Consoles are definitely helping AMD out on the performance front ...

It has to be more than just drivers though.  Drivers don't account for making up a 30% lead in performance!  Here's how I see it:

Nvidia: Puts all effort into building a card that performs well in TODAY's games and perfect Day 1 drivers.  That means they will sacrifice some resources on things that will help a ton in the future if it means better things on release.

AMD: Puts effort into building the strongest card possible while taking into account what games will use in the future.  For example the HD 5000 series had DX11 way before Nvidia did even though it wasn't used a lot until a year after the 5870's release, and the 7970 had 3GB of VRAM when most games didn't use it.  However look at the effects now the 7970 has almost caught up to the Titan.

I could see benifits to either system, but honestly it would be better if both were true.  Howver it does seem like day 1 drivers from AMD match Nvidia's these days so maybe both have come true...

I have a simple viewpoint.

AMD cards almost always have newer/better technology on release.  Just takes a while for games and drivers to be optimized for them.

Not true, i had amd card in 2010 and you couldnt turn on a forced vsync 

AMD fan here, I had 2 Nvidia cards in my gaming life, both fried shortly after warranty ended (didn't even overclocked them)... that never happened with AMD cards, which I overclock a little as time goes by to keep up with the games, I have a 3y-old 7950 3GB & it works as a charm, running almost all of my games in full Extra settings or really close to it (damn you Crysis 3!!!). AMD cards are future-proof & really reliable!

LOL I can't say whether either of them did back then.  I have only had my 7970 for 4 years.  It would be silly to assume they wouldn't update that over 5 years.

Probably, but the OP has been happening before then.