PS5>XB4>NS units sold next gen

[Bofferbrauer2]

RolStoppable said:

Bofferbrauer2 said:

How about this instead:

Gen 7: DS, PSP, 360, PS3, Wii

Gen 8: 3DS, PSV, Wii U, XBO

Gen 8.5 (Or Gen 8 done right): PS4 Pro, Xbox One X, Switch

Gen 9: PS5, Scarlet, potentially Switch successor

It's nonsensical.

Such a categorisation pretends that Switch is a minor upgrade from the 3DS and Wii U despite different branding, incompatible games and a new concept. The second error is that it views Switch as a stopgap console with the only purpose to serve as a bridge between gen 8 and gen 9, so the assumption one would have to hold is that Switch's successor will launch in 2020 or 2021 at the latest, because if Switch is not meant to compete with the PS5 and XB4, then Nintendo is not going to grant Sony and Microsoft a headstart of more than one year.

A situation where a headstart of more than one year is granted only occurs if the launch of a console has to be delayed for whatever reason or if a competitor isn't perceived as a real threat. Gen 6 provides such a scenario where the Dreamcast launched three years earlier than the GC and Xbox. In the GC's case, it launched later than originally planned, but Sega also wasn't taken serious anymore, so the launch timing that Nintendo was watching concerned the PS2. In gen 5 the Nintendo 64 launched about 18 months later than the Saturn and PS1, but only because the N64 launch was delayed twice.

Switch's situation is that it was not being taken serious as a home console competitor by Sony and Microsoft. Both companies are in steady contact with the major third party publishers, so they knew that not many games would be in development for Nintendo's new console. As a handheld competitor, neither Sony or Microsoft had any plans to launch a portable console. If Sony hadn't exited the handheld market and launched a PSV successor in 2016 where it was due, we would have had a new Nintendo and Sony console by 2017 and people wouldn't be so confused about the start of generation 9.

If Switch's successor doesn't launch by 2021, we will have to ask why Nintendo is granting Sony and Microsoft such a long headstart. Why do they allow Sony and Microsoft to establish a large installed base before they launch their own gen 9 console? The premise that Switch is not a gen 9 console results in a puzzle where the pieces don't fit together anymore.

One thing that people really should do is ask themself why they recognize the Dreamcast as gen 6 without any doubts despite everything that is being held against Switch applying to the Dreamcast to a much stronger degree. The Dreamcast launched early and was discontinued before all of the remaining gen 6 consoles launched, so it spent most of its lifecycle competing against the PS1 and N64. Still, nobody claims that the Dreamcast is gen 5 or 5.5.

Then how about the Wii U being 7th Gen? After all, it has more in common with the Pro/X than a new console: The chip is the same with some enhancements, the games all run on Wii U, the peripherals are the same (and both even came with a Wiimote in the box), it can (well, could now) run all downloaded games from the Wiiware, they kept the name and even the design almost the same. But I'm sure you gonna dismiss that because PS4/XBO launched just a year later, apparently invalidating everything else.

Switch is the same Gen as PS4/XBO, get over it.