Console gaming is beginning to wear on me. It's not so much the expense of console games, it's other issues I'm really not liking. I'm standing on the cliff, and about to jump off into the PC ocean again. Prior to buying an Xbox 360 in August 2008, I pretty much only did PC gaming. I did have consoles too, but once I learned how to build and upgrade PCs I just stuck with that form of gaming. Some of my all-time favorite games are mostly PC games. Diablo 2, Deus Ex, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Syndicate (the original), System Shock, and the list goes on. The laptop I have now has a defective GPU that won't display 3D without tearing and artifacts, hence preventing a lot of PC gaming. I just bought a new laptop, and it doesn't have fancy specs, but it'll smoothly run anything that I'll play on it. I'll still get the new AAA games on console when available, but there's so many gems only on PC.
My 3 reasons for going back to PC:
1) Console business practices - Publishers like EA and Activision are pulling stunts that would make JR Ewing cringe. And I'm really, REALLY starting to hate Microsoft's Xbox division. Sales that aren't even decent sales, paying for online, restrictive exclusivity deals with publishers, and most of all, screwing over indie developers with innovative, or at least different, ideas. From current reports & rumors about the next console generation, I really don't like where it's heading.
2) PC indie games are @#$%ing awesome - The indie game scene is really taking off nowadays. Minecraft, Terraria, FTL, Binding of Isaac, Super Meat Boy, and tons of others are fantastic. Some are or will be available on consoles as well, but at a higher price for what is often less content. Thank MS and Sony for this, though Sony isn't nearly as restrictive as MS. This is one of the big reasons I'm going back to PC gaming. So many smaller games that are cheap that are tons more fun than some $60 shooter.
3) PC gaming is way cheaper - I don't really care about having the latest hardware to play a game with Ultra Max settings enabled. I grew up with 2D gaming, so it's no big deal to me how fancy the graphics are. PC games are almost always cheaper than their console versions at release, and then you have sales on Steam that make them even cheaper. Or just pirate them...
Console gaming still has its advantages, like being generally more accessible and streamlined. You just grab your game disc, pop it in, and it works (most of the time), without having to update drivers or tweak settings. You just sit back in your chair with your controller and play. But the way things are going nowadays, it may be time to stick with a mouse and keyboard.