I'm really of the opinion the whole 'next gen' thing is realy overrated and misunderstood.
One, at its simplest it simply means here is another generation (i.e. the latest model) of consoles. Nowhere in that concept (apart from marketing spin) is their an expectation of radically different 'next gen' gameplay nor any clear design to deliver one.
Two, while the Wii has made use of motion contol mainstream and produced some great experiences, this is not new tech nor has it not been done before in some form - it's simply the first time its been made widely available on a relatively low cost home console (which is still an amazing achievement and I'd say the Wii has delivered some great inovation so far and deserves a lot of respect).
Three, the whole PS3/360 next gen graphics/games arguement is nonsense. There is nothing on either (including Live) that hasn't been done already on a PC IMO. The only difference is that a high resolution gaming experience has been brought into the living room at a lower cost than a gaming PC.
Four, since the start of videogames there have been titles that pushed the envelope in some form. Almost always this was down to particular developers and certain circumstances. Take something like Elite for example, or Tetris, or Doom, or System Shock. While obviously certain tech has to be in place to do certain things (i.e. if you want motion sensing you need a controller that supports that) for the most part any radical new gameplay types come from game design, not the underlying technology.
So, in a nutshell - there is not firm 'next gen' - if all games used motion control and were like Wii Sports or SMG I'd be bored senseless pretty quickly, if all games where high res FPS it would be the same story and so on and so forth for every genre you can think of.
Inovation will always be the minority, not the majority. For every great game there will be 3 or 4 good games and 10 plus average to poor games. Its the same with books and films. And every inovative title will then be copied until the well is dry.
The Wiimote and its use, Portal and (hopefully) LBP when it hits, are all truly inovative I would argue (Assassin's Creed came close but missed the mark for failing to truly marrying the engine/capabilities to an deeply engaging game) - I haven't seen anything else I couldn't point to something more than similar.
For example Bioshock really is just a good (but somewhat simplified) game based on inovation pioneered in System Shock, Deus Ex and System Shock 2. Most other big games have numbers in their titles that pretty much mean they offer refinement at best and often just the same game with nicer graphics (not that there's anything wrong with that. R&C on PS3 is a really great, polished game and seeing it in HD does enhance that particular title due to its underlying mechanics).
The PS3's broad media centre use is also I believe inovative (although nothing to do with games obviously), and the 360 also delivers innovation in this regard although the PS3 is better suited to media centre usage.
Innovation is not tied to a particular generation of tech in my opinion, but the creativity of developers and I would hope that every generation of new tech/consoles throws up a nice batch of innovation based on developers using it well.
Try to be reasonable... its easier than you think...
