I'd like to present an article from a different viewpoint than you're probably accustomed to. When reading the following, please feel free to shelve your console bias and ignore what seems a pro-Nintendo bent. It's about the benefits of a monopoly, that it was in this case Nintendo's monopoly is irrelevant.
Everyone knows monopolies are bad, it's common sense. When a provider of any good or service becomes big enough that they control the entirety of their market, it's accepted wisdom that the consumer is going to get it in the ass. When there's no marketplace competition the seller has no impetus to reduce prices, increase quality or innovate at all, witness Microsoft's Explorer browser, proudly Innovation Free since WheneverTheFuck, because no one is in a position to challenge their dominance. Ditto for Windows - through shrewd (and perhaps occasionally illegal) tactics MS' Windows OS became more or less the sole player. BeOS, OS/2, Apple - all gone or mere bit-players to the Windows behemoth, and I doubt there are any people informed on the matter who'd argue this is a good thing for anyone but Microsoft. But there was a Monopoly under which every game player thrived, with a constant stream of new quality releases, a single known channel for information distribution, continuous innovation and acceptable pricing. Yeah, I'm talking about Nintendo. Under Nintendo's iron rule we had it made as gamers. I never even had a NES, but boy, I sure wanted one. All my friends had one, and they were having far more fun than I was. Nintendo picked up the pieces Atari was too stupid to work with and turned a failed fad into a multi-billion dollar empire, and the gamers were satisfied. It wasn't a perfect monopoly, some developers got the Nintendo branded shaft, to be sure. Nintendo did as a monopoly would: They controlled distribution, production, and allocation. They played hardball with everyone - like a king in an ivory tower Nintendo ruled the land and struck down all who opposed. And the players rejoiced. At what other time in gaming history has there been such a steady flow of new releases for a console everyone owned? There was no fighting over platform exclusives, no crying children Christmas morning unwrapping the wrong system. If you saw a hot new game on TV you knew damned well it was for your NES and the excitement would build inside you like steam in a boiler. Nintendo knew where you were and they knew what you wanted. And they knew how to deliver. Under Nintendo's authoritarian rule we had systems that were built solidly with excellent out-of-warranty support. You could call Nintendo and get help with your system by professional, well-trained and smart people at no cost because you bought their system. To this day Nintendo still fixes their original consoles for nominal fees - try asking Sega to fix your Master System! Hell, Sony wasn't fixing their mostly defective PlayStation consoles within a year of their release. Nintendo's monopoly granted the players consistant quality. Sure, the concept of quality was whatever Nintendo decided it should be. It was at their sole discretion that games, no matter from third parties or in-house, would see the light of day and in what numbers. You might scream that this kind of restrictive crap was counter to gamers' interests! But oh, how horrible it would be without quality control!! This is precisely what Nintendo's monopoly was good for. 
They controlled the output, and no matter how many developers saw their hopes for retirement millions dashed by artificial shortages and harsh allocations there were always the gamers with the good stuff on their shelf. Nintendo's iron control, limiting publishers to six game releases per year, forced the games through an incredible evolutionary wringer. Only the best made it through, there was no choice. Compare this to Sega's "We'll publish any shitty old thing" strategy, which saw their consoles weighed down with the flotsam and jetsam of Nintendo Reject-Land. Sure, Nintendo held onto their cash cow as long as possible, but who can blame them? Their NES system was a healthy six or seven years old by the time the SNES was released, time enough for developers to really come to grips with the platform, and deliver games at the system's zenith that were unimaginable when the system was released. No one's foolish enough to argue Nintendo would never have brought out the SNES without competition, the writing was on the wall and technology was marching forward, we'd have still gotten it without Sega's pushing and prodding with their inferior MegaDrive. The gaming industry now is a wasteland because Sega jumped the gun with their MegaDrive, delivering marketing over quality, style over substance. By wresting the reigns from Nintendo Sega tore open the floodgates holding back not only a new freedom of choice, but a flood of pure garbage. The concept is simple: when fools can make games, fools will. Without the quality control that Nintendo arbitrarily applied there was simply no way for gamers to know what was good and what was tripe. A situation has developed where there is too much choice, too many sources, too many options. The internet has exacerbated the situation greatly, but compare a more modern monopoly: Apple. Apple's often insanely frustrating makes the fans go berzerk with the rage of their unrequited love for Apple's products. An evil monopoly for their own platform keeps the prices high and the product scarce. But look at what else they get: Innovation, in the form of hardware and software. Arguably the best OS around, with cutting edge and often copied hardware design. Mac news sources are few and fiesty, but the real meat always comes from the hand that holds the cards: Apple's. They've got the product and the control and as any rabid, frothing Mac user will tell you, they're the winners. The PC world by comparison is a riot of options, choices and insanity! Sure you can build an apple-killer for a fraction the price, but there's simply so many ways to do it the mortal mind is boggled. Companies run on hair-thin profit margins because they're walking a razor's edge, trying to produce a product with actual profit before two hundred other companies copy the idea and reduce their valuable product ideas to mere commodities. Do you know what unrestricted cells growing in your body are called? Cancers. They kill you. Too many developers want to make their own games, and their products are hawked by too many publishers to too many news outlets. The gamer is aware of a vast, chaotic sea of games, noises from all sides about new products, each claiming to better the competition. When Nintendo ruled the roost the matter was clear, the games were good, the sea was quiet and calm. Gaming in the old days was simple, pure, easy, and fun because there was a monopoly shielding us from chaos. The game industry today is flailing for a number of reasons, but perhaps modern gaming sucks because  Nintendo lost their monopoly.
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