a side scroller with 3d polygons. It basically taught me the basics of gaming, which I appreciate deeply. I remember that year I would get tons of more PS1 games like Scooby Doo and the Cyber Chase, Spiderman, Spiderman 2: Enter Electro, 101 Dalmatians Puppies to the Rescue, Crash 3, Spyro Year of the Dragon, Monster's Inc. Scream Team, Rugrats Search of Reptar, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 & 3, and Ape Escape among countless others. My gaming life also continued with playing N64 at my cousins house with games like Super Smash Bros, Mario Kart 64, Super Mario 64, Mario Party 2, Diddy Kong Racing, Banjo Kazooie, & Conker's Bad Fur Day (this was my older cousins lol). I remember being fully in dept with Pokemania this year when it came to the game on my gameboy color, the card game with friends at school and of course the show along with other shows like Static Shock, X-Men Evolution, & Jackie Chan Adventures on Kids WB, shows like Digimon (and well thats it) on Fox Kids, and shows like Doug, Recess, Teacher's Pet, Buzz Lightyear Star Command, & Llyod in Space on One Saturday Morning. I also went to Chucky Cheese for the first time for a friends birthday party in spring of that year and I remember playing in the ball pin. I remember my pre school graduation, and everybody being dressed up including me! I also remember having a family picture shoot right after. That summer was pretty epic as well, I went to Six Flags for the first time, I went back to summer camp again this year, I went Coney Island a few times, going to two family reunions one in upstate New York and the other in Georgia, watching WWF with my cousins during the tail end of the Attitude Era, learning how to ride a bike, going to Circus, going to a block party in Harlem, etc. I remember my older sisters and cousins being into JLO, Destiny's Child, NSYNC, Britney Spears, Christina Agulliera, & Aaliyah (especially around when she died) that year. Along with a lot of alternative and hip hop on the radio. I also remember my first day of kindergarten like it was yesterday and being very scared, but ended up having a blast and making new friends. Of course you cannot forget about September 11th though, thats sure was depressing even as a 5 year old. But I still generally had fun for the rest of the year, my family got cable in our entire household in October and I remember that I started to watch Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, & Toon Disney regularly. I would also watch Disney channel if they were playing a DCOM or Lizzie McGuire (a guilty pleasure of mine). That christmas, I remember I got a bunch of new PS1 games and GBC games, along with toys like a Bop It, another Hess Truck along with countless others. All in all 2001 brings back many great memories!


So based on this lengthy post, do you still think that someone from 1995 is in a different cohort from someone in 1996?

I do agree that most of my core childhood was spent in the cultural early 2000's of late 2001-2003.


You gotta remember that she was referring to the majority of people in the 1996-1999 range, and the peak of that range would be late 1997-mid 1998 born's, or Class of 2016, so I understand why we feel this way. Just keep in mind, that on average, and I've said this before, but assuming that you don't get influence by older brothers/sisters, most people on average don't discover the pop culture geared towards kids for their core childhoods until Kindergarten or even 1st grade. You hardly see anybody on here consider toddler, preschool or pre-K life important to their childhood, because it's vague early childhood memories that don't mean that much, but I understand that everybody is different though. Most 1996 born's core childhood lasted from late 2001-early 2007, that's post-9/11 early 2000's AND the entire mid 2000's too. So that's only half of the early 2000's when some trends were still relevant but phasing out, and all of the mid 2000's when all of the trends were gone by then.

So you have to understand that we're barely millennial era kids, we're half n' half. We may have caught reruns of Kenan & Kel, but most people from our generation would consider Drake & Josh as more apart of core childhoods rather than that. Cartoon Cartoons and Klaspy Csupo cartoons may have been past its prime by 2002 and 2003, but the new shows that would define the mid 2000's shows like Foster's Home or Avatar: TLA weren't there yet until we started 3rd grade, which makes us feel like we're on the cusp, so I get it. Also as for teen pop music from the late 90's and early 2000's from artists Britney Spears, NSYNC, or Backstreet Boys, hate to admit the truth, but the teenagers in middle school and high school at the time were the main target audience for it, born throughout the 80's. We may have been old enough to remember the millennial teen pop music, but again, it wasn't targeted towards us, heck not even most early 90's babies were the main target audience for a lot of its run. It's the similar situation with grunge music of the early to mid 90's, it was mostly folks born in the 70's and early 80's who were in the target audience for it. Keep in mind, not everybody had older brothers/sisters who influenced the pop culture to them at an early age.

Okay so where do I fit into this, I got my N64 in 1999 and game color in 2000. I actually liked NSYNC because I would see them on Zoog Disney sometimes, remember when Kobe and Shaq won their titles, remember the last two Renaissance movies while they were released, I loved power Rangers and Pokemon before yu gi oh, also watched Nick, Cartoon network, Disney channel, Fox kids, kids WB, and even a little bit of Toon Disney all during the "millennial period".


Solidly late Y, without sub-era overlap.  I'm guessing you were more familiar with later Power Rangers series like Lost Galaxy than Mighty Morphin,' but it still seems like your childhood was predominantly comprised of things from the late millennial era (winter 1998/1999 through 9/11) through the mid-2000s.  You seem pretty much in the same category as my sister, although my sister hated animated movies and was never a fan of video games aside from Mario Party 2.


Well while yes I do remember NSYNC & BSB and the like because of my older sisters, HOWEVER many other trends from that time I do remember being engaged in without the help of my sisters (especially since they were born in the mid 80's and had outgrown most of these trends by this point), I had female cousins and friends who had furbies, I watched CCF & the Klasky Csupop Nicktoons on tv, I have played the ORIGINAL Roller Coaster Tycoon before the Six Flags version came about, I had a Gameboy Color, I watched Pokemon when it was at its peak in popularity from 1999-2001 and played the card game with friends at school, I remember those bizzare Gushers commercials, I would eat the original Wonderballs, I gamed on the N64 & PS1 for much of 2000-2003 until I started to gravitate more to newer systems in mid 2003, I owned the orange Nickelodeon VHS Tapes with shows like Blues Clues & Rugrats, I remember watching Zoog Disney at relatives houses and DCOMs like Brink & Halloween Town, and among many other trends through my own personal experiences.

I understand that everybody has different opinions on when Gen Y ends and begins or the cusp periods and what not, and I do agree that most of my core childhood was spent in the cultural early 2000's of late 2001-2003, but you said that those from 1996-1999 are on the cusp of Y & Z, so how does that make 1995 not on the cusp as well especially since they wouldn't remember the teen pop era unless they had older siblings themselves and also spent most of their core childhoods post 9/11 as well? Minus the Windows 95 definition of cutting off Gen Y/Z, or in your case core Y & Y/Z Cusp, there isn't much of a difference between a 1995er and a 1996er. If a 1995er could remember all of the things you mentioned being popular in the late 90's & pre 9/11 00's while also being in their core childhoods mostly in the post 9/11 early 00's, then I don't see how a 1996ers couldn't remember any of those things...


First, how much stuff from the early-mid 90s did you grow up with?  Second, were you more attached to culture from the last third of 1996 through pre-9/11 2001 or stuff from post-9/11 2001 through mid-2006?  I'm assuming you preferred the N64 over the GameCube based on your username and avatar, but you would not have turned 13 until 2009, so my guess is that 2006 was about the time you felt like you were exiting your childhood and entering your adolescence.  At the very least, I would think that much of the new stuff from the mid-2000s would have made an impact on your childhood to a degree it never did for me.

If this clarifies anything, I don't really see the class of 2014 as a Y/Z cusp year - that' more 2015-2017 - so just because you were born in 1996 doesn't mean you're likelier to be on the cusp.


You gotta remember that she was referring to the majority of people in the 1996-1999 range, and the peak of that range would be late 1997-mid 1998 born's, or Class of 2016, so I understand why we feel this way. Just keep in mind, that on average, and I've said this before, but assuming that you don't get influence by older brothers/sisters, most people on average don't discover the pop culture geared towards kids for their core childhoods until Kindergarten or even 1st grade. You hardly see anybody on here consider toddler, preschool or pre-K life important to their childhood, because it's vague early childhood memories that don't mean that much, but I understand that everybody is different though. Most 1996 born's core childhood lasted from late 2001-early 2007, that's post-9/11 early 2000's AND the entire mid 2000's too. So that's only half of the early 2000's when some trends were still relevant but phasing out, and all of the mid 2000's when all of the trends were gone by then.

So you have to understand that we're barely millennial era kids, we're half n' half. We may have caught reruns of Kenan & Kel, but most people from our generation would consider Drake & Josh as more apart of core childhoods rather than that. Cartoon Cartoons and Klaspy Csupo cartoons may have been past its prime by 2002 and 2003, but the new shows that would define the mid 2000's shows like Foster's Home or Avatar: TLA weren't there yet until we started 3rd grade, which makes us feel like we're on the cusp, so I get it. Also as for teen pop music from the late 90's and early 2000's from artists Britney Spears, NSYNC, or Backstreet Boys, hate to admit the truth, but the teenagers in middle school and high school at the time were the main target audience for it, born throughout the 80's. We may have been old enough to remember the millennial teen pop music, but again, it wasn't targeted towards us, heck not even most early 90's babies were the main target audience for a lot of its run. Probably through older brothers/sisters who influenced you. But not everybody had older brothers/sisters who influenced the pop culture to them at an early age.


Yeah, this is basically what I meant.  I think ocarinafan96 was heavily emphasizing his familiarity with millennial era trends because he didn't want to be considered part of Generation Z.  Not to fear, he's definitely nowhere on the cusp based on how much stuff from the late 90s was important to his childhood.

Solidly late Y, without sub-era overlap.  I'm guessing you were more familiar with later Power Rangers series like Lost Galaxy than Mighty Morphin,' but it still seems like your childhood was predominantly comprised of things from the late millennial era (winter 1998/1999 through 9/11) through the mid-2000s.  You seem pretty much in the same category as my sister, although my sister hated animated movies and was never a fan of video games aside from Mario Party 2.

First, how much stuff from the early-mid 90s did you grow up with?  Second, were you more attached to culture from the last third of 1996 through pre-9/11 2001 or stuff from post-9/11 2001 through mid-2006?  I'm assuming you preferred the N64 over the GameCube based on your username and avatar, but you would not have turned 13 until 2009, so my guess is that 2006 was about the time you felt like you were exiting your childhood and entering your adolescence.  At the very least, I would think that much of the new stuff from the mid-2000s would have made an impact on your childhood to a degree it never did for me.

If this clarifies anything, I don't really see the class of 2014 as a Y/Z cusp year - that' more 2015-2017 - so just because you were born in 1996 doesn't mean you're likelier to be on the cusp.

Yeah, this is basically what I meant.  I think ocarinafan96 was heavily emphasizing his familiarity with millennial era trends because he didn't want to be considered part of Generation Z.  Not to fear, he's definitely nowhere on the cusp based on how much stuff from the late 90s was important to his childhood.


On the first point about the early-mid 90's I had a lot of the Disney Renaissance films, one of my cousins had a SNES and I played it countless times, I remember watching quintessential 90's movies like Forrest Gump & Shawshank Redemption, I watched reruns of Full House & Fresh Prince, I knew terms like 'Talk to the Hand' and 'Radical' (although some of these terms were still used in various kid shows in the early 00's so thats probably how I know about them), I would listen to 90's musicians like Mariah Carey and Ace of Base, etc.

I'll admit that I was mostly influenced by the late 2001-Mid 2006 culture, since I was 5-10 during that time. However, I have a huge soft spot for the culture of late 1998-Mid 2001, when I was 2 1/2-5 years old, in a similar view like EAZY-EMan or your sister might of viewed of that period. I personally prefer the N64 over the Gamecube because of the huge nostalgia I have over it since I first played it in 2000, and played it regularly until mid 2003, plus one of my favorite games of all time being Ocarina of Time. Same with PS1, although PS2 was very dear to me as well. For me personally the N64 & PS1 Dominated my childhood in the early 2000's, while the Gamecube & PS2 Dominated my childhood in the mid 2000's. Finally on the last point, I along with mqg and Eazy-Eman, wasn't a huge fan of a lot of the shows and kiddy culture that was emerging around in 2006. For instance, I never viewed Disney Channel shows like Hannah Montana or Zack & Cody (even though I was huge fan of Z&C) as shows that influenced my core childhood in the same way someone from 1999 or 2000 might, however I definitely see shows like Lizzie McGuire and Even Stevens impacting my core childhood. Same with many Nick shows, while I loved shows like Drake & Josh and Ned's Declassified I always associated those shows with my tween years since I was age 8-11/12 when they were on the air and reran regularly well into my teens! While shows like The Amanda Show which was on the air when I was age 3-6, and reran regularly from age 7-9 is a show that I associate with my childhood when it comes to Nick tween shows.

I would go on and on, but my main point was that I wasn't trying to imply that I am not Y/Z cusp, but more because you mentioned that someone from 1995 is late Y, while someone in 1996 is YZ cusp. Even though we BOTH had our early childhoods in the Y2K Era, BOTH had our core childhoods in the early 00's, BOTH had our tween years in the mid-late 2000's, & BOTH became teens in the 2000's.

Minus a 1995er having slightly more late 90s memories and starting HS in 2009, there really isn't much to suggest that a 1995er is Late or Core Y while 1996 is the start of YZ Cusp. But I see you just posted that you think the C/O 2014 is not really on the cusp just like the C/O 2013, so I guess you get where I'm coming from now, that 1995 & 1996, regardless if you think we're YZ cuspers or solidly Late Y, are for the most part the same

So you have to understand that we're barely millennial era kids, we're half n' half. We may have caught reruns of Kenan & Kel, but most people from our generation would consider Drake & Josh as more apart of core childhoods rather than that.

Drake and Josh had the SAME impact as Keenan and Kel had on me as a kid, and that was filled with great memories! :)

I'll admit that I was mostly influenced by the late 2001-Mid 2006 culture, since I was 5-10 during that time. However, I have a huge soft spot for the culture of late 1998-Mid 2001, when I was 2 1/2-5 years old, in a similar view like EAZY-EMan or your sister might of viewed of that period. I personally prefer the N64 over the Gamecube because of the huge nostalgia I have over it since I first played it in 2000, and played it regularly until mid 2003, plus one of my favorite games of all time being Ocarina of Time. Same with PS1, although PS2 was very dear to me as well. For me personally the N64 & PS1 Dominated my childhood in the early 2000's, while the Gamecube & PS2 Dominated my childhood in the mid 2000's. Finally on the last point, I along with mqg and Eazy-Eman, wasn't a huge fan of a lot of the shows and kiddy culture that was emerging around in 2006. For instance, I never viewed Disney Channel shows like Hannah Montana or Zack & Cody (even though I was huge fan of Z&C) as shows that influenced my core childhood in the same way someone from 1999 or 2000 might, however I definitely see shows like Lizzie McGuire and Even Stevens impacting my core childhood. Same with many Nick shows, while I loved shows like Drake & Josh and Ned's Declassified I always associated those shows with my tween years since I was age 8-11/12 when they were on the air and reran regularly well into my teens! While shows like The Amanda Show which was on the air when I was age 3-6, and reran regularly from age 7-9 is a show that I associate with my childhood when it comes to Nick tween shows.


You make some good points. I'd say that 5th generation gaming from the N64, PS1, and Gameboy Color would be our early childhood years. 6th generation gaming from the Gamecube, PS2, XBOX, and Gameboy Advance would be our core/peak childhood years. Then 7th generation gaming from Wii, PS3, XBOX 360, PSP, and Nintendo DS would be our late childhoods/core adolescence years. As for Disney Channel. Don't forget That's So Raven (seasons 1-3) and Phil of the Future too, those are the main Disney Channel shows I associate with my core childhood along with Even Stevens, Proud Family, and Kim Possible. I also liked the first 2 seasons of Zack & Cody. I myself, hated most of the Disney Channel shows created from Hannah Montana and onwards. As for Cartoon Network, the only shows that started in CN City I liked were Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and Ben 10.

Drake and Josh had the SAME impact as Keenan and Kel had on me as a kid, and that was filled with great memories! :)


I can definitely get past the "SAME impact" part, like the influence the two shows had on your childhood being equal. However, Kenan & Kel's original run was from 1996-2000, while Drake & Josh lasted from 2004-2007, that was my point when it came to my original statement. Your opinion is right with mine though.

You make some good points. I'd say that 5th generation gaming from the N64, PS1, and Gameboy Color would be our early childhood years. 6th generation gaming from the Gamecube, PS2, XBOX, and Gameboy Advance would be our core/peak childhood years. Then 7th generation gaming from Wii, PS3, XBOX 360, PSP, and Nintendo DS would be our late childhoods/core adolescence years. As for Disney Channel. Don't forget That's So Raven (seasons 1-3) and Phil of the Future too, those are the main Disney Channel shows I associate with my core childhood along with Even Stevens, Proud Family, and Kim Possible. I also liked the first 2 seasons of Zack & Cody. I myself, hated most of the Disney Channel shows created from Hannah Montana and onwards. As for Cartoon Network, the only shows that started in CN City I liked were Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and Ben 10.


This.

On the first point about the early-mid 90's I had a lot of the Disney Renaissance films, one of my cousins had a SNES and I played it countless times, I remember watching quintessential 90's movies like Forrest Gump & Shawshank Redemption, I watched reruns of Full House & Fresh Prince, I knew terms like 'Talk to the Hand' and 'Radical' (although some of these terms were still used in various kid shows in the early 00's so thats probably how I know about them), I would listen to 90's musicians like Mariah Carey and Ace of Base, etc.

I'll admit that I was mostly influenced by the late 2001-Mid 2006 culture, since I was 5-10 during that time. However, I have a huge soft spot for the culture of late 1998-Mid 2001, when I was 2 1/2-5 years old, in a similar view like EAZY-EMan or your sister might of viewed of that period. I personally prefer the N64 over the Gamecube because of the huge nostalgia I have over it since I first played it in 2000, and played it regularly until mid 2003, plus one of my favorite games of all time being Ocarina of Time. Same with PS1, although PS2 was very dear to me as well. For me personally the N64 & PS1 Dominated my childhood in the early 2000's, while the Gamecube & PS2 Dominated my childhood in the mid 2000's. Finally on the last point, I along with mqg and Eazy-Eman, wasn't a huge fan of a lot of the shows and kiddy culture that was emerging around in 2006. For instance, I never viewed Disney Channel shows like Hannah Montana or Zack & Cody (even though I was huge fan of Z&C) as shows that influenced my core childhood in the same way someone from 1999 or 2000 might, however I definitely see shows like Lizzie McGuire and Even Stevens impacting my core childhood. Same with many Nick shows, while I loved shows like Drake & Josh and Ned's Declassified I always associated those shows with my tween years since I was age 8-11/12 when they were on the air and reran regularly well into my teens! While shows like The Amanda Show which was on the air when I was age 3-6, and reran regularly from age 7-9 is a show that I associate with my childhood when it comes to Nick tween shows.

I would go on and on, but my main point was that I wasn't trying to imply that I am not Y/Z cusp, but more because you mentioned that someone from 1995 is late Y, while someone in 1996 is YZ cusp. Even though we BOTH had our early childhoods in the Y2K Era, BOTH had our core childhoods in the early 00's, BOTH had our tween years in the mid-late 2000's, & BOTH became teens in the 2000's.

Minus a 1995er having slightly more late 90s memories and starting HS in 2009, there really isn't much to suggest that a 1995er is Late or Core Y while 1996 is the start of YZ Cusp. But I see you just posted that you think the C/O 2014 is not really on the cusp just like the C/O 2013, so I guess you get where I'm coming from now, that 1995 & 1996, regardless if you think we're YZ cuspers or solidly Late Y, are for the most part the same

Same here, though I'm kind of in a weird position because as a 95er the 2000-2005 culture as a kid were the main times looking back,and late 1998-early 2000 although it was early it was still a VERY important part; N64, PS1, and Gameboy color were apart of both my early AND core childhood, PS2, Gameboy Advanced, and Gamecube were just a continuation of that,XBOX 360 and PS3 wasn't late childhood for me at all, since I got them when I was 13 and 14. silver age Nick and Cartoon Cartoons were both apart of my early AND peak childhood, Zoog disney was BOTH early and peak childhood Kobe and Shaq Laker dynasty was BOTH early and peak, ST. Louis Rams greatest show on turf was both early and peak. The only things predominantly early I can think of was Clinton's final years, economic prosperity(dot com bubble),latter Renaissance films, Toy Story 2, early Dreamworks movies,Backstreet Boys,Jordan's last title.  So I'm kind of in a weird mix of millennial era,early 00s, and even a little mid 00s.

Solidly late Y, without sub-era overlap.  I'm guessing you were more familiar with later Power Rangers series like Lost Galaxy than Mighty Morphin,' but it still seems like your childhood was predominantly comprised of things from the late millennial era (winter 1998/1999 through 9/11) through the mid-2000s.  You seem pretty much in the same category as my sister, although my sister hated animated movies and was never a fan of video games aside from Mario Party 2.

Yeah I mainly a millennial and early 00s kid, with a mix of mid 00s. and btw, I liked the N64 A LOT more than the gamecube, when I first played the gamecube when my cousin got it I LOVED IT, because of mario kart, smash bros meele,hot wheels, and he also had DBZ budokai 1 on there!! :D  I loved late 2001-2003 Gamecube, After the early 2000s I didn't like it as much.  N64 felt AMAZING all the years I played it, 1999- early 2003. Then, I got the PS2 and it ended up being my favorite console OF ALL TIME!! :D  I unfortunately didn't grow up with the SNES :\'( , but played my Uncle's Genesis, so N64 ended up being my second favorite console ever.

Same here, though I'm kind of in a weird position because as a 95er the 2000-2005 culture as a kid were the main times looking back,and late 1998-early 2000 although it was early it was still a VERY important part; N64, PS1, and Gameboy color were apart of both my early AND core childhood, PS2, Gameboy Advanced, and Gamecube were just a continuation of that,XBOX 360 and PS3 wasn't late childhood for me at all, since I got them when I was 13 and 14. silver age Nick and Cartoon Cartoons were both apart of my early AND peak childhood, Zoog disney was BOTH early and peak childhood Kobe and Shaq Laker dynasty was BOTH early and peak, ST. Louis Rams greatest show on turf was both early and peak. The only things predominantly early I can think of was Clinton's final years, economic prosperity(dot com bubble),latter Renaissance films, Toy Story 2, early Dreamworks movies,Backstreet Boys,Jordan's last title.  So I'm kind of in a weird mix of millennial era,early 00s, and even a little mid 00s.


Same here man! The PS1, Dreamcast, GBC, & N64, despite past its peak, were still my consoles of choice for a good chunk of my core years from mid 2001-early 2004 aka the cultural early 00's along with many other things from that era, while the PS2,Gamecube,GBA, & Xbox I always associated with my core years from 2004-Mid 2006 aka the cultural mid 00's. I personally do not view many things from post 2006 as my core years either, heck the PS3 & Xbox 360 I associate more with my youth, being Middle School and High School, rather than childhood. The only 7th gen console I see impacting my childhood would probably be the Wii, I would associate it with my tween/early teen years since it was in its peak in popularity from 2006-2009, when I was 10-13. By the time I got a PS3, it was Dec of 2009 and I was already a teen

I guess what it all comes down to, Late Y's are much more similar to core Y's than they are to early Z's.  Regardless of phrasing, Late Y and Core Y are still the same generation, after all.

And all this time I thought I was Gen X.... thanks for clearing that up.


I think I'm Generation X.

I think I'm Generation X.

yep, without question!

The only 7th gen console I see impacting my childhood would probably be the Wii, I would associate it with my tween/early teen years since it was in its peak in popularity from 2006-2009, when I was 10-13.


Heck I wouldn't even say the Wii peaked in 2006, because it didn't come out until around Thanksgiving 2006, and I remember a lot of my friends not getting it until the year after it was released when more games for the console had came out. So IMO the Wii's peak was from 2007-2009 without a doubt. My favorite Wii game was Super Mario Galaxy, which I got for my 12th birthday in 2008. Here's an article I found btw >>>> http://wiiudaily.com/2015/11/2015-is-nintendos-lowest-reviewed-year-on-metacritic-in-10-years/

It seems like the Wii's peak was the 2007-2008 school year, when Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario Kart Wii, and Wii Fit came out.  After that, people gradually started to lose interest in the system, though it did have a few more popular titles like New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and Donkey Kong Country Returns.

It seems like the Wii's peak was the 2007-2008 school year, when Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario Kart Wii, and Wii Fit came out. After that, people gradually started to lose interest in the system, though it did have a few more popular titles like New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and Donkey Kong Country Returns.


Yep, this totally applies to me. I got the Wii in Christmas 2007 which came with Wii Sports and Wii Fit, got Super Mario Galaxy for my 12th birthday, got Super Smash Bros. Brawl after I finished 6th grade, and then I got Mario Kart Wii right before I started 7th grade. I got New Super Mario Bros. Wii in Christmas 2009, which was the last Wii game I played. I never got Super Mario Galaxy 2 unfortunately but I heard it wasn't as good as the first one anyway.

Oh ok. Yeah 1993, is tricky because while they spend most of their teens in the 00's they were the first to have spent a decent amount of their HS years in the 10's. I have a question for you, since you said in the past that you do not agree with being separated with 1992 borns, how would u define Gen Y and or the cusp periods in general?


It's hard to say, generations are a complicated thing. And the definition of gen y tends to change. Heck, based on your experiences, I don't think I'd even call you a cusper. I don't know. All I know is that there are people who share similar childhoods to me, but as I get older, the specific generation splits (core, late, etc.) become insignificant. The difference between the experience of a 6 year old compared to a 10 year old or a 2 year old may be big, but the difference between the experience of a 22 year old and an 18 year old or a 26 year old is not that significant. If that makes sense.

The difference between the experience of a 6 year old compared to a 10 year old or a 2 year old may be big.


Funny thing is, age 6 is usually defined as the first full year of core childhood by most people, while age 10 is considered as the last full year of core childhood by most people. A 5 year old could be COMPLETELY different than a 6 year old. There's a huge attitude change. A 5 year old could still be leaning basics like 2-4 year old's. A 6 year old could be into the kid culture doing big kid stuff like 7-10 year old's.

Heck I wouldn't even say the Wii peaked in 2006, because it didn't come out until around Thanksgiving 2006, and I remember a lot of my friends not getting it until the year after it was released when more games for the console had came out. So IMO the Wii's peak was from 2007-2009 without a doubt. My favorite Wii game was Super Mario Galaxy, which I got for my 12th birthday in 2008. Here's an article I found btw >>>> http://wiiudaily.com/2015/11/2015-is-nintendos-lowest-reviewed-year-on-metacritic-in-10-years/


That's true! Yeah for me I got a Wii for my 11th birthday (I was extremely lucky). I got Super Mario Galaxy right around when it came out and I pre ordered Super Smash Bros Brawl, I got it right when it came out as well!

I was familiar myself with a lot of stuff from the early 90s and even late 80s; I played the Super Nintendo a lot at my mom's 24 Hour Fitness' daycare, my dad still had his old NES before I got my N64, several of my old CD-ROMs were from the early-mid 90s, we owned all of the Disney Renaissance movies on cassette except for The Rescuers Down Under and Tarzan, and I knew about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles through the pinball machine at my local Chuck E. Cheese.  Does all of this then make me an early-mid Y cusper and not a mid-late cusper?  No, because I wasn't old enough to embrace these Bush '41/Early Clinton-era trends full-on back when they first came out.


This post really got me thinking about just how much '80s stuff I grew up with as a kid. In the early '90s there was a number of core '80s kid shows I was into like Muppet Babies, Adventures of the Gummi Bears, David the Gnome, Care Bears, Alvin & the Chipmunks, Heathcliff, and G.I. Joe. You could possibly even throw TMNT in there because, even though most kids my age grew up watching it, we were not really the core target audience for the show.

I owned an NES myself, and had a friend who actually owned a Sega Master System. I even had a Commodore 64 as a kid that I got second hand from my older cousin, complete with dozens of games on floppy disk like Bionic Commando. Also, my mom was quite young when I was born, so I really grew up listening to a lot of '80s music through her. She was a huge Michael Jackson fan, so I heard Billie Jean constantly on cassette tape as a kid.

It is interesting how things can be "before your time" but still have a profound impact on your formative years. I can totally see how somebody born in 1996 would feel that they could relate to many '90s fads and trends that they were just on the periphery of as a kid, because I've always felt that way about the '80s.

This post really got me thinking about just how much '80s stuff I grew up with as a kid. In the early '90s there was a number of core '80s kid shows I was into like Muppet Babies, Adventures of the Gummi Bears, David the Gnome, Care Bears, Alvin & the Chipmunks, Heathcliff, and G.I. Joe. You could possibly even throw TMNT in there because, even though most kids my age grew up watching it, we were not really the core target audience for the show.

Yeah, I feel the same way about reruns of 90's cartoons that were played on CN, Nick, or Toon Disney throughout the early 2000's.


It is interesting how things can be "before your time" but still have a profound impact on your formative years. I can totally see how somebody born in 1996 would feel that they could relate to many '90s fads and trends that they were just on the periphery of as a kid, because I've always felt that way about the '80s.


From my experience, I notice that people tend to play video games much earlier than watching their favorite TV shows. I know people who know how to play games as early as 3 years old. I know this because I had a Nintendo DS and Mario Kart DS, and my younger sister born in 2003, was 4 in 2007 and she knew how to play Mario Kart DS, and she wasn't bad at it, she knew what she was doing. Like driving the right way and putting out items at the right time. So I believe that even if you haven't started Kindergarten yet you can still consider video games from your early childhood as apart of your time. It's E for EVERYONE for a reason! Which means ALL AGES! E+10 for 10 & UP, T for TEENS, and M for MATURE, that's a different story.

Now when it comes to cartoons on TV, I notice that a lot of folks don't watch those until around Kindergarten or 1st grade, before Kindergarten most people watch preschool shows only. If you ask most of your friends if they remember any of their favorite kid shows from before Kindergarten the majority of the shows they'll mostly mention are little kid shows and not that big kid shows that are TV-G or TV-Y7 until maybe Kindergarten or 1st grade or so. This is just from my experience BTW.

So while 5th generation gaming (N64, PS1) is something that started around the same time I was born, it's popularity lasted from 1996-2001 and it wasn't discontinued until 2003. Yes, almost all of 5th generation's popularity was before Kindergarten for me, but like I said, with video games its different, because the E for EVERYONE games are targeted towards everyone, and kids can know what they're doing on video games as early as 3 or 4 years old, so I consider 5th generation as my time, even though its an early childhood thing.

As for TV shows, that's a different story, any TV show that had already ended before 2001/2002, is before my time, unless it still had new episodes at the time. Even if reruns were played on TV and it impacted my childhood, it's still before my time if the show had already ended. Shows like Dexter's Laboratory, Hey Arnold, Even Stevens, or Rugrats, are my time, yes the shows were already popular before I entered Kindergarten, but it still had new episodes when I was in grade school, so even the reruns count as apart of my time regardless if it premiered before I was born or if I was a baby. Shows like Kenan & Kel, Cow & Chicken, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, or X-Men: TAS, I caught reruns on TV and it impacted my childhood, but the shows had already ended well before I started Kindergarten, some had even ended right after I was born, so I still consider it as before my time rather it impacted my childhood or not.

From my experience, I notice that people tend to play video games much earlier than watching their favorite TV shows. I know people who know how to play games as early as 3 years old. I know this because I had a Nintendo DS and Mario Kart DS, and my younger sister born in 2003, was 4 in 2007 and she knew how to play Mario Kart DS, and she wasn't bad at it, she knew what she was doing. Like driving the right way and putting out items at the right time. So I believe that even if you haven't started Kindergarten yet you can still consider video games from your early childhood as apart of your time. It's E for EVERYONE for a reason! Which means ALL AGES! E+10 for 10 & UP, T for TEENS, and M for MATURE, that's a different story.


Sheesh, am I the only person who grew up with educational tools before playing video games proper?  :o

Now when it comes to cartoons on TV, I notice that a lot of folks don't watch those until around Kindergarten or 1st grade, before Kindergarten most people watch preschool shows only. If you ask most of your friends if they remember any of their favorite kid shows from before Kindergarten the majority of the shows they'll mostly mention are little kid shows and not that big kid shows that are TV-G or TV-Y7 until maybe Kindergarten or 1st grade or so. This is just from my experience BTW.

So while 5th generation gaming (N64, PS1) is something that started around the same time I was born, it's popularity lasted from 1996-2001 and it wasn't discontinued until 2003. Yes, almost all of 5th generation's popularity was before Kindergarten for me, but like I said, with video games its different, because the E for EVERYONE games are targeted towards everyone, and kids can know what they're doing on video games as early as 3 or 4 years old, so I consider 5th generation as my time, even though its an early childhood thing.

As for TV shows, that's a different story, any TV show that had already ended before 2001/2002, is before my time, unless it still had new episodes at the time. Even if reruns were played on TV and it impacted my childhood, it's still before my time if the show had already ended. Shows like Dexter's Laboratory, Hey Arnold, Even Stevens, or Rugrats, are my time, yes the shows were already popular before I entered Kindergarten, but it still had new episodes when I was in grade school, so even the reruns count as apart of my time regardless if it premiered before I was born or if I was a baby. Shows like Kenan & Kel, Cow & Chicken, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, or X-Men: TAS, I caught reruns on TV and it impacted my childhood, but the shows had already ended well before I started Kindergarten, some had even ended right after I was born, so I still consider it as before my time rather it impacted my childhood or not.

Small critique, you were technically born during the transition from 4th to 5th gen! ;D  But no biggie. And when I was younger I always considered 1998/99-2005/06 as my main kid culture anything prior to that I consider a bit before my time, but that's just me. 3-5, I watched a mix of big kid and little kid shows.

Yeah, I feel the same way about reruns of 90's cartoons that were played on CN, Nick, or Toon Disney throughout the early 2000's.

From my experience, I notice that people tend to play video games much earlier than watching their favorite TV shows. I know people who know how to play games as early as 3 years old. I know this because I had a Nintendo DS and Mario Kart DS, and my younger sister born in 2003, was 4 in 2007 and she knew how to play Mario Kart DS, and she wasn't bad at it, she knew what she was doing. Like driving the right way and putting out items at the right time. So I believe that even if you haven't started Kindergarten yet you can still consider video games from your early childhood as apart of your time. It's E for EVERYONE for a reason! Which means ALL AGES! E+10 for 10 & UP, T for TEENS, and M for MATURE, that's a different story.

Now when it comes to cartoons on TV, I notice that a lot of folks don't watch those until around Kindergarten or 1st grade, before Kindergarten most people watch preschool shows only. If you ask most of your friends if they remember any of their favorite kid shows from before Kindergarten the majority of the shows they'll mostly mention are little kid shows and not that big kid shows that are TV-G or TV-Y7 until maybe Kindergarten or 1st grade or so. This is just from my experience BTW.

So while 5th generation gaming (N64, PS1) is something that started around the same time I was born, it's popularity lasted from 1996-2001 and it wasn't discontinued until 2003. Yes, almost all of 5th generation's popularity was before Kindergarten for me, but like I said, with video games its different, because the E for EVERYONE games are targeted towards everyone, and kids can know what they're doing on video games as early as 3 or 4 years old, so I consider 5th generation as my time, even though its an early childhood thing.

As for TV shows, that's a different story, any TV show that had already ended before 2001/2002, is before my time, unless it still had new episodes at the time. Even if reruns were played on TV and it impacted my childhood, it's still before my time if the show had already ended. Shows like Dexter's Laboratory, Hey Arnold, Even Stevens, or Rugrats, are my time, yes the shows were already popular before I entered Kindergarten, but it still had new episodes when I was in grade school, so even the reruns count as apart of my time regardless if it premiered before I was born or if I was a baby. Shows like Kenan & Kel, Cow & Chicken, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, or X-Men: TAS, I caught reruns on TV and it impacted my childhood, but the shows had already ended well before I started Kindergarten, some had even ended right after I was born, so I still consider it as before my time rather it impacted my childhood or not.


Thats debatable. The thing is, there are many people who could of watched big kid cartoons as early as they could remember. However I do get where your coming from that your main years of watching cartoons would've been when you was 5 & older

Small critique, you were technically born during the transition from 4th to 5th gen! ;D  But no biggie. And when I was younger I always considered 1998/99-2005/06 as my main kid culture anything prior to that I consider a bit before my time, but that's just me. 3-5, I watched a mix of big kid and little kid shows.


This.


Yeah for me personally I would watch a mix of both little kid cartoons like Blues Clues & Franklin and big kid cartoons like Rugrats & Pokemon from when I was age 3 through age 6! I remember right around when I turned 7, I was watching an episode of Oswald and thinking 'This stuff is for babies', and I haven't turned back since (well with the exception of babysitting little cousins and such  ;D but that's beside the point).

I would say it varies on person to person, because it seems like mqg for the most part only watched little kid shows for much of age 3-5 and right when he turned 6 or entered kindergarten he began to watch only big kid shows. While I on the other hand was watching a mixture of both kinds of shows for both kinds of markets for a good chunk of my childhood.

So in the grand scheme of things, everybody's different and I do NOT think going by what marketers believe when kids watch cartoons or whatever are accurate guidelines to go about to determine who has the right to claim certain shows from certain eras.

Rant over...

Sheesh, am I the only person who grew up with educational tools before playing video games proper?  :o


Nope, I did too. I actually didn't start playing video games until 1999, around the time I turned 6.

Sheesh, am I the only person who grew up with educational tools before playing video games proper?  :o


Nah it's not a big deal, while I did play video games at other people's houses throughout my early childhood, my first owned console was a Gamecube which I got for my 7th birthday in 2003. I'm just referring to some other folks near my age on here possibly, and folks I knew throughout school who possibly owned 5th generation consoles well before they turned 6.