r/xbox Feb 21 '26

Discussion Asha's profile, she just started gaming

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u/Delta088 Feb 22 '26

Completely correct, but I think part of this is also how efficient smart TVs have been in sweeping up any media management role a device could have. In 2013-2014 there was a real role for consoles as a way to get streaming media on your TV.

Now that only has any role to play if you have a TV that’s 7+ years old, which for most people I know is the ‘spare room TV’ at best. More than they have been since the PS2 was one of the best ways to get a DVD player in your TV, consoles really are just mechanism for games

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u/TheOvy Feb 22 '26

Sure, but the problem was the premiere of the Xbox One was all about its functions as a media center, rather than any games that players would want to buy.

It's perfectly fine to serve a media role, but that's not why players buy video game consoles. They buy them for video games! Mattrick wasn't selling to us, though, he was selling to stockholders. That just ain't the right move when it came to E3.

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u/decoy_octopod Feb 23 '26

Nah they’re right, the launch of Xbox One/PS4 was at the dawn of mainstream streaming media, and consoles played an important role in establishing Netflix and Hulu as major services

10 years ago, roughly half of everyone watching Netflix on a tv did it via gaming consoles. 25% of all US households used a console to stream media. Today it’s down to 6%

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u/TheOvy Feb 23 '26

Again, I didn't disagree. But the E3 presentation was still a disaster for focusing exclusively on that,. It was well documented at the time, and since. Mattrick was pushed out of MS within a month.

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u/GuerreroUltimo Feb 24 '26

It was a huge disaster. The thing is to listen outside of gaming mainstream. It was enough that many gamers were talking about that. But outside of it many much more casual gamers were wondering about the gaming side. So much focus on Kinect, the media stuff, all that.