I recently discovered that Apple is apparently making a new line of iPhone, called the iPhone Duo. It’s a flipphone with an invisible crease, which allows you to switch between (i) a small screen (folded up) and (ii) an iPad Mini (folded out). After having played around with the Samsung Galaxy Fold-Phone at a Best Buy kiosk, I’m realizing that this is a technological advancement I need to get my hands on ASAP.… but there are some trade offs. Weaker camera, weaker cooling, shorter battery life, and all the bugs that come with a first generation of any device. But despite these issues, I am willing to take it over upgrading my iPhone 12 Pro Max to an 18 Pro Max.

…then my thoughts were drawn back to video games, reflecting again on the idea of “Do I want a 30FPS GTAVI? Or a 60FPS SpiderMan 2 with visuals possible on a past gen system?” (I made a thread about this not too long ago). And now I consider a new question:

Would you take innovation over convenience? Are you getting the ultimate model of iPhone with the 18 Pro Max, or are you biting on the experimental Duo? Are you purchasing the PS4 Pro with the nicest controller in stock, or are you more intrigued by the novel Switch 1? Are you purchasing that supercomputer PS3, or are you keen to test the waters of that silly little waggle-control machine known as the Wii?

Innovation all the way.

Switch 1 and Wii are two of my all time favourite systems because they did something new and fresh and exciting.

There's a place for convenience too of course, but gaming would be boring if everything was the same and nobody innovated.

Innovation of course, PSVR2 is my main gaming experience now.

That's a weird choice to have to make. I don't look for either one, when it comes to video games. Surely there are more important factors to go by. Like what games you want to play.

I do not think they need to be on opposite ends. The innovations I like makes things more convenient.
I probably follow the law of least resistance quite a bit making convenience the default go to. But that does not have to mean the simplest solution for me it is more like the juice needs to be worth the squeeze.

Innovation as long as you're also pushing the boundaries of what available tech can do, so not exactly something like Yokoi's philosophy either.

I like innovations that are also convenient. (DS, Wii, GBA SP model, etc...)

Convenience tends to be the natural endgame of innovation.

I narrowly voted convenience, though I like both.
Switch has some innovation while being a convenient consolidation of Nintendo's handheld and home console divisions.
PS4 and PS5 are mostly convenience over innovation, but the innovation exists in the VR options for both consoles.
Wii and Wii U are innovative and often inconvenient. Wii U needs the GamePad even for something as simple as the system settings menu. And the OS is sluggish. Wii needs the Wii Remote and a sensor bar (or jury-rigged sensor bar alternative) just to get into games and use the OS in general.

The innovations that last tend to be the convenient ones. Just look at the history of any line of products, game consoles included. The Wii's motion controls could be fun, but you don't see them much today outside of VR which itself is still struggling to secure its place. On the subject of VR, comfort and convenience is outselling higher fidelity handily. Same goes for AR when you compare something like the Apple Vision Pro to Meta glasses. The innovations that stand the test of time are the ones that make things easier.