Atari 2600 killed the industry. It was a good system but it didn't do anything new really. Carts existed before it for a home console. Atari also helped kill the very market it made popular.
NES revived it and set things in place like licensing that is still done today. NES invented genres. NES gave us the most iconic franchies in history like Mario,Zelda,Metroid,Mega Man,Dragon Quest,Final Fantasy and more. NES gace us the D-pad for consoles. Without the NES there is no PS1 or PS4 or Xbox. Sony systems sold well but never revolutionized anything. They been plenty Evolutionary. NES single handedly saved revived gave birth all at once.
I'd put Dreamcast as one of the most influential systems(but not first or second or even 3rd just giving it a mention) as it lead us into the modern era. With online play. The way modern games are developed as Shenmue's development created techniques and tools that every developer and game uses now. It was the first console with a camera. It even had a video service to share. We got to speak to people online with a mic. First console with a MMO and many more things I could get into. DC did many things that didn't become the norm til 7th generation.
NES howver no question. THE most important console ever. It would be silly to choose anything else.
