system innovation question

Atari - timed raster effects? (ok, obsolete), bankswitching? (obsolete now), wireless controller option?
Famicom - Microphone for gameplay (sort of), start and select buttons?, first console with (D)PCM playback?
Atari 7800 - first console with backwards compatibility
SG-1000 Mark II - first redesign of console? / Atari 2600 Jr - first "slim" console?
Game Boy (software feature) - Reset game from controller
PCE CD - Internal save memory
Neo Geo - Memory cards (obsolete now)
Saturn - Expansion memory (obsolete now)
Playstation - Bringing FMV to consoles...
Xbox - hard drive, first MP3 playing media center-ish console...
360 - multiple hardware packages at launch...

 

Erm... the first two were done first on the PC-Engine (+CD), and the last one was done at least as early as the NES. Many NES carts contain 8K of extra memory which isn't used simply as battery-backed RAM, but as expansion RAM.

 

I'd say one good inovation was the xbox with its harddrive which was part of the console hardware rather than being an addon conceived as an after thought or whatever and the fact you could rip music to it and play it back in games that supported the feature.

You could say the DC's online capabilites were inovative as again it wasn't an addon but part of the console outa the box and it tried to bring many things to consoles and not just online multiplayer gaming but a web browser..etc. Sure it never really could be as inovative as a PC but at least it tried to bring the consoles online even if it never got as populatr as it could/should have.

 

I know PCE and MCD tried with software decoders, but Playstation is what forced it down people's throats. OK OK, Playstation introduced *hardware accelerated video playback out of the box*, otherwise it'd probably go to some C64 demo. Playstation unfortunately brought FMV into almost every game.

I'll clarify what kind of expansion memory I'm talking about: a permanent upgrade to system WRAM that is reusable across all games on standard media that's available for a one time fee to consumers. Cartridge RAM was probably introduced on the Atari 2600 and IMO goes along with bankswitching. But I suppose credit should go to the PCE IFU, the 32X, or maybe the Apple II's RAM upgrade.. Whatever, I'll just go

 

Er no, there are various versions of the 1292 series of consoles from the late 70s which had redesigns... this included Hanimex, Grandstand, etc.

Define slim? The Epoch Cassette Vision Jr (1983) was much smaller then the original machine.

You've not been doing your homework, although someone mentioned the PC Engine, the Atari 5200 beats both by a few years...

It could be said that the MSX holds that honour with Laserdisc and VHD games... although the PC Engine, Sega Mega CD, 3DO, CDi, etc had FMV well before the Playstation..

The Atari 2600 did it earlier... Omega Race 1983 even proudly boasts it has extra RAM for better graphics...

Thought of a more important ones...

Apple Pippin / Bandai atmark - First console to use the Power PC architecture that all the main consoles use as cores
RDI Halcyon - First console to also play video media
Philips CD-i - First console to also play digital video media

 

I don't do homework, just throwing things out there.

 

Sega Genesis: first console to do what Nintendon't

 

to bring out like a hundred different versions of the same console,and then gliding,together with SEGA in a septictank of fail??

 

The NES brought us the D-Pad, which pretty much changed gaming controllers forever, even though nowadays console manufacturers don't bother making D-Pads actually useable.

 

Geez, someone totally missed the reference :shrug:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7nsBoqJ6s8

 

Nope, I doubt any one did. And I think N64gamer thought "fuck it!" and went through the ad reference and for that matter the irony and told the truth instead . Even though I actually think the whole Sega "16 bit " console thing they had going on, was extremely great. And at the same time I do not actually care of how many revisions they made. Basically I am both for all those revisions , and I also do not care about it.

 

I think that the PC-Engine deserves credit for innovation with their CD-ROM add-on and the System Cards you used to play it allowing for upgrading the amount of memory available. Plus the DUO was pretty nice too with the combining of both units. Not sure when that came around though I guess it'd been done before by the Sharp Twin Famicom.

The NES/Famicom was pretty innovative and a very important step in gaming for many reasons. Can't really think of too much worth mentioning that's more recent.

 

yeah,i pretty much took the irony and threw it at him:lol:

 

just for fun, going from memory:

Atari 5200 - first console with pause button
SMS - first console with card-based software, 3D glasses, and RGB out(?)
Genesis - first console with stereo sound (and headphone jack)
Famicom - first console with a modem (?)

I welcome any corrections.

 

Did any 2600 games have 3-D glasses? Anyway, it was the Vectrex which was probably the first to have shuttered glasses.
The PC-Engine was the first console with stereo sound.
And the Intellivision might have been the first console with modem... not sure if anything came earlier.

 

Was the Intellivision the first to do voice?

Or did someone else do it first?

-hl718