6. Vibration/Force feedback

It's hard for anyone to imagine playing games without vibration these days. First seen on the N64, vibration was later incorporated into the PlayStation controllers. Whether it be merely used for immersion or as an integral part of gameplay ('Metal Gear Solid' anyone?), vibration is simply crucial these days — as Sony soon discovered when it launched the PlayStation 3 without vibration in its controllers. The clamour of gamers soon had them rethink that move and a vibration-capable controller once more graced the scene.

7. Real-time clock

Though underutilised in recent years, the real-time clock is another innovation worth noting. Quite a few games, such as 'Metal Gear Solid 3', made use of consoles' internal clocks in an attempt to innovate; though arguably its greatest implementation came in Nintendo's 'Animal Crossing' series, where it was central to the gameplay, with fellow villagers sleeping at night and certain characters visiting on specific days. Among the current generation games, 'Fable 2' toyed with the idea, but we have yet to see it fully embraced.

8. Shoulder buttons

Can you imagine gaming without your shoulder triggers/buttons? Go on, imagine hammering a face button to kill someone in a FPS... It's a terrible thought isn't it? First popularised by the SNES in 1991, shoulder buttons have since been adopted as an industry standard.

9. Hard Disk Drives

Once the domain of PC enthusiasts, hard drives have made a long-overdue leap to the console world. Fears that consoles would become "PCs in a box" thanks to hard drives were allayed when the Xbox was launched. Not only have hard drives provided us with a huge amount of storage but they've also been used to ramp up the performance of games thanks to disk caching.

10. Motion-sensing controllers

Motion-sensing controllers are a big deal these days thanks to the Nintendo Wii, but it wasn't always that way. Sega had experimented with motion-control with its poorly-received Activator controller, and it was not uncommon to see magazine ads for similar peripherals for the PlayStation. Nintendo decided to take this route when brainstorming its 'Revolution' console (which would later be rechristened the 'Wii') and combined it with games aimed at casual gamers — and the sales sky-rocketed.

Do you remember your first impression of one of these innovations? Did we miss one? Please share it with us by commenting below!