Sony's handheld system, the Vita, will now be integrated into several new games in a very similar manner to how the Gamepad would be used for the Wii U. Basically, this makes a PS3 functionally the same as a Wii U, so the innovative edge of the new hardware is lost.
To say that this functionally makes the PS3 the same as the Wii U is a deceptive statement. All Wii U purchasers will have the touchscreen controllers at purchase of the console. There are currently 65 mil+ PS3 owners and 2.5 mil Vita owners. Is Sony going to "gift" Vita's to the 65 million PS3 owners? No. And it will be years before Vita sales reach PS3 levels even assuming that every PS3 owner eventually buys a Vita at some point in the first place. So, it is safe to say that the majority of PS3 owners will not experience the new "functionality" of their system while every purchaser of the Wii U will.
Take motion controls for example. Nintendo had toyed with the idea of making a motion controller accessory for the Gamecube. Realizing that not every Gamecube owner would buy the accessory, they buit a system around the controller. Voila. You have the 96 mil+ selling Wii system. Sony tries to cash in on the success later with Play Station Move with far less spectacular results. While XBox has enjoyed better sales than Move with Kinnect, you still can't compare it to the impact Wii had on this generation. Tacking on an accessory to a system doesn't have the same effect as building the system around the accessory. So, I don't think that Nintendo loses any innovative edge in this respect.
