Why Nintendo is super important.

[JoRu]

Conina said:

JoRu said:

Truth be told, they're still the most ballsy gaming hardware manufacturer in the business. Motion controls inspired Kinect which in turn inspired the design for Xbox One.

Playstation Move was inspired by the Wiimote & Nunchuk... even more than "inspired".

Kinect was more inspired by the EyeToy than by the Wii (motion tracking by camera, free hands).

The Virtual Console inspired the digital distribution of old Xbox- and Playstation-titles on Xbox Live and PSN, which now is a huge selling point for Sony when it comes to what Playstation Now can offer.

Emulation of old console/computer hardware on newer and more powerful devices or porting old games to new platforms was practiced decades.

In terms of the technology used, true. But Nintendo was the ones who showed the market possibilities when you make motion the centerpiece of the entire hardware rather than an accessory like EyeToy or a Guitar Hero-instrument. That's why we see Microsoft fully embrace the concept of motion tracking (in general) as something central when using Xbox One, now that it's not as much of a crazy idea as it was before Nintendo went crazy and made the Wii.

Sure, emulation has been possible a long time, but from a market standpoint; utilizing digital distribution to sell those old games again was a great idea courtesy of Nintendo. Instead of just making hardware backwards compatible to make transitions between consoles smoother you essentially put old games back on the market (= $$$), making money not just from added value to the hardware but actually having previously unavailable content (legally) made easily available on your new platform. Sony and Microsoft would've probably done it eventually, but not that quickly and perhaps not that successfully.