Where I would disagree is when I think about Xbox and PS2, they had hardware to be media centers. They had compelling region locked content that just couldn't be used. Hacking any of that meant hacking all of that, and now you could also download games which was faster and more convenient than going to the store. And play Japanese games you couldn't get anyway.

Future generations of consoles made that default behavior, and games are released in multiple continents at the same time with their respective localization. American flagship games are now more appealing and engaging than their Japanese counterparts.

Its not just the money.