RolStoppable said:
Logically speaking, if Switch and PS4 are the same generation, then Switch must also be in the same generation as the 3DS and Wii U. Since that doesn't make sense, Switch is not a part of the same generation as the PS4. |
I'm at this point not so sure if the categorization into generations makes sense outside of a manufacturer. Clearly the Switch is a uccessor to WiiU and 3DS, and is in the next generation. But putting it together with generations of other manufacturers might be troubling. This worked for a long time, as the main competitors always more or less matched their cycles. Sega was doing faster cycles, but they started later and had to catch up and later on they were thrown out as a main competitor.
But recently the cycles were going out of sync. While usually generations were around 6 years, the manufacturers started to differ. While the Wii lasted the usual 6 years (WiiU came 2012, Wii 2006), the main competitors PS3 and X306 lasted longer. The PS3 came 2006, but the PS4 was 2013, so 7 years later. The Xbox360 already released in 2005, the X1 in 2013, so it lasted even 8 years. Nintendo on the other hand cut their cycle short, the Switch now released 5 years after the WiiU (although you could argue it is in line with the 3DS). At this point we cannot be sure Switch will compete against PS5 (maybe Nintendo takes another short and Sony another long cycle), so putting it in the same generation is a bit early. At this point it is clear Switch will seriously compete against PS4, except Sony announces now PS5 and releases it next year. As PS4 still is selling well, I don't see that happening.
So Switch may or may not be later competing against PS5, but that only means the generations of the different manufacturers are overlapping.
