Monkey see, monkey do.  It seems like, whenever one fo the three companies releases a new feature, then some other company will jump on the bandwagon. 

I mention Nintendo here, because they do motion control, then Microsoft jumps on and does it even larger.  Next up, they do the Wii U tablet controller, and now Microsoft is supposed to come out with a tablet?

I have to ponder, if say Nintendo demo'd a faux execution of Reggie on stage at E3, would would then expect that Microsoft to then off Ballmer in a year, to one up Nintendo?

Microsoft isn't supposed to come out with a tablet, they're supposed to come out with an app that will let you use your own existing smartphone or tablet with Xbox. Which is much, much smarter than anything Nintendo has shown regarding the Wii U thus far.

well since you bring it up...

You're almost correct, but it's not 3 companies which copy from each other. It's mainly just 1 company that innovates, and 2 other companies that blatantly copy & paste. Take a wild guess at which company does the innovating....hmmm, let's see- first d-pad controller, first analog thumbstick, first rumble pack, first touch screen gaming, first motion controls, the list goes on and on till the break of dawn. Not to mention all the game genres which Nintendo either basically invented or radically evolved. And it's not a coincidence that Nintendo is the only 1 out of the 3 that is ONLY a gaming company.

I don't think anybody could ever replace Reggie.

Nintendo arguably invented the d-pad (at least their cross shaped version of it), but they were far from the first to use analog sticks, haptic feedback, touch screens, or motion controls in gaming.

Im pretty sure Ballmer would call the police and serve as a witness in the trial if Reggie got executed at E3.

Nintendo does the hard research & development, micro & sony does the easy copy & paste

In the home console & portable gaming arena, Nintendo was unquestionably the first to introduce all those innovations. All of these were quickly copied by rivals. Check your history, it may help clarify things. If i'm wrong, then provide an example....

Well, more like completing the set of possible configurations.  Here is the PS3 controller: