I agree and PS4 will be this generation's winner :D

While I am a Sony fan at heart I still think that this gen in terms of innovation will be won by Nintendo,for various reasons, which include:

The ability to play a game using the controller while the TV is being used.
The ability for developers to innovate when it comes to games due to the touchscreen.
The first console to be compatible with numerous first party controller all of which have a different play styles.

XBO and WiiU may have been more innovative but that actually hurt the console more than it helped. Both Kinect and the Gamepad did nothing but drive up the costs of the machine and cost their consoles precious marketshare.

PS4 isn't the innovator.

All the things you mentioned happened on PC first, in some cases years ahead. Sony philosophy with Playstation has always been "It does everything". The key difference with PS4 is how well Sony has architectured the PS4 to do everything.

The main innovation is the PS4 OS made in synergy with the hardware design where they have separate ARM processor/memory just for the OS level services (video capture, streaming, party chat, etc) while leaving main processor and 8GB of DDR5 for apps to use.

It is a beautiful hardware/OS design and it has some brilliant highly focused minds working on continually improving it with a keen eye on improving the user experience and expanding system level services in meaningful ways.

Innovation in hardware is overrated in my eyes. You can have incredible innovation simply in gameplay design without new perks. Games such as Braid, Demon Souls, Heavy Rain, and such. Nintendo hardly made any major uses with the Wii Its design that truly innovated any games. There has been a few games that has, that being Dance Central with Kinect and Tearaway on the Vita.

I don't think PSNow counts as a PS4 innovation. It's mainly for other devices, isn't it?

No, not really. Even if it were, it's a "world's tallest midget" kind of achievement.

Honestly, the XBox One was angling to be the most innovative console this generation, but it failed to create compelling software for Kinect, failed to create a compelling argument for consumers to accept its proposed change in business model, and allowed the whole project to be distracted by television of all things.

Unlike Microsoft and Nintendo, Sony came into this generation with no ambition, and so were able to successfully execute their boiled potato bland strategy. It certainly helps that brain dead boring is exactly what publishers want from game hardware.

DerNebel said: Hey, hey, hey hey hey heyhey, let's please not forget rumbling triggers, biggest innovation of the gen.

Ha ha, that's funny.

Actually, being nearly 40 years old and gaming since Atari 2600 I can honestly say the single input/HDMI through on the Xbox One is one of the single most innovative console experiences I've had in my life. Especially for someone like me that uses their main TV as their gaming TV.

I never have to switch inputs to enter my digital gaming world. I'm always immersed in it, even if I'm watching TV. I can see what friends are doing, accept invites, switch immediately to a game from TV, watch a friend's game clip during a commercial, it's an incredible experience and the single most innovative aspect of this generation that was sadly lost in the poor messaging from MS.

And second to that is the controlling of all my devices that the Xbox One is able to do along with the voice commands. I can say, "Xbox, On" and my Xbox One turns on, it turns my TV on, my Comcast cable box, and my Bose speaker system. Then I can say, "Xbox, watch CNN," it turns the channel to CNN. I say, "Xbox, Pause," and my DVR pauses TV while I go grab my dinner. "Xbox, Play" and it resumes. When a commercial comes on, "Xbox, Go To Friends" and I can see who's on playing what, etc.

If you look at how they have build the units .. Xbox price/performance xbox one is awful .