This is why the NES had the insanely long life it did. Every game was able to provide custom hardware (called 'mappers') to offload computation. I've said for a while now that the next generation of consoles will go one of two routes: completely downloadable titles, or PCI-e-based cartridges. I'm inclined to think the latter, despite the evidence to the contrary. It's just such a huge benefit, and they love shipping physical items. This would also largely eliminate piracy.