Ugh, where to begin, All of you completely missed what I said MULTIPLE times, WINDOWS IS A MICROSOFT PLATFORM, NXE IS A WINDOWS PLATFORM, GAMES RUN ON EITHER ARE RUN ON A WINDOWS PLATFORM. The PC itself is not a MS platform, but then, you are all confusing the PC hardware and the MS OS. Many (if not all) ports cannot be run on anything but windows (natively) and are, therefore, a MS exclusive. This of course is IF you really believe that a PC is a console.

Now, as for a PC, it is not a console, the reason being, they are a processing unit, they do more than just play games, they run a completely different set of parameters. Even IF you have a PC whose main purpose is to play games, do you surf the web on it? Do you Photo shop on it? Do you write documents on it? Do you download things on it? Can you use if for recording studio quality music, Do you use it to edit videos, can you use it to run CAD programs like Solid Works and Catea? A console has ONE main purpose, A PC has MANY...even IF you claim yours has one main purpose, it does not, OEM computers are designed to do MANY things that involve computing, You can build your own computer with parts mainly designed for gaming, but the processor, and motherboard are not optimised for gaming alone. (The motherboard may be tuned for gaming, but it is still able, ready, and easily made to do some pretty heavy processing on other fronts.) You know what's even better, if I had YOUR gaming rig, chances are, I would NOT use it for gaming, in fact, I would use it for Drafting...I could then say that "my (your)" PC is now for drafting, meaning it is "an electronic system that connects to a display (as a television set) and is used primarily to play video games Draft solid 3D Models." See what I did there, I took your gaming rig, and turned it into my Drafting rig. You can't do that with a console, a console has ONE specific purpose for EVERYBODY, a PC can be many things to many people.

The "Microsoft exclusive" thing is a red herring. The fact that the OS underlying the PC game is made by MS or by Apple doesn't affect the freedom of choice for the final user, it's only a technical detail. Or do you refer to PS3/360 games as "exclusive to IBM-designed CPUs"? People think as PC and 360 as two different platforms -and rightly so- and can choose between the two.

Once again, you failed to read the bold writing, honestly, how many times do I have to say it before you finally get it, it's so simple. The underlying software to run a game LIMITS a person's choice to ONLY using that software/firmware.

As for the "PC is not a console" part, you're flunking the simplest logic. If the definition of console was "a device than can only be used to play games" than you would be right, but that's not what the Merriam Webster definition you provided said.

Did I ever say a console could ONLY be used top play games? I said it was optimized to. A console, by it's very definition, is something that is specialized to do one task.

And of course it can't be because nowadays the line between a console and a PC is way fuzzier than it was for the NES: consoles nowadays can play movies and music, have internet browsers, connect to social services, display photos in slideshows and print them. I don't think it's impossible to think that when proper motion controls are here for all consoles we'll see some video editing/ photo manipulation software being released on consoles.

Fuzzy or not, A Console is optimized to do one major task, a PC is optimized to do many.

All the technical details about "optimised for gaming" are irrelevant. The definitions are about the use of the devices, not their architecture.

No, you are wrong, Thats like saying "my car isn't a car because I use it as a theater system more than I do a means of transportation" does that suddenly make the car a theater system and NOT a car? I don't think so.

I've answered per-paragraph. My originals are in grey, yours in orange.

And that is one of the flaws in WereKitten's and a few others argument...You cannot use a variable as a solid argument, it cannot be proven, nor denied, and as such, is an easy way out.

Anyway, I really don't believe PCs are consoles, But if by some miracle somebody could show me one thread of evidence to the contrary, my argument about the Software platform stands. I have been using the MS platfrom because A. That seems to be the big one for shunting exclusives, and most likely the main cause for the OP, and B. I am most familiar with it. However, Anything that is ported from the PS3 to the PSP family, would be an exclusive because it is all run on Sony firmware and cannot (without modification) be run on any other brand firmware. Same goes for the Wii and the DS.

Now, if we were to then go over to the "PC is NOT a gaming console", well the area between the main systems, and the portables becomes more of a grey area.

In a sense you are right. It is MS exlclusive, but that doesn't mean anything past the ability to beef up your fanboy list of exclusives, unless of course all you want is MS to get your money (when they don't always on PC).

Excuse me? Fanboy list? Try reading my other posts in other threads...then come back here and say that to my face.

Look at the top the screen and you will see PC as it's own section. Even if you go to Metacritic it will say: "other platforms: PC ..."

We are not talking platforms, we are talking exclusives, besides, I already proved Metacrat wrong...A PC is NOT a gaming Console, try reading my last few posts again.

IGN takes VgChartz and Metacritic to the next level when they don't include each companies sub-platform in one branch. They specify between each platform. And guess what they include the PC. So what that it does other things too, it doesn't mean that you can discount it's gaming attributes. There is an entire market built upon GAMING PC's.

But they are still PCs and THIS is where the destinction lies. They are NOT consoles.

As for handheld games ( or in the case of Sony PS3 vs. PS2) such as the distinction between MLB:09 the Show on PS3 and PSP, there should be an asterisk. This is because when the quality of the game changes drastically the relevence of the game being multiplatform doesn't really mean anything. Your comparing a gala apple to a pink lady apple. They are still apples, but very different apples. The same goes for the games.  

That was kinda my point, but ok...

As some other guy was saying about console exclusive, that too is true. But the main purpose of adding the word 'console' is to fight a fanboy war between the 360 and PS3 (but it's fun and entertaining, it's understandable why it is that way). It is a word that essentially is inclusive to the 360 and PS3.

You forgot the Wii, there is a reason for that, and it's not so deleterious as you may think, it's because UNLIKE the PC, the Wii, PS3 and 360 are gaming CONSOLES.

On a whole it is moot because you are excluding other platforms. Excluding other gamers. To determine what gaming decision is best for a potential gamer you should start by including everything, AND THEN taking pieces away. That way a gamer can make the most educated decision.

The term "exclusive" when used on this site is generally used in the context of CONSOLE games, Other platforms are irrelevant in these types of discussions.

Start big, then narrow it down.

You would do well to follow those words.