"N"ext Revolution?

[dongo8]

DexInDaJungle said:

dongo8 said:

Some Nintendo Innovations, since the SNES

N64 - controller, z button as well as control stick. Rumble pack

Gamecube - Mini discs, power packed in a small, quiet package, dual stick controller, arguably one of the most comfortable of all time.

Wii - Motion controls (many say that it is the ONLY way to play shooters, as since the introduction of the motionplus, it mimicks the sensitivity and twitch reflex of a mouse). Also virtual console, something that had never been done before; innovation through retro gaming? Oh, and Miis, which caused the other console makers to create avatars as well, they also started using miis in games, new concept-ish.

Wii U - Gamepad, one of the most under-rated (and underused) features of all time, plenty of innovation here, off-screen play being a huge one, and then basically every other feature in a controller all rolled into one controller. They also created mii-verse this generation, one of the greatest social gaming creations of all time.

I'm sure I missed many, many things, but Nintendo is the industry leader in all innovation, and this list is only their television based consoles, not their handhelds, where they have innovated a ton as well. Not to mention the amazing games that they pump out year after year.

To be fair, almost everything you listed had very little impact on the industry as a whole. Which I believe is what one would consider innovative. The touch screen introduced on cell phones was innovative, it set a standard where nearly every phone made today has a touch screen of some sort. The Microwave was innovative, in terms of heating food it quickly became the most used way to do it. While some of these things were neat ideas, most haven't really made much of a splash outside of Nintendo which currently holds less than 25% market share in terms of home consoles.

The Wii was a magnificent beast that did extremely well last generation but the fact that motion gaming is almost dead outside of Nintendo goes to show that it's not something most people care for therefore it hasn't set a standard in the industry. I feel like good ideas are commonly mistaked for innovation in this industry.

Innovation, to me, is SETTING that industry standard. Doing something new that forces your competition to copy you. Almost all of the things listed are innovations to the videogame market started by Nintendo and copied by their competition, making it standard now. As I said, they are the innovators. Even the gamepad is indirectly being copied, as there are apps for games like battlefield 4 for PC as well as tablets that allow you to control some things for the game from a separate screen.