Consoles have always had to innovate to get things moving. It's just that most of them did not perform disruptive innovations. To wit:
2600: Introduced the concept of a game system with exchangeable games to the masses
NES: Introduced gaming to a younger generation and introduced the sideways controller as a standard
SNES: Introduced shoulder buttons (and thus the concept of a full-hand controller instead of just a face controller), and the potential for visual effects which became more prominent on later systems
PS1: Introduced non-game-specific save memory, semi-ergonomic controller grips
N64: Introduced analog control and haptic feedback rumble (both later used on PS1 as well)
Actually, of all the consoles to do well, the PS2 is the only one that didn't bring anything immediately obvious to the table. Most of its improvements are in fact just upscaling of past features...
Sky Render - Sanity is for the weak.
