Nice, i was waiting for someone to keep it real. I forgot about how the n64 thumbstick was actually digital, not analog. It was the first 360 degree thumbstick on a home console controller. The other noteworthy thing about nintendo, they innovate in order to evolve gameplay - n64 controller for mario 64, it wasn't the first 3d game, but it basically created the genre of free-roaming 3d gameplay. the n64 thumbstick was implemented with 3d gameplay in mind, which helped reshape how we play. nintendo did the same thing with the original nes controller d-pad, creating the genre of the platformer- super mario, and creating the idea of saved games - zelda. they utilized touchscreen controls on the ds to create brand new genres, such as nintendogs, brain age, etc. they were first to get us off the couch with the wiimote and wii sports (my 90 year old grandmother even enjoyed it). the 3ds has games like mario3d and pushmo, which literally couldn't be played correctly on a standard 2d screen. nintendo innovates both hardware and software, reshaping and evolving how we can play video games. i'm not trying to say nintendo invented everything in the gaming world, but they certainly innovated and pushed the market forward time and time again.

they provide the 3d sensing tech.... you're basically telling me michelin invented the car because they made the first tire..... i ain't saying nintendo is a shit company..... they pretty much made the market what it is today..... but somebody saying that nintendo has a better r&d or even can afford the r&d MS has.... has no clue of what they are talking about.... heck even apple is nowhere close....

Sony wouldn't even be in the videogame sector if it wasn't for Nintendo. They had a partnership which fell through, but Sony saw what nintendo was doing and copied it. Then later microsoft saw what they were both doing and copied that (microsoft is basically built on imitations of other companies work)

Microsoft is a true copy & paste company. They blatantly copied the original Mac OS (which could be argued Apple copied from xerox), blatantly copied the ipod, blatantly copied the playstation, etc etc. Microsoft does a decent job of seeing what others are doing, and then copying them. That's not true r&d in my opinion. If you think microsoft has great r&d, then what devices have they ever radically designed themselves from the ground up (which hadn't already been done before)?

Move was supposedly in development - we only have Sony's word for it. But even if it was, the fact of the matter is that Nintendo did it before Sony did it, and you don't get an award for coming in second place.

What's more, there is absolutely zero doubt that, if Sony was already developing it, it was purely as a side-bar experimental development, and Sony only pushed it to become a product because of the success of the Wii.

Eyetoy is the one innovation I actually give to Sony. One innovation, across three consoles. Meanwhile, let's look at the fun observation:

SNES: Nintendo adds two shoulder buttons to controller.

PS: Sony puts FOUR shoulder buttons on controller.

N64: Nintendo creates rumble pack, adds analog stick.

PS2 (and late-release PS1 controller with only partial support): Sony adds "dual shock" - that's TWO rumbles - and TWO analog sticks.

I'd add GameCube and PS3 here, but Nintendo's only "innovation" there was connectivity, and it's not like Sony could double the connections.

Nintendo DS: Nintendo adds a touchscreen.

PS Vita: Sony adds a touchscreen and a touchpad (TWO touch interfaces). They'd probably have made it a four-screen system, if they could get away with it.

Sony has a history of taking Nintendo's innovations, and doubling them - mind you, adding Nintendo's innovations wouldn't concern me in the slightest, as innovations usually become standard... it's the "doubling" that is the issue. And I feel I need to emphasise that "innovation" isn't the same as "invention", as some others have already pointed out. None of the innovations from any of the three companies are inventions by those companies. The 3DS's 3D screen wasn't made by Nintendo, they're just the ones who innovated the use of the 3D screen for gaming. Cameras and motion tracking weren't new when Sony came out with the Eyetoy, but they were the first to use it in a console.

It's worth noting, by the way, that a failed attempt doesn't count as innovation, because it didn't work. Innovation is taking an invention, and successfully using it in a new way. MS's 3D-sensing joystick doesn't count as the innovation of the motion-sensing controller - it flopped. Sega's use of a screen in a gaming controller isn't an innovation because the Dreamcast flopped. Nintendo doesn't get the award for 3D gaming with the Virtual Boy because it flopped.

They copied Nintendo only better because they used CDs and not archaic ass cartridges, which is why all the third parties came to their yard. The first successful CD-based console! Innovation!

Not bad, Hutnik.

I chuckled.

which is 2 different thing.... failing to move fast enough and have a huge r&d are 2 unrelated things unfortunatelly.... but even talking about apple.... MS has a think tank that makes cupernito looks like kindergarten yard... http://research.microsoft.com/apps/dp/pr/projects.aspx#p=1&ps=36&so=1&sb=&fr=&to=&fd=&td=&rt=!47194!47195&f=a&a=&pn=&pa=&pd=  that's just one of their website not even starting with all the MS subsidiary and sister/daughter companies.... so yeah far from gaming only.... but still not many company beside energy sector or automobile sector or aerospace have r&d's that can match the size and capacity of MS they have like 20 times the employee nintendo has... it's not like it is a pissing contest..... it's just a technical fact.... sony could maybe but since they have way more than softare and computing to r&d and have a lot more employees than the 2 other because they do need huge production lines....

anyway i was merely countering all the flame bait... some nintendo fans where trying to do willingly or not.... there is simply no way that nintendo can technically have a better and/or bigger r&D than ms or sony..... now smarter managers maybe but that has nothing to do with r&D

The Dreamcast wasn't a flop. The Saturn was a flop, which in turn made Sega flop. The Dreamcast didn't fail Sega, Sega failed the Dreamcast. But Sega only failed the Dreamcast because we failed Sega. You. Me. Everyone. We are all flops.

This flop of a post is so full of win.

@max. Take a coffee break and make us Nintendo fans look less dumb will ya!

It's not cause Sony came after Nintendo that you can discard any of their innovations. Come on now.