- motion control mostly because it proposed new gameplay and new gamer
but it does not concern me that much since I dont have a Wii and I m not very attracted by the console

- gfx improvement because it makes game even more "cinematic"
but, to me, PS2 was already enought powerfull to have very cinematic game

total : no improvement in gaming so far ?

Motion controls are the only innovation in gaming this generation, and the only innovation to be used live on the Oscars, Oprah, Ellen, Colbert, and in physical rehabilitation clinics, cruise ships, convalescent homes, and hotels all over the world.

Everything else listed has already been done, and was just upgraded slightly, so they didn't shake anything up.

I was playing online games on Super Nintendo. It evolved into an amazing unified system on PCs and then was downgraded to current consoles.

It seems people's definition of innovation are not all the same.

Definition: Innovation is a new way of doing something or "new stuff that is made useful".[1] It may refer to incremental and emergent or radical and revolutionary changes in thinking, products, processes, or organizations.

Perhaps the re-application of previous technology in a more complete and integrated way might also be a valid definition? So many products and concepts have existed in the past but many have been improved, re-applied, and are now a minimum requirement for gaming.

- online multiplayer...using standards applied to almost all games elliminating any technical knowlege and no user effort to.
- motion controls...in the Wii's scenario a new control scheme offered to a new group of mostly casual gamers has openning the doors to gaming for many. perhaps.
- achievements/trophies... adopted across all games applied as a standard across all games offering combined value external to the games themselves also used as a common guide and history. yes
- technical leap...from an anti-piracy and hardware lockdown. perhaps. from a DRM standpoint. perhaps.
- DLC/patching/game downloads...use applied in a simple and seamless way. No more use knowlege required for game patching, os issues, purchasing and downloading add-ons, dynamic application of additional content. yes

From my perspective "achievements" have overall had a significant impact on gaming for me by adding another layer of personal internal and external competition and a way to guage game progress of previously played games which did not exist in any noticable way on previous gaming generations.

For me the inclusion of all of the above in a single generation of console is most impressive.

What are you?  Some kind of hippie?