Actually a PS3 or 360 is optimal if you want both power and ease of use.  Compare the experience of someone that knows very little about drivers, computer hardware, patches, etc going out and buying a gaming PC to hook up to a HDTV compared to someone doing the same thing with a PS3 or 360.  It would be like someone wanting a decently fast car but not having to worry about how the engine works, etc, compared to someone that buys a fast car and has to tinker with the engine from time to time.

I have relatives that have a console and also have a PC that they sometimes use for games.  They call me from time to time with problems with certain games they've purchased but they have yet to call me because they couldn't figure out how to get a game working on their console.  Anecdotal I know but I've also been on some forums dedicated to certain PC games and see a lot of problems with drivers, videocards, etc.

http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/12-reasons-console-gaming-beats-pcs-489212

1. No mouse and keyboard support
Ah, the very raison d'être of PC gaming. Well, guess what? Not everyone wants to play games posturing like Rick Wakeman. The joypad has been gradually refined over 20 years into the finely-honed gaming tool you see today. Pressing digital keys to move? How very 1982.

2. Playing on TV
While the PC might happily spew forth images consisting of a quadrillion pixels, the real issue here is that with a console you're playing on a nice big TV in the living groom on a comfy sofa and, if you have any sense, with a 5.1 Surround Sound system. If we wanted to slouch at a desk in a dimly-lit room we'd just stay at work.

3. It just works
Oh, how we console owners point and chuckle at PC websites where the incumbent expert attempts to explain to some poor sap that his three-month old (and thus obsolete) quad-AMD 3000 and Nvidia Orgasmo-card won't actually run Generic FPS 10 because it's got driver 1.1 instead of 1.1a. Try this: go to shop, buy game, insert disc, game runs. Bliss.

4. No need for endless upgrades
Yes, the PC is hugely upgradeable - and a bloody good job, too, otherwise you'd never get to play all those games built with cutting edge technology by crazy Scandinavian ex-demo hackers. And anyway, a console is upgradeable: when the next Xbox or PlayStation comes out, we sell the old one and buy a new one. Easy.

5. Cheaper hardware
We've heard all the arguments and excuses. Face it: if you really want a decent PC to play games (and no we don't want to build one ourselves) prices start around £500. And if you want to play games at any sort of quality, your (sigh) 'rig' is more like a grand. For that you could buy all three consoles, extra controllers and the top 10 games of the year.

6. The big 'p'
The PC is gradually becoming the ginger step-child of the developer community. Even stalwarts like Valve are moving to consoles because, let's be honest, piracy is eroding the PC world from within like a mercilessly enthusiastic cancer. It's becoming less and less viable for developers whose budgets are spiralling ever upwards. Recently the World of Goo developer suggested piracy of his game was at a rate of about 90 per cent. That shit just ain't funny any more.

7. The Japanese
They may not be to everyone's taste, but PC gamers do miss out on a whole raft of amazing games crafted by genius Japanese developers whose focus is mainly consoles. Crazy stuff like Patapon, Katamari, Okami, Vib Ribbon, PaRappa... not to mention hordes of amazing JRPGs.

8. No first-party support
Because the PC is an open platform, there's no ownership and therefore no desire to drive it forward. Microsoft is way too busy with the Xbox to bother about Games For Windows, and so we either get the biggest games first with PC ports following months after, or we get exclusives that never appear on PC at all. Still, at least you have, y'know, Crysis. And Crysis 2

9. The lack of patch mentality
Okay, we'll admit it - console games do get patched, but infrequently and not to any great extent. Truth is that, for the majority of console titles, when we buy our games from the shop they're actually finished. Which is nice.

10. Innovation, innovation, innovation
It's true that, when it gets it right, PC gaming is awesome; beautiful, high-res, online fragfests. But when was the last time you played something truly innovative? Just look around you at the games coming to consoles. You may mock the Wii, but when was the last time you had a drunken four-player tennis match in your PC games room?

11. Four-player family fun
Yes, we know PCs have been online for years, but what if you want to interact with people you actually know in the comfort of your own home? Apart from the aforementioned Wii activities, there are great quiz games like SceneIt! And Buzz, endless Mario Party games, dance mat games, Eye Toy games, karaoke games... the list goes on and on.

12. Perception
Have you ever seen that episode of South Park where the kids are playing World of Warcraft? You know the fat, pale, pizza-faced guy with the wrist support slouched in his chair? That's you that is. You are a PC gamer.

I agree with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11

I don't think the others are really an advantage..

What do you think??

How about people that don't want to bother with OS updates, HD upgrades, or game installs? Who don't want to have to worry whether a game is compatible with your version of the system -- for example, Castle Crashers is incompatible with the "Core" version of the 360, because it lacks a hard drive. You need to upgrade your system to be able to play Castle Crashers, just as a PC gamer might need to upgrade their RAM to play Crysis. Did you know that Best Buy now offers to set up and configure your Xbox 360 for 25 dollars (this includes making sure it has the most recent firmware, of course the new Xbox Experience, and optimizing the resolution for your HD TV)?

Of course, none of those are concerns if you have a DS. The PS3/360 are less complicated than the PC, but the DS is even less complicated than the PS3/360. No HD upgrades, no OS updates, no firmware concerns, nothing.

Therefore, if you don't want a PC, you can sacrifice some technical horsepower and get something less complicated like a PS3 or 360. If those are still too messy for you, you can sacrifice more horsepower and get a DS. If even that's still too complicated, you can get one of those LCD games from the 80s that only play one game and are thrown away when they run out of batteries.

If the 360 is your preferred level of complication/horsepower, that's totally cool, Legend. I mean that! Just recognize that that it's not the absolute apex.

http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/12-reasons-console-gaming-beats-pcs-489212

1. No mouse and keyboard support
Ah, the very raison d'être of PC gaming. Well, guess what? Not everyone wants to play games posturing like Rick Wakeman. The joypad has been gradually refined over 20 years into the finely-honed gaming tool you see today. Pressing digital keys to move? How very 1982.

3. It just works
Oh, how we console owners point and chuckle at PC websites where the incumbent expert attempts to explain to some poor sap that his three-month old (and thus obsolete) quad-AMD 3000 and Nvidia Orgasmo-card won't actually run Generic FPS 10 because it's got driver 1.1 instead of 1.1a. Try this: go to shop, buy game, insert disc, game runs. Bliss.

5. Cheaper hardware
We've heard all the arguments and excuses. Face it: if you really want a decent PC to play games (and no we don't want to build one ourselves) prices start around £500. And if you want to play games at any sort of quality, your (sigh) 'rig' is more like a grand. For that you could buy all three consoles, extra controllers and the top 10 games of the year.

7. The Japanese
They may not be to everyone's taste, but PC gamers do miss out on a whole raft of amazing games crafted by genius Japanese developers whose focus is mainly consoles. Crazy stuff like Patapon, Katamari, Okami, Vib Ribbon, PaRappa... not to mention hordes of amazing JRPGs.

10. Innovation, innovation, innovation
It's true that, when it gets it right, PC gaming is awesome; beautiful, high-res, online fragfests. But when was the last time you played something truly innovative? Just look around you at the games coming to consoles. You may mock the Wii, but when was the last time you had a drunken four-player tennis match in your PC games room?

Because you prefer the PS3, but its still too expensive for the current game library and you know that Blu Ray might never be the dominant format....

That's my guess... I could be off

 I see this statement a lot and I'm going to call people on it.  There are still a lot of SDTVs out there and even some people who game with HD consoles are using them (as evidenced by the complaints over text in Dead Rising and Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts).  That same text problem is far more widespread in PC games to the point where PC gaming on a SDTV is simply not feasible.  Bringing a computer monitor into the livingroom can be a hassle and defeats the purpose of playing easily in the livingroom and having to buy a new HDTV or large PC monitor to replace the current SDTV just adds to the cost of PC gaming.

Exactly. It's like the arguments for LCD vs Plasma. Plasma has the best potential picture. PC has the best potential gaming. However, the best CHOICE for most consumers, is LCD.