I think people are too hung up on the sucessor Vs revision debate (or if you prefer the gen debacle). Generations are not someting factual, it's something we (mostly gamers) inventend to define a time period on the gaming landscape when competing consoles would go head-to-head around same time and with devices sharing similar specs/power and pretty much the same strategy. However, times have changed. Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft, now more than ever, offer more different things than just a few 1st party and 3rd party exclusives. On top of that, every new gamer now was born in a world where electronic devices exist and particularly mobile devices, which see regular "refreshes" in terms of hardware, but that are essentially the same family with shared applications and games.
Next Switch I believe will be neither a new itineration nor a successor in the real sense of the word, but it'll be a mix of past generation changes: it'll be a whole new hardware, leaps and bounds superior to current models (as if it was a traditional generational jump), but it will keep a shared library with current models (as if it was just a regular refresh model). And Nintendo needs to market it as both of these things. People nowadays are used to this sort of updates/refreshes while keeping the same ecosystem, which would be a hard pill to swallow in the 90s or early 200s.
Personally, I think Nintendo will release a Switch 2 in the near future (maybe 2022, probably 2023) - and yes, ideally name it Switch 2 - and keep releasing software that works in both OG Switch and Switch 2 (they do not want to let go of that sweet 100M+ userbase), with Lite and OLED type models of the Switch 2 will be released shortly after. 5/6 years from now we'll see a Switch 3, at which point userbase will have already shifted from OG Switch to Switch 2 in droves, and from that point onwards they'll let go of OG Switch (new games will be released for Switch 2 and Switch 3 only). And the cycle repeats ad infinitum with new devices.
They found a formula that works, and 2000s generations love gadgets and mobile technology. No need for more generational hard resets in gaming. Just one on-going Switch fami
This would also mean that the "we're in the middle of the Switch life cycle" are not incorrect, if the OG Switch will go on sharing library with Switch 2 it is correct that we're currently somewhere in the middle of the Switch mid-life cycle. Also they're not lying when they're just discussing next gen devices as we're still talking about the Switch family of devices. Really, these terms can be interpreted in so many ways that it's really hard to take something concrete from the PR words they spew out.
Anyway, just my 2 cents on this matter. With the success we're seeing from the Switch, and the likelihood that people will still enjoy the hybrid concept, I don't see any reason not to capitalize on it. At least this is what I would do.
