For companies, I'd go something like...

1. Nintendo
2. Maxis
3. Rockstar
4. Sony
5. Harmonix
6. Blizzard

Microsoft doesn't get much credit for anything, AFAIC. GoldenEye, Half-Life, Dreamcast, etc., existed before XBox, y'know.

And for Sony, I wouldn't give them credit for third party franchises like GTA. Furthermore, the PS2, Gamecube and XBox were a pretty linear following of the PS1, and so the credit for creating that platform norm goes to Sony of the 90s. Also, remember that they failed in their primary goal for PS2 and PS3, of leveraging the power of the box to create a multi-media "set top box." What they do get credit for is increasing opportunities for third parties and expanding the games market in Europe. But since that credit is split between the 90s and 00s, they don't challenge Nintendo.

For individuals, all I know is that Iwata would be #1 by a mile.

If wer comparing the last gen and this gen
the awards goto:

ONLINE GAMEPLAY PIONEER= SEGA
MOST AFFORDABLE LAUNCH- SEGA Dreamcast ($199.99 NA launch)

MOST AAA RATED TITLES- SONY-PS2
BEST GRAPHICS- 360/PS3- DEBATABLE

MOTION CONTROL INNOVATION- SEGA(get bass)- nintendo(wii)
MICROPHONE INCORPORATION- SEGA- Dreamcast- Seaman

BEST EVOLVED ONLINE SYSTEM- MICROSOFT- XBOX/360
MEDIA FRIENDLY CONSOLE- SONY-PS3

MOST RELIABLE CONSOLE- gamecube/wii

hmm thats all i can think of.. THere is no single company that has made a HUGE contibution.. everyone has added what they can, dc with affordibility and online, ps2 with DVD, xbox with graphics, 360 with affordibility and online, ps3 with its media powerhouse hub tech, wii with casual gaming..

That may be, but that doesn't take away from the fact that Microsoft do it.

PS2 didn't have as much of a contribution as people are trying to make use believe. I mean it was a great system with many great games, but that by itself is not what the thread is about. You could say that it helped expand the market, but a lot of the expansion happened with the PS1 although the PS2 pushed it a little farther. The PS2 didn't give us a new way to play games, the PS2 was mostly just the PS1 with better graphics and a DVD drive. In some ways you could argue the PS3 is a step backwards.

Microsoft do it too yes.

But for me when people say sony are poineers in the gaming world, i say yes they are, poineers of copying, the origionals, the masters of copyright infringement.

Sonys copying crimes have been taking place for 15 damn years now, they should be locked up.

What???

You do realize that people were playing games online years before MS ever released a console, or even thought of gaming, right?

You clearly weren't alive in the 90's for Sega commercials or Mortal Kombat.

I think he might have meant the boobies in God of War :)

1) Nintendo - Only company innovating with console/portable hardware
2) Valve - Steam: the future of PC Gaming
3) Microsoft - Live, Achievements, etc

The PS2 was the perfect culmination of a paradigm that was already evolving for a while.

Nintendo however, much like they did in the 80's, has/is changing everything this decade. For future generations it will the Wii/DS that define the paradigm, much like frankly Nintendo and Sega defined much of what Sony accomplished.

Aside from financing and the design of the technology itself, I don't think Sony is really that much of a contributor. They just take on whatever is standard and apply their vertical technological monopoly to make it more optimal. That's how I'd define Sony, it's growth with optmization of tech, but the real contribution most of the time isn't quite theirs.