Yes, it does:

PC Gaming Alliance: "Our basic definition of what constitutes a “gaming PC” is that it uses an x86 processor." 

Also:

"There are four primary form factors available to the PC gamer:

Desktop.

Portable.

 All-in-one (AIO)

Tablet"

Time to face the facts - outside of a few select games, hardcore PC gaming in the west is not really that prevalent.

99% of mobile phones and tablets are bassed on ARM CPUs so not x86. Android and iOS and even Win phone 7 are all ARM bassed. x86 tablets capable of actually running games even browser based ones really havent existed until very recently and even then Win 8 tablets with x86 CPUs a still in the reigon of a couple million units so pretty much irrelivent even if they were all used for gaming. I am not sure what you would define as hardcore gaming but PC is still one of the biggest single platforms in the west unless by west you only mean the USA where PC is particularly weak and even there it's still a major platform for core games in 2011 core PC games (Boxed+Digital download+MMO not counting social and web based games) accounted for $6.9b revenue in 2011 vs $8b for all console software (DS+3DS+PSP+PS2+PS3+Wii+X360 retail and digital which is a lot of platforms to lump into one). And if we look at the time spent data in the USA PC boxed+Digital is almost equal with all console platforms combined and if you add in MMO it's much more, if PC gaming is irrelivent in the west then console gaming is not very relevant ether.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/515/screenshot281142.png/

Pictures speak a thousand words!!!

I actually bought that on the PS2, I thought it was pretty original and tough as nails if I remember. It was good stuff.

I thought the PS2 was fantastic with horror. 4 Silent hill games, Resident evil, Siren 1+2, Project Zero/Fatal frame 1-3. I don't know where it all went wrong on consoles this gen, Fatal Frame 4 never even made it to the west =/

Hes right if you're not talking about casual games and f2p (in most cases less demanding games that can be played on most computers). Console gamers who want upgraded versions of multiplats made for the console crowd and the few top notch high budget PC games are mostly in the minority. Remember its console money that initiates the risk to which is why there are so many AAA titles. PC gamer money couldnt hold that up for 15 years.

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If you read the article, it even says that 75% of all pc gamers play things like Mahjong and Bejewelled. And as I said, 35% of all pc gaming revenue comes from China. Overall, it's clear that pc only gets most games because they are already being made for consoles. PC ultimately is for that niche that plays the handful of pc exclusives.

not sure if part of the most relevant but the total war franchise wasn't mentioned yet which i think is very important.

and you said people asked you if pc would be the right choice and i think you should tell them that many games are superior on pc even if you only want to talk about exclusives, if it's because of modding or just because you get a much better multiplayer experience like in battlefield 3 compared to the 360/ps3 version.

pc gaming can be really cheap if you need a pc for other purposes since then you only need to pay for the upgrade to make it a better pc as you need. if you only buy a pc for gaming it's not very cheap anymore but still not that expensive.

hard to say which one is more relevant, for the bigger gaming companies like ea or ubisoft, consoles are much more important. for those specialized in point&click or rts or whatever pc is more relevant and if we talk about the gamers, i think pc gaming is much bigger as people think. sure, many play only pirated games or games like dota 2 for free but they still play them which makes pc gaming important to them even without generated revenue.

I will just answer the overarching question.

Almost everything that consoles have done, the PC has done much, much earlier. IPX Doom, a decade before consoles ever got online. Making small games and online only, Steam for half a decade before consoles.

Shooters, strategy games, RPGs. All were pioneered on PCs, not to mention those games are almost in every case much better than current games. The term "consolification" meaning the game is shitty should give you an idea just how far ahead PCs are in those game types.

Of course, social functions go without saying. Facebook was on the internet browser, not integrated into any consoles for a damn near decade as well.

Oh yeah, also free, open, unhindered internet without any bullshit.

Basically, there are a lot of areas where the PC leads, and then the consoles kind of bumble and stumble onto many years afterwards. Meanwhile, there are not many things that the PC has adopted from the consoles.

In fact, I will make a prediction right now that will definitely come some time in the future, and if it doesn't console makes are morons. Mods. People will be allowed to make their own mods. Which will also completely fuck with any stupid cash grab DLC developers will try to make since the community can do the simple stupid things itself.