When will pc graphics start to really outpace console (this gen) graphics?

[cAPSLOCK]

They have for a long time already.  Put aside HDR and the endless stream of worrying about what is more pretty, what do those graphics actually allow?

GT5's graphics bring nothing to the table compared to GT3 or GT4. Yeah it looks prettier but it's the same game. MW2 is in the same boat: what exactly do the graphics allow it to do that hasn't been done since 1998? Teeny tiny maps, guns, grenades, 20 or so players max. Hello, vehicles, are you there?

I won't bother posting pictures but go google image search ArmA 2 and X3 Terran Conflict and show me a game on any console that's capable of generating a game world that huge and detailed with that kind of draw distance.  In terms of graphics being pretty PC still wins, but in terms of what graphics can do for gameplay consoles are about 10 years behind the times.

You can load up a game with lots of brown and bloom but if it's 2001 gameplay and 2001 simplicity it's inferior to what's going on on PCs.  Show me the console equivalent to X3 Terran Conflict or ArmA 2 on one of the HD twins.  Do consoles even have an equivalent to Battlefield 2 yet?

Graphics aren't just who can make the coolest looking water effects. If the graphics are not doing their part to futher gameplay it's just technological masturbation.