As someone who games on both PC and 360 (and has played many of the cross-platform games on both), I have to disagree on three levels.
One:
The playing experience on a PC and the playing experience on the 360 are VASTLY different. If they weren't, do you really think PC gamers would "wait for a confirmation of a PC release"? Of course not. As Bodhesatva already pointed out, the input methods are completely different, creating a totally different pace and skill level. To say PC and 360 are the same gaming experience is rediculious (unless you are, for some reason, using a controller for your PC gaming instead of mouse and keyboard, in which case you're just crazy).
Two:
They don't say "oh I bought myself a cool new Microsoft computer", they say "oh I bought myself a cool new Windows computer". Just about every PC gamer runs Windows. I they are running Linux or OSX, they have a dual boot setup. Why? Because the PC is a Microsoft exclusive gaming system. This is slowly changing (Steam on Mac), but it will always remain thus. The fact that Steam now runs on Macs just proves my point more. By making their games "for Windows Live", they are ENSURING that anyone who plays said game is doing so on THEIR system. No matter how you try to frame it, it is still Microsoft exclusivity. The games still only run on Microsoft systems. Those who don't drop $299 on a 360 drop close to $200 on the Windows OS, then even more on Office, etc. I assure you, the PC gamers are not hurting Microsoft at all. They are still putting money in their pockets and contributing to market share.
Three:
I disagree that Halo would be a perfect PC game, with evidence to support my point. The fact of the matter is, they released both Halo and Halo 2 on PC (Link:
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/halo2/index.html - again, Games for Windows Live). They sold so poorly you weren't even aware they did so. They weren't going to invest the money in developing a PC version of Halo 3, ODST or Reach when their first two attempts bombed. The only reason they don't release certain exclusive game on PC is because they realize there is no market for them on the system. It has nothing to do with 360 sales because, as stated above, they still have the market exclusivity on the game. One less 360 sale by a PC gamer is one more Windows PC sale. Saying an exclusive game released for Windows Live isn't exclusive is
As someone who games on both PC and 360 (and has played many of the cross-platform games on both), I have to disagree on three levels.
One:
The playing experience on a PC and the playing experience on the 360 are VASTLY different. If they weren't, do you really think PC gamers would "wait for a confirmation of a PC release"? Of course not. As Bodhesatva already pointed out, the input methods are completely different, creating a totally different pace and skill level. To say PC and 360 produce the same experience is ridiculous (unless you're, for some reason, using a controller for your PC gaming instead of mouse and keyboard, in which case you're just crazy).
Two:
They don't say "oh I bought myself a cool new Microsoft computer" because they say "oh I bought myself a cool new Windows computer". Just about every PC gamer runs Windows. If they are running Linux or OSX, they have a dual boot setup. Why? Because the PC is a Microsoft exclusive gaming system. This is slowly changing (Steam on Mac), but it will always remain thus. The fact that Steam now runs on Macs just proves my point further. By making their games "for Windows Live", they are ENSURING that anyone who plays said game is doing so on THEIR system. No matter how you try to frame it, it is still Microsoft exclusivity. The games still only run on Microsoft systems. Those who don't drop $299 on a 360 drop close to $200 on the Windows OS, then even more on Office, etc. I assure you, the PC gamers are not hurting Microsoft at all. They are still putting money in their pockets and contributing to market share.
Three:
I disagree that Halo would be a perfect PC game, with evidence to support my point. The fact of the matter is, they released both Halo and Halo 2 on PC (Link. Again, Games for Windows Live). They sold so poorly you weren't even aware they did so. They weren't going to invest the money in developing a PC version of Halo 3, ODST or Reach when their first two attempts bombed. The only reason they don't release certain exclusive games on PC is because they realize there is no market for them on the system. It has nothing to do with 360 sales because, as stated above, they still have the market exclusivity on the game. One less 360 sale by a PC gamer is one more Windows PC sale. Saying an exclusive game released for Windows Live isn't exclusive is ignoring that the game is still played on a Microsoft system.