Uh oh.... (Mass Effect)

[Black Aeronaut]

The Xbox 360, on the other hand, has pretty much given up on that idea.
While it is still based in part on PC architecture, it's been loaded
down with so much custom gear that it really is its own platform now.
Granted, the software developed for it can still make standard DirectX
calls to get everything done, which in theory means an easy port to PC,
but in practice it's supposedly not quite so trouble-free. (I have not
developed for the 360, but I've talked with some people who have...)
And
then there's the mindset, as well. Microsoft *wants* 360-only titles,
because they need to turn a profit on the blasted thing. If someone
already has a PC, and the title is coming out on PC, then they
*probably* won't buy a 360 to get the game.

Half the reason people would rather have a PC over an Xbox is that the damn things break too damn often.  Sure, you get a few lucky SOBs out there that has a 360 that has lasted for-freakin'-evaahhhh!  But for the most part, 360s seem to be designed with a lifetime somewhere between three-to-six months.  :p
Microsoft would make a helluva lot more money if they actually made the things LAST.  You know, employ some real QC people and quit sub-contracting their shit to the lowest bidder just because they were the lowest bidder.  Sure, they probably won't sell that many more Xbox 360 consoles... but I bet they'd sell a hell of a lot more games.  And they'd sell even more games if they made it so that one disc can either run an Xbox or install into your PC - take your pick, it don't matter.  If they understood this, Microsoft would be turning a tidy little profit.
Also, the Consoles have a distinct advantage over PCs in that they can devote pretty much the entirety of their processing power to the game with very little overhead.  With a PC you usually have all kinds of crap running in the background that can pull on your system resources.  Sure, you can go through and close out all those background processes that you don't need at the moment, but that's a pain in the arse.  Although I will concede that it would be kickass if someone came up with a keypad-and-trackball arrangement for console systems.  Make FPS and RTS games such a joy to play...