About the only upside to console gaming is a known environment. A crafty game developer can make improvements if they know the exact hardware configuration for all players. Being able to push a console to it's absolute limits that everyone can play is only possible if every piece of hardware is identical. PC gaming requires a middleman such as DirectX to ensure that the experience is smooth for the majority of the users, and even then isn't always guaranteed. (Thus the minimum requirements and suggested requirements)