I'm sorry, what planet are you guys on where gamers don't want attention-grabbing hardware? Not on the one with the rest of us where all "gaming" branded stuff has garish lighting I guess.
The time difference between regular and slim consoles being released has been pretty much spot on 3 years for all consoles, on all generations going back 20 years. If Sony releases a slim PS5 "a year later" that would be unprecedented.
They are, if they have a job. Not being sarcastic, it's just that 500 euros/ dollars is an ok amount for a piece of entertainment that will last a few years, so they will buy it now even if they are not playing all day long.
Your average "gamer" according to the industry's own statistics is a 25-29 male, owns one of the consoles, and buys exactly 3 games a year - Fifa, CoD, and one other action game. Maybe 4 if it's a good year. It's definitely not your stereotypical "gamer" type buying RGB everything - so yeah, I would guarantee that this kind of average gamer does not care about their "gear" being attention grabbing.
I’m not sure how scarcity during launch is relevant to this particular discussion. The design of the console, which was the original issue discussed here, will be the same whenever the console becomes widely available.
On the other hand I agree that looks won’t be the deciding factor for any potential buyer - casual or not.