According to this guy pc gaming isn't cheap

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=3639262

Whatever you need to tell yourself to help you sleep at night, Shio...

Actually I feel there is a need for some defense here - PC gaming gets a bad rap for reasons that are really quite ridiculous in my opinion. The people that complain about PC gaming are generally people like you, who don't game on PCs and therefore know very little about it! As someone who uses both PCs and consoles for gaming purposes, I can assure you you're missing out if you're sticking to one side of that fence :)

As someone who does both PC and console gaming, he is partially right.  While I don't necessarily HAVE to upgrade, the common disposition is to do so.  For instance, I am used to playing all of my games on Maximum settings (other than Crysis, which even so I play on High with good FPS) on PC.  It does seem that every year the demand of the new games increases and I find myself having to set a few settings lower than Maximum in order to get a solid 60 FPS.  After about 2 years I have to upgrade to stay at the that level on all new games.  Most PC gamers tend to do this actually.  PC gaming by nature is a lot more hardcore because it involves so many more facets (building/buying/customizing/modding/etc).

So while no one necessarily "has" to upgrade every year, most hardcore PC gamers will be upgrading every 2 years or so in order to keep up with the most demanding new games.  It's very addicting, I'll admit.  I don't even game much on my PC compared to consoles and I still have to resist the urge to throw down $300 on a Phenom II X6 upgrade On consoles you are set for the entire generation with one purchase price.  No need to upgrade hardware and you can always find deals on console games, too.

You can only get deals like these on PC

What, you mean Far Cry 2, a two year old game nobody likes, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, a five year old game, and World in Conflic, a three year old game for $10?

Good for you!

the software prices barely make up for the hardware costs.

I know what I'm talking about, I already had several gaming PCs and everytime I bought a new one or did a complete overhaul it cost me about three times the price of a console.

I gave advices to 2 good friends lately in getting a new PC and in the end both spent around 4 times the price of a 360s Arcade or Wii.

5 years later they will buy a new one (me included. I got mine in mid 2009). Which is around as much as a console generation.

People who pay full price for console games are getting ripped off. Sure, console games are slightly more expensive because N/S/M need to take their cut, but the difference is not that big.

Does some sort of clarion call go out when Shio makes a thread?

Really?! Far Cry 2 may not be the a great game, but it will still entertain you. Chaos Theory also should entertain somewhat.

But the real deal is World in Conflict, which was to many the 2007 Strategy Game of the Year, which alone is worth $10. And you also get it's expansion. This was an amazing deal.

It seems that you'd rather just get a recent game than getting a great game. Do you actually think that a game is old just after a year?! Most PC games aren't like console games: They don't get stupid yearly iterations that bring barely anything new to the table. Especially because to many, WiC's greatest strength is it's unique campaign.

Just enjoy this trailer of World in Conflict:

WiC is certainly a good game, and it is certainly a good deal, but that isn't going to make me become a PC gamer. I just prefer having a console, which you know will run everything and it is all very easy to play (especially as my hands have been moulded by DualShock controllers) and I can play on my nice big TV

I do play some games on my laptop, mostly CoH and Total War games, but lower prices is not going to convince me to convert