There will not be a gen 8.5.. Like WiiU was considered gen 8 (and lost that.. and not won gen 7.5) NX will be consireded gen 9.. PS4.5/Xone/half will be considered this gen.. if one of them run "considerable" new wave of games.. it will offcourse also be gen 9.

BUT.. I see what you ask.. How will NX fare against (lets call it) a PS4/One revision..

WE dont know.. :) We have to see what NX is first.. it is a imposiple qustion.. becourse we dont know why Nintendo hold the cards so tight to the chest.. and what that (should) make it worth our money.

Most places outside of North America don't use the same kind of phone contracts model, and people buy their phones unsubsidized every 2-3 years. Yet the phones still are very profitable. I don't see a reason consoles couldn't do the same.

I'm going to need a source that the average smartphone owner person in say Austrailia or Japan or England or India typically spends $400-$1000 up front on brand new state-of-the-art phones every 2-3 years. Also, consider few things: Apple sold 231 million cell phones last year. (That is more than the PS4, X1 and Wii U combined will probably sell), and for every phone sold, they proft $150-$200. Therefore Apple's return on the investment of developing the phone and the infrastructure is seen immediately.

Now look at the current console video game market. Most console makers sell their console at a loss on release, and only end up making a profit on units after 1+ years on the market. Even then, that profit is typically, $10-$50 for every console sold. So the profit on hardware is miniscule, especially in the first 2-3 years.  On top of that, when the average consumer buys a console, they spend $250-$400 (or less depending on when it's bought) and expect the console to play the latest games for the next 6-8 years.

Going to this model will a) make the price of consoles increase since console makers will expect a return on investment every 2-3 years as opposed to 6-8 (remember these companies are in it to make a profit, and the new model has to be more profitable than the old one). b) make a console's useful life decease, as developers will not want to be held back by console models 2 generations old. c) increase development costs as developing for multiple hardware specifications fundamentally increases costs in terms of testing,  and lead to more engine work at the very least. So, this will likely increase the cost of games as developers are just going to pass this increased cost onto consumers.


Are you not seeing a problem here yet? The average console gamer does not benefit from this model in any way.

If you're happy spending $600-$800 on new hardware every 2-3 years to play games at better resolutions and frame rates you can already do that! The PC has all of these bases covered. Want the livingroom experience? Buy a steam machine! This option already exists.

The NX will compete with the PS5 and that probably won´t be really a match now would it

NX is already in that spot, releasing a console mid generations is just kinda dumb cause even if youre more advanced technologically odds are 3rd parties aren't going to cut their install base in 1/3 to release to you exclusively taking adavntage of your higher tech, theyll just port stuf wich will look marginaly better than the counterpart on the tech inferior competition. If XOne and PS4 do end up having upgraded versions then it could be better for the NX cause it wouldnt be the only console with higher tech and devs would actualy start taking advantage of this tech.

This is why the whole concepts of "generations" is completely useless. It is 100% abritrary. The NX could easily be gen 8 or gen 9, the final decision will probably be made by whoever creates the wikipedia article stating so.

NX is gen 9.

England and Japan do offer subsidies (some of the rare exceptions). India doesn't. Not sure about Australia. It is true that in countries where the carrier subsidies don't exist the marketshare of the high end smartphones is lower. I can't be bothered to find sources, but from personal experience in the few European countries I have lived in, there aren't really any options for such contract subsidies. You can take credit to the get the phones but that's about it. Most people buy the phones full price, and if they can't afford the more expensive phones they buy lower end or midrange or simply older models.

That is no reason for them to avoid doing this. If they believe they will benefit from it, they will do it.

Also I could see them trying some kind of subsidizing model for consoles as well especially in the USA. Bundle it with some subscriptions for 2 years and they'll subsidize part of the cost.

So what you're saying is that in countries where there are subsidies, people purchase modern phones more often, and in countries where they do not most people tend to buy older models and use them longer. That's exactly what I thought. Apple wouldn't be churning out phones every year if millions of people are year weren't buying them, and most of those people are getting those phones with subsidized contracts.

I rest my case here.

Microsoft did that with the X360 and quickly cancelled it. It turned out to be a disaster.

I can speculate Apple will come out with a gaming system.

I also speculate Amazon will come out with a more power Fire gaming system (which is more likely than Apple gaming system).  

Facebook may come out with a standalone gaming console to pair with Oculus.

The speculations can go on and on....