My take...
(1) Not only is it not a 9th gen console (its 8th gen), (2) its not even a "home console" in the traditional sense. Its a handheld.
The reasoning behind my conclusions....
- I believe console generations are defined by the period a console s released in and also, in turn, by the games it shares with other platforms. Usually, of that same period too.
The NS was released in 2017, just a little over 3 years into the life of the 8th gen consoles. Gues in a manner of speaking that makes it an 8.5 gen console... However, I also expect that the NS would get even fewer ports of PS5/XSX (9th gen) games than it's currently getting of the PS4/XB1 games. This would mean that its multiplatform library of games would consist mostly (I reckon over 90%) of 8th gen titles.
If the bulk of your software is 8th gen, then you are an 8th gen console. - And as I have been saying since it was launched, the NS is not a Home console. Its a handheld console. Simple as that. The NS is as much a home console as if we take a PSP or PS vita and plug it into a TV. You do not need a dock to use the NS, but you cannot use a PS4/5/XB1/XSX without a separate display.
This is made even more evident by Nintendo releasing the dockless NS lite. Also something I predicted Nintendo would do before the NS was even released. Furthermore, this is also why it exists in a vacuum, its sales have no bearing on those of the home consoles and their sales have no bearing on it. More accurately though, its doesn't actually exist in a vacuum, its selling and tracking like a handheld. It's even priced like one.
But most people would rather compare it to the PS4/XB1 and in a few months to the PS5/XSX... when absolutely nothing about it suggests that it should even be compared to those platforms. But hey, if we can't then it would make for some really boring sales charts because it's competing in a handheld space all on its own.
More proof of this? let's say you planned on buying a console in December 2019. Now list out 15 of the most popular multiplatform games released between 2017 and 2019. Chances are, only like 3 or 4 of them actually are on the Switch. Which would mean that if you bought a switch, you are forgoing at least 10 of the games you actually had in that list. People by the Switch primarily for Nintendo games. No one buys a switch because they wanted to play Doom.
