I really must admit that Sins of a Solar Empire and Empire: Total War are both so far beyond what has been produced on consoles, the only reason these games are not used in comparison is because consoles have nothing to compare against.  That is why Crysis is alwasy mentioned in these discussions, since Crysis is your standard FPS, there are many commonalities in genre/presentation/gameplay/etc. with all the top console games.

If you have ever played Empire: TW (even way below maxed out settings), it is clear there is no way a console could even come close to competing with the visual quality presented in this game.

EDIT: I would recommend viewing the full size images.

Uhhh...guys....half the games you listed don't look anywhere near the games I did.

@Scoobes - Of course, PC's will always be able to run multi-platform games better than consoles. This is because you can spend an unlimited amount of money on creating whatever kind of PC you desire. So a hardcore PC gamer will always have games like GTAIV and RE5 that look better on their PC. I would never dispute this point. However, the consoles currently have exclusives that look better than 90% of the games available for PC (out and upcoming). People in this thread speak about PC's REALLY starting to outpace the consoles as if its currently a fact. It isn't. The graphical difference between PC/PS3/360 multiplatform right now is similar the difference between PS3/360 multiplats. You call this seriously outpacing? Look at the list of exclusives I just named. I am not disillusioning myself at all, I am looking at it realistically: a very large majority of PC gamers cannot run Crysis properly, and if they can, it's nowhere near high or full settings.

@Mudface, meehan666, largedarryl, ssj12 - Empire Total War does not look as good as the games I listed, I'm sorry but we don't see eye to eye on that one. Also, you just used console games that were ported to PC after being released on consoles as the last 4 games on your list. Even still, are the differences between the console and PC versions what you call "really outpacing"? I'm sorry guys, I must just not be seeing the glorious graphics, textures and effects that you are talking about in games like S.T.A.L.K.E.R, Empire Total War, and EVE Online (especially).

Just seeing PC gamers list games like that to say that PC's are "seriously outpacing" consoles shows that this is not the case. Don't get me wrong, I can see what you are saying becoming a reality in a year, maybe a bit more. But it does not currently hold true.

Hush now.

Links, seeing as this forum fucks up images-

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/games/empire__total_war_-_leipzig-pcscreenshots9479etw_announce01.jpg

http://www.ceidot.com/twtr/empire/resimler/Empire__Total_War-Alpine_battle_2.jpg

http://ve3dmedia.ign.com/images/04/36/43666_orig.jpg

http://ccp.vo.llnwd.net/o2/www/trinity/screenshots/06_big.jpg

Dude I've seen Eve Online running on maximum settings it is not a better looking game than any of the games on my list.

Upon checking your links....are we looking at the same pictures here?

I don't mind HD console graphics as they are good enough for me yet I haven't seen any games graphics as good as these PC examples. I think someone is in denial. Notice the amount of men and their details , the smoke, the drawing distance, etc. in Empires.

There has never been, and probably never will be a console that can outpace a PC since all consoles are made from second gen PC parts.

When the PS3 and 360 came out, they were JUST UNDER the BEST thing you can get for a PC at the time, after 3 years, they are 3 years behind and after 10 when they make the PS4 and Xbox 520 (or whatever) those consoles wil lbe JUST UNDER the most powerful PC available at that time.

That don't actually use Intel Processors, but what they DO use is based on current gen PC technology.

Empire has massive battlefields with a ton of units going at each other; the water and grasslands look amazing and no console game is as superior on a technical level. I will give you a pass on it though, as you need to see the game in motion on a good rig to know how much better it is than stuff on console. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. however, you are easily mistaken on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qK3PE0suAE&hd=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfC7p1n7UyU&hd=1 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Xx3M7J4FOQ 

Volumetric fog, volumetric fire, dynamic wet surfaces, and the best lightning and sun shafts in any game ever released. And Call Of Pripyat will look even better. Oh, and did I mention thats in a free roaming open world....not a closed off small area like gears, uncharted or killzone.  

Empire does a good job on the technical side, but visually it's just not in the top 50.

While Stalker Clear Sky has good effects, it's virtually unplayable. I've never seen such bad optimization. And personally I think the game looks rather boring and except for the effects not impressive at all.

You could say the same thing about killzone; it is devoid of color and doesn't have much in the way of landmarks. Even though S.T.A.L.K.E.R. takes place in a wasteland, at least it is full of trees and has color. 

While I think that Killzone 2 has a better look than Clear Sky (art style or whatever), I agree.

Especially the first 4 or 5 missions look exactly the same.....