Cost being no option, PC wins hands down everytime. But in realworld usage, the average person wouldn't know how to build their own budget gaming PC. These people will go to Dell or HP or another pre-built supplier, who, without fail, charge 2-3 times what it costs to do it yourself, should you have the know how.
The VAST majority of people will get a more cost efficient, and less stressful gaming experience going with a console. Gaming is supposed to be fun, and this large group of gamers without the tech know how, will have a blast with a plug-n-play console. Calling console gamers down for not being a PC hobbyist is downright idiotic in itself.
I have built my own gaming rigs for over 10 years. I have been a console gamer the entire time as well (and for 15 years before that, hah). I LOVE GAMES and every platform brings me joy in a different way. I might enjoy Fallout3 more on my computer, but that doesn't take away from the EXACT SAME GAME minus the graphical increase. Placing shine over gameplay and replayability is for the extreme hobbyist who requires a 3Dmark score to equate their self worth to, NOT for the very large majority of gamers who support the industry enough to cater to the extreme minority of boutique users.
@blackhawk
The economy of scale (30million + 360s, 22million+ PS3s) will allow a console to provide hardware at much lowered price as compared to PC parts. Try replicate a CELL based PC for 400 dollars, or a 360 cloned PC for less than 200... it is not possible. Over time, the price points on these consoles drop, because of the economy of scale, and every year, the cost of entry into playing on console hardware gets lower. Sure in the same timeframe PC parts drop in price (until discontinued and demand outstrips supply) because there are no single parts that are produced in the raw volumes of consoles.
Only when I built this computer several months ago (with a 4870 512 originally) was I able to emulate PS2 games to a higher quality than what the PS2 provides. This doesn't mean that an almost 11 year old console is more powerful than my brand new PC. But it definitely highlights the importance of NOT trying to compare apples and oranges.