I agree with the Yeti...or whatever it will be called, will most likely be download or streaming. It just fits with Google's push for everyone to have a digital, online lifestyle...under Google.
As for the more conversations about modern games back in the early-to-mid 2000's: there was a lot of cool stuff going on. IMO the games were in between old style game play with fresh visuals along with some decent multiplayer online gaming. Heck, each month for a while I would post what was on each month's demo disc of Official Xbox Magazine. At that point in time, retro seemed kinda quiet.
These days, retro/classic is exploding. We have great, viable ways to get our classic on, we're getting more new titles on "dead" consoles and we're getting new modern consoles that are great replacements for our aging equipment. If this stuff happened then rather than now, the modern to classic chatter would have probably flip-flopped.