For years I considered myself a gamer.  No, that is not quite right.  I considered myself a PC gamer.  An important distinction.

For while there are certainly those who game on both consoles and PCs, there is often a rift, a division between the two groups.  With the current trends in consoles, I believe the division is closing some, but in the past there was a distinct separation of what type of game you played on a PC and what type you played on a console.

For many years I was firmly in the camp of those who thought the PC was just an inherently superior platform for gaming.  Much of that came from the fact that the RTS was my genre of choice.  But overall, I prefered PC gaming.  I tried to be levelheaded enough to not get into console vs. PC threads, but I secretly cheered on those going to bat for the PC.

Then I stepped away.

Time was a factor, cost was another, but most importantly I just didn't enjoy it anymore.  And it really pissed me off that my 2-3 year old hardware (that was absolutely top of the line when I purchased it) could barely manage lots of the new games. 

With the gift of my 360, I was reintroduced to gaming as a hobby.  But no from the other side.  The Dark Side.

And I am converted.  There are many reasons, and now, I finally see the appeal of console gaming.  I would even go so far as to say I see the many advantages of console gaming.

-I never have to update my drivers on my 360.  Every once in a while MS may send out a general update, but it is no work for me.  Turn the console on, let it update, done.

-I buy the game, take it home, put it in the drive and immediately play.  I don't have to sit through the installation, I don't have problems with driver/hardware conflicts.  I just load and play.

-Heck, I don't even have to buy the game.  I can rent it too.

-I don't have to tweak the settings to get the often thin line of graphics goodness vs. frame rate. 

-It doesn't matter how old my console is, if the game is made for a 360, I can play it.  Now, a year, two, even 5.

-With Xbox Live, multiplayer is a snap.  Much faster, easier and cleaner than most games on a computer.

-My console cost about the same (perhaps a little more) than a top of the line video card for a PC.  Just the video card.

Granted, there are many things I sacrifice too.  I am well aware of those.  But at this stage in my life, the advantages of console gaming far outweigh the advantages of PC gaming.  Something I never thought would happen, I have crossed to the Dark Side.  And I ain't looking back.