Consoles are this eras PCs

[richardhutnik]

To address some of Shio's comments:
1. I spoke about computer centers in developing nations as where growth will come for PC gaming there. People there aren't at an economic level where the majority of them can afford their own PCs. So, they play in computer centers that are like arcades in the past. If tthey do happen to get a computer it most likely won't be Windows-based. With the global economy what it is, it will be interesting to see if the trend will reverse any time soon.
2. The reason why getting attention matters is that this part is called, MARKETING. Without marketing, the games don't nearly generate the same level of sales. This is why attention matters. On a platform like the PC, which has no barriers to entry, you will find that it is bound to get some good, obscure titles for it, just by number of developers who want to prove themselves. If, for example, Sins of A Solar Empire were not published by Stardock, it wouldn't of done nearly as well as it did. It would of been lost in the shuffle. This is why MARKETING and advertising and publishers matter. And, in this area, it is why top console games will usually do better than top PC games. They get greater advertising, for example. You boast about "oh multiple titles broke a million on the PC!". Well titles on consoles do more than that. You do get something like World of Warcraft, but the level beneath that is owned by consoles.
And this attention adds up. It is why people who design games want to get on consoles, because the market is more of a captured market, and piracy is a lesser issue, thus more sales. Your defensiveness over indie games is bordering on absurd. I am talking about the importance of marketing, and you are whining, "But but... games no one knows about are good to!". That is nice, but doesn't affect the bottom line, which is what matters from an INDUSTRY standpoint.
3. The reason for XBox Live Marketplace sales to console sales, shows why retail sales matter, and why advertising and marketing matters. There are reasons why Live sales don't match up to retail sales. It has to do with marketing. A game like Halo gets ads. It also gets into slurpies and so on. It is a cultural icon. The closest thing PCs games have is World of Warcraft, which ends up in other spots, like in Toyota Trucks. It is why you have over 11 million users, because of this cultural penetraion. This is what counts, and PC games generally don't have the same level. Thus, the consoles become the eventual destination for developers.
4. Let's see, retail sales for PC gaming was less than 1/3 of online sales. Ok, so let's say it was 1/4. PC sales clocked retail clocked in at less than 1 billion. So, multiply it times four, and you end up with PC game sales being around $4 billion (of course it is less, but let me humor you and use numbers YOU agree to). That is less that console sales. The PC market is smaller than consoles, and shows no indication of this trend reversing.
5. You ask for evidence. Go ahead and show evidence that AS A PERCENTAGE, PC gaming is gaining on consoles. Go and do it. PC games may grow, but consoles grow faster. Go ahead and show otherwise.

If you try to go here:
http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/11/study-pc-gaming.html

That isn't going to be pretty to what you are trying to prove.