Right, because everyone knows that you have to buy a completely new PC every few years. It's not like you can just replace the videocard or anything.

You practically do. I built a $1500 machine almost 3 years ago. 7900GTX, 2 GB PC3200, and a A64 4000+ (non-X2, socket 939). It's practically worthless for new games (Crysis, BioShock, DiRT, etc.) if I want any sort of decent framerate at anything above 1024x768 with at least a little AA, AF, and V-Sync...nothing takes me out of a game more than the slicing you get without v-sync, but turning it on drains so much. Sure, I could through an 8800 GTS in there, but after spending $250, how much of a bottle-neck do you think my CPU would be? SQUEEZED TO DEATH. And since it's Socket 939, X2 options are limited (and dumb), so before you know it...I've upgraded CPU, GPU, RAM, and mobo. Instead, I took that $250, scrounged up another $100, and got a 360.

BTW, you are probably referring to the rumored specs for AC. The ones that said you needed 3 gigs of RAM. Yeah, those specs were wrong. Updated, official specs have since been released and they are considerably lower.

RAM...I could care less about. RAM is dirt cheap. I KNOW AC would destroy my PC on all but the lowest settings.

By "wonderful framerates," you mean 30 fps, with occasional slowdown and frequent texture pop-in?

30 FPS must be the minimum, cause it looks fantastic to me. At one point it dropped to noticeable levels...when I came over the hill and saw Jerusalem...then it finished buffering, and was fine. And I have yet to see any texture problems.

This is all of course ignoring some key issues...1920x1080 resolution with fantastic detail, AA is not a problem, slicing is not a problem, all on a 57" TV. If I want to show a group of friends how awesome the game is, do I really want to crowd 4+ people around my head and a 19" screen?

Cold reality...I have tested a game on both my PC and the 360, and that's DiRT...never a framerate issue on the 360, 1920x1080, etc. etc...whereas on my PC, at 1280x1024, not much detail, etc., the BEST I was getting was low 30s, alone, on a backroad track with trees to block the view distance. Put a competitor in on an open track, it hovers around 20-23...hit the dune buggy track with 8 AI drivers...I don't even want to think about how low it was.

I've already worked out the math...I am a movie buff to begin with, so I'll have a killer home theater setup regardless, so that dollar amount is factored away. It is a definitely cheaper to build a decent computer every 4-5 years and buy a new console every 3-4 years than to keep up a killer gaming machine every 2-3 years.

I LOVE PC gaming. And even with the XFPS and other technologies listed, it's still the better place for FPS gaming. But damn is it going to be fun pwning console kiddies when I get my K/M hooked to the 360.