I could see the argument for the PS2 or the Wii, but in my mind the NES wins hands-down. Every home console since has followed (or expanded upon) the basic template it laid down in everything from controller design to swappable games to our very conception of what games can even be.

No contest.

The Wii didn't change the game though. Nothing the Wii introduced is still prevalent in gaming :p

PS2 was just a sequel to the PS1, nothing revolutionary or game changing. PS1 brought gaming to adults and professionals in a way that no other console had done. Before this consoles were generally considered for kids or nerds.

For me, probably Xbox, the original one. It brought online gaming to the masses. Yes Dreamcast had online features first but... they didn't change the game :D

I'm going to go ahead and play the renegade and say the xbox 360.

I say this because of how it prioritized online functionality and really pushed online gaming and digital distribution into the console space.

NES or the N64 are the only correct answers.

N64 for me.

No PS1? Then i guess i would go with NES. And not Wii, cause motion gaming doesn't exist anymore. Thats what you call a fad.... not a revolution.

The iphone should be in that list too........God I hate myself for even saying that.

Uh... Dreamcast option?

I'd say the NES and PS1 were the two most defining consoles of the modern gaming industry. The Wii certainly had a strong impact, but its effects have all but died off now as far as the core industry is concerned.

NES *IS* the foundation for the modern game business it is the great grandfather of all modern consoles, XBox and Playstation included.

It founded the basic business model for the current industry, birthed franchises that are still going strong today like Mario, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Zelda, Castlevania, Metroid, Metal Gear (well popularized that one), and set up the basic tenants of the modern game controller from which everything since has evolved from, and the 1st/2nd/3rd party studio lay out.

The NES also introduced the idea of the "blockbuster" home console game ... Super Mario Bros. 1 and 3 ... before that games were just ... games, you just threw them out like Kung-Fu, Ice Hockey, etc. But the NES really cemented the concept of blockbuster game IP. Video games could be like a blockbuster movie and have fast food tie-ins, merchandising, etc. 

Stores would not even carry video games after the Atari crash, the NES saved the industry and set the standard for how everything would proceed afterwards. Without the NES there is no SNES, there is no XBox, there is no Playstation, there is no N64, there is no PS2. 

Wii was just a hot craze for a few years, motion gaming today is passe ... Wii Fit U flopped, Wii Sports Club isn't doing much, Mario & Sonic was a dud, Kinect Sports XB1 bombed, MS has removed the Kinect sensor from the XB1 as standard, franchises like EA Active and Carnival Games are now competely defunct, Just Dance is headed towards irrelevance, etc. There's not much lasting impact there. 

Either the ps1 which killed sega and overcame nintendo or the wii which sucessfully did something different with a controller. I will however say that steam was the most innovative platform ever made since it created a revolution in how people buy the products, online infrastructure and just really the dawn of the services we see today on consoles.

The Wii and the NES.

Obvious is obvious.

Ps1? really? A SNES add-on? LOL No.