Zoopster I don't really want to get into long arguments but that comparison you made is completely biased.
First. I would hardly call any of your two setups (pc and home theater) "a basic console experience" but whatever.
Second. does your i7, 12GB RAM and 970 really just give you the performance to experiment a basic console experience on your PC? because my system is very similar to yours and last I checked I can run all the cross-platform games at higer res, higher detail and higher fps than any of the consoles. Surely NOT the same experience.
Third. your price comparisons are a joke because they are only applicable in your super specific case as you don't take into account the price of the stuff you already have at home and have some items most people will never have. I could do something similar, let's see... To get what you call a basic console experience on my very specific case for my PC i'd need:
Intel i7-4790 3.2 GHz (already have that from my last PC)
12 GB RAM (already have 16GB from my last PC)
nVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (already have it!)
Soundblaster Audigy II SE
(around $39.99 on Amazon, used but whatever)Logitech Z5500 5.1 speaker audio system (Already have a woxter 7.1 system)
Samsung 24" monitor + LG 24" monitor, both 1080p (already have 2 samsung 1080p monitors at home)
So total cost of me upgrading my PC into what you called a basic console experience = $40
Now let's see, again in my super specific case, like you just did, how much it would cost me to get the same experience as you on the couch.
70" Sharp 1080p LED TV (I don't have a TV in my living room and can't find anything below
$1500)
Infinity speakers (around
$50 x 7), BIC subwoofer (around
$200)
Onkyo receiver, 115 watts/ch (lets say $350)
Console ($350)
+ online subscription
+ games
so $40 versus 1500+350+200+350+350= $2750.
You heard it here first! you need more than $2500 to play on console!
And you'll say. Well you may not have a TV at home, but most people do. And to that I say: that's the fucking point!
What you described is most certainly NOT a "basic console experience" it's much more. And if you personally need to spend $2000 on a PC to get it up to the performance YOU want, then all the power to you, and in that case it's obvious console gaming is cheaper for you. But for the rest of the world, a basic console experience on PC is atainable with much much less than what you are trying to picture here.
Then you say this:
Zoopster wrote on Mar 14, 2016, 12:32:
I demand more from my gaming experiences. Consoles are a convenience over PCs for a lot of reasons (more comfortable chair for starters, as well as bigger screen and better sound), and yet their cost of entry will always be way lower.
You obviously do demand more from gaming seeing the setups you have at home. But ALL the conveniece points you describe are all things PCs already do and in some cases even better than consoles.