Rob: Aye and thanks! Just wanted to clear it up, mostly for myself.

Dogg Thang: A agree, innovation for the sake of it seems a waste. However there are two aspects that make it worth the while. One being that some innovations turn into essentials for generations to come. Think analogue sticks, which you mentioned yourself in the opposite context.

The other is that new approaches to hardware and software solutions can open a media like video games to a whole new audience. I know, Wii is not a sexy example, but it works. More important - or at least I believe it is - is the fact that only gamers can wrap their minds around common control mechanisms like, for instance, those of a common shooter. Developers sometimes talk about how people who are generally interested in games but don't know such established concepts as we grew up with have a very hard time getting used to the controls. I guess they'd probably give up playing Uncharted before getting to terms with how the game actually works.

Touch controls however are more intuitive, since "touching to interact" comes more naturally. I too find most touchscreen controls on Vita "gadgetey". But if Vita is the system that makes "real" gamers out of smartphone users... I think the system definitely has a chance of doing so as well es introducing innovative and fun stuff into common games.