I don't get the whole PC gaming thing. I look at the games and they don't interest me. I don't like MMOs, FPS, RTS and simulations and I don't see much else. Plus it's damned uncomfortable to sit at my computer and play, especially when a game requires a mouse and keyboard, which I am hopeless with. It's just not a fun or comfortable experience. Consoles are made for gaming. Computers are multi-use. Not everyone likes online play and plenty of console gamers are not casual gamers who want to use their Wiis to work out. Those games have a market but it's not to anyone who has any serious interest in games. I won't buy a Wii because I hate the control scheme. I just want to sit on the floor and play with a normal controller. just like I always have. Anyway, I can't see consoles dying. TVs and radios might not be as important anymore with the internet having more to offer entertainment wise but they are still around and will be for a long time. Same with consoles. I think what ruined it though was the "Make it for the masses" mentality. Every damn game has to have a ton of movies and voice overs for every sequence. It's more like an interactive film than a game. By the time you get back to the gameplay there's another long movie sequence on its way. It's getting so overdone that the fun is being sucked out. It's especially bad with RPGs. Games need to go back to their roots and have more play time and less hollywood. If I want to see a movie i'll get a DVD not a game..

Thinking further, it dawns me on me that we're seeing the beginnings of a real devolution in the console realm. Once upon a time (like, 10-15 years ago) consoles were strictly for twitchy kids and teenagers. But then the hardware got good enough to handle games with real depth and arcade-or-better graphics. Suddenly you had as many college kids playing Final Fantasy as you had smoking weed, if not more. The levels of "xtremeness" were ramped up with every successive generation of game to keep these 19 and twenty-somethings hooked. PC gaming was pronounced dead more often than rock and roll. But all this time PC gaming was chugging along and constantly refining itself. The FPS's just got more immersive, the RTS's got bigger and bolder, the classic franchises that had stood the test of time not only survived but prospered and we discovered the potent lure of "casual" games. All this despite the very real impact of piracy and the sometimes shaky foundations that comprise Windows. Consoles are now being carried by puzzles, karaoke, bowling, parlor games, workout games - in other words, the stuff of arcades and other social settings, but not the "hard core" games of the previous generation. The best arcade type experiences have always been on consoles..thats why they were first created, after all. But the bulk of my gaming enjoyment has come from the PC and it will likely remain so. Part of the problem stems from the console world's refusal to embrace a superior interface such as the mouse and keyboard, but Nintendo is shaking up that mindset. The next generation of consoles will all have motion control and probably more exotic options as well. There is, however, no logical reason for not supporting the familiar kb/mouse combo, especially if you plan on expanding the online experience. Thats another thing the consoles must do if their to remain relevant to gaming. It wouldn't take a whole lot of creative effort by the PC hardware industry to replace game consoles with an extension of the desktop.