I know that I'll continue to do the same thing I've always done.Blow off the consoles and upgrade my PC. I know the gap is closing. But in my opinion it is still considerable. And by the time you get the console,accessories, and games, I can have a vid card that kicks the snot out of any new gen console.I know, let the flame begin. I saw my son play Skyrim on PS3, and played it myself on my Notebook and Desktop,and they both looked and performed better than the PS3.But believe me, I know the day is coming that the PC as a gaming platform will be obsolete.With AMD and Intel doing all they can to put an end to discrete video cards it's just a matter of time.Oh well, I'm a dinosaur and I'll hang on to my PC gaming experience til they pry it from my cold dead hands.
I think you are being a bit pessimistic. I don't think we'll ever see the end of the PC...well, not until we have wearable computers.
But until that happens, the PC as a gaming machine will stick around. It's all cyclical. When the consoles came out, everybody was jumping ship from the PC and saying it was dead, but then the consoles got old and now the PC is enjoying a renaissance (due in no small part to the indie community). I am sure when the new consoles come out the pendulum will swing back the other way again, but only for a limited time. And once again, the PC will be there to pick up the pieces when the consoles tire themselves out.
Personally, I think the time is coming when consoles and PCs will cease to be a meaningful distinction. The trend is towards a single, seamless platform - what I expect will be a tablet with cloud-based gaming capabilities. That is the real future of gaming (come to think of it, that sort of
would be a wearable computer!). MS and Sony are fighting this off because they have so much riding on their platforms, but I think the writing is on the wall. Once inexpensive high speed wireless internet is the norm the world over, and services like OnLive and Gaikai get the kinks out and prove to offer a reliable gaming experience, it is all going to be tablet and cloud-based - one cloud to rule them all! Some people don't like this future, but I do. I think the merits of cloud-based gaming outweigh the negatives. For a start, game devs can blow the specs out of the water because the user will not be running the game locally. This fact alone should trigger a quantum leap in gaming technology - not to mention the money saved by devs in not having to create separate versions of the same program for each platform. Second, being cloud based, you can take your gaming from the tablet, to your big screen TV, to your subway commute, all seamlessly. What is more, being cloud based, the social interaction of a Youtube or a Facebook would be part and parcel of every game. Cloud-based gaming probably will prove to be a boon to indies as well as 1) not needing to focus on one platform gets them a bigger audience, 2) the cloud service will act like Steam, simplifying distribution of their game, and 3) piracy is effectively dead.
So, yeah, I am not at all concerned about the coming gaming singularity.
BTW: Stardock echoed my opinion, but with greater specificity:
Stardock Takes Aim at "Primary Threat" to Future of PC Gaming
"We maintain that the primary threat to the PC (and gaming consoles) comes in the form of Apple's AirPlay combined with Bluetooth 4.0+ controllers. A Windows 8 failure may buy enough time for Apple to release displays (and get partners to release displays) with embedded AirPlay. The 'computing' will be done on an iPad/iPhone, the keyboard/mouse handled by Bluetooth and the display via AirPlay."
They didn't mention the cloud, though. But I believe that is the key to unlocking this future.