| zero129 said:
First Open World 3D Exploration platform game Mario 64 (Yes the was simple 3D games before Mario 64 but nothing on the scale or with as much freedom as Mario 64 set) Midwinter for PC was the first open world 3d game, specifying "open world" "3d" "platform game" and "exploration" is a very groanworthy way of narrowing down the results to get the outcome you want.The DPad (Game and Watch) Dpad is the only viable "innovation" from Nintendo, though it is just a modified version of the dpad created for the game Cosmic Hunter, by MB games a year prior to the NES, I would however argue that the dpad is simply evolution and not innovation. Motion Controll (Power Glove) While the powerglove is considered a motion controller generally, it's actually not, the finger movement is tracked by differences in light intensity of optic fibre beading through each finger, thus it's mechanical activation no different to pushing a button or pulling a trigger, in that sense it isn't motion control but merely another approach at a variable input. Controller Vibration (N64 Rumble Pak was the first time a home console had Rumble) The N64 rumble pak was released in April 1997, the dual analog playstation controller that also featured rumble was released at the same time, April 1997, both companies drew their inspirations from the various arcade machines of the time that used motors to provide haptic feedback to players. Build in Microphones ( the Player 2 controller of the Famicom had a build in mic, Now all consoles want microphones XD) While there was indeed a mic in the second controller, it could only be used as an additional input, the console hardware wasn't powerful enough to process realtime mono audio and the system bus wasn't fast enough to carry the data either, the mic operates in just two ways, high and low, silence is comparable to no input, high tone comparable to A button, low tone B button. The micrphone used could not be removed and used as a real microphone in other applications as it's only purpose was to track just enough to tell the difference between low and high tone, less than 10 games in the history of the console actually used it, and the inclusion of the hardware was dropped for all releases outside of Japan. Battery Back-Up (Before this if a console game allowed you to save you had to write down a code) I wouldn't call cutting corners to avoid using more expensive components innovation, games, even back then, could use writable flash if needed, the backup battery was a solution to cut production costs by storing save data in volotile memory using the continuous current of the battery to keep it stored, the same tecnique was used in hardware such as the Commodore calculator and similar handheld office equipment to store data, as well as apple and desktop PC's of the day using them to store bios configurations. Shoulder Buttons (Snes) First controller to use shoulder buttons was by Atari, over the years they used them on multiple consoles frm paddle controllers to the controllers used on the 5200 and 7200. The Gamepad (Before nes pretty much every controller was a joystick or build like a phone with lots of buttons, Nintendo made the current design for the gamepad that pretty much every other company followed since) Colecovision used a form of gamepad, the vectrex however used a gamepad in the style of those later found on the nes and onwards. Triggers (N64 is the first joypad that had a trigger worked great in FPS at the time) The Z button is just a standard button, not analog, so no different to the wealth of joysticks that predate it that had a trigger-oriented button, rom a mechanical sense, because of the design of the N64, the Z button actually functions as a replacement shoulder button. Im pretty sure if a dug some more id find more. |
Hopefully you take the time to read up on these and learn that none of the big three companies are actually as innovative as people seem to believe, rather than getting upset and treating this as an "attack on nintendo" like people usually do.
I actually enjoy learning about old technology, the deeper you dig however, the more you see that the amazing innovations we spent so long believing were dreamed up entirely by the manufacturers we know and love, were in actual fact, ideas borrowed from older, more obscure consoles, borrowed from other fields or simply evolutions of existing designs.
Evolution isn't innovation.
The jump from magnetic tape media to optical media is innovation, the jump from cd to dvd is evolution.
The jump from an on/off digital button to the inclusion of a variable input is innovation, the addition of more buttons / adjustment of their placement is evolution.
Being the first to use an existing technology, design or solution from another product or field on a games console does not make it innovation.
