My first console as a kid was a NES. Thanks to the PS gaming can be enjoyed by adults too.

I agree.  I look at franchises that were really big back in the day. Contra, Alex Kidd, Wonder Boy, Bionic Commando, Castlevania, Metal Gear, Tecmo Bowl, Metal Gear, Mega Man, etc. Aside from a couple, those franchises are on the verge of extinction or on serious decline.  Meanwhile, Nintendo's franchises from 8-bit and 16-bit are still going strong. This is a good thing.

LOL Nintendo never let Sega have proper third party development though.

Oh. Never mind. I just thought you were serious. sorry. anyway, nice avatar.

I'll admit that more people got into gaming during that era. Everybody had a PS1 and PS2! But adults have been gaming since the beginning.  The audience just expanded.  Meanwhile, gamers like me and you that started playing on the Nes or Atari or Genesis or whatever--we never stopped gaming.  We grew with the industry.

This is not even a contest. Nintendo is the answer. Not out of bias or preference but sheer contributions to the industry. I'll list several below that I don't think have yet been stated.

1. They introduced the 3rd party licensing model that still in use today. Without that, we'd have a dead 3rd party industry. Some irony in that, no?

2. They won several lawsuits to uphold IP laws, sales laws and more that would have basically killed the future of the industry had they lost.

3. They introduced Sony to the video game industry. Sony was selected by Nintendo to develop the audio DSP in the SNES and were later a partner in the ill fated SNES CD system. Prior to that, Sony had no interest in the video game industry. This means we'd not have an MS console either given they entered the market to counter Sony.

4. Nintendo introduced portable gaming as we know it today. While Milton Bradley's Microvision introduced removable cartridges (a dozen games that barely worked), it was Nintendo that really established their use. They also introduced things like headphone jacks, volume adjustments, multi-unit multiplayer, Even the first motion controlled games (Kirby Tilt N Tumble).

5. Game saves. The Legend of Zelda was the first title to include a battery in the cartridge which allowed gamers to save progress. Before that, you started over at the beginning for every game.

6. Online capability. The Famicom in Japan had an Internet modem add on that allowed for online banking, stock trading and and several online services. Though it couldn't do online gaming.


Combine these with the aspects listed many times already and it's quite clear that Nintendo has provided the greatest contributions to the industry by a wide margin.

I think people seem to forget that Sony brought multimedia to consoles ps1 (cd player) ps2(dvd) ps3(blu ray).
Now I know you can argue sega was first, but the Sega Saturn never really taken off and pushed multi media like Sony did.

Sega wasn't even first.  Sony was actually 5th or 6th in that regard (CD) though they were indeed first with the other 2.

I don't think anyone can take you seriously when you make comments like that.  I am starting to think you are a legit troll and only say these things to get a reaction out of people.  I don't think even Sony fans here would actually agree with you on this point.

Sony, they made gaming more mainstream and appealing to the more mature audience, and stepped up the game of integrating new technology in consoles.

Did Nintendo bring console gaming back from the dead and back in the living room? Yes. Would it have come back from the dead without them? Yes aswell.