I have only experienced Playstations (and PS2s), Segas, and Nintendo 64s, but it seems to be that a computer is much better...

It is more versatile... not only can you play games, but also surf the net, and do work on it... the graphics seem to be better... those highly exalted PS2 graphics I don't feel are all that great... A keyboard is more customisable to play games on, and you can buy contols like on the consoles for your computer... games come out on computer soon after they do on PS...

Are there any real benefits?

As far as I know, there is one distinct advantage: Hardware upgrade.

Console games will never have to worry about memory requirements, video card drivers and compatibility, OS crashes and all those stuff which have been Plaguing PC games for ages.

mod-ablity, last i checked nobody had yet modded a console game where as there are proably a few thousand peole playing day of defeat right now. also computer gamers tend to be more hardcore because it's harder to play games on computers

Make that "windows games" and I'll be in full agreement. "Real" OSes don't have the kind fo instabilities that winblows does.

(And lets not forget that in the DOS era there were plenty of games that were rock solid, depending on how much they rushed it out the door)

The way I see it, the only thing that even came close to the PC was the Dreamcast because it was smart enough to come with a modem, WHY the X box, Gamecube, and PS2 did not do the same is absolutley beyond me! someone please find the execs of all the "new" and elegedly "Sucessfull" game system companies and hit them over the heads! Seriously! this is some petty stupid stuff thats going down... AND its the only system to actually HAVE a freaking KEYBOARD! the PS2 and Xbox decided to go with voice chat, do you know how HORRIBLE the quality of that stuff is when you use any ISP outside of the fastest thing imaginable? you cant even communicate with eachother! I's down right a big waste of time if you ask me.

I play a lot of video games, and have many game systems. I have the PS2, N64, SNES, sega genesis, GBA, game gear, gameboy color, and have played a NES and gamecube. I also have three PC's, and I like the game consoles better, although only the PC has IWD/BG series. With a console, you don't have to install, you just need room on your memory card. With cartridge systems, sometimes you don't even need a memory card. I think console online systems will get better, cheaper, and may eventually get keyboards. With SOCOM: Navy Seals you get a headset-thing that lets you talk instead of need to use a keyboard. Consoles will not get slowdown or need patches. I like consoles, but the PC will get games like the BG/IWD series and the consoles are a long way off from that.

IMO the only advantage for Consoles is cost. Reliability CAN be an issue, but with 2000 and XP it's not much of one. Performance, Graphics, flexibility goes easily to the PC (I've had one of those headset thingies for a while now... not only can I talk to other players over the internet, but it has voice recognition built in too)

In the end, if you can afford a decent mid-range pc and a hot graphics card you're WAY better off with a PC IMO.