Meh. All three companies are bringing innovation to the industry in one way or another. Personally, I like the idea that they're going for different objectives with their consoles. Sony is heavily invested in the multimedia experience, MS is concentrating online, and Nintendo is trying to bring new gamers into the fold. While they overlap in areas, each company has their own mission and they're pursuing different objectives.
Budget is definitely a concern, which is why I think we'll see MS and Sony go for slightly weaker consoles next generation in comparison to the 360/PS3's specs at launch. But they're not killing innovation. I think it's just the opposite with PSN/XBLA, online, and multimedia options each console offers.
If this was a Nintendo-only world, console gaming would suck.
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