Most innovative/revolutionary Nintendo console ever

[The_Liquid_Laser]

Innovative and revolutionary are not exactly the same thing.  Innovation is a prerequisite for revolution.  But the most revolutionary things actually don't feel that way once they get old enough.  Instead they just feel like the starting place of normal reality.  The real "revolution" was in destroying the old reality and replacing it with a new one.

Ask the average American who the most revolutionary US president was, and I bet few will say George Washington.  However, Washington was the only president to successfully lead a revolution.  To Americans he doesn't feel like a revolutionary.  He feels normal, or maybe the gold standard by which other presidents are judged.  In reality, he was the most revolutionary.  He lead a revolution.

That is also how entertainment works.  Lots of people see Hamlet and don't think it is anything special.  It feels like so many plays or stories they've encountered before.  That is because so many later plays were inspired by Hamlet.  It feels too familiar, too "samey".  Lots of people listen to the Beatles' Sgt. Peppers album and don't think it is anything special.  That is because so much music was inspired by Sgt. Peppers.  Hamlet and Sgt. Peppers were revolutionary, because they created a new reality for their respective media.

The most revolutionary console, by far, was the NES.  It destroyed the previous reality and created a new one.  So many big franchises started with the NES: Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Final Fantasy, Castlevania, Dragon Quest, etc....  None of the franchises that came before survived.  There were lots of big ones too: Pac-Man, Galaga, Space Invaders, Pitfall, etc....  They were big, but they didn't survive the transition.  In fact, I've still never seen a game as big of a cultural phenomenon as Pac-Man.  It's the only game that I've ever seen get a top 10 hit on the Billboard charts.  And yet it didn't survive the revolution.  Pac-Man is not a big franchise anymore.  But there are quite a few NES franchises that are still going strong today. 

When the NES came, everything in the past became obsolete.  The NES created a new gaming reality that is still going strong today.  That is what makes it the most revolutionary console ever.

Last edited by The_Liquid_Laser - on 01 December 2020