Interesting to note that 2 of the 5 innovations came from MS/Bungie- regenerating health and Achievements.

The first consumer games console which had analog joysticks was the Prinztronic/Acetronic/Interton series, launched in 1976. This system was widely cloned throughout Europe and available under several brand names. The 2 sticks each used a pair of potentiometers, but were not self-centering.

In 1982, Atari released their first controller with a potentiometer-based analog joystick for their Atari 5200 home console. However, its non-centering joystick design proved to be ungainly and unreliable, alienating many consumers at the time. During that same year, General Consumer Electronics introduced the Vectrex, a vector graphics based system which used a self-centering analog stick, a precursor to the modern design. For many years, consoles ignored analog technology, instead using the digital d-pad. It was not until the emergence of 3D graphics, and the gameplay mechanics that came along with it, that the analog stick was brought back for widespread use.

In 1985, Sega's third-person rail shooter game Space Harrier, released for the arcades, introduced a true analog flight stick for movement. It could register movement in any direction as well as measure the degree of push, which could move the player character at different speeds depending on how far the joystick is pushed in a certain direction.

Some say Vectrex, others say Sega or the Neo Geo CD http://i.imgur.com/Ets3L.jp...
but whichever it is, they all came out years before the N64, so it's obvious Nintendo didn't invent these.

* BEFORE the first DualShock, there was the 'Dual Analog Controller'. Some versions of these had BUILT-IN RUMBLE.
Nintendo released the Rumble Pak add-on the same month Sony released the Dual Analog Controller. So I'd call that a tie at best.

* PS1 introduced Dual-Analog sticks that you can push down/click (L3,R3), along with 4 shoulder buttons and GRIPS that have become the standard.

Anyway, Rumble and Analog Sticks. That's 2 things Nintendo is wrongly being credited for.

I don't get it.....Sony added 2 analog sticks. So that means they get credit for innovating analog sticks in general? Where is the biggest innovation on this list? I don't see The Diamond face button layout, and shoulder buttons that every modern controller has.

Yeah but the way the article reads sony invented them. They say analog sticks, not dual analog sticks. It doesn't make any sense that Nintendo isn't even mentioned.

EXACTLY. If sony hadn't added that second analog stick all of you FPS whores wouldn't have proper controls in these games lol. Imagine playing COD with one analog stick and a d pad.

Don't kid yourself that Nintendo developed the analog stick first & made them popular for consoles.

For the benefit of truth seekers.

Nights into Dreams for the Sega Saturn was in development since 1994 with the analog stick game play design. The Saturn 3D Controller & the N64 came out a few days apart that same year.

So don't jump into conclusions, neonridr. Your biased comments are misleading.

Sega Saturn & N64 may have started the trend but in terms of popularity contest PSOne sold more Dual Analog controllers than the Saturn or N64 ever did.

Nobody owned the Sega Saturn, so I would say Nintendo definitely had the edge there (32 million to 9 million units - only 2 million in the US).

the 3D pad from the Saturn was optional and mostly first party games were the only ones to take advantage of it. Because the Nintendo 64 controller was standard and came with every system, it was fully supported and utilized. The 3D pad was optional and had to be purchased separately.

Obviously the Playstation made the dual sticks popular - I never debated that. I merely said that Nintendo's analog stick came out a year before the dual analog stick surfaced from Sony.

There was no bias to my opinion, I was merely stating the facts.

And I will agree with your last point, the PSone did sell more dual analog controllers than the Saturn or N64 ever did. Since the Saturn or N64 never had dual analog sticks that point is pretty obvious.

Next thing you're going to tell me is that the Wii U controller is a ripoff of the Dreamcast controller or something..

@Neonridr:

"Nobody owned the Sega Saturn"

I'm FAIRLY confident Sega owned the Sega Saturn. Just saying.

I would disagree to that. The PS One was where CG took off and cutscenes became a major factor. Look at the Final Fantasy series on PS One. Cutscenes were used heavily to tell the story and create the game world.

Plust you said "Cutscenes have been around for a few console generations now", which means you said it!!! You documented what you said, and then try and tell me you didn't say it... WTF?!?!

Oh, and axelstone below is correct... Halo doesn't have regenerating health. It has regenerating shields, but not health.

I gave the article a compliment, with a constructive criticism, and you get all mad saying I'm wrong, when you're the one who is wrong. You're not very good at this blogging thing. I could have been a real a$$ and questioned the integrity of your entire list, but I'm just trying to point out something so you don't make the same mistake in the future. Not everyone on n4g is as forgiving as me, and you can end up being used as an example of bad "journalism".

These declines are on the back of extra revenue received from releasing games like Forza horizon 5 on PlayStation. So I’m being sarcastic here when I said they should go back to exclusives. Killing off a revenue stream from Ps5 sales will only make things worse