Other contenders which didn’t quite make it into the Nintendo list:

Nintendogs (2005: Nintendo DS)

Wanted to include this game because typically it created an appeal for Nintendo DS with female audiences which it did at the time but now I feel that other games have achieved female appeal better within industry with broader audience scope like “Sims” or “World of Warcraft” as I think its a bit of cliché making cute animal game to appeal female audience as It's been done to death throughout the years although I have to say that this “animal sim” game is well executed with a lot of charm (very Nintendo) and it's the best of its kind. This game was almost on this list as he has made minor impact on the industry with lots of clones from Ubisoft with “Tigerz”, “horses”, etc but it’s not inspirational enough compared other Nintendo's creations.

E – card reader (2003 Gamecube/Game boy advance connectivity)

Wanted to include this peripheral as I loved using it during my “Animal crossing” addiction scanning in cards to gain more items and play NES games although it was good idea, it wasn't fully explored by Nintendo and soon died off as an gimmick with lack of support. I guess Nintendo didn't think it was profitable enough with their business model via cards sales and it didn’t help that the cards were produced in small numbers for American market so I guess Nintendo I didn’t have much faith in this creation.

Game and Watch machines (1981)
This is old school and retro gaming! I really wanted to include “Game and Watch” as this was the beginning for Nintendo which we all know now but with the game history of the early 80's makes it hard to define how inspirational and innovative the “Game and Watch” consoles was towards the industry when there was so much going at the time with millions of consoles coming out every week, people easily copying games, etc which lead to the “Game crash” (1983) which was triggered by the gaming market overflow. It was hard call but I decided that I couldn’t place it.

Super Nintendo/Snes controller (1992)

I thought about including this due to it being the only 16-bit console controller with shoulder buttons and four button layout, Y, Z, B and A which used by Sony for Playstation but I wouldn’t classify this as being innovative for controller design adding more buttons despite being such a iconic 16-bit controller.

Power Glove Controller (1989: Nes)

Nintendo shockingly wasn’t involved in the design or release of this accessory (I didn’t know that myself till I researched it) and wanted to include due to its historical tacky 80’s style of gaming fun and also the fact that it is a really silly and pointless accessory which is really embarrassing now but at the time, you thought you were so cool.

Nes Zapper/light gun (1985)

Wanted include this due to my memories of childhood being the first light gun I played with, but Nintendo weren’t the first lightgun nor created any innovative improvements over the inspired pre-successor “Shooting Gallery” light gun on the console “Magnavox Odyssey” in 1972 I was very surprised when I researched myself, have a look: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_gun I remember wasting hours playing “Duck Hunt”, they were the days.

Tetris (1989: Gameboy)

Tetris has been released on almost every successful console ever just like “Bomberman” games. “Bomberman” and “Tetris” are the two games that every good console should and will have and for that fact alone I couldn't include “Tetris” within this Nintendo list despite it being such a huge success for the “Gameboy” making it the first major handheld console who survived battle against both “Game Gear” and “Atari Lynx” in the early 1990's.

Fire Emblem (2003: Game boy advance and 1990: Nes)

I wanted to include this due to “Fire Emblem” being one of the first tactical role playing games and also one of my favourite games but “fire emblem” is quite recent franchise within the west with the first English release in 2003 on “Game Boy Advance” whereas “Fire Emblem” has been going for years within Japan with the original release in 1990 on the “Famicom”. In today's standards, “Fire Emblem” isn't that innovative or inspirational but the original was but sadly never reaches these shores so It’s hard to say how innovative or inspirational it truly was.

N64 DD (1999)

I was thinking about this including “N64 DD” as I remember wanting one back in the day because I couldn’t get one as it was only released within Japan only. Looking back now, I’m so glad that I didn’t import one as I would have been very disappointed with its lack of software support with only 9 games released on it. This console was bigger commercial failure than “Virtual Boy” as it wasn’t even that innovative of a concept although it did introduce features such as internet browser and online play via modern but “Dreamcast” was released year before with the same features. I don’t know what “Nintendo” was thinking when they released/produced this console but I guess we all have our bad days.

Doshin the Giant (1999: N64 DD and 2002: Gamecube)

“Doshin the Giant” was originally released on the 64DD being the only original title on the console among all other titles which were apart of other Nintendo franchises. Most people have never hear of this one, sadly it never sold that well being an one off experiment. It was basically god sim game which is very similar to “Black and White” where you control a Giant called “Doshin” where the actions from the player reflect the behaviour of the villagers of the island. Due to the fact that it's similarity with “Black and White” I'm not sure if you could fairly say that this title is innovative or original and also wasn't too inspirational with low sales, so either way I couldn't include it although I'm quite fond of this charming little game which is very Nintendo.