In my opinion, innovation is not that important, as someone mentioned previously. The quality of the game play is more important to me. Super Nintendo, the first console I owned and gamed on, is an incredibly simple system, and yet it had some of the most wonderful games, like SMB 3 and the Donkey Kong series.
There is far too much emphasis, in the gaming world and in other areas like the arts, on innovation. In gaming, it seems that Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft are now focused on beating each other in terms of innovation... just look at the motion control explosion. I own a Wii and I hardly ever play it because I find traditional controls, rather than motion controls, much easier, and much more engaging. In art it is similar... make an outlandish and different artwork so that you can sell yourself as a unique brand.
That is, I predict, what the gaming companies would like. To distinguish themselves from one another and give the impression that they are leading the new technologies and innovations.
As someone who has gamed for many years, I know I prefer the older, simpler gameplay of Ocarina of Time and the 2D Mario platformers. Having said that, I absolutely love my DS, it's my favourite console this generation, over my Wii and PS3. The touch screen can be a lot of fun to use in games. 3D is exciting too. But focus on making quality games over new forms of control, and I'm happy.
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