Are Video Game Console's Hardware upgradeable? Yes. Are PC's Hardware upgradeable? Yes. Does that make them the same thing? No. Because they are not upgradeable to the same degree, practicality and product design/consumer intent. Allow me to elaborate:

Does a Dog's need oxygen? Yes. Does a Fish need oxygen? Yes. Is a Dog a Fish? No. But is a Fish technically the same as a Dog in that they're carbon based oxygen consuming biological organisms? Yes. Does the dog and fish breath oxygen the same way? No. A Dog takes oxygen from the air and the fish, oxygen from the water.

Now this is a silly analogy but it proves a point from a grossly simplistic perspective. Just because something is technically the same doesn't mean it is in every respect or by its defining merit. This is why the words PC and video Game Console are not interchangeable just as Dog and Fish are not interchangeable.

Video Game Consoles are not designed with the intent to be as versatile in all the functions, operations and customability that PCs can be, so they are not PCs to that extent despite possessing technically the same functions.

You cannot pre-order a Video game console factory direct with what OS you want, what brand of harddrive you want, what processor you want and over all how you want specially made to your liking within a price range of $300-$5500 dollars. And no choosing from three skus does not count as this, it is logistically similar, but that doesn't make the what a PC is.

No Video Game console is intended for all of its hardware components to be replacing or upgrading by the consumer for future altercation or upgrade. Sure you can add a HDD to the 360 or take it off, and do the same with similar hardware peripherals for many of the consoles, but that's not to the same degree as a PC, that's only selective bits and pieces designed to be used as such. And just because you can go into the Video Game console with a soldering iron and some home brew know-how to mod or alter the hardware doesn't mean it was ever intended to be done so nor was it ever the product's design.

Could I customize my car to double as a Boat? Yes. does that mean a Car is a boat? No.

Are PCs technically and functionally identicle to Video Game Consoles? Yes. But to accept this and only this requires you to ignore the larger scope and practicality of the product's functionality and appeal in that Video Game Consoles are not AS customizeable and upgradeable as PCs and are not meant to be AS customizeable and upgradeable as PCs.

So Bodhesatva, by semantics and technicality, are you right? Yes. PCs are technically the same as Video Game consoles and vice versa. But does your argument take into account reality, product design, market appeal, the extent to which any of these similar functions can be exploited and the practicality there of? No.

Also you're defense that by this logic the Wii isn't a video game console is backwards. Video Game consoles are not defined by the aspects that make the 360 and PS3 different from the Wii. Just because Video Game consoles are becomming more and more like PCs and less and less like we used to view Video game consoles doesn't mean those that haven't progessed to that similar degree aren't Video Game Consoles, in fact you could say the Wii is more of a Video Game Console due to it being less like a PC than its competition. But that's neither here nor there, the reason no one is suggesting the Wii isn't a Video game console because your argument suggesting or stance would suggest that is just asinine.

It does drive me crazy as I'm keep on waiting on buying a PS3 not knowing what version will be next. PC upgrading is still entirely different than a console. When you buy a console the only thing you can mostly upgrade when having the console its the HDD. With PC you can upgrade video card, sound card, HD etc... not with a Game Console.

The difference, then, between a console and a PC is marketing.

Consoles are sold as pure gaming systems with productivity as a sideline, and they're often sold at a loss or close to it. They are tightly controlled as to what software is allowed or not (PS3 Linux doesn't count due to the GPU not being accessible from it)and have a brand name under which related products are sold.

PCs are sold at a large profit made for component makers and retailers, they're sold as productivity machines with gaming as a sideline, they have generic labeling, and are very loosely controlled from a software standpoint.

Marketing, not architecture.*

*I'll just undermine my own point by saying PC originally meant IBM-PC compatible, i.e. Intel x86 processors, which no true game console has ever had.

Now that's worth a good laugh.

That's a long post, Onimusha, and gets directly to the heart of the discussion, I think. Here is the relevant quotation that I am directly responding to:

Are PCs technically and functionally identicle to Video Game Consoles? Yes. But to accept this and only this requires you to ignore the larger scope and practicality of the product's functionality and appeal in that Video Game Consoles are not AS customizeable and upgradeable as PCs and are not meant to be AS customizeable and upgradeable as PCs.

I absolutely agree that the 360 and PS3 are not AS customizable nor AS upgradable as PCs, nor are they meant to be.

Similarly, the Wii is not AS customizable nor AS upgradeable as the 360 or PS3.

I'll ask again: why do you feel the 360/PS3 are not in the same category as the PC (because the 360/PS3 are not "as customizable) while you suggest that the Wii is a console (even though it's significantly less customizable than the 360/PS3), and call any notion that the Wii is different "assinine?"

Because that seems like an obvious logical inconsistency to me.  Either accept the PC as a comparable gaming platform to the 360/PS3, and acknowledge that the Wii is also a console; or, you can continue to insist that the PC is totally different, and also admit that the Wii isn't a console and can't be compared to the 360/PS3, because its functionality and customizability are far inferior.

But you cant' have it both ways. You can't insist the PC is entirely different because it's more customizable, but then simultaneously claim the Wii is exactly the same, even though it's much less customizable.