This isn't entirely true.  It takes quite a bit a of work to get an old game to work right on a newer computer.  These games just weren't built for the newer operating systems, so you will frequently run into problems.  I would say that the average user has little chance of making it work.

I wanted to play Red Alert, a game originally made for Windows 95, on my Windows XP computer.  I did get it to work ...  for the first 5 missions or so.  Then the game would just crash at the same point over and over again no matter what I did.

It's a major pain in the ass, and I would say you are almost as limited in BC in both PC and console gaming.

You can play 20 year old games on PC. There's DosBox and ScummVM, to help you play old games. There's emulators that let you play old console games, and even some let you play straight Sega CD, PS1 and PS2 games straight from your original discs.

PC gaming is an expensive hobby. I just stick with consoles and handhelds. And may a few occasional free MMO's on my laptop.

It's not. PC gaming is actually cheaper than console gaming.

PC gaming, PC HC, PC Hifi all of these require some time, effort and sometimes money.

The best quality is at this price ...

You can be lazy (IMO) and use a multimedia center. It is cool for me, but don't pretend your cheap piece of hardware is the top end device for everything. It is right at the middle for everything ...

Console gaming beats the crap out of PC gaming. Strip out the graphics and you have the consoles beating it in most games. The PS2 game lineup alone is better than everything that ever came out on the PC. Too bad that it doesn't have the Diablo games or CIV III, but I can deal.

Back when the PS3 debuted, you could build yourself a PC for cheaper, with FAR better games, and far more functionality than the PS3. Now for the same price you can build a PC which is better than the PS3 in EVERY single way, and even with the price cuts you can still build a PC for as cheap as a PS3, which is just as good, though it won't be future-proof. Also, PC games still cost us only 50, or less, not 60 dollars. Meaning if you buy 10 games, PC gamers will have saved 100 bucks with which they can buy 2 more games.

@ Xen

Too bad consoles also have shitty FPS control, no RTS games, no great MMORPGs, no complex RPGs with fast-access controls which don;t break the flow, no Diablo, no Half-Life, no Unreal Tournament, nothing except a few fighting games and sport games which can compete with what the PC has to offer.

Of the issues you've listed here, I'd like to point out that the 360 and PS3 suffer from all of these save driver errors and key codes.

The Wii is a different issue, but I don't think PS3 and 360 are considerably more convenient than a PC.

In my opinion this is the last generation that the PC will enjoy many major exclusives.

Next generation when all consoles have large harddrives and motion controls that rival the keyboard and mouse in terms of ease of control we'll see a situation much the same as the Wii has now with the PS3 and 360. Despite the graphic superiority of the PC even more gamers will go to consoles because the differences will be even less than they are this generation (especially when gamepads are no longer part of the mix).

I expect next generation is when MMORPG, Strategy, WRPG, and any other remaining genres currently dominated by PC will follow the same route FPSs did this and last generation.

Of course the line between console and PC will likely become even more blurred and it could be that what it means to be a console or a PC may change as well.

Hmm, so what you're basically saying is that consoles will turn into PCs or actually, inferior versions of PCs. However, if you're going to make the loss of exclusive case, don't single out the PC. It's happening to every platform.