system innovation question

Which system do you think has given us the longest lasting innovation. Imo i would have to say the ps2 being that it brought dvd into mainstream at least in the US. Honorable mention would be the Dreamcast with online gaming. However online gaming isn't as widespread as the use of dvd players these days.

 

NES, for introducing the whole notion of game licensing and basic quality control, if I'm not mistaken.

 

I'd argue that the PS2 did the DVD thing in Japan, but cheap DVD players were in the US before the PS2 hit. The PS3 was the cheapest Blu-ray player for the longest time, but Blu-ray hasn't seen the adoption that DVD has had.

Online gaming is interesting because I'd argue that online gaming is so common these days that it has replaced local multiplayer in many instances. In fact, online gaming is so common that many of us don't realize that the online features really are "online" most of the time.

-hl718

 

when the the ps2 launched i was pretty young, maybe 15 or 16 max. at that time, or maybe it was my young eyes, dvd's were in the same position as blu rays now, a niche that hadn't yet grown on the the custom yet ( especially when i believe vhs was still being produced and 9 out of 10 families probably owned a vhs player). being that dvd was attatched to the next big thing in videogaming at the time ( ps2) it helped broaden people horizons to the dvd format .

 

Pushed it a bit, but didn't pave the way. History has proven that Japanese (dorks at the very least) aren't afraid to embrace even obscure formats (MiniDisc, LaserDisc). DVD sales weren't bad, but once the PS2 price point and onbaord drive were announced, you could tell anyone on the fence waited for a PS2. Shit, I was poor as dirt then and even I had a DVD-Rom.

I'm going off of memory, but I think they DVD was adopted far quicker. The players seemed to come down to normal prices quicker, and the bonuses over VHS are massive (quality, degredation, and size). Also, no new display needed to view them (properly), and no format wars, even though that was over rather quickly.

The PC gets far more credit than the DC. It was nice to see it bring online gaming to consoles finally, but I think we can all agree it hardly took off like it was expected to.

 

...I had a DVD player before the PS2 was out for quite some time...and i'm not really an "early" adopter. We didn't have an HD TV until a year ago, I never had a laser disc player, and I didn't get an Mp3 player until 2007...

I'd say console wise, the NES. because of aforementioned reasons.

 

Game n' Watch and the Famicom introduced the D-pad to the world. The Super Famicom pad was the first to feature L and R shoulder buttons. N64 brought analogue control and vibrating controllers into the mainstream.

 

Can someone go into more detail about the nes info provided above, as far as game liscenses and quality control. Correct me if I'm wrong,but prior to to nes systems such as the various ataris, collecovisions etc weren't built to last?

 

Also, when I say online gaming I mean console online gaming.

 

Vibrating yes, but analogue controls were mainstream long before N64, see pong consoles, Atari 5200, Vectrex, Astrocade, VC4000, etc.

 

People seeing DVD on the PS2 in North America is what gave the big push. Before that DVD was still a niche market. Would DVD have been as big without the PS2? Probably yes but its growth wouldn't have been nearly as fast without it.

 

They may have been analog but I think they all crudely measured a 1D position OR force, not a 2D direction with force. It makes all the difference with 3D platforming...

In a hardware sense:
SG-1000/Colecovision paved the way for all post-VCS 2D game consoles (because of the TI chip) by first using the pattern table/name table/palette-in-VRAM model. It was important because it brought arcade tile-power home as well as offloaded rendering from the CPU finally allowing some decent gameplay.

In a artistic sense:
NES was probably the most influential because while a lot of genres were first introduced on the Atari/in the arcade in a primitive form, they were really defined on the NES to the point that most games today still use the same old formulas, just with more functionality realized technology. If you studied the complete library though, few if any modern gameplay elements weren't at least attempted on the it.

 

Calpis, what Jeilong means is actually more correct when it comes to analog JOYSTICKS , cause that is what I believe Jeilong is talking about. And analog joysticks were mainstream, long before there was even a talk about the N64. But I could be wrong about my thought.

 

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Druid II: I totally agree with you when it comes to the C64 . After all the C64 and I share the same age.

 

Amiga, for birthing the MOD as we know it now (any non-redbook music in games.)

 

The N64 wasn't the first machine with an analogue joystick, but it was the first console in a very long time to feature one on it's standard controller. It was then adopted by Sony and Microsoft and is now a standard feature on all controllers.

 

I know what he means but a Pong paddle or pilot joystick and modern analog stick are kinda different things, mechanically and electronically. It's like comparing a light switch to the D-pad, same principle but different uses. Until the "C-stick" they just weren't used the way they are now in video games so I think the N64's analog stick is still a pretty valid innovation.

Old consoles typically couldn't even sample the analog controllers instantaneously, they'd manually time an RC constant and calculate the position. I mean, how many console games actually accelerated things with an analog stick before N64? Like none because they didn't have the precision or a 3D plane to make use of it.

 

I'm going to have to say X-box, with Live and such, being the first home console to fully integrate online play, something which is standard now. Also Live Arcade and digital distribution. I prefer having the physical media myself (always will) but this is the wave of the future.

Wii-type motion controls I think is something that will fade away, the next generation of consoles might have some sort of motion control but we'll see if it becomes as standard as an analog stick.

 

Fairchild Channel F - Multiaxis control (forward / backwards / left / right / up / down and twist left and right), Cartridges.
MB Microvision - Portable gaming
Epoch Pocket Computer - First proper portable game system with proper cartridges
Nintendo Famicom - Joypads
PC Engine - Optical media as storage on a console
Playstation - Proper speedy 3D gaming to the masses