I have come to the same conclusion just this last week. I've got a mac for all my web-surfing, itunes and occasional gaming, I'm ditching my PC except for CS:S, and I'm getting a 360. Funny thing is, while I'm really perturbed about how much time and money I've thrown at upgrading my rig, I'm looking forward to the whole 360 experience. I spend all day fixing computers – I'm a tech – and I hate coming home and having to fix my own, or loading up my newest game and seeing it chunk along. For a measly $400, I can get a system that will run high-res, AA and AS and HDR enabled. That's in comparison with upgrading my current pc for about $900. There really isn't any choice in the matter.

Eventually, I'm planning on running an imac 20" intel core duo and the 360.

Love your website – recommended it to all the folks here in IT.

Yea, at this point i'm enjoying a break, but being a tweaker/builder at heart I always like to keep up with whats going on in the world of technology and gaming. I think I actually enjoy the "lego" part of building my machine, and the occasional game is really more like icing on the cake.

It's funny – there are still quite a few complaints about pc games themselves – bad patches, driver issues, starforce protection, etc, that pop up at the WSGF, so i'm actually kinda relieved that I'm not playing any major titles right now.

I do have a soft spot, mostly born out of nostalgia for my pc games, but It's funny – over the years i've noticed that if you build a windows machine, do word processing, web surfing, etc, on it, it will probably run forever. Add games to the mix and its almost like a countdown before some error or blue-screen disaster surfaces.

There’s always something bigger and better around the corner and the media outlets are more than happy to make us feel behind the curve if we don’t have the latest and greatest gear.

That's it, right there. Feeling inadequate after spending thousands of dollars on a gaming rig is not cool. Where as, if you're a console gamer, you have the complete opposite feeling as you know your hardware is up to snuff. At least with everyone else you're playing with.

It's been almost 4 months now, since I picked up my Xbox 360 and started enjoying stress free gaming. And I must say – it feels great and I don't have a single regret.

Thanks for stopping by, BTW. Did you find my site from your stats?

After reading this article I felt really silly about posting my comments on your widescreen gaming monitor piece.

Actually, to be honest I feel exactly the same way – whatever happened to those simple days when you all you had to do was go to egghead software, load the game on your pc and play to your hearts content? Nowadays there always seems like something needs tweaking, updating, upgrading, troubleshooting….blegh, its too much – and i've been gaming since the days Sid Meier's Pirates on the Commodore 64.

To be totally honest – places like the widescreen gaming forum along with other enthusiast sites and industry 'magalogs' like pc gamer really don't do much to help the situation. There's always something bigger and better around the corner and the media outlets are more than happy to make us feel behind the curve if we don't have the latest and greatest gear.

I started simplifying my entire setup as well. Games are gone for now, my 4.2 klipsch with the octupus monster cables is resting quietly in the closet. My widescreen display might even take a small hiatus. Taking a break from all this stuff is certainly refreshing. I have more time to do other things, feel healthier, etc. Thanks for taking the time to write that.

So, after a few months and supposed revisions to the code I went back. Here's what I got:

0.8 FPS, my friends, 0.8 FPS.

When that NDA is up, I'm going public with my dialogue with him.

I absolutely made the right decision and I'll probably do the same this generation. Like you say, it's just too damn expensive. But more than that, I found (and expect it to happen again this time) that the more interesting games around are, for the first 3 years of a console's life, on the consoles and it's only once the PC standard (not the cutting edge) has caught up with the consoles that PC gaming is worth looking into.

Oh and Microsoft has made a really successful strategy of getting most of the good PC franchises onboard with the Xbox, so that makes it an even easier decision to go console.

Since we own the same Gateway 21"HD LCD monitor, are we in business with the 360 and this monitor?

Since Xbox Live came out I've been converted. GR3 (forget GR:AW) is one of the better next gen titles out there and for me by far the best. I'll chuck you a friend request later but like Tommy I'm from the wrong side of the Atlantic.