The transition of videogame consoles into something more than just game machines started in 2000. Sony, in one of its most prescient moves, included a DVD player in the PlayStation 2 — at a time when the technology was still relatively new and expensive. And consumers couldn’t buy the system fast enough.

The speed of consoles’ evolution has increased dramatically in this generation, and the dawn (and explosion) of streaming media has been a large part of that. As Nintendo launches its next generation system — and Microsoft and Sony prepare for theirs, non-gaming elements are shaping up to be a critical part of the landscape.

Read more at Daily Variety