| NATO said: A lot of the things (most, in fact) Nintendo are credited with being innovative with aren't actually invented by Nintendo, merely popularizing existing implementations. The same is true for Microsoft and Sony, the only true innovation by Sony was the walkman, everything else is just an altered version of something else, or, as is the case for much of Microsofts developments too, a result of purchasing a technology or company developing a technology, and co-opting that technology into their own R and D. What you get is fanboys of a particular console insisting that one is more innovative than the other, when in reality they all just do what they need to do to bring in the money. Sony isn't more innovative than Nintendo, Nintendo isn't more innovative than Microsoft, and so on, Sony will only be in the middle with console power as a result of the scorpio, so the balance argument is silly, it's not like Sony planned to be in that position. Ultimately, the topic of innovation and development aside, at the end of the day it's the games that drive the industry, and Nintendo and Sony are the leaders in that field, (Nintendo are only behind in that regard because they release less frequently), Microsoft lag behind because while they have the best online platform as a result of utilizing their azure network, their investment into software seems to stop short of fueling the development of entirely new franchises, while leaning heavily on their staple set (forza, gears, halo), Nintendo themselves were prone to the same and still are, but at least in the last few years have been expanding into taking a risk with their younger development teams and creating titles such as Splatoon. Nobody cares which controller had a dpad (switch doesn't even have one!),nobody cares who brought motion controls first, nobody cares who did full body tracking, nobody cares who released proper VR first, all that really matters is "are the games good?" |
Pretty much. Who really cares about trying to prove who is the most innovative? What's the point? A little ego stroking for something the fans had nothing to do with? Nintendo revolutionized the standard controller and it has been improved upon many times since. Sony revolutionized dual analog stick controls and they've been improved upon many times since. Microsoft set the standard for online play and everyone followed.
What's important is where a product is right now.
It also has to be noted that actual innovations are very rare and are not the same as "buy this because it's different" gimmicks. Innovation leaves an indelible mark on an industry that spans generations. The more a market matures, the less innovations there are to be discovered--except those that can only come about because of technological progression. Anyone who really wants innovation should stop pretending that it will come about because "power" stops being important.
