Console generations used to be defined by a large jump in capability. Diminishing visual returns have made that a weaker selling point, and the competition has shifted.
Why specifications matter less
The difference between good graphics and better graphics is far less noticeable than the difference between poor and good was. Most players cannot identify a resolution difference at normal viewing distances, and frame rate improvements past a point are similarly subtle.
Upscaling changed the calculation further. Rendering at lower resolution and reconstructing to higher has become good enough that raw pixel-pushing capability is less binding.
What is competed on instead
Library and backwards compatibility. A machine that runs everything you already own removes the largest objection to buying it.
Form factor. Handheld and hybrid designs have expanded the market more than any specification increase, because they change when and where playing is possible.
Storefront terms, which determine what developers publish and where.
And services – subscription libraries, cloud streaming for devices that cannot run a game locally, cross-platform saves.
The pricing pressure
Component costs have not fallen the way they historically did, so the subsidised-hardware model is under strain. Consoles have become more expensive over their generation rather than cheaper, which reverses decades of pattern.
What a buyer should weigh
Which exclusives matter to you, whether your existing library carries over, and what the subscription costs over the machine’s life. Those three dominate the total experience far more than the specification sheet.