Okay, here is my input:
1) The glitchy port. Yep, I can understand how that one can be annoying. I must admit that since at least 2/3 of the games I buy today are for the consoles, I most likely have already played and completed a game in this category on either the PS3 or Xbox360, so I rarely have a problem with this issue myself.
2) Dumbed down sequels. Hmm, not sure about this one. The article uses DA2 as an example but I'm one of the few regulars here at the Watch who actually like DA2. Besides, Origins was in production for more than 4 years whereas DA2 took less than 1½ years ... with less than a third of the production time I would say that anyone expecting DA2 to be on par with DA:O must be a little touched in the head
3) Tech. This one I disagree with. One of the main reasons I got a console in the first place was because I was sick and tired of always having upgrade my PC every 6 months in order to be able to play the new games. The added eye-candy to games like FEAR or Crysis didn't really make them better games, but not having the necessary horsepower to run the games smoothly, thus turning them into slideshows sure as heck had a negative effect to the enjoyment of the games (yes, that was the case for me and no I don't have any fond memories of either game).
Another issue with the pursuit of the cutting edge, one that is too often neglected, is that every time you increase something like graphics you also significantly increase the development time on all graphical elements in the game. Take God of War 3 (PS3) vs. God of War 2 (PS2): according to the developers, what took 4-5 days to model for GoW2 took 4-5 weeks to model for GoW3. That's 5 times longer (not counting weekends) for each and every single object you see in the game. And that is just graphics ...
4) Lousy interfaces/controls. Well, any Gothics fans have disqualified themselves from commenting on this one.
5) There is no mod. Partially true. Many PC games don't have mods anyway and many of those who do, are of no interest to me. Other than the occasional texture/skin pack here and there, I don't really think that I've used mods outside of Morrowind, Oblivion and Severance: Blade of Darkness. I would miss the mods in games where they could make a real difference (which quite honestly isn't that many).
6) The great divide. As darkling has already demonstrated this issue is much more about how PC elitist are making asses of themselves than about how consoles are hurting PC gaming. The whole stone throwing thing and glass houses seem rather fitting here.
7) Auto-save. Not a big deal for me ... when the auto-save is done right. When it is not, like in Demon Souls (I know it is deliberate), it can drive me absolutely bonkers having to repeat unnecessary sections over and over because there is no save point right before I'm insta-killed. However, to be fair: the vast majority of the current gen games have learned from past mistakes about save-points and it is rare to come across a really bad one.
8) Game for Windows. Not that big a deal for me. Only cross platform games falls under the GFW label (and thus the GFW restrictions) so they've been designed with an Xbox in mind all along, so I don't think the end result would be much different whether the GFW label is slapped on the box or not. Of course I'm used to the whole Xbox LIVE thing, so I'm probably a little biased.
9) Hype/PR. That's a bit naive. I know what he's getting at and I do agree that it would be nice if everyone would tell the truth, be nice to your fellow man, world peace and all that, but let's get real. Nobody expects commercials to tell the truth so why should game developers/publishers?
10) Kinecting the dots. I don't get this one. How are new inventions for the consoles hurting the PC? Is he being jealous?
11) Non-existent post release support. To me, this issue seems to be more about reaping what you sow than about consoles affecting PC gaming. All the hacks, mods (not the good kind) and piracy issues in PC multiplayer games have made it an extremely unprofitable business to attempt to invest time and effort into post release support. On the consoles it is a LOT harder to cheat and if someone manages it anyway, Microsoft have to ability to ban not only the gamertag (which would be horrible for many of the achievement hunters) but also the actual Xbox console (meaning they would need to buy a new xbox to go online again).
12) Dead-icated servers. Abso-friggin-lutely. This is by far the most important of all the 12 points and I agree 100%. However, he is not correct when he states that Bad Company 2 has remedied this issue. There are indeed dedicated servers in BC2 but only hosted servers. You can't make a LAN game. If you want your own server to on with whomever you choose, you have to rent one from an official provider and that "solution" is not much better than no dedicated servers at all. I have real high hopes of Brink but if they don't have proper dedicated servers and the possibility of LAN play, then it is dead to me
