its tiny now a 256gb microsd card is the size of a fingernail.


as for the OP's post
firstly the problem with core is that it tries to download th entire blockchain first before then letting people see an uptodate balance to then spend funds. which is the big headache people have with the 185gb.... waiting
again
storage is not an issues a 256gb microsd card is the size of a fingernail. so not a "it needs a server debate"

solution:
use the bloom filter feature to grab data specific to the users wallet first. so they can see a balance and spend..
(after all if someone supplies false info the relay network would reject the users spending tx.. no harm no loss)

and then do the blockchain download as a background task, which users dont need to notice/wait for. thus they can spend and sync without stress

secondly average joe doesnt need to be a full node if all they care about is one spending address they want to monitor.
its merchants that will be getting funds from thousands/millions of different people that will need to check and validate and store the blockchain. while forming an up-to-date utxo set of the whole network for efficient monitoring. so no point in worrying or attempting to make every games console a full node

thirdly having every device have bitcoin core software is not decentralised... its just distributed.. there is a difference.
imagine if all games consoles had the last version of core firmware locked into it.. and then the recently announced bug got announced. imagine how many gamers would have to sort their console out.
this is why diverse codebases of different development teams is better.
imagine it as if all cars on the road were all one car brand. and a recall due to dodgy brakes was announced..
everyone is affected
now imagine different car brands, different models all happily using the same road network. yea one brand has a recall. but most of the road network still moves and drives on. thus only affecting a few road network users.