Just a minor correction, no offense intended. I think the difference is that the DS/Wii opened up a lot of the same games to female participation as to give a much more even split along gender lines. There had been games which did that before but they had been few and far between. There had been girly games before but IMO the DS/Wii were great in that they made the system itself and not the individual titles compelling by simplifying the interface.

@Khuutie, I just realised when I say 'Khuutie' out loud it sounds a lot like cootie which is some horrible aids like disease that afflicts children.

The DS has not changed anything, it inherited its user base in the game boy line. It form factor including the two screens that come from a prior Nintendo hand held one even older then the original game boy. It did not push game design or interaction anywhere it had not been before.

Honestly to support your idea of a new cheaper gaming environment I am surprised you did not use the iphone/ipod touch   which have been heavily advertised as gaming devises (I think the droid, and other smart phones may fall into this too if the push the idea).  I would have bowed to that, though I feel its too early still to see if it’s a fad or an actual move. I do believe if the iphone/touch does cause a change it gaming, it will lead to an arms race in quality and cost of the games as the devise becomes more capable.  

As for the wii it has not changed anything presently. Nintendo’s prominence right now is due to a well planned though out and executed business model, launching at the right time, and a temporary influx of persons to gaming community beyond a normal growth rate that will leave. 

Nintendo has not believed enough in either touch or motion to push them as the sole means to drive your console/handheld, and because of that lack of faith they have not forced a revolutionary change in the gaming community. No doubt they will be imitated they are making money after all. But it will be left to which every company forces that change to be the next great leap in gaming

so no I do not see the DS or wii as the greatest change, I see them as enablers of the status quo

It's not about controls, though - controls are only a tool, one method through which one increases accessibility. The iTouch line is problematic in that the accessibility is lower, if only because they're comparatively expensive.

You think that after half a decade, the design paradigms and demographic paradigms brought on by the DS might be a fad? I don't know what to tell you.

You are unnecessarily limited in your definition of "change". Exclusively holding to motion controls or touch screen controls would not be enough. Expanding one's ability to pentrate audiences is more effectively served by variety of product.

Again: the image of the industry has changed. Te heart of the industry has changed. Nintendo did much of that.

Xbox 360 on the list while there is no mention of Wii or DS is disturbing. The claim sounds more like a joke than anything else.

It reminds me of an article I read in MAXIMUM PC magazine last week. They had their top 100 people, gadgets and events of 2009 issue. In it, they chose MS ZUNE as the best portable music player. The moment I read that part of the article I lol'd and closed the magazine.

I do not see any change in the DS in terms of design or demographics of games or console. it simply rode the gameboys empire. if you consider marketing smartly towards new demographics revolutionary i guess you have that.

 i never called the DS a fad, though i came close to calling the wii one. i implied the wii had a few things break its way and much like the ds had a solid marketing plan and corporate strategy that were well executed to increase mindshare.

if they had truly shifted what gaming was i would agree but they have not, interface has been their biggest change, the games themselves have not seen any sort of real shift, just better more focused marketing, and strategy

though i guess if you saying that how we market games is the change i could buy that, and nintendo could get most credit for that, but that is hardly a change in gaming it is a change in image of gaming.

and yes i do feel the iphone/ipod touch demographic at current is limiting itself by price though i see that changing in the next few years if apples historic price movement structure stays the same.

the image of the industry has not changed, nor has its heart. the facade that you see is noting more then an outer shell and window dressing

Steam is at first and foremost a vendor platform. However Steam de sin fact have coice chat for anyone who is using it, if you launch games from steam then you even have cross game voice chat. The point is that it is possible.

The thing is the online is free and as far as gaming goes far far better. How about mods to games? Tere are hundreds and hudreds and hudereds of mods for any game that's able to be modded. Then you talk about service, but really can any service honetly beat what a good ol' Firefox brows, or hell even IE, can offer you? I know for a fact that it does not. WHen you bring up serviced you automatically lose because you are basically going against the ENTIRE Web 2.0. Hell on consoles you can't even watch some TV channels' streaming because they require special installations and crap which consoles don't even support.

So sum it all up when it comes to LIVE

- Very poor services

- Very poor fame communites

- Not free

- Ubiquitous game options, which are also availabe on the PCs as well if you spend 15 mins.

What do you gain? Nothing. Meanwhile you still pay.

OT:

I too agree that the Wii defined this decade far fa more than the 360.

Te DS was not traditional at all, and its success is completely separate from the Game Boy. In fact, when Nintendo released it, they constantly referred to the DS as their "3rd pillar" to distinguish it as separate from their Game Boy line and console line. They had no idea it was going to be this successful. They even released another Game Boy after the DS to appease us oldschool Game Boy fans.

More girls and elderly play the DS. And yes it changed game design. The DS is the reason there are dozens of Nintendogs clones and Brain Training clones on every system. And the DS opened the floodgates for really cheap really quick pick-up-and play games of every type, from Cooking Mama to Trauma Center to Touching the Dead.

And the image of the industry has definitely changed. Now video games are played live at the Oscars, and on Oprah, and on Ellen, and on Colbert, and on Jimmy Fallon, and on cruise ships, and in convalescent homes, and in physical rehabilitation clinics. Those are all the Wii. You think that would've happened with the SNES or PS1? During the SNES years Congress was considering regulating games, and to this day many states are constantly introducing bills to make it illegal to sell M-rated games. The Wii is the family-friendly force changing all that. The DS to a lesser extent, because a whole family can't play a DS at the same time.

meh,you can't believe everything you see on the inet

http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/empirestrikesback?q=empire%20strikes%20back

^ If you honestly believe all that rubbish you just typed then wow! all I will say is this = LMAO.....

If you honestly believe something else you might want to stop bending over and check your ass.