Not only has every Nintendo console been hailed by me in the past, but reviewers and critics and everyone has said great stuff (or it's just been obvious) that they're needed more than Sony, Microsoft, or any past hardware developers ever were for innovation in the market. Also this is  going to state why Nintendo should stay first party since they still make profit.

NES

This one is obvious. Not only did it save the market in the US, but it sold an astounding 61m units in it's lifetime. Though those sales may seem meager to some consoles today, back in the 80's-early 90's, that was amazing. Especially comparing it to anything released before the PS1. Also some of the most revolutionary game series of all time were born on this glorious hardware.

SNES

Yes, the console wars as you know them today started right here with the SNES and Genesis. The SNES was an amazing piece of hardware for the time, besting the competition in sales and recognition. Granted the Genesis did take a solid chunk out of what the SNES could've been, around 50m units sold is some serious profit. The SNES also totes with it one of the best gaming libraries (specifically JRPG's) and is the last Nintendo console with great 3rd party before the major exodus.

N64

This one is sort of wishy washy, along with the next four. Even though it was so innovative, it's sales were low. Even so, Nintendo made profit off of it's 33m N64's sold. They also proved that they didn't necessarily need good 3rd party to make some profit. The N64 (like the SNES) carries many gems, and is the last console to have good Rare games (a major publisher who switched to Microsoft when XBOX was born and sucked ever since.)

GameCube

Out of all, this is the most clannish. By that I mean it didn't generate an insane amount of money, it's games aren't considered the best ever to exist, and nothing super revolutionary came out of it. But we did get the best controller ever forged by man, in my opinion, the most unique games of any Nintendo console, and it transitioned Nintendo to the disc format. The console made Smash a titan and is honestly the last console to really give birth to awesome Nintendo IP's. And also it's the most portable console ever.

Wii

Oh, the Wii. The poor console that received so much unconditional hate. While I do agree this is probably their worst hardware ever, this revolutionized the company like no other (second to the NES). It not only made a whopping profit for Nintendo, (selling 101m and counting) but it revived some wading franchises, and a few 3rd parties actually made money on the device. Granted it did burden the Wii U (it's successor) with sales, but with the success of the Wiimote, every other company tried to imitate motion controls. Some failed terribly (PS Move), while some still use it to this day (Kinect), but none can amount to the revolution that the Wii sparked. 

Wii U

The most hardcore of all Nintendo consoles. Burdened by the Wii (as stated previously) but still not dead. Sadly, this has just started making profit for Nintendo, and could be considered a burden to this point, but within the next few quarters Nintendo will hopefully make up for what they lost and then some. Also this isn't necessarily a huge thing, but after the GamePad was shown off, PSVita connectivity came with PlayStation and XBOX Smartglass was born, so tell me? Has Wii U left no mark on gaming?

At least Nintendo takes some risks every generation. With NES they came in to the industry that was dead and made it alive again. SNES had shoulder buttons and super FX chip. N64 had the analog stick and had an odd controller. GameCube had some of the most unique Nintendo games ever taking risks with almost every 1st party title. Wii with motion controls. And now Wii U with a tablet controller.

Wii U has left no mark on gaming? It has a couple years left and the games that are already out are amazing even if there are just a few of them.

it's very obvious why for sometime Nintendo and Video Games were synonymous words to non serious gamers; Nintendo has been hand in hand with the vast majority of innovations and changes in the gaming world (aside from initial disk use, although that had been planned as well during the N64 era) and they were where the biggest franchises (Nintendo and 3rd party alike) were born long ago

no doubt every system has had its major significance. NES/SNES were extremely solid for their time, with great libraries and console/controller designs, Nintendo 64 was arguably the first masterful use of a control stick on a controller, Gamecube had an extremely praised lineup of first party titles (uhhhh Metroid Prime hello?) and the most comfortable controller of all time (for gods sake people are still using it 10 years later as their preferred controller for the newest Super Smash iterations), and the Wii and Wii U both were innovative in their controller designs

Nintendo is by far the most influential company to ever exist in video gaming (well maybe Atari is arguable just based on the home based popularity birth) and the only serious mistakes I think they have made at times had to do with the titles of their consoles (Wii and Wii U, just stupid, easy to confuse) and possibly stubbornness to make games that catered to more demographics (very seemingly ignoring the adult mature audience for decades now)

I dont like ur transition OP... If your title says "Every Nintendo Console Has Been" then your thread so continue that sentence... For example, your title says "Every Nintendo Console Has Been" so the first sentence in the thread should be "hailed by me in the past, etc"

Anyway, Nintendo should stay first party and should continue to make hardware or else they will end up like Sega and the last thing I want is Mario Boom! Inb4naysayers

profit profit profit

What do they have to gain by going 3rd party? A decline in quality? A slashing of profits? They can do whatever, but we all know Nintendo would rather cut off its own head than make games for other consoles. That goes against their heart and soul. They aren't SEGA.

Thi9s goes for Sega and atari which is why they are no longer making consoles.Nintendo has not taken anymore risks than anyother companies which is a fact.Taking risks with every first party title? LOL are you serious? They always rehash the the same frachises.Their main games still get praise because they have not changed much.The Wii motion control came from the EyeToy as did the games themselves, Sega had an analog first and shoulder buttons were a natural progression like 3D or online gaming.Nintendo did not create either analog or shoulder buttons.The tablet controller is a failure and the Vita did that first buy adding cross play.

I feel that while it's not as big as the other two consoles this gen, there have still been a large amount of great titles that come out for the  Wii U.  I feel that it will end similar to the Gamecube, not a big selling console, but still one that had a pretty great library, at least where first and second parties are concerned.

The Wii Motion control came from the Power Glove, not the Eye Toy. Also, the first time Sega released a controller with an analogue stick, it was Nights into Dreams, on July 5 1996. The Nintendo 64 came on April 21, 1996.  Sega didn't even like shoulder buttins. And the Famicom had the first in console browser.