Well there's no reason they *can't* die, but they've legitimately existed up until generation 8 so far, and with 9 not being fully revealed either on Nintendo's end(they mays still being hiding hardware secrets) or the competition's end how could there be enough evidence to refute the exits of Gen-9?

We simply don't know. But yes, it could happen.

I'll grant that separating the generations is not always clear and can get silly, but I'd caution anyone against assuming that just because there's no huge graphical leaps left to be made, Sony and MS can forever make incremental improvements to existing platforms.

Good example with Game Boy - the hardest part with Game Boy is not what gen it's in but (IMO) what gen is Sega Nomad or Neo Geo pcoket in?  What about Game Boy Color?  I'd argue market leader defines the next generation, but that doesn't mean an upstart can't show up and change that (Playstation).

Switch is Gen 9, just like the 3DS started Gen 8 back in 2011.

Maybe Switch is Gen 8.5. That would simplify things From a timeframe standpoint. Or Maybe Switch and XboX are 9th gen, and PS5 will kick off 10th gen.

Generations aren't dead yet. And the poll would agree.

By what standard is the XOX apparently "9th" gen, but PS4 Pro isn't? And how can a system that literally doesn't play a single game that the X1 can't play be considered part of a new generation? I mean there are different models of the 3DS that have exlusive games and they're all considered part of the same "generation"

It's a stretch, but XboX will have VR support while XBone does not. Theoretically then the XboX should be able to handle more advanced VR games than the PS4Pro as it's not held back by "last gen" hardware.

That's a huge stretch. We don't even know if X1 won't have VR support, or if any system is actually getting it. Announced features don't always make it to the console. The PS4Pro isn't being held back by the PS4 OG for VR, its just that developers choose not to optimize for it. They choose to develop for the lowest common denominator. There's no reason they can't make an enhanced PS4 Pro mode for a VR game.

And again, there are tangible physical real world examples of games that run on the "New 3DS" (Like Xenoblade Chronicles, and Fire Emblem Warriors) that don't actually run on the  original 3DS and both of these handhelds are considered part of the same generation, and I've never heard anyone argue that they shouldn't be.

Well Imo Switch is just another gen 8 console, it does nothing to advance technology or development techniques. It's a great little piece of hardware though.

8th generation started with the 3DS in 2011.

9th generation started with the Switch in 2017

We are just in a transition period right now like in 2011. In the next 2 to 3 years we will see the other two companies start releasing their next generation hardware.