I recently read an article in the San Jose Mercury news about Nvdia's CEO saying that to paraphrase ,was a "big mistake" to pair up with Microsoft. HE said the projections on console gaming were over-done compared to the PC. Nvidia subsequently lost market share to ATI when they transferred engineering resources to the XBOX...............They say they are going back to the PC in full force to compete with ATI. They also said they will have to think long & hard about negotiating for the future Xbox2 contract. One thing is for certain, the CEO said his company won't sacrifice their PC efforts any more.
If that isn't a sign that the PC is here to say, then I don't know what will. The PC will always be relevant as the MOST CUTTING EDGE games will use the PC as the platform of choice. Consoles will always be a step behind the PC in terms of horsepower. I, for one, do my most serious gaming efforts on the PC. The Xbox is just reserved when I have friends over.
Plus,
online gaming still is *at* the PC. Always has been, always will be, as a result of the keyboard and mic.
Another reason:
THE PC IS FLEXIBLE AND CONFIGURABLE. Not so with consoles.
Plus, most exclusive console games will always hit the PC (like GTA). Competing console gamers will always buy the game to play on the PC. You think PS@ or GC owners aren't buying the "Splinter Cell" iteration for their PCs? Hmm.
Despite the piracy $lop, look how many PCs inhabit this world. It is STILL extremely profitable and competes with the movie industry for entertainment dollars (music has already taken a dive).
Now consider how many gaming consoles there are. The PC will never be absolete. Every version of a console *will* be absolete after a few years.......then......again, you'll have to splurge for the next generation console to keep up with the latest and greatest games. Consumers will tire of this ***console hardware investment *** when their old consoles have
no more new games being developed for it like the Dreamcast.